Mountain Valley and Grilled Salmon

I have fallen absolutely in love with the Pendaries Valley where we are staying. Hermit's Peak hovers at one end, and the entire valley floor is a big ranch owned by a Texas oilman who has relocated to Santa Fe. He has black angus cattle, lots of black angus cattle grazing in the green valley. On either side of the valley is what they call the Pendaries Village. There's the RV Park where we are, a store, a real estate office, and a row of townhouses and condos all of which back up into the Santa Fe Forest. You weave your way through all of this, and then cross the ranch, which is open range so cows might be out on the road. On the other side of the valley and up into the mountains is the housing subdivisions, the lodge and restaurant, and an 18-hole golf course, as well as a mountain stream meandering through it all. It is truly a little slice of paradise nestled in the mountains. Every evening we have sat outside until well after dark, listening to the silence. Tonight there's an orange slice of a moon, but for several days it has been pitch black after sundown.

There have also been thunder showers every afternoon. It reminds of me of when I lived in the Mississippi pine forest, the way the thunder comes rumbling down through the trees. Yesterday we had a bit of hail, large BB's. We have had the awning out, and we braved that storm with it out too, the four of us huddling under the cover. This morning our friends who had joined us here, left. We hated to see them go, but they were homesick. God knows why. It's been cool and crisp here at night, and dry and bearable in the day, unlike back in humid, hot, sweaty South Texas. But since we're alone tonight, we drove over to the restaurant and ate an exceptional meal. My grilled salmon with pesto and garlic mashed potatoes was excellent. The asparagus was crisp and lightly sea salted. We had drinks and watched the sun go down over the valley.

Today we looked at a couple of places that are for sale here. We adored one of them, but tonight sat outside talking ourselves out of going into debt right now for something so far from home. It is very tempting though. The deal is just almost unbelievable, because of the bad economy and the remoteness of this valley, but we need this deal to come around in five or so years, not right now. Self-denial is never easy, as the old song says.

We will be leaving day after tomorrow, and for once, I'm really not ready to go.

Onward ....