Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Trailer Talk Tuesday: Shasta Edition: Our Trip to Red River, New Mexico


Hello, friends!  I hope all of you had a lovely Labor Day vacation.  We took a little break from renovating Jolene, our 1967 PlayMor camper and took our 2015 Shasta Airflyte for an end of summer trip.  This camper's name is Sundance and I'm having a little vinyl decal made of her name to put by the door.  We've had her almost 18 months and she always gets lots of looks and comments when we take her out (because she's so cute!!!)  When Forest River came out with these reissues of their 1961 Shasta Airflyte 16SC Travel Trailer, I got camper fever.  They made 1,941 of these to commemorate their 75th anniversary and they came in three colors:  Matador Red, Seafoam Green and Butternut Yellow.  Ours is the 19 foot version; there's also a smaller 16' edition.  It's not super heavy and we pull it with our Ford Expedition.  Here's the blueprint of our trailer:

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Here are some more interior photos.  I grabbed these off the internet, because my photos turned out too dark.  It's hard to get interior photos of these little campers!

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This past weekend we went to Red River, New Mexico.  We go to Ruidoso, NM, a couple of times a year and we've been to Santa Fe several times, but we hadn't ever made it to Red River.  It was absolutely delightful!  It's a small village with a population of 477 and the whole town is only a few streets wide.  The ski lifts are right off the main street and there are some really cute shops and restaurants.  There are so many things to do there, that we will definitely be back!

We stayed at the Road Runner RV Resort.

Road Runner RV Resort

There were a lot of campers there for the holiday weekend, but it didn't seem crowded at all.  Our campsite was right next to the river and we fished for trout, walked over the bridges and really just enjoyed the campground.  There was a road rally of some sort at Goose Lake, so, I'm glad we had a quiet place to hang out and enjoy the outdoors.  We cooked over campfires and inside the trailer and built a fire each night to roast marshmallows.  It was the perfect camp site!





On Saturday, we strolled through the town and ate at Anchovies Pizza (with a name like that, it's got to be good, right?)  The food was really good and the people there were very nice. 


After doing some souvenir shopping and exploring Main Street, we went back to the camp to relax and get ready for our evening adventure.  We had tickets for a chuckwagon BBQ dinner and Michael Martin Murphey concert at his Rockin' 3M amphitheater.  He has purchased the historic Bitter Creek Guest Ranch and has concerts up there periodically during the warmer months.  It was absolutely gorgeous.  You drive for what seems forever on  Bitter Creek Trail off of Main Street.  You eventually end up in this beautiful valley on the mountain with a lake and some cabins dating back to the 1930s.  The food was delicious and he played his hits like "Wildfire" and "Carolina in the Pines" during the first half of the concert and then his cowboy music during the last half.  My husband and I really enjoyed it and the kids seemed to, as well.  The scenery was just breathtaking and I can't think of a prettier place to eat and listen to music.




The next day we got up and went to church.  We try to do that in different towns we visit and our children get to see how other Christians worship and do things.  One of the most memorable services we have attended while on vacation was Easter Vigil at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi in Santa Fe, NM.  Red River only has 3 churches that I could see on the internet, so, we chose one of them and attended their Sunday morning service.  The people there were super friendly--I think half of the people in attendance were visitors!--and really showed wonderful hospitality.  They were from a less liturgical tradition than we come from, but the pastor said "We might worship differently, but we're all the Body of Christ, so, you're stuck with us.  Forever."  That drew a big laugh from the congregation, but it's true and it was a good reminder to celebrate what we have in common and learn from our differences.

After church and lunch, we geared up and headed out for an hour long horseback ride up the mountain.  We chose Red River Stables and were very pleased.  The horses were easy to ride and the wranglers did a great job with helping people from various levels of expertise have a good experience on the ride.  The views we had of the upper pass were spectacular and watching a fast summer storm roll in was beautiful, too.  We got caught in a pretty good rain storm, but it wasn't too cold and it didn't really put a damper on anything.  My husband grew up with horses and we had them when we first got married.  The kids were busy with their activities, so, we haven't had any for several years.  After this ride, they're ready for us to saddle up again!







Red River was a wonderful place to camp and visit. We're already planning our next visit there!  



Thank you for sticking with me through all the photos!  Spending time with the family on a trip like this is precious--thank you for letting me share it with you!











6 comments:

  1. You all definitely hit all of the highlight activities! And my hubby and kids would LOVE to have a little trailer like that. We've tent camped for one night at a campground outside of town, and that was enough for me! ;) But, I think if we had a little camper it would be more fun. Glad you loved RR!

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    1. Thank you! It's a really special place--just beautiful. BTW, I LOVE your blog. It's one of the few design blogs I keep on my feedly. Your home is beautiful and I love the inspiration!

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  2. Oh great. Now I have camper fever. *sigh*

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    1. :-) I know the feeling. I've got two and I'm already looking for another one for when I get Jolene done!

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  3. It's fun to see other people enjoy their Shasta. "Camp Daisy" (1961 Shasta Airflyte 19' "canned ham" trailer is ours), and we just took it to Burning Man 2016 so it's a mess!
    We have a house in Santa Fe, so maybe will move it there and do trips from there in New Mexico.

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    1. Santa Fe is one of my favorite places in the world! What a great starting place for camping trips!!

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