Day 11 & 12: Surprising New Mexico--Taos and Santa Fe

Tues., 10/4--New Mexico is our playground for a few days.  : )   Our drive into this state was a scenic surprise—mountains, canyons, ponderosa pine trees.  Also, we saw lots and lots of antelope in the wide open fields.  Many of them were right near the road; one crossed in front of us.  What did I expect?  That the entire state would be a flat desert?  Well, maybe.  However, people do come to Taos to ski, so that should have told me something.  In Taos, we ate a delicious Mexican lunch at a wonderful, old, rustic restaurant called Michael’s Kitchen and Bakery.  We walked around the town plaza, wandering into a few of the shops.  The sky was dark and cloudy; the rain started to fall; we were tired of wandering around anyway, so we called it a day.  I wanted to love Taos, to be enchanted by it, but it hasn’t turned out that way.  The city was crowded—full of traffic and people.  It just wasn’t charming to us.  I think this town needs to be appreciated under sunshine and a deep blue sky.  But, by the time the sunshine returns, we’ll be someplace else.  Here are some pics from Taos.  After that, you'll see my notes and pics from the Santa Fe area.

In the Cimarron Canyon State Park, on the way to Taos

Some of the many antelope we saw in northern New Mexico

I love these tall cliffs!

This was our weather in Taos.

 Wed., 10/5—Taos to Santa Fe.  When we woke up this morning, the sky over Taos was still completely cloudy, and the dark clouds were down over the tops of the mountains.  Fortunately, as soon as we left town, the sky cleared.  That was a relief, because between Taos and Santa Fe is a road called “High Road to Taos Scenic Byway,” and we wanted to be on it and see the sights.  The drive was through the mountains, and through pine forests, and through small towns, and we enjoyed lots of views that seemed to go on forever.  Just west of Santa Fe, near Los Alamos, is the Bandelier National Monument.  That area contains “stunningly preserved ruins of the ancient cliff-dwelling ancestral Puebloan culture within 46 square miles of canyon and mesa wilderness,” according to my Frommer’s guidebook.  That culture flourished there between the years 1100 and 1550.  So, I wanted to see it.  When we were about 20 minutes from the park, we were surprised to see signs directing us to park, in order to take a shuttle bus.  That was OK with us.  When we arrived at the park, a ranger told us some surprising things—surprising to us, that is.  In June, there was a terrible fire that burned thousands of acres of the park.  Then, tragically, there was a huge flood, which damaged some of the pueblo areas, and many of the bridges and parking lots in the park, along with the visitor’s center, which had to be closed.  The park just re-opened last week!  Although there are miles of drives and walking trails in the park, there is now only about one-half mile of one trail open to the public, and it remains lined with walls of sandbags.  It does lead to one of the pueblo areas, but only three of those “homes” have been reinforced to be safe enough for visitors.  So, as it turns out, we heard what they had to say, and then took the next shuttle bus back to the parking area.  Too bad, but still an interesting story.  Our next stop:  a wonderful hamburger joint.  As in Iowa, this is a restaurant that’s highlighted in the book, “America’s Best Burgers.”  It’s called “Bobcat Bite,” and it’s off the beaten path outside Santa Fe.  It’s very small, with a counter and maybe 12 tables for seating.  We ordered the Green Chili Cheeseburger, and it was a perfect burger; really, really good.  So we’ve been in Santa Fe for a few hours, but haven’t really seen the city yet.  We have all day tomorrow to check it out. 

Does this scenery between Taos and Santa Fe surprise you?  It did us! 

Beautiful vista near Santa Fe

Me, about to eat a delicious green chili cheeseburger!