The New Mexico Chapter of the BMW CCA hosted another Cardinal Point driving tour on Sunday, May 16, 2021. The weather was once again perfect for the New Mexico True drive which started in Belen, NM. After a bit of socializing and the inevitable car talk, sixteen cars and about thirty people proceeded south on NM 116 (old US 85) through the fertile farm fields of the picturesque bosque along the Rio Grande. A brief run south on I25 took us to Socorro where we followed NM 1 on the El Camino Real National Scenic Byway to San Antonio, NM.
The population of the village of San Antonio is less than a hundred people, but it is a village with plenty of character. Conrad Hilton, the hotel magnate grew up there and the Owl Bar is famous for its green chile cheeseburgers as well as having been a meeting place for the scientists who detonated the world’s first atomic bomb at the Trinity Site east of San Antonio on July 16, 1945. Two blocks away from the Owl is the Buckhorn Tavern, the site of a Throwdown! with the Food Network’s Bobby Flay in 2009
From there we continued on NM 1, to the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Reserve. After a bit more socializing we drove the auto tour loop with a stop at the Willow deck for sightseeing. After seeing a few white egrets, we ventured to the village of Escondida north of Socorro for a delightful outdoor lunch at Journey’s Place.
Many thanks to tourmeister Jason Collin with assistance from member Rob Anthony for developing the entertaining route and for Jason’s expertise at finding quirky, pet-friendly eating establishments with great food! Also, thanks to Jim and Bob Storch who made the drive from Alamogordo and El Paso to join us.
Photos by Jason Collin Photography
