New Mexico

[Chris Hall]

So, I posted a few pics of my little project in New Mexico (reposted below), and the possibility of a TVR Bun Burner arose, so I thought an update thread might be useful. The project is coming along, though the plumber got stuck in the mud today. Don't know if he got out or not, but hope so. Anyhow, I'm going out for spring break to have a look and kibitz (hope they don't charge me extra for that). The casita should be done in April. I'll probably ride or drive out at least a couple of times during the summer. One of my plans is to set up a small gratis motorcycle campground a bit to the East of the building site. And of course, the garage and apartment will eventually be furnished and fitted, and then one of these days, the house will be built just a few feet southwest of the apartment. So, if you find yourself planning a trip through or to New Mexico, send me a message and we'll figure out the next steps.

This dirt road through the Manzano Mountains is just a few miles from the "ranch," and has miles of of jeep trails connected to it.



Pictures reposted from PAD

La Casita's coming along...


Hut going up on the slab:



Apartment and three stalls. In the background, Mosca and Guadalupe on the right, shoulder of Manzano Peak (10,098 ft) on the left.

My Project Picture



This is the slab on top of which goes a small apartment and a 3-stall garage. The view is northwestish, and the twin peaks you see in the distance are Mosca and Guadalupe Peaks, both about 9500' and probably 20 miles away. Eventually there will be a shooting range to the north, a motorcycle campground to the east, and a house to the southwest, all about an hour from Albuquerque.

[Austin Blessard]

Sweet! I'm planning a post deployment trip with my son...NM/AZ/UT is a possibility. Looks like a great setup.

[Thomas McQuigg]

Awesome! I want one of those when I grow up...
I look forward to seeing what it looks like when everything is done. It would be great to find time for a cross-country trip before I get too far into after-grad school life. I've got next summer marked right now, but a lot of things have to go right before then.

[Chris Hall]

Work continues. Roofing was going on earlier this week. That's Sandy the Border Collie sniffing around the driveway.



Another dirt road, another switchback, this one about 150 miles away in between the Gila Wilderness and the Aldo Leopold Wilderness. Lots of good camping in the Gila National Forest.

[Tim Gettier]

Looks like you are going to have a great "out post" for your western adventures.

[MarkCarter]

What is the white cr_p!

[Chris Hall]

It are snow. Not that much usually though, as total annual precip for the area is <15". Also, instead of melting, the snow evaporates.

The best time to visit will be spring, early summer, or early fall, as a lot of that rain falls in July and August. Our road is a mile of dirt to the paved road, and when it's wet, it can be pretty exciting. The intersection with the paved road is before you get to the rise you can see between here and the mountains. Once you cross the rise, you're basically in the national forest.

[DavidYoungblood]

Your place is extremely exciting and very cool. I am impressed! You are doing it right.
Dave Y

[Chris Hall]

Thanks, Dave. Hope you'll get out there and visit us sometime. Plenty of Norton parking. There is a National Monument about two miles away, with an interesting sign.



I've not seen any rattlesnakes on our land, though I did find this little snake corpse while walking around one day:

[Chris Hall]

Rhoda and I drove out to NM for spring break. Planned on camping in the Manzanos, and we did,one night. A wee bit too cold and snowy, so we hoteled it the rest of the time. While we were there, we ate lots of New Mex food, and picked out stuff for the ranch, like stucco color:



Gotta make sure it looks good with the color of the naturally occurring mud:



And gotta try to imagine how it will look when covering the entire wall:



And how it will look with the tile that will cover the floor of the apartment:



And how the tile will look:



Should have certificate of occupancy in time for an early summer trip to work on furnishing the place. By then, hopefully it won't be so gray:

[jrchain]

I'm intrigued Chris. What is taking you out to NM?

[Chris Hall]

Retirement! Rhoda and I love the West, and we found a nice affordable property and started building. There's a healthy aerospace industry in NM, with the spaceport and the AF Research Lab, so I figure I'll also have some work to do from time to time.

[paulfinney2]

Way to go, Chrish!!! We all knew you were moving, but I didn't know you were retiring. Good plan. I highly recommend it.

[jrchain]

Wow, retirement! What a great concept! I'm going to have to think about that one.
Congratulations and good luck. I know I have a lot of living that I have put off that I want to do when that time comes.

[Chris Hall]

Well,I'm not retired yet. Just building a place to retire to. The sooner the better though. As they say, "Nobody ever said on his death bed, 'I wish I'd spent more time in the office.'"