Hotel La Fonda Taos

We visited the 1000+ year old Navajo Pueblo belonging to the red willow tribe. The day was sunny and very hot with sporadic clouds in the sky. During our visit just after the tour, we were hit by the most powerful thunderstorm that dropped lots of water, extreme lightning, thunder and pea sized hail. Attached are some of the pictures of Taos and the Enchanted Circle drive.<br>We stayed the night in Chama, NM home of the Cumbres &amp; Toltec steam railway.<br>

Ojo Caliente Spa has several springs with different properties; iron, arsenic, mud, soda, etc. We soaked in many on the night we arrived, 4/3/2009. We're spending 3 days relaxing, soaking and getting massaged. You KNOW this is Susan's idea. In fact, Susan is in a yoga class as I type.<br>

... and dinner settings, then to a restaurant<br>on the plaza. We got exactly what we wanted to eat and stuffed the whole meal<br>in. <br><br>We did find out the very<br>important information on pinion wood and when we can buy a load. We will plan<br>to head back this fall for that and another round of eating and our firewood.<br>Love Taos, it is one of my favorite places in the world.<br><br>

... only a little area where the RV wouldn&#8217;t scrape the roof. A ticket person came out and helped guide me backing and forthing until I could get the rig out. He directed me to a lot across the street for RV&#8217;s. <br><br>I got into the next lot and a shuttle came up right away. I looked at the clock and told the guy wait, my husband is due in just a few minutes. I threw Twinks in the RV, locked the doors and jumped onto the bus ...

Wednesday night May 13th Santa Fe A few last images of Texas.... In a small town, a run down little shack with an old upright piano on the front porch (there's gotta be a story there....) In Big Bend, a walk down to an old abandoned farm - old windmill still spinning, supplying water to fig and pecan trees. Crickets chirping, really really hot, each step crunching the grass and the gravel underfoot. Overpasses on big roads and small in both Texas and New Mexico, each ...

... did climb to 33. Driving across those parts makes one feel incredibly small and wonder how we manage to stay on this planet thats supposed to be rotating at some crazy speed. One really can see the ends of the earth and I don't remember the last day that wasn't sunny and warm (sorry).        So we made it to the West--Santa Fe. Its a pretty little place where new-age New Yorkers come to stock up on bangles, burritos, and crystals. Finally good drinking water and a good newspaper ...

The Plan: To spend a relaxing week in a scenic area with long soaks in natural hot springs. Take some hikes. Breath the clean mountain air. Chill out. Relax. Renew. Then drive to Mesa Verde and Moab. The Reality: We're overwhelmed by the options. Sand dunes to waterfalls, to rafting to Pueblo dwellings. A Gorge. Gary found a brochure on Ouray, a historic gold mining town, and the Million Dollar Highway. That's now on the must do list ...

... is made of wood. The crucifix on the main alter is carved and painted. The crucifix is surrounded by painted Indian designs. The side alter has saints carved with Indian designs. Our return trip was not supposed to be scenic remember? Wrong. The highway meandered along the Rio Grande with beautiful snow covered top mountains as backdrop. Back in Santa Fe, we visit The Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, oh how I wish I could paint. Then off to the Santa ...

... how things perhaps were then. His wife had a memorial built for him in the grounds, but disagreed with two of his friends who wanted to scatter his ashes over the ranch. The story goes that she dumped his ashes into a barrow of wet cement and said "now let's see them steal this!" The cement was used in the alter of the memorial. Another 'gem' in the area is the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, the ...

Well;we arrived in the real southwest today! Taos is a very attractive artsy community north of SanteFe,New Mexico. We got of I-25 at Walsenburg,Colorado and headed west on Hwy 160. This gave us our first trip into the mountains and we went through LaVeta pass which is at 9413 elevation. The ride was fun and weather was warm until we reached Ft Garland. We got gas and paid $3.09 our first gas over $3.00 per gallon.We put on our leathers ...