Fun in the North

John Gonzales and I had a great trip through the north over the last couple of days. We made a quick stop in Pena Blanca to check out the farm.
The Jemez Mountains looked beautiful on a clear day.

There was a great fund raiser in Taos last night for the Valle Vidal Coalition. It was sold out and highly successful. We did newspaper and radio interviews this morning in Taos and shook hands all over town.
The Mora Valley had some snow---but not near enough. This watershed snowfall is way below normal and the communities in the area will have tough going this year. Las Vegas has extreme restrictions in place.

We stopped by Ledoux, New Mexico to participate in a ribbon cutting by the State Parks Department and the State Department of Transportation at Morphy Lake State Park. (That is pronounced Murphy by the way.) That is Dave Simon, State Park Director at the podium.

San Miguel County commissioner
Leroy Garcia and newly appointed District Judge Abigail Aragon were present. She was recently appointed by Governor Richardson as the first woman to hold a judgeship in that district and is now running in her first election. She is a very accomplished trial attorney.
One of the real treats of this trip was seeing Father John McHugh of St. Gertrude's Church in Mora. I have known Father McHugh since I was just 8 years old. His nephews were close friends of my brother Tom and I and we would go spend several weeks in the summer in Mora for a dose of Father John's discipline and guidance, as well as camping and fishing. Father John has spent most of the last 40 years in Belize running a mission for the poverty stricken in that country. He is a living saint as far as I am concerned.