Taos, New Mexico

The first order of the day was laundry. With our jam-packed schedules and some laundry rooms not open all night, the laundry bag was overflowing and we were out of clean socks. So I did three loads and Ruth and Henry helped me fold the clothes when it was done. Jeff got some work done while we were at it.

At 11, we headed up to Taos. It’s a nice drive, and for awhile we rode along the Rio Grande River. There was a stretch of road that was really curvy as you climb in elevation, and we had a pretty aggressive driver tailgating us until she passed us when she was able. She hit a bump on the road and actually got a little airborne and went sideways a bit When we passed through a little lower speed zone area and a police car off the to the side, we were bummed that she didn’t get pulled over.


Ruth with Blondie

From our experience, New Mexico has a mix of fast, aggressive drivers and pokey drivers who are in no rush go anywhere The slow ones will take forever to turn right into a gas station, to the point you almost come to a stop behind them.

The GPS got us to my aunt and uncle’s house, albeit by taking us on the last leg through a tiny street instead of the main road. Good thing we were in the Jeep.

My Uncle Joe and Aunt Chris live in a pueblo style house just north of Taos. It’s beautiful. There are wood beams in the ceiling and red tile floors. Some of the tiles have animal footprints on them, which is supposed to be a sign of good luck.

The waiter wasn't the best photographer...



 The houses in this area don’t have air conditioning, because the way they are built, they don’t need it. They have shades on the windows and both front and back porches, and you just move where the cooler air is. 
 

They took us to lunch at Orlando’s, an authentic New Mexican restaurant. Great food. Ruth got courageous again and ordered a shrimp burrito. Jeff had a local specialty, a Frito pie. It’s a bowl with chili, beans, lettuce, tomato, cheese and Fritos on top. Henry had nachos. My Uncle got the Bro’s Burger, which is a cheeseburger with chile sauce on top. He got both red and green chile sauce on it, so they call it Christmas.



Rio Grande Gorge

After lunch, they drove us out to the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, which we had never heard of before. We had seen the gorge from the road on the way to Taos, but didn’t know what it was. The gorge is very deep, as we saw when we drove over it. Uncle Joe said originally, they planned to have the suspension bridge be transparent so you could see down, but after they laid the metal out, they changed their mind. We drove over the bridge and parked so we could walk out to get a better view. You can walk across the bridge, but we opted not to – it was hot, and the view was just fine from the viewpoint.



What’s interesting about the gorge is that it wasn’t carved by the Rio Grande river. It was actually blown out by a volcanic eruption, and the river eventually found its way through the gorge. The walls of the gorge are covered in black volcanic rock. People can hike it, but they are advised to carry a first aid kit because they will get hurt. It’s steep and the rock is loose.

Out beyond the gorge, my uncle showed us where Julia Roberts has a ranch. At their little airport, he said when a purple plane in there, it means Oprah is out here visiting her pal Julia.

We finished our tour of the area with a stop at Taos Cow, an ice cream parlor and sandwich shop. My uncle said it’s great ice cream, and it was. Henry got vanilla (because they didn’t have cookies and cream), Ruth got chocolate chip, I got blueberry and Jeff got cinnamon. All were very good.

We hung out at my uncle’s house for a bit and watched the hummingbirds hang out at their feeder, and then we saw a golden eagle fly by. Storm clouds were gathering – again – and we got a little rain. Around 6:00 p.m., we headed back to the campground in Santa Fe. It was great to spend some time with them and let the kids see what the Pueblo style house looked like.

Next time we visit, we need to go to the real Pueblo there to see how the Pueblo Indians live. That would be very interesting.