We woke to better weather, just a few scattered clouds. After breakfast at the restaurant we left Chama. Within a very few miles we ran into fog, it didn't clear until we were past Tierra Amarilla. We were on Highway 64/84; at Tierra Amarilla we turned onto 64. This was a long detour, we could have driven Highway 17 from Chama to Antonito, but Laura and I had been on H 64 from Taos to Chama a few years ago and found it to be a splendid drive for scenery and the fall colors.

It was a beautiful drive, we climbed to over 10,000 feet in altitude, stopping several times to take pictures and just enjoy the views. At Tres Piedras the landscape changes to one of high desert and the road drops down until it reaches the Rio Grande Gorge, with the bridge, an engineering marvel of a bridge over the deep gorge. We stopped for pictures, John walked to the middle of it, not me - the bridge rumbles and shakes when trucks cross it - an eerie feeling for me!

We left there and by-passed Taos, taking Highway 522 north. It is rather scenic, following the western side of the Taos mountains. We stopped in Questa for lunch at a good Mexican restaurant.

Leaving Questa we were about to drive through some very desolate territory. The road entered Colorado and the number of it changed to 159. At Fort Garland we turned north on H 17. We were driving through the San Luis Valley, a very large area with the Great Sand Dunes National Monument visible to the east. To the west the Rocky Mountains are in the distance. Just before leaving the valley we stopped at Joyful Journey Hot Springs, a nice one that we had visited in April '04 when we came through here after getting married in Pagosa Springs. There are 3 separate pools, each a different temperature, from hot to hotter. There is a lovely view of the Sangre de Cristo mountains, but they were not as pretty as when they were covered in snow!

After our soak we headed for Salida, where we would spend the night. It's a lovely drive again, through Poncha Pass at 9,000+ feet. In Salida we found a Holiday Inn Express and got a room. After relaxing a bit we decided to go out for dinner. We found a nice country style restaurant just down the road and had a very delicious meal. It still being early, we drove to the old downtown section of Salida and walked around - we'd left our cameras in the motel, so missed pictures of the beautiful sunset. We decided to come back to town in the AM and take pictures and perhaps visit some of the stores, it was a delightful place.