The scenic drive to Taos

Saturday morning I headed north to Taos. I missed a turn, and ended up taking the long way to get there. It was a fortuitous mistake, because in my wandering I stumbled upon (and thankfully, not into) the Rio Grande Gorge, between Pilar and Taos. I can't begin to describe it, it was spectacular; my Canon couldn't capture the beauty.

I was a bit surprised to see the paved road just end with no warning. Not usually a great sign.



No guard rail, dirt road, 180 degree turn sign ahead. Fantastic.

Ah, my favorite sign of the southwest:

The sign doesn't do the rocks justice:

The tiny Rio Grande that carved the gorge.

View of the river from the bottom of the gorge, less tiny when you're up close:

First view of whatever mountains surround Taos:

Downtown Taos is centered on a plaza, with galleries, shopping, restaurants. It's a lovely area, very bucolic. I wandered a bit, saw Kit Carson's home, had a great lunch somewhere near John Dunn's home, then headed to the Taos Pueblo.

The Plaza:

Downtown shots:

Taos Pueblo is a living World Heritage site. While interesting, it was kind of depressing. I try to imagine what it would have been like to have been a Native American in the 1800s, being rounded up and marched along the Trail of Tears to be dumped in infertile and inhospitable land, for which you were supposed to be grateful. Can't begin to imagine it.

Afer the pueblo, I headed to the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge in Taos. The views from the bridge were astounding, although there weren't vantage points to view the actual bridge, which is tauted as the second highest cantilevered truss bridge in the US. Here's a nice photo on Wikipedia, which also has a link to a panoramic video of the site.

Beth D, don't look at the next one:

Best shot I could get of the bridge:

Took a different scenic route back to Santa Fe. I drove past the *The Greater World Earthship Community*. Yeah. I applaud the goal of self-sustained living, but they couldn't have picked a more wackadoo name for themselves. Their own Chamber of Commerce describes their neighborhood as a "desert Hobbiton or Tatooine." As tempting as it was, I didn't stop in the visitor center. Although, I do see you can rent one...anyone up for a weekend in an earthship?