Red River- Part 3

Towards the end of our trip, we decided to do a little fishing. First, we practiced on the sidewalk........



Then we moved over to the pond.........


We didn't catch anything (no hooks on the kid's fishing poles), but they had fun splashing in the water..........


One afternoon, Pete and I were able to do some exploring on our own while Grandma and Grandpa kept the kids. First we drove up Old Red River Pass, which used to be the only road into Red River. It is a very narrow set of switchbacks up the side of the mountain. This is the view from the top..........
Then we checked out the Pioneer Canyon trail, which is a rougher, 4 wheel drive road that takes you by a historical mining area. The only mines we found that weren't collapsed were at the very beginning of the trail.

I was surprised that the entrance wasn't gated off! You could still walk back into the mine. We only ventured in about 3 feet. :-)

Pete checking out one of the first creek crossings........

Exploring the end of the trail before we headed back........

On our last day there, we spent lots of time enjoying the cabin and of course watching for Jeeps and motorcycles!

During our last night in Red River, I woke up to feel the cabin shaking. It felt like a 300 lb. man was running across the back porch! A few seconds later, I could hear my mom from the other room say "We had a bear!". We looked out the window, but of course by then the bear was gone. The next morning, we surveyed the damage. We had been storing empty ice chests on the back porch the whole week. There was a case of bottled water sitting on top of one of the ice chests. When the bear sunk his teeth into the ice chest, the bottled water must have crashed to the floor and scared him away (the "300 lb. man" running across the porch)! Look closely and you can see the teeth marks.

And look how close the ice chest is to the back door, which leads right into the kitchen!

That ice chest makes a really cool souvenir and we'll have a good story to tell the kids when they are older!

So, that wraps up the 2009 vacation to Red River, New Mexico! I hope that we can make more trips in years to come!