Raton, New Mexico. Around the Block. 08-31-22

Geraint August 31, 2022 22 Comments

Raton, New Mexico, is a two-hour drive from home in San Cristobal. Every time I visit Raton, which isn’t often but often enough for me to become familiar with the town and neighbors, I always find something to photograph. There’s always something that delights me each time.

Marchiondo’s Store, City Market, Texan Motel.

Click on an image to enlarge.

In its heyday, Raton was a happening place.

Every motel had a cafe, making it a one-stop for travelers. Some of the motels have an enclosed garage with each room. Popular on a lot of cross country routes.
Which motel to choose? Breakfast, lunch, and dinner ‘in our cafe’ no less, as opposed to in your room.

The Colt Motel.

Dog and pony show at the Colt Motel.

Schwede’s Saloon, Raton, NM It says on the board “B E SAFE”, followed by “GODB LESS” and a phone number.

The Servomation van has been parked for several years in a downtown alleyway. I enjoyed the bricked-in patterns in the wall.

Then around a corner on a side street, five pots and two downspouts with a solitary cloud.

Architecture details on walls and sidewalks.

American flag and a bicycle through the blistered reflective window covering.

“Smile”. I didn’t see any cameras around the back of this building but it did make me smile!

Spirit figures in the plywood paneling on the boarded up Texan Motel. With all the stories these empty buildings can tell, I wouldn’t be surprised if there were more than just these impressions floatining around beyond the panels.

With all the boarded up buildings whoever has the plywood concession in this town must be doing well for themselves.

The town maintains a mighty dignity through it’s years of economic drought, and as the sign in the window says…

After a fun day walking around different areas in town it was time to make the drive home.

We had to make a stop in Cold Beer, NM on US 64, formerly known as the Colfax Tavern …

… for a cold beer and some portrait making in the natural window light.

Good friend and all round good bloke, R. David Marks.

I hope you enjoyed a trip around the block. As always, thank you for looking. G

Bountiful, Road Trip, Colorado

Geraint August 11, 2020 4 Comments

Bountiful, road trip on Highway 285, Colorado. There’s lots to see in the San Luis Valley, one of the most bountiful agricultural areas in the country. Bountiful, on the north/south route has large grain silos holding barley for the Coors beer company. This is the sign between the highway and railroad tracks. I found the weathering rather interesting and worthy of a picture. Thanks for looking. G

Enchanted Circle Scenic Byway, Moreno Valley, New Mexico

Geraint June 14, 2020 2 Comments

Enchanted Circle Scenic Byway in the Moreno Valley, northern New Mexico. Often times I photograph just for the record. I began my photo of the day blog, in September 2005, partly to draw traffic to my website, but mostly as a visual journal. If I want to know where I was, or what the weather was like on a particular day in say, 2011 I’ll check out my journal and you can too! Just pick a date and visit my blog or visit previous archive. In the years to come, I’ll look back on this date to see where I was and what was happening, or in this case, what was blooming along the roadside in the Moreno Valley in mid June 2020. It goes without saying, that we’ll all remember what our joint, overall experience was in Spring and Summer 2020. I’ll enjoy recalling these tiny little ornamental cactus flowers on an excursion today around the Enchanted Circle with my love. Thanks for looking. G

Dance Hall, Petaca, New Mexico

Geraint May 29, 2020 4 Comments

Dance Hall (formerly), in Petaca, New Mexico. It is now part of a residence of a sweet lady I met who has a long history here. She also had plenty of time to share that history with me on her way out to put gas in her pickup truck. As you can imagine there’s a lot of history that this 83 year old woman could share. In brief she told me, her family lived close by and that she was grateful for that. Thanks for looking. G

Signs Of The Times, Vallacitos, NM

Geraint May 21, 2020 6 Comments

Signs of the times, Vallacitos, New Mexico. Following on from yesterdays lightheartedness we visited Vallecitos today. A former mining town, in north central New Mexico, it has a unique charm all of it’s own. Thanks for looking. G

“Kilroy Was Here” Carson, New Mexico

Geraint May 20, 2020 6 Comments

“Kilroy Was Here” Carson, New Mexico. I like the surprise I get when I find out that Kilroy was already here. I remember seeing this first in 1970, in the movie “Kelly’s Heroes” with Clint Eastwood, that was set in WWII. This image is in the wild west. We all know Clint “is” the west and Kilroy will show up anywhere and always before you do. Here’s the scoop on Kilroy! Thanks for looking. G

Mexican Hat Rock, Southeast Utah

Geraint May 10, 2020 4 Comments

Mexican Hat Rock on the banks of the San Juan River, Southeast Utah. Revisiting a place I’ve been to many times. This trip was this week in May last year. Still armchair traveling around the southwest USA. Enjoy and thanks for looking. G

Highway 285, Ojo Caliente, New Mexico

Geraint April 26, 2020 4 Comments

Highway 285, Ojo Caliente, New Mexico. Road trips are the norm here and there’s plenty of empty roads out west in “normal” times. This trip was no different. Probably a few cars at the most. How many is a few? …five! It wasn’t too difficult to get a shot with no cars on the highway on this beautiful day with a clear sky and view. Thanks for looking. G

Cave View, New Mexico Back Country

Geraint April 9, 2020 14 Comments

Yesterday, Pami, myself and friends, Chris and Carla, made a trip to beyond, the back of beyond. We have future plans for more trips back, to the back of beyond. Much of the trip was spent driving Arroyo del Cobre, north of Abiquiu, NM. The arroyo narrowed considerably, until, what can marginally be called a road clambered out of it to a bench. After more sandy driving and choking dust we arrived at an artesian spring in a boggy meadow. Later, we visited an ancient petrified river bed and this shady ledge with a cave, probably dug many years ago by a prospector. There are camps and hunting grounds of indigenous peoples, strewn with artifacts, in this land of red rocks. These days, hundreds of bonsai junipers and tranquility abide. Chris said “we are geological time travelers”. Thanks, Chris and Carla for being our guides. Thanks everyone for looking. G

Marmot Southern Colorado

Geraint July 26, 2019 No Comments

Marmot on a roadside perch in southern Colorado. This marmot was lazing on a rock, minding it’s own business. It didn’t seem to mind me making portraits of it. Given where we found it, on a pile of lava rocks at the side of the highway turnout, people would be quite familiar to it. Thanks for looking. G

Geraint Smith Photography

Tag: Road Trip