We have guests--and they brought an ATV!

When we first booked our month-long stay in Angel Fire, we knew it would be a great time to entertain guests. With full hook-ups, it is easy to host good friends in our little home. You know they are really good friends when we can share such a small space! Connie and Steven have visited us several times in the last five years--in Minnesota, and North Carolina, Kansas City, and of course in Oklahoma where they live.

We've hiked and kayaked together many times, but this trip they brought a new toy. They've brought a four-seat ATV that we will use to explore the New Mexico mountains.

We spent the first day testing the limits of that Polaris RZR. We started down Forest Road 76 a few miles from Angel Fire on a beautiful blue sky day.

We expected Steven and Mark to drive us on these rough roads, but they made the girls take their (limited) turns as well.

When the girls were driving, our long-legged husbands barely fit into the tiny back seat. But they were still trying to figure out our next turn as we snaked our way through these tiny dirt roads with no road signs.

One of the great parts about having a vehicle that can handle those rough roads, is it can take us to trail heads that we could never see on our own. Instead of hiking up all that elevation gain, we rode all the way to Osha Pass for a high altitude hike.

It was fun to get to the snow in the middle of summer with so little effort!

Even though the guys tried, this snow was too hard and icy for a snow angel.

But that snow could still make a good ball. We add this picture to our collection of a one-sided summer snow ball fights that we have taken over the years.

When taking a hike off the beaten track, you are more likely to discover things like a deer skeleton . . .

and Denisa gets to take pictures of little wonders--like a perfect tiny bouquet of Aspen daisies struggling to bloom through the rocks up here at high elevation.

We made it all the way to the top plateau with mountain-top views all around us.

Then we followed Mark through a steep descent as we bushwhacked through the forest . . .

and thankfully found the ATV where we left it. It was great to have a GPS on a phone with a pin dropped where we left the RZR. We're not sure we would have ever found it without that electronic help. Mark and Steven studied the satellite map to determine our next adventure of the day.

That would include finding a full-size pickup that had slid off the narrow road into the ravine. Steven is checking to be sure the driver isn't still in the vehicle. We're not sure how they will get it back on the road from its perilous position.

We stopped to eat our picnic lunch beside a clear mountain stream. We shared a log hanging over the water . . .

because the piece of wood that had grown wedged between two trees wasn't big enough for the four of us.

We saw an elk during one stop, but the wildlife highlight of the day was the big bear that we surprised. He was coming out of the forest and onto the road just as we approached. We have seen bears meandering slowly on many occasions, but this guy took off at full speed down the road. It was quite a sight to see! Mark managed to snap a picture just as this big guy took the last leap into the woods on the other side of the road.

We were out all day, driving 40 miles through adjoining forest roads. By the end of the day, we were all covered with 40 miles of road dust.

For a first day with four rookie ATVers, we had a great time! We were surprised at how smoothly we went over rocky roads, and how this little vehicle could climb steep grades and ford streams. It took us places that would have taken us days to hike to as we discovered more of God's wonders in the mountains of New Mexico.