There was a strong line of my family in New Mexico for 100 years till recently. My great grandfather went out there roadbuilding in 1903 when it was still Gadsden.
Slowly though most of the family filtered back to Mississippi during the depression since the timber industry there was still vibrant and most family was still there.
My uncle built up the largest road building engineering firm in the state for a time....Horne Associates but then he died leaving no spawn and his wife my aunt lived until recently.
We went out there all the time, my dad and his siblings were all born out there all over the state wherever the roads were being built from Artesia to Gallup to Carlsbad and Farmington.
New Mexico made a wrong turn in the 70s and it’s been a lost cause ever since, especially Santa Fe.
I thought about taking my boys out there two weeks ago when they had their week Thanksgiving break but we opted for deer hunting instead.
It’s a sad how the left now dominates Santa Fe for sure.
I always loved Chama (maybe it was Bronson movie)....we’d leave Santa Fe from my uncle’s heading to Gunnison Colorado and always stop in Chama for New Mex breakfast....I can smell the chilies now.
New Mexico was a great exotic chunk of my childhood and some long Hwy 80 drives ...haven’t been there since 1982
Oh yeah there is a lodge near Chama that we used to love to go up to in the WINTER for just getting away ! Corkins Lodge I think it’s called....Beautiful state that has just been infested with illegals and polidiots. If it wasn’t for work & friends I’d never go back there.
You should go back for a NM road trip. That place has too much history and too many ghosts to ever kill. The current problems are just a blip in its long story.
I hope. But it really is a magical place.