Monday, July 13th,
we drove the Jeep to Taos, New Mexico. Everyone said to see Taos Pueblo, so we went
there first. There is an entry fee which
is a source of revenue for the tribe.
The Pueblo is the home of the
Red Willow People. We took a short tour
from a very informative guide. The tour
started in the church. The original
church was destroyed during a war and the new church was built in the 1800’s. He told us that 80 % of the population was
Catholic but 100% followed the teachings of the Red Willow Tribe. The Pueblo has been there for over 1000 years
occupied by ancestors of the current occupants. They do not have electricity or
running water. They do use propane for
light and stoves. They still cook in the
outside ovens as well. Their water comes
from the stream which is fed from snow melt from the Taos Mountain. They carry
it in buckets to their homes. The water in the stream is tested on a regular
basis for purity. There are
approximately 3,000 people who live in Taos Pueblo. The North Pueblo was the original
building. There is also a South Pueblo
and additional pueblos that have been added.
The school goes to the 8th grade then they go into town or to
a boarding school. Our guide was in
college majoring in Biology. They have
their own police department. They grow crops and hunt in the mountains for deer
and elk. They also sell art, crafts and
jewelry that they make.
We were able to go into many
of the homes as they also served as their shops. One shop keeper explained that his great grandparents
had the back room and a room was built on for each of their children to live in
when they grew up. His grandparents had
an unusually large place since they had 9 children. So his family had 4 rooms.
Originally there were no
doors. The entry to the pueblo was from
the roof. You would climb to the roof
and pull up the ladder to be safe. The
adobe helps to keep them cool in the summer and warm in the winter.
Church
North Pueblo with River they use for water in the foreground
Close up of North Pueblo
South Pueblo
What is left of the old church and the graveyard that was in use until 2011
After touring the Pueblo we
went into the city of Taos. It is a ski
village that has a lot of local artists and shops to support the tourists. We walked around town and enjoyed seeing the
work of the local artists.
On the way back to Santa Fe
we went in search of a hot spring that was supposed to be just a short hike and
then free for those who would like to use it.
We turned off on Tune Road which is not far outside town. It was a dirt road with some unique houses
spread out along the way. We drove 4 ½ miles
down Tune Road to where it dead ended into the Rio Grande. We looked at the VERY steep and rocky path
and decided that at 4:00 it was too late to venture down. We took some pictures
of the river and drove back out.
On our way back to Santa Fe
we took a different route than when we went.
This route took us over the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge. We stopped on one side and walked out on the
bridge to take pictures. On the other
side was a rest area, we stopped to take pictures there as well. It covers a wide expanse of river and it VERY
high up. It was quite an impressive
piece of engineering.
Tuesday, July 14th Happy Birthday to my brother, Stuart! We went
to the Georgia O’Keefe Museum. She moved
to the Santa Fe area for the later part of her life and it served as much of
her inspiration. She loved bold colors.
We decided we like her pastels and water colors more than her oils. I always enjoy the videos they show with the
background/history of wherever we are.
She was married to a photographer, who loved to photograph her. She bought a large ranch north of
Abiquiu. It is known as the Ghost
Ranch. It is now used for a retreat and artists.
After the museum we went to a
gallery next door that had photographs including some by Georgia O’Keefe’s
husband and Ansel Adams, who is one of our favorites. We walked around town a little more to some
of the shops we had not seen.
After lunch we drove over to
Madrid, NM. Madrid was a coal mining
town in its hay day. Then it died and
was a ghost town. It is being revived as
an artist colony and tourist town with galleries, shops and eateries.
Above and below two of the cute shops
This one is for sale and needs some love
On Wednesday, July 15th
we cleaned up around the RV and did a few chores that had been waiting to be
done. For lunch we met Michelle Belsan
(wife of my first cousin Peter) and her four children, Mikaella, Tommy, Allison
and Justin for lunch. They drove up from
Albuquerque where they were visiting her parents. It was fun to finally get to meet them. We look forward to seeing them again later in
our trip when we visit Phoenix. Our
afternoon was spent grocery shopping and getting ready to move to Durango on Thursday.
