Taos

We drove south to Walsenburg and ate at Georges’s diner. We headed west into the mountains; Sandi drove in heavy rain, all the way to Taos. We ran into construction and rush hour in Taos. Our B&B, Old Taos Guesthouse is lovely. We ate at Antonios; our waiter was the owner. His sister-in-law seated us. Richard was pleased to see chiles en Nogado on the menu.

The Taos Pueblo, about 1000 years old, is a UNESCO World Heritage site. A young lady named Turquoise gave us a group tour of the pueblo. She talked about several revolts and colonizers. The old church was demolished by US cannon fire during one revolt. We visited several artists, and bought some small items.

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 Next we went to historic Taos, had lunch at Manzanita Market, and visited several shops, including Mooncat Yarn, Common Threads, Opcit books, galleries, and Taos Rockers rock shop. The rock shop owner was a geologist, who also designs patterns for knitters. We had an inexpensive dinner at La Cueva; the owner is from Guanajuato.

Thursday we headed north to the Rio Grande Bridge, over the dramatic Rio Grande cañon. Sandi bought a pair of beaded earrings from a Guatemala lady; there were many vendors set up there.

We continued to Arroyo Seco, where we visited Taos Wools; Sandi may take a weaving class there at some point. We ate lunch at Sol Restaurant. The town is delightfully arty and funky. We drove the twisty road to Taos Ski Valley, where Richard skied many years before.

We went on to the Millicent Rogers museum. It is a large museum of Southwestern Art, with pottery, jewelry, and wood carving.

We had dinner at La Terraza restaurant, and went across the street to Taos Llfestyle, a furniture store with an open area for concerts and events. The speaker was Mirribai Starr. She read from her book, Ordinary Mysticism. Sandi wanted to hear her, and she got her book signed.

Friday we went to the small community market at Talpa, and then to the famous San Francisco de Asis adobe church. It was too early for lunch, so we took a drive on the High Road to Taos. We had lunch at the Trading Post Market in Rancho de Taos.

In the afternoon we visited a used bookstore, Somos, and bought some $1 books

We had a light dinner at a new Lebanese restaurant, the Earth oven.

The artist's unique Nativity scene, with Jesus, Mary and Joseph on one motorcycle, and the three kings behind

In the evening we went to the Harwood museum, to see a very impressive show of work by Nicholas Herrara. He is a folk artist, making pieces tied to the religious and cultural traditions of northern New Mexico. This was an opening, so we got to meet the artist.

Our drive home was routine. We started up the trail to the Stations of the Cross in San Luis, but rain turned us around.

All in all a great trip.  We did a lot.

 

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