A little danger on NM 502 (Part 1)

"Where does this road go?" It is a great game for a traveling day. And sometimes serendipity plays and awesome role as it did on a recent winter day just north of Santa Fe. During the winter the high temperatures in the area often linger in the mid 20's for extended periods. However, an occasional window will open up and provide a bright, clear sunlit day where one can gear up and pretend the riding season is not really over.





Actual beautiful, non-tagged road art.


One of the pleasures of living and riding in northern New Mexico is that the slabs and the highways are actually made pleasant to look at which to me is pretty stunning. As a long time resident of central and southern California it is so pleasant not to have a bunch of inconsiderate "taggers" mucking up every public surface with their stupid gang signs.



Nice curves and great scenery greet the rider on US-285N just out of Santa Fe.

Actually the slab riding up here can be downright pleasant as there are lots of mountains and the engineers chose not to blast every curve out of existence.

In keeping with the theme of let's see where this road goes mentality, in this community and surrounding area it pays to keep your eyes and awareness open to small things that are easy to miss.



A case in point being the Cottonwood Gallery just off of NM502 on the way to Los Alamos, sometimes called Atomic City. On an scantily marked dirt side road, one drives on what is little more than a dirt side road to a modest looking faux adobe structure. Waking through the door is a significant surprise. Inside is a very modern, yet intimate and comfortable working gallery inside what used to be a large private dwelling.



The road to the Cotton Wood Gallery

We will get to the danger aspect in part II