We drove down I-25 South through Colorado Springs to Walsenburg where we took St Hwy 160 to the West. I really enjoyed driving along 160, watching the rocks change. I don't have any good pictures from this, you will have to take my word. Then, we can into the small town of Fort Garland where we took 159 to the South into New Mexico.
We followed 159 as it turned into the New Mexico road of 522 which meandered through the Carson National Forest. We began to rise in elevation as we came into Taos. It is a small mountain town with a lot to offer. We drove into the central part and discovered that it was their Christmas Tree lighting ceremony. We grabbed a cup of coffee/hot cocoa (yes it was chilly) and waited with the rest of the community for the lights to illuminate. There were children singing and waiting in line for Santa, adult choirs performing, and even a native Pueblo dance performed by four women with drums and other percussive instruments. The mayor of the town gave a lengthy speech and then the countdown began (from 7, which we thought was a little goofy). The entire plaza lit up, every tree had lights and the square was surrounded by luminaries. It was a beautiful sight.
We headed to Taos Mesa Brewing to sample the local brew and grab some food. The atmosphere was fun! The structure was an old airplane hangar and it was decorated with lights, however I think it was merely a decoration and not for the holidays. The beer was good, the food was good. They had a bluegrass/country band there as well, which was also good. What wasn't so good, is that we waited 25 minutes for service. I could complain more in detail but I don't want to tarnish their good beer reputation.
We found a cozy, authentic, Adobe lodge to stay in. The Sun God Lodge was extremely reasonable and the staff was friendly and very accommodating. She pointed us in the direction of things to check out and gave directions as well.
The next morning we checked out the Taos Ski Valley and sampled a bloody mary. It was decent and we were even given a garnish of olives, something I haven't had in months! We walked around the area and then moved on to the Pueblo. On our way in and out of the Ski Valley the evergreens looked like they had been painted with fine white snow that stayed on the branches, giving them an almost magical look.
The Taos Pueblo is an active site with a little over 100 people still living in the Pueblo with no water or electricity. In 1992, it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site as the First Living World Heritage. We were fortunate to join a tour led by Jesse Winters. He showed us his famiy's pueblo as well as gave us a tour or the area. He talked about the history of his people, the Spanish that came to take over, and the tragedies that occurred on this site. People living in the Pueblo were selling handmade goods and foods. It was well worth the $15/person. The adobe is still redone every 1-3 years depending on the need. The Pueblo people take a 50 mile round trip pilgrimage every year to their water source, Blue Lake.
Our last stop in Taos was the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge on our way out of town. This was an interesting place. The bridge was lined by sidewalks so people were able to walk on both sides and peer down at the Rio Grande. As we crossed over in the car, I noticed a herd of bighorn sheep. We parked the car and began walking over the bridge to look at the sheep when some lady started scaring them away by walking too close. In my opinion, this qualifies as harassing the wildlife. One by the one, the sheep started hurdling the fence to graze away from the woman. Then, out of no where the crazy lady's dog (husky) hurdled the fence too and chased all the sheep away from the road and down the cliffside of the Rio Grande. I haven't had the opportunity to watch Bighorn sheep often, but I have never seen sheep run that fast. I tried to snap as many photos as I could but my lens wasn't big enough to capture the detail. I did get some shots, just not as clear as I would have liked.
As we were leaving the bridge, we both decided to use the restroom. I went first while Nate held Kobi. The man at the rest stop yelled at Nate that he wasn't allowed to tie Kobi up or take him in the bathroom. Nate tried to explain he was waiting for me and the man didn't understand and ran up to lock the men's bathroom. Nice guy...
and to Sante Fe, NM we went.
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