NEW MEXICO: a SCENIC motorcycle roadtrip from Chama to Taos and Eagle Nest

Stunning desert landscapes, breathtaking mountains, a state with Native American and Mexican heritage, and a unique place to visit. Travel on some of the most beautiful roads from Colorado all the way from New Mexico to Texas, and visit majestic mountaintops, the artistic town towers, and one of the most famous churches of the area. Welcome to New Mexico. Welcome to the land of enchantment. It's funny to me, it always feels like Colorado is kind of over after the Million Dollar Highway, because I'm mentally very ready now for the next state from New Mexico, but of course, Colorado is not over yet. The ride took me from Durango, through parts of the San Juan National Forest, to Pagosa Springs. Not because I had planned this route beforehand, but because I made my choices after consulting this guy. My ride today is literally driving away from the rain. I changed directions already twice, because I didn't want to go where it looked rainy. And here you can see all these dark clouds, and I can as well hear some thunder in the background. And I will still try to not get into the thunderstorm, because that's really not so nice. Now after Pagosa Springs, I'm finally heading direction New Mexico. Yay, a new state. Very exciting. Hello, New Mexico. Here I am. Everyone who watched the video of my world trip might be familiar with New Mexico already. Yes, it's a place that I visited on this big journey. And yes, the picture on the cover of my book was taken in the amazing White Sands National Park. This time I decided not to go back to White Sands though, but to use my time to travel to an area I had not visited yet, and explore the mountains instead. This is the town Chama, and two motorcyclists that I met yesterday told me that this is a very outdoorsy village, and if you follow Highway 64 to Tierra Amarilla, and from there to Tres Piedras, I have no clue how to pronounce these things, but it is one of the most beautiful rides of New Mexico, at least according to them. Here I turn off to the almighty mountains, and let's see if the road is as nice as it was promised to me. Otherwise, I will be mad. The village Tierra Amarilla was named after yellow clay that deposits in the Chama River Valley. From here, U.S. 64 climbs the backside of the monumental Brazos Cliff, entering into the timberland of the Carson National Forest. Be on the lookout because of the large elk population as the road winds toward the Tazos Mountain, and make sure to bring enough time to enjoy the amazing views. The ride over these mountains was so amazing, and now I'm riding towards the next mountains, and my destination for tonight, and somehow it looks very empty here, ghosty. At Tres Piedras, the highway drops into Sagebrush Mesa before crossing the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, 565 feet or 172 meters above the river. Oh my God, look at them. How cute are they? Oh. Instead of cows, you really have to be aware of llamas crossing your way in New Mexico. I don't know if you can see this in the distance, but all these mountains, they're a head apart of this mountain range, and there is still snow on them, and you can't even ski there in the winter. I think this is the highest mountain range here in New Mexico. The Sangre de Cristo Mountains, which is Spanish for Blood of Christ, are the southernmost sub-range of the Rocky Mountains. They are located in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico. I'm not going to visit the higher mountains today, but I want to stay in a town called Taos, which is on the foot of these mountains here. This is Taos, and it looks super nice. Let's see if the hotel that I picked still has a room. Fingers crossed, but I think it's kind of off-season here now, so it should be all right. Casa Benavides Bed and Breakfast calls itself the house of good life. It's located in the heart of Taos and had a very safe parking for my motorcycle right in front of the room. In 1989, Tom McCarthy and Barbara Benavides bought a Lewis Art Gallery building on Kit Carson Road, originally built by Barbara's father, Carlos Benavides. The gallery, along with three other homes built by Carlos and the original McCarthy family home, were converted into the living quarters and multiple guest rooms. Taos is located about 45 miles, or 72 kilometers south of the Colorado border in northern New Mexico's high desert. The town sits at around 7,000 feet, or 2,130 meters altitude, and is a hub for skiing, exploring the surrounding outdoors, or just to explore the local galleries and artists. Located in the heart of the historic district, you'll find Taos Plaza. The plaza is a perfect place to admire handmade tribal pottery, jewelry, and art, or just eat out in one of the amazing restaurants. My next day started with a delicious blueberry muffin and with another task. I just realized that my rear tire very likely would not make it all the way to Miami, and I tried to order a new one in one of the motorcycle shops I would pass by within the next days. Rear tire. Yes. Hang on the wall, let me dig real quick. I could have something here. Potentially tomorrow, if I find it from the right warehouse. Was there any brand you'd like to stick with? Actually, the only important thing is that it's not coming too late because I'm basically only traveling through, so I would need it tomorrow or latest, like Saturday morning, but I need a tire that brings me all the way back from Oklahoma to Miami. So after tax, it's a great tire. It's 314.96 after tax. All right. They have a name on the ticket, does that help? Yeah, it's Leah, L-E-A. I'm standing here in Towers now, and before leaving, I want to go to the Towers Pueblo, which is a UNESCO World Heritage and is considered to be one of the oldest continuously inhabited communities here. And I think it has an amazing architecture, and I really can't wait to see it because I just think architecture like this is super interesting. So that didn't go that well due to corona. No tourists or people who are not living there are allowed to visit, but a very nice guard suggested another site to me, and that's a church that is built with the same material and in the same way. And now let's see how it looks like. Yes, I think it looks nice. So nice enough to go. Let's do this. You find San Francisco de Assis Church on the main plaza of Ranchos de Taus. It was built between 1772 and 1816, replaced an earlier church in that location, and is the only original church which remains intact in the Taus area. The church was the subject of several paintings by Georgia O'Keeffe and photographs by Anselm Adams, Paul Strand, and Ned Scott. Georgia O'Keeffe described it as one of the most beautiful buildings left in the United States. Today, the church is designated a National Historic Landmark and a World Heritage Church. So I just bought these three candles here, and I will light them in the church now. Every June, volunteers gather to re-plaza the church in Adobe. This annual project is called the mudding of the church. By mixing clay, sand, straw, and water into thick mud, it is applied to the surface, layer upon layer, from top to bottom. These layers build a surface that becomes resilient to the elements. After seeing this pretty church here close to Taus in New Mexico, I unfortunately will have to head into the flats now today, which means I will go over this mountain range here in the north of New Mexico now, and then I will hit the flatlands, which means I will go pretty much straight from New Mexico through a little bit of Texas. This was very nice, but now I'm heading to the mountains again, and I think this will be the last mountains that I'm going to see for a long time, because this right here is already a little goodbye to New Mexico, because I will cross into Texas afterwards. But now, let's enjoy this first. New Mexico's state motto is the land of enchantment. In 1935, New Mexico's tourist bureau described the state as the land of enchantment in one of its brochures in an effort to attract visitors to the area. Before that, New Mexico had adopted the motto the Sunshine State, but had given up on the slogan in 1935 after Florida adopted it as its own official nickname. In 1941, the new motto, the land of enchantment, was added to license plates and came into common usage. This is part of the so-called Enchanted Circle Scenic Byway, and I think there are about 24 more scenic byways here in the state of New Mexico, so it's really worth a ride with a motorcycle. So many great things to see. At 2,500 meters altitude, you reach Eagle Nests Lake State Park. Located on the Enchanted Circle Scenic Byway, Eagle Nests Lake is surrounded by the high mountains of the Moreno Valley. The lake itself is a reservoir created in 1918 by a dam, the largest privately constructed dam in the United States. Supposedly, eagles built nests on the sides of the new dam, and that's how it got its name. Today, the lake is popular for fishing and boating in the summer, and ice fishing and snowmobiling in the winter. Goodbye, pretty lake. That was it. Now my ride is going down from these mountains until I will be in the flats and head direction Texas. I'm very sad somehow. I really, really enjoyed New Mexico, and I wish I could have stayed longer and explored more, and maybe eventually ride the backcountry discovery routes here in New Mexico, but maybe next time. ♪ Beautiful creed ♪ ♪ Nothing to believe ♪ As travelers, we rarely can explore everything. On long journeys, there are always things you miss out on, but getting a little glimpse of nature and culture is sometimes enough to light a little flame, a spark that burns deep inside us and reminds us not to forget, and that makes us remember to eventually return one day to explore even more. Thank you for joining the ride through New Mexico. If you enjoyed the mountainous journey, give this video a thumbs up, and let me know in the comments which place you would really like to visit again. The next episode will take us to straight roads and from Texas to Oklahoma. Tune in next Thursday to join the ride.