Sun God Lodge 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>

... we couldn't find it or the store carrying the plate that we wanted to buy more<br>of?<br><br>After walking off breakfast the<br>sky was so beautiful we had to go down to St. Frances of Assisi&#8217;s and shoot<br>some photos. I still haven&#8217;t done anything with my China photos so had to<br>delete some photos from the camera card on the spot and make room for more<br>photos. I ...

Twinks and I were on the road at 5:15a.m, on the way to Albuquerque, we had to pick up Dale at 12:40. We sailed along but I was watching the clock. Then I remembered that NM time was likely not the same as Oklahoma time. A rest stop was in order and after a quick bowl of cereal I found that the time was different so I had an extra hour to get to New Mexico. <br><br>We got into Albuquerque and down to the area but without thinking got off ...

... Yesterday we went into El Paso. After doing various errands (oil change, drug store etc) and a drive north of the city where we could see the HUGE Mexican flag - a football field huge - waving over the twin city of Juarez, Mexico, we had a lovely visit in El Paso with Helen Dorion and their two kids Toby (3) and Amalia (8 and a Hiver - a camper at Aloha Hive on Lake Fairlee, to the uninitiated!) Mark was away and we didn't get to see him. In the afternoon we had a ...

... was beautiful scenery. It's all beginning to look the same to me for the most part. Except for the rock formations of course. But, I must say that I prefer the scenery of Nevada and Utah to the trees of Colorado. After all, I can look at trees til the cows come home right where I live! I'm looking forward to exploring Taos tomorrow. If any of you have been here and want to write back quickly, I'll take any suggestions as to what's worth looking at under advisement.

Taos was a bit surprise. It must be nice when full of tourists, but imagine you are there in the beginning of the season with people wanting you pay for everything, for your every step or every picture. Is this the native spirit?? No, I am sorry, I don´t think so.

... is done in hornos, outdoor adobe ovens, in which they burn hot cedar fueled fires. After the cedar has turned to ashes, they rake them out and put in the food to cook. Bread can cook in as little as thirty minutes. While the Spaniards tried to establish Catholicism as the way of life for the pueblo, the native religion still guides daily life. The pueblo people had a long history of clashes with the government, including the massacre of over 140 ...

... we flew over Newfoundland and I took some photos of the snowy landscape. We are home now, and guess what...more snow. It is an absolutely gorgeous snowy morning! Enjoy the photos. If not for a sore knee that I developed the last day in Rome, I'd be off skiing this very moment. It'll have to wait until I return from visiting the family in south Texas later this week. Next trip is Puerto Vallarta in late January. Stay tuned! Merry Christmas to you all-- Jorge

... Ended up staying till close (midnight, I think), after striking up good conversations with a College of Santa Fe student (originally from Massachusetts) and a couple native Americans attending the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe. They told me about the Santa Fe Fiesta this weekend and the Burning of Zozobra, which kicked off the Fiesta tonight.