It was an early morning start, due to the early bedtime and time adjustment, so I was out of bed at 6:30 and out the door for a run in the cool morning by 7:00. After winding through the Taos plaza area for almost 6 miles, I got back to the hotel and got ready to return to the touring.
We made our way to a local bakery/diner for breakfast, the tortilla rellena (sp?) was delicious being basically a giant breakfast burrito (covered with green chile sauce, of course). Once fully fuelled, it was off the the Taos pueblo.
There are a handful of pueblos, particularly in the region between Santa Fe and Taos, with some being abandoned ruins and others still being actively used as Indian communities. Taos pueblo is the latter, and therefore is incredibly well maintained given the age of the buildings. The people who still live in the village (w/in the wall) where the tourists visit live without running water or electricity. Many of the ground level homes are used as shops to sell baked goods and handmade arts and crafts. Below is some shots of the pueblo…notice the amazing backdrop of living in the valley below some of the highest mountains in NM.
I was initially confused by the sign below as to why Native Americans would be serving Indian food…then it dawned on me.
After the pueblo, we made the short drive west to the Rio Grande Gorge bridge. Although the bridge itself isn’t incredibly breathtaking, it’s the fifth highest bridge in the US so provided some awesome views of the Gorge.
The raging Rio Grande river
After walking to the center of the bridge and being terrified by the vibrations caused by a semi-truck we made our way back to the car, but not without first seeing (and hearing) a truck in a tough situation…driving with a fully loaded bed of lumber and no rear tire.
Only about a mile further west of the bridge is the Earthships world headquarters. We figured since we were so close, we’d stop by and see what life in an Earthship was all about.
Not trash, but building materials
While I applaud the creativity and effort taken to live low/no impact, I’m not quite ready to move into my own Earthship.
The tour of the Earthships was short, and soon we were back on the road to Taos with the goal of grabbing some gelato for lunch and hitting the shops in the main village before their early closing time. By the completion of the shopping trip we were beat, so it was back to the hotel for a pit-stop before going back out for dinner.
Not a real elk
Once thoroughly relaxed, we grabbed dinner at a small local brew pub, where I enjoyed a veggie burger (with chiles…a theme is emerging). Post-dinner, we hurried to the Best Western, of all places, to see an Indian dancing show that we were told started at 8 by a local shop-owner. Unfortunately, this was a fail since we were told on arrival that the show started at 7 and had just recently ended. With our evening plans shot and Taos closing down at an early hour, it was back to the hotel for us to hang out a bit before going to bed.
Tomorrow takes us back to Santa Fe…
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