Notes from the host
Casa Paloma
We are centrally located in Abiquiu (w/ HOA-maintained dirt roads within Prado Valley Ranch). We've just added mini splits with zoned AC tied in with new grid tied solar array...
Pete & I spend part of the fall, winter & early spring in our new New Mexican home, thoroughly enjoying our time there. We stay with an eye to updates & making it a comfortable stay for our late spring, summer and early fall guests. We've added additional seating to the lovely portal & viewing patio, as well as a table for outdoor dining on the portal. We have a picnic table & a grill for the back patio, outside the kitchen, for breakfast dining, or shady meals in the afternoon or evening. He also built a fine, new 'convertible' bench/table for the upper balcony, for meals there or creative endeavors. We offer a carport, to shade vehicles from the most intense summer sun & from surprise thunderstorms with hail. We have many artists who enjoy the breathtaking views that Paloma offers (myself included) & we have made it possible to work from several locations.
Pets (1 or 2 small or medium size well behaved dogs. Sorry no cats, Pete is allergic) allowed on first floor only for a one time per stay fee of $50 per pet. Guests are expected to honor the first floor rule for pets. We also ask that dogs stay off of furniture & beds. Thank you.
Our kitchen is roomy & we love to cook many a gourmet meal there - so bring your groceries in & enjoy! (We supply an array of spices & herbs, condiments, usually coffee & a small selection of teas. We also offer dish & sensitive-skin laundry detergents, a washer/dryer - & even a clothesline.) We leave Casa Paloma in late April or early May, kicking & screaming as we love our stays in NM so much - but we leave a beautiful, comfy home for you to use as headquarters for your own northern NM adventuring.
We ask that you be respectful of our home & hope that you will also thoroughly enjoy the beauty & majesty of place that it offers, there above the El Rito Creek bosque. We adore listening to it happily gurgling below us during our stays. Oh, & did I mention the incredible quiet nights & those unstoppable stars?... If you're looking for a private, natural getaway, Casa Paloma is IT...
We also now offer HORSE FACILITIES! We have fenced the large front area of our property with 4-1/2' to 5' high no-climb horse fencing with a two-stall barn & corral. Bring a couple of horses, your hay, grain & buckets & enjoy ride-outs straight from our front yard! You can ride for miles into the arroyo, just below us, or ride through the plateaus in Prado Valley, where we live (please don't ride cross open fields, which would be neighbors yards), or you can take trails in the nearby Carson or Santa Fe National Forests, just short trailer-rides away. And there is lots of room in the circular driveway to park your rig.
Talk with Laura, if you would like to bring your equines to Casa Paloma. Charge is $100 per horse, per stay or week. (No stallions, rowdy horses or cribbers, please...)
We are in the middle of many historic & recreational sites: Carson Nat'l Forrest is 4 miles north on 554; El Rito village is 8 miles north; the old Abiquiu village is about 8 miles away. Bode's General Store, where locals & visitors gather for food & cheer, groceries & gifts, is across the road. Ojo Caliente, our wonderful local hot springs, is1/2 hour away. Just up Hwy. 84 is Abiquiu Lake - w/ summer recreational activities & beautiful views. Ghost Ranch, where Georgia O'Keeffe painted, is just beyond - about 25 minutes from Casa Paloma). Ghost Ranch now offers many workshops, plus hiking & horseback riding & a fine new history museum, featuring dinosaur fossils found in the area! Close by is Christ in the Desert Monastery, where one can drive preferably all-wheel drive, 14 scenic & bumpy miles in dry weather to secluded peace & check out what the Monks are doing. Awesome Echo Amphitheater is nearby. Tierra Amarilla & Chama, two charming northern New Mexico communities, are an hour's drive north. These villages are only 45 miles from Pagosa Springs. And Durango - a lively little western town - is just 3-1/2 hours from Casa Paloma. The ancient Anasazi ruins of Mesa Verde are just west of Durango - and the Four Corners of UT/AZ/CO & NM are just beyond that - so all this adventure is just one days drive away! The Grand Canyon is about 7 hours west of us.
(Santa Fe & Taos are all within an hour's drive, south or north of us.)
Los Alamos glows directly south of us, with a fine library, a swimming pool, a large Smith's grocery store - and all the scientific history of atoms & bombs one could imagine.
Jemez (hot) Springs; Cliff dwellings of Bandelier Nat'l Monument; the ancient & verdant volcanic caldera of Valle Grande & Puye Indian Ruins are all right in this area. Any one of these (or a combination) make for a fine day's exploratory of culture & natural beauty within a 45 minute drive. Any of these offer wonderful hiking.
Golf?... Well, there are several terrific desert courses! Black Mesa Golf, just south of Espanola, is a half an hour away & offers very nice greens. Buffalo Thunder Casino, about 15 minutes further south, towards Santa Fe, has a terrific (Hilton Resort caliber 27-hole) course, with food, drink & gambling waiting in the wings. Los Alamos also offers a fine public course. Santa Fe has several more.
Hiking is everywhere you turn, out in these huge, open sky lands, starting with walking out the driveway & down the arroyo, just below us on Fort Defina Drive. Take a left & spend tranquil time by the El Rito Creek, a sweet seasonal stream just below our home. We've hiked through the 'neighborhood' and have thoroughly enjoyed the climb & the trails that meander right here at home (a terrific area to walk your dogs). Peace, photos & views abound. Once booked & paid, we offer a comprehensive list of area hiking, biking & riding for your adventure outings.
Plaza Blanca (advanced permission/registration required)- famous in Abiquiu for its geology & beauty - is about 7 miles away, down off of County Road 155. If you're a hiker, you cannot miss a stay here without a least one mind-boggling trek in to these awe-inspiring white cathedral rocks. (An interesting tidbit is that the closing scene of "Cowboys & Aliens" was filmed in Plaza Blanca, along with many, many other Hollywood westerns of yesteryear & recently.)
Note: Plaza Blanca is accessible by gate code. To get this, please register with this private property's owner. If interested, contact daralIslam at PlazaBlanca@daralislam.org to request registration, permission and to get the gate code. It or may not be available for hiking at the time of your stay, as they close it during movie filming.
And, of course, no visit to Abiquiu - O'Keeffe country - is complete until one has explored Santa Fe, only an hour's drive southeast. The Georgia O'Keeffe Museum awaits you, in the historic Plaza, as well as an untold amount of world-class art galleries on famous Canyon Road, art & clothing boutiques, fine shopping, fine dining, an abundance of grocery stores & antique shops... the list is endless.
The Rail Runner train can take you on down to Albuquerque, even, to explore Olde Town!... So MUCH to do; so little time...
If you want to explore the ancient church with the famous 'healing dirt' the 200-year-old El Santuario de Chimayo' sits outside the old village of Chimayo'. This is one of my personal favorites in the area, with a blend of Catholic history & mysticism that moves my spirit to tears. This is known as the "Lourdes of the Southwest"; thousands pilgrimage here annually for the "tierra bendita" at Easter and at Christmas. Be sure to allow time to explore el santuario & its adjacent chapels & gift shop. Afterwards, I suggest you take in a meal at the Rancho de Chimayo' Restaurante, a local favorite, full of old Mexican atmosphere, great food, & both indoor & lush outdoor dining.
A trip to Taos is an hour, or so, further north, either along the "River Road" (paralleling the Rio Grande) or explore the "High Road", through tiny & creative ancient villages. One of them is Truchas (where "The Milagro Beanfield War" was filmed in the 1970s. Robert Redford directed this timeless movie. It became the village of Milagro - where miracles still do occur.) Other villages, with old Catholic churches, along the High Road are Cordova, Ojo Sarco, Las Trampas & Penasco - all creative centers - winding thru' the scenic Santa Fe Nat'l Forest into Rancho de Taos. Here you will find one of the most photographed churches in America: Santuario San Francisco de Asis.
Taos, itself, offers up its own Plaza, culture & artistic history, as well as the famous Taos Pueblo, where Tewa Indians still make drums. The Taos Pueblo is one of the oldest continually-habitated civilizations in the United States.
Just outside of Taos is found one of the highest bridges in the world: the Rio Grande Gorge River Bridge, where one can drive (or walk) over & hear the reverberate echoes off great ancient walls plunging down 800 ft. to the Rio Grande River - which looks tiny from this perspective. NOT for those afraid of heights or the faint of heart!
***The Abiquiu area is a magnet to history, creativity, culture & natural beauty. To artists, photographers, poets & writers, scientists & outdoor adventurers.
Please enjoy your outings, then return to our portal or patio & relax into a quiet night of brilliant stars.
P
Hosted by Peter Gianniny & Laura Cockerille Giannini
