Lunch and a Letterbox

Entrance Sign to the Park

 Yesterday was my birthday and Astro D asked if she could take me to lunch today and then we could go and find a letterbox. Of course I said yes. So after running a few errands this morning I met Astro D at The Ranch House at 11:30am for some lunch. I had a pulled pork barbecue sandwich with homemade potato chips and Astro D had a chicken tortilla salad. We had a nice visit and got to catch up on our recent trips and just life in general. Once lunch was done we jumped into the car and headed north on I25. Our destination was Villanueva State Park. Both Astro D and myself have been living in Santa Fe for over 20 years and neither of us have been to this park. We were both excited to see the area. The main road into the park isn't very long from beginning to end and the visitor center, camping sites, and picnic areas are congregated into two general areas. Either along the main road which borders the Pecos River or on a loop above the main road. There are a few hiking trails that take off from these two main areas. In general the accessible part of the park is pretty compact. Anyway we arrived and paid our fee, then headed to the visitor center for maps and brochures. We left the car parked in front of the visitor center and walked across the road to a beautiful metal bridge that lead us across the Pecos River. This started our search for Road Junkies' Big Buffoon Bags Big Balloons letterbox. Arriving on the far side of the bridge we turned right and took about 60 steps. At this point we found the box. We decided to sit on the trail in the shade and stamped in. Once the box was back in place we walked around and took a few pictures. Then we drove through the entire park just to get a feel for the layout and what the park had to offer. We left the park and drove through the town to see what was there. The entire area is really nice and we enjoyed our time there. But all good things must come to an end and we headed back to Santa Fe. It was a perfect outing and a nice little extra to my birthday. Thanks Astro D for lunch and letterboxing.

Bridge over the Pecos River