Hi! I’m Mark, the New Mexico Travel Guy, and this is my blog New Mexico & Beyond. This blog documents my travels within the great State of New Mexico, and a few places beyond. My current focus is on visiting EVERY town in my home state of New Mexico. But rather than check off a list of places as quickly as possible, I intend to savor it by writing one...
To follow up on my earlier post about Santa Cruz Island in the Galapagos, this article will feature another one of the 13 major islands of the Galapagos: Isabela Island. I picked Isabela Island as my second Galapagos destination as I’d heard there was a good chance of seeing blue-footed boobies there. What can I say, I’m a nerd. Table of ContentsThe ferry...
This week, I focused on writing an obituary for my father, Erkki Bjorn Wilhelm Aspelin, who passed away on April 10, 2023 at the age of 81. It’s hard to summarize your dad’s life in an obituary, but here’s what I came up with. Erkki Bjorn Wilhelm Aspelin Obituary When Erkki Aspelin was born in Oulu, Finland on June 27, 1941, it’s a safe bet that he...
The next few blog posts fall into the “and beyond” portion of my New Mexico and Beyond blog. As a wildlife biology nerd, I recently made the requisite, once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage to the Galapagos Islands of Ecuador. My 18-year old son is really into reptiles, and I’m into birds, so we made a great team as we explored Santa Cruz and Isabela...
Thank you to Perceptive Travel for publishing my article "Landing in Roswell for the Annual UFO Festival"
When it comes to horse racing, I’m an idiot. Then again, I’m an idiot when it comes to most things in life, so perhaps that’s not saying much. I have very limited experience with horses and I’m not into gambling or betting. So, it’s probably a good thing that I’ve never been to a horse race before. But on a sunny August afternoon...
The amazing adventures of the Coe family and everything you need to know to make the most of your visit to Glencoe, New Mexico
Everything you need to know about the River of Lights Holiday lighting display in Albuquerque, and a few things you don't need to know
Each year as the fall colors start to fade and the weather starts to get cold in New Mexico (stop laughing if you’re from Alaska, North Dakota, or similar place), tens of thousands of visitors begin to arrive at the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in San Antonio, New Mexico. These visitors are of the winged variety, in the form of cranes, geese, and...
Visting "The Most Dangerous Town in America" for the Billy the Kid Pageant and Old Lincoln Days
San Patricio is one of those “blink and you’ll miss it” towns along the Billy the Kid Trail in the Hondo Valley of Southeastern New Mexico. However, several artists apparently didn’t blink when passing through town. The light of the Hondo valley attracted painters like moth to a flame, and some of them decided to settle down in San Patricio...
