RedRaider89 Posted June 13, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2018 I really appreciate the help! Updated Agenda is to stay 3 nights in Brantley Lake. We cancelled Cochiti and booked Santa Fe Skies RV Park outside of Santa Fe for 7 nights Then off to Sky Mountain Resort RV Park in Chama for 4 nights. I also booked the train ride (Coach to Antonito then Train to Chama). BigJim and Al F, I appreciate you so much! You saved our trip! All the best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al F Posted June 13, 2018 Report Share Posted June 13, 2018 1 hour ago, RedRaider89 said: I really appreciate the help! Updated Agenda is to stay 3 nights in Brantley Lake. We cancelled Cochiti and booked Santa Fe Skies RV Park outside of Santa Fe for 7 nights Then off to Sky Mountain Resort RV Park in Chama for 4 nights. I also booked the train ride (Coach to Antonito then Train to Chama). BigJim and Al F, I appreciate you so much! You saved our trip! All the best. Glad to help. There are usually alternative places to visit. Your route from Brantley lake north, once you get past Roswell, NM is almost like being on an interstate. Wide open 4 lane hwy most of the way to I-40. It has been many years since we have been on US-285 from I-40 to Santa Fe, so no details on that section. Al & Sharon 2006 Winnebago Journey 36G 2020 Chevy Colorado Toad San Antonio, TX http://downtheroadaroundthebend.blogspot.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRP Posted June 13, 2018 Report Share Posted June 13, 2018 "Updated Agenda is to stay 3 nights in Brantley Lake. We cancelled Cochiti and booked Santa Fe Skies RV Park outside of Santa Fe for 7 nights Then off to Sky Mountain Resort RV Park in Chama for 4 nights. " Good choices. I use Santa Fe skies frequently on my trips from southern NM to Colorado. From that side of town you can still use the 599 bypass around Santa Fe to get on 285/84 at the northern end of town. The tight turns & traffic in downtown Santa Fe are not very RV friendly. Hwy 285/84 up to Chama is all good road and easy driving; watch for the speed limit drops at the many small towns along that route, they all count on the income from speeding tickets. Going north, Sky Mountain Resort will be just before you get to the actual town of Chama. Chama has several good restaurants, gas stations and convenience stores. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigjim Posted June 14, 2018 Report Share Posted June 14, 2018 My suggestion if you can change it is do the ride from Chama to Antonito on the train. You will enjoy it either direction but I think the ride from Chama to Antonito is the better choice for the first time. I tried to look it up to see when Chama has its "frontier days" type event but could not find any info. I stumbled on to it one year and got to watch a chicken thievin sorry excuse for a husband get lynched. That was as interesting as when the catapeller stopped the train. That may have been in the fall. I never stayed at Santa Fe Skys but I think that is a good general location to access other places. Sounds like you have made some good choices and will have a good time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trailertraveler Posted June 14, 2018 Report Share Posted June 14, 2018 6 hours ago, Al F said: ...It has been many years since we have been on US-285 from I-40 to Santa Fe, so no details on that section... Two years ago it was good road. 5 hours ago, JRP said: ...Chama has several good restaurants, gas stations and convenience stores... When we were there two years ago there was a new Lowe's Grocery just South of the main highway intersection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRaider89 Posted June 15, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2018 Thanks BigJim. There were not many choices for train reservations and limited space. 285 was crazy from Fort Davis to Carlsbad. Bad roads, 18 wheelers everywhere. Fracking world. I was 100% focusing on driving passing hundreds of trucks on a close 2 lane road driving 65mph with a 18 wheeler on my a$$. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigjim Posted June 15, 2018 Report Share Posted June 15, 2018 I am not surprised that reservations on the train are tight as I bet a lot of people are re-arranging their schedules and choices due to fires, etc. I just had dinner with an old friend from this area and we were talking about the catapeller stopping the train but when I brought it up he thought I was talking about another major rail route in NM that has had trains stopped buy a catapeller. Just to give it away it is a migration of a massive amount of catapellers crossing the rails on a steep grade and when the engines squash them it is like greasing the rails and the engines lose traction. Amazing to think of if you never heard of it and real interesting when you are riding the train. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al F Posted June 15, 2018 Report Share Posted June 15, 2018 10 hours ago, RedRaider89 said: Thanks BigJim. There were not many choices for train reservations and limited space. 285 was crazy from Fort Davis to Carlsbad. Bad roads, 18 wheelers everywhere. Fracking world. I was 100% focusing on driving passing hundreds of trucks on a close 2 lane road driving 65mph with a 18 wheeler on my a$$. When I saw you were at Brantly (sp?) Lake I wondered about your drive on US-285 from Pecos to Carlsbad. I would have said something, but it looked like you were already through that drive. That has been really bad for 10 years or so. An alternate route would have been to go to Van Horn and take SR-54 north. Al & Sharon 2006 Winnebago Journey 36G 2020 Chevy Colorado Toad San Antonio, TX http://downtheroadaroundthebend.blogspot.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRaider89 Posted June 15, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2018 Thanks, it was interesting to see how the entire landscape of this area has changed due to the fracking boom. Last time I went through Pecos was over 20 years ago and wow how it has changed. I will avoid this route next time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRaider89 Posted June 29, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2018 BigJim and Al F thanks again for the recommendation on the Cumbres and Toltec Railroad. It was a great experience and my 7 year old daughter had the time of her life (not to mention my wife who said it was better than our Maui vacation a few years ago). I really appreciate the both of you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigjim Posted June 30, 2018 Report Share Posted June 30, 2018 Tickled to death that it didn't get shut down before you could ride it. Now you need to come ride it in the fall. But it can be really busy then when the leaves are turning and not even easy to get a room locally in Chama but I think rv sites are more available but not sure. I don't want to bash our state of Tx but there used to be and may still operate a steam train between Palestine, Tx and Rusk. The problem is it is too straight a run through heavily treed terrain so view is extremely limited. I did it in the spring and it was like going through a giant green tunnel and no veiw of the train while you are on it due to it being such a straight run. The one in Durango is fairly straight and a lot in the canyon but not as extreme as the Texas St. railroad. Nothing near as curvey as the Cumbres and Toltec though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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