The West Less Traveled

At the New West Network, Ted Alvarez has a terrific series on New Mexico’s wonderful San Luis Valley, an area that was mistakenly made part of Colorado 150 years ago. He begins part one of “Paradise without a PR Agent” with this:

In the storied valleys of the Rocky Mountains, Aspen has the glitz and glam, Vail has an unparalleled ski valley, and Jackson has rugged class.

The San Luis Valley has an intergalactic spaceport inside of Mt. Blanca.

You’ll probably want to read about Emma’s Hacienda in the town of San Luis in part three, The Holy Grail of Mexican Fare:

Emma’s Special consists of a beef taco, a green chile enchilada, a red chile enchilada, Spanish rice, beans, and sopapillas, and each item was positively transcendent, if quite spicy. The further I got into the meal, the more my value system crumbled: With each bite, the food at Emma’s Hacienda gained ground and eventually surpassed all of my Texas benchmarks. I remain humbled to this day by the accomplishment.