We arrived in Santa Fe fairly early on a Sunday afternoon almost two weeks ago now. We headed up to the National Forest to secure our boondocking sight for the week ahead, and the scenery did not disappoint. Our front yard and back yard were surrounded by mountain ranges, juniper and cactus as far as you could see.
Our boondocking site in the National Forest was not short of other campers either. People in travel trailers like ours, tents, RV’s, vans, and pick-up trucks converted into pop-up campers. We met one guy who told us how much he loved being “a real dirt bag.” He was definitely rugged looking, but also really happy to be living his life. We debated whether we were technically dirt bags, too, and decided we just weren’t that cool.
After work, with plenty of daylight left to enjoy, we explored the back country dirt roads in our truck. Lots of bumpy fun trudging over mountain ranges and boulders and rocks! Wild horses and cows randomly grazed and roamed the hills. Adam even made a new friend….
And, at night, even with many other campers nearby, it was so quiet and pitch black in the National Forest. We could see layers and layers of stars. The sky never looked so big.
Before everything took a turn for crazy town on Wednesday, we took a short, but fantastic hike on El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National, a historic trail running from Santa Fe to El Paso, Texas (and historically all the way to Mexico City). It was spiritual walking along the bit of trail that we did – imagining all of those who had taken the pilgrimage from Santa Fe to Mexico City long before us.
– Kristin + Adam
That sky though!!