Our First Trip to Taos

We had somehow never been to Taos and stopped there for just a couple of days on our way back from the trip to the Pacific Northwest. I don't know what it was about that town that reminded me of Marin County, California back in the days when I was growing up there--the small town feeling, perhaps;  maybe the beautiful gardens and funky little houses or the relaxed vibe. We just loved it there. 

The first photo (above) is of one of the common rooms for reading and relaxing at the Hotel La Fonda de Taos, where we stayed right there on the Plaza. You can see lots more pictures of the hotel interior at their website. Our room was small but comfy and furnished like an old hacienda. The lace-curtained window looked right out on the Plaza, which was perfect when we were resting up from a day in the sun but still wanted to see and hear what was going on. 

The view from our window

And there was plenty going on. One night there was Native American drumming and dancing by a group from the nearby Taos Pueblo, and the next night was one of the free concerts that take place all summer on Thursday evenings. The Plaza was just starting to fill up for the concert, as you can see above. We heard a rousing performance by the local Damn Band, while having a takeout picnic in our room. Click the band's link and you can listen to some music while reading this post. 

Adobe building in the center of town; note the famous Northern New Mexican blue sky

Taos is a great place to take photos. On the way in to town on the road from Colorado you pass an outpost of the highly-imaginative Earthship homes, built off-the-grid with sustainability and creativity in mind. I didn't get any pictures of them but we have since found that we can rent one for a weekend, so we'll be back up that way for sure. 

Wall mural outside of a shop

After passing the Earthships, the road crosses the Rio Grande Gorge. The bridge is 565 feet above the river and that would have been a great photo op, but there was a movie being filmed there and we were waved through. I did my best to search for famous faces as we drove across--no luck, but there was lots of action. We'll have to go back there, too.

Adobe buildings abound

An interesting stay was made even more so when a cable was cut up in the mountains, taking out the town's Internet for a day. At first I thought it might just be relaxing--no constant checking of email or posting photos to Facebook. Then the little inconveniences started to make themselves known--no GPS or altimeter or map apps via our iPhones. We were still handling our day of stepping back into history (like the early 1990s, I guess), but then the bigger effects started showing up. 

We don't carry much cash when traveling, figuring our debit card is much safer, but that theory wasn't working for us that day. Want lunch? Sorry, cash only. Access to the cash machine? Sorry, no can do. Even the bank was locked up, leaving the arriving employees wandering around on the sidewalk. So, maybe we should just leave town. Guess what? No gas available, either. We started to feel like stupid fools, so attached to our technology that a little quirk could bring us all to a halt, but we had plenty of company. The poor owners and employees of the shops and restaurants, so dependent on the tourist trade, lost plenty of business that day. 

We "made do" with the lovely restaurant at the hotel, which put our meals on the room tab. But, oh, we wanted just one more ice cream cone at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory down the street.

The Internet was eventually restored late in the day and the town and its tourists all heaved a great sigh of relief. We have so many reasons to go back (carrying some extra cash this time); so many little back roads to wander, so many museums and galleries to visit, and so many ice cream flavors to sample...