Road Trip 2 - Bishop's Lodge

Happy faces on the "patio"

Even though we were only about 10 minutes from downtown, we felt like we were in the middle of the wilderness. The grounds of Bishop's Lodge were beautiful and surrounded by miles of hiking trails (it's on 450 acres). We had a beautiful view of the mountains and sunset from our patio, which was also surrounded by shrubs and trees. Our first night there, we took a dip in the "heated" pool, walked around the grounds, and tested out some camping gear.

Testing out the camping gear

croquet on the front lawn, a chilly pool in the distance (we made it in twice!)

rock climbing outside of our room

vintage playground on the grounds

When was the last time you saw a slide like this?!

view from our walk back to our room

The next day we hit the road for some more exploring. Dada had his heart set on some off-roading, but in our first attempt we turned onto a road that looked like it would head into a park on the map, but didn't seem right. A guy pulled up next to us going in the other direction and we asked if he knew where we were. His answer? "Yeah dude, it's my driveway! But enjoy it man…everyone does! 10 acres dude." (I may have paraphrased but that was def the gist.) We laughed about it and considered, but decided to turn around and head somewhere else. We came across some info for Bandelier National Monument and headed that way. It was well worth the 45 min drive and we explored the cliff dwellings of the Ancestral Pueblo people and hiked through the canyons.

water break! the sun was HOT

you can tell Oscar is having a good time when he willingly poses for multiple pictures

looking for petroglyphs

On the way back to the lodge, Oscar got a little "off-roading" in by driving through Santa Fe National Forest. It wasn't quite the steep cliffs and bumpy roads he was looking for, but a pretty ride on a dirt road through the forest. He may have to save the real off-roading for another trip!

The next day we decided to stay close to the lodge and explored around the grounds.

Oscar and Oscar climbed this hill..you can ALMOST see them in the middle center of the top of the hill.

view from the top of the hill

Overlooking our room! Our Jeep is just to the right of big Oscar's head

Livi had to visit and ride the horses

Guess who's not a fan?

we hit the pool while Livi did some riding

Livi and Promise with the resident cowboy from Brooklyn

Howdy partner

We had an awesome time at the Lodge, but were ready to hit the road for some camping! We headed out of Santa Fe on Dada's birthday. Whether it was too many doughnuts for breakfast or a rapid change in altitude, Livi got a little car sick on the way out of New Mexico. As fate would have it, she threw up just at the entrance to a national park, the ONLY place on the side of the highway for miles. We drove in the gate and Dada was in his element. We spent about an hour walking around the deserted road and letting Livi's tummy settle. It turned out to be a perfect break on our ride to Vail!

Oscar is determined to make it back someday