Short trip to Taos

This past Friday dh and I decided to take a trip to Taos. We intended on doing a morning hike along the rim of the Rio Grande Gorge and then looking at Mexican tile for our old dining room table and also looking at a back cushion for a living room chair. As Taos is an hour away and the highway to Taos is twisty and very dark at night, we decided to book a b & b overnight. After reviewing various comments on TripAdvisor--SO helpful nowadays--we decided on the American Artists B & B.

On our way to Taos, we remembered that there was another tile place just past Espanola so we turned in there. Although they had plenty of Talavera tile, the patterns seemed too busy to me for a dining room table. But we DID find a really nice buffet that will complete our small dining area in the condo. We put a deposit on it and said that we would be back for it next Saturday as we will need to have the back of the Escape completely empty to fit it in. Back in the car, we realized we had taken over an hour at the store and it was now almost 11 o’clock. Rather late to be starting off on the 7.5 mile hike I had originally planned. So we found a different trail that was only 2.5 miles round trip. It was indeed quite hot and dry. About 90º but there was at least a lovely breeze. And it was fairly flat as well. Here are some photos:

This is the usual warning on trails in our area--don’t leave valuables in the car. We were the only car in the parking area when we first came. I unzipped my hiking pants so that they became shorts and was just starting off when dh reminded me that we were in rattlesnake country. Ulp. But I decided not to zip back up again, relying on my poles and watching carefully where I was stepping. The only reptile we saw during the hike, however, was a lizard.

The cliffs around the gorge are mainly basalt as you can see from the lizard photo and the photo below.

I am not a geologist so I can’t tell you much more about basalt than that it is a volcanic rock. Besides, this isn’t an essay on geology anyway. After about .75 mile traipsing along the rocky trail and avoiding the cacti, we came up to the rim and were able to look down on the Rio Grande (big river in Spanish in case you didn’t know.) We were so hot and it looked sooo inviting that if the gorge hadn’t been so steep we might have clambered down and stuck our feet (or more) into the water.

We continued on for another .75 mile, this time passing through masses of chamisa. It is getting ready to flower in another month. It’s beautiful when it does but also unfortunately one of the many New Mexico plants I am allergic too. Pass the Claritin please next month because I am not going to stop hiking.

When we arrived at the end of the trail, we had a fantastic view of the Rio Grande winding its way through the gorge. It flows through Colorado, New Mexico, Texas and Mexico before it empties into the Gulf of Mexico. As with many waterways, it isn’t as “mighty” as it once was because of dams and diversions, but it is still beautiful.

We sat on the edge of the gorge for as long as we could stand the heat. There was a nice bench there but it was made of some kind of composite material--black--that felt like a frying pan. So we retraced our steps and I was very glad to see the car because (1) the clouds were building toward another monsoon and (2) there were four hawks (or maybe vultures) circling above us. I wondered what they were so interested in--us or something else. I really didn’t care to find out.

We headed into Taos and went to the other tile place. What a selection!! It took us over an hour to agree on the tile pattern. I have taken a photo of it laid out on a table there; quite anxious to see what it will look like when dh glues and grouts it.

After our selection, we celebrated with a late lunch at The Trading Post, our favorite restaurant in Taos. Then we hit Starr Interiors, a lovely shop that sells weavings from the Zapotec Indians. After another long consultation with each other and with the store owner, we chose two pillows. One is a simple bear design and the other is a long red pillow that looks beautiful on our guest bed. Now all we need are guests :)

Very tired by now, we headed for our b & b. We discovered that we had actually stayed there before many years ago. Just as we got our things inside and were relaxing on the portal, thunder boomed and forks of lightning lit the early evening sky. We sat out and watched the rain come down, the cooling of the air very welcome. Then we went inside and while dh did one of his quick sketches, I finished off an English mystery, fighting to stay awake to read the resolution. The rain drummed on the roof, as good as any lullabye.

The next morning, I awoke to George, the peacock cum alarm clock.

The storm had passed, the air was fresh and clear. In the distance, the mountain was still hidden behind low lying cloud but by the time we'd had breakfast the clouds had dissipated.

We drove north from Taos to the ski area and hiked a little way along Manzanita Canyon.

It was all uphill though so we didn’t go very far on it, only about 1.5 miles or so. The trail itself was going to be 6 miles and once again we just didn’t feel up to it. But we WILL return because the views from the top are supposed to be magnificent.

The wildflowers were beautiful.

On the way back home we stopped at the small, quaint village of Arroyo Seco. Took a photo of the “historic” church of La Santisima Trinidad, built in 1834. Old for the United States but compared to the churches I saw in England, “modern.”

A bright entrance to one of the shops in Arroyo Seco:

And so we returned home to Santa Fe with our purchases--except for the buffet which we will be picking up next Saturday. Saturday night we had another huge storm at home. It almost sounded like it was hailing and the thunder and lightning were extraordinary. But Sunday dawned clear and bright again. The clouds are gathering once again though so I wouldn’t be surprised if we didn’t have another storm tonight. It really has greened up the desert!