Summer Update

So we must admit we've been a bit remiss at blogging. The sad truth is that children, meetings, events, and a power outage or two have forced their way to the front of the line and our poor little blog has gotten the short end of the stick. It only seems fitting that today, Columbus Day, the day after our last big summer hoorah, we finally find the time to tell you a little bit about what's been going on around here.

This was a good summer for Red River. After a terrible winter drought that led to a 23 day forest closure in July, we honestly didn't know what to expect. Luckily we never had time to worry about what would happen if nobody came, because everybody came anyway. Car after car full of families, honeymooners, retirees, and church groups made their way to Red River to escape hotter than average temperatures across the southwest. Everybody put on a happy face and found other ways to relax and enjoy the mountains besides using the forest roads (luckily the town ponds were still stocked for fishing, the BLM lands in Questa & Taos were still open for hiking, biking, and ATVs and the ski area was able to keep the Platinum Chair running). Before we knew it the forest was open again and life was back to normal.

After that the rest of the summer seemed to fly by. We saw a record number of new faces driving in to town, along with a record number of sad faces driving out of town. People really seemed to like the longer tracks of summer mountain tubing (longest in the country) and the horseback rides up the ski area, both new this year. We welcomed two new restaurants, a few business expansions, and some extremely friendly folks staffing the community house. The annual music festival and chili/green chile/BBQ cook-off in August was bigger than ever, and this weekend's Oktoberfest brought out hundreds who weathered 8" of snow and no electricity to have a good time (proving that Red River's guests are the best in the world).

Oddly enough we still have some green aspen leaves in Red River, though the colors in the Upper Valley and outside of town are just spectacular. Hopefully this is Mother Nature's way of extending her beauty. Flocks of people looking to see the foliage have been driving around town, taking advantage of our daily aspen tours and cooler fall temperatures (though nobody was prepared for the snow storm over the weekend). Red River's next big event will be the day before Thanksgiving when the ski area opens. Until then you'll probably catch a few answering machines and run into a few "closed for fall" signs. If you are coming to visit stop by the Visitor Center for a list of which restaurants and shops are open, and take advantage of the extreme peacefulness found in the mountains this season.

Hope to see you soon!