The Rainbow Tribe Goes to: New Mexico 2010

The Rainbow Tribe Goes to:

New Mexico 2010

In the process of thinking about and planning this trip to New Mexico, I began to play “America” by Simon and Garfunkle, like a soundtrack in my head.  Don’t know why that is, I never really listened to that track so much, just in passing when I heard it on the radio.  But somehow, it seems an appropriate background for our travels.  Actually, I’ve made this trip many times but for Andres, my husband it is a first time.  He has heard so much about New Mexico, from me and other people that he has been talking about taking this trip for many years.  However, we had to work our way through so many particulars that, at least 5 years after we had thought about it we are finally making our way there.  So, for him, all is a first time discovery.  For me, it is going back in time.

My first visit to New Mexico was from my family’s home in Colorado.  It was the 1960s and we were living in Aurora, a suburb of Denver at the time.  We drove south to visit my cousins, my mother’s brother, Carl’s children.  They almost all still live in or around the Albuquerque area. I remember it being so much warmer than where we came from.  I remember the rounded, soft browns and gold of the adobe house they were living in.  Splashes of sunshine, flowers, the smell of beans and tortillas are still embedded in my memory. Streets and names in Spanish seemed much more exotic than our suburban, every house a cookie cutter existence.  After our brief visit was over, I told myself I would return there one day, and I did.

Sometimes it is hard to leave California.  Life is good here.  We have abundant sunshine, food, wine, surf, loving friends, family and good work. To get on the road in July and drive away from the ocean makes you want to question your own sanity.  Nevertheless, we adventurers one and all thrive on doing the unexpected.  And so we began our journey. 

After several false starts, filling up on propane, and diesel we were finally on the road.  We found a good radio station to inspire us and keep us awake.  We made our way north, rocking out to U2 on the I15.  Nothing really interesting there, just more Home Depots, Starbucks, yet another Bed Bath and Beyond and on and on. One thing that was totally amazing is how many big rigs are out on the road these days.  Much more than passenger cars it seems.  I remember fondly the days of beautifully manicured rest stops, now it’s Flying Js, Travel Centers and the most God awful truck stop food you ever tried to eat, each one with it’s gift shops full of annoying knick knacks, chips, soda and beer. After passing up Victorville as an overnight stop (big mistake), we headed on to Barstow and temps of 110.  We found the quietest corner of the Flying J we could but we had to run our generator all night to keep things cool.  Call us wimps if you like, but we just can’t take that kind of heat anymore. We were awakened at 1am by bums dumpster diving next to us.  Andy and I looked at one another and said, “Let’s get out of here.”   So, we hit the road at one in the morning.  Out of hunger and desperate need of coffee we ended up at an Iron Skillet for breakfast.  Whatever you do, don’t go there.  We had the simplest meal.  It was loaded with butter and so much salt our hands were swollen for two days afterwards.  After that we stuck to salads and smoothies in the motor home and didn’t attempt anymore “road” meals. 

We drove across the desert in the early hours, still hot but tolerable as the rising sun started to illuminate the desert landscape.  About the time we drove past Kingman, we started a gentle climb in elevation and a miracle happened, the air started to cool. By the time we got to Williams, we had cool temperatures, pine forests and little dark thunderclouds overhead.  After exiting for a break at a day camp we were told we could pull off the side of the road at the next exit and camp overnight.  We turned toward the Grand Canyon and found our wide spot, opened up the doors to experience the fresh pine scented breeze and Andy promptly fell into exhausted sleep. Later, we set our chairs out under the trees and talked and read books until is started to shower.  I cooked all the left over veggies on my flat grill with chicken and rice sticks in a Thai peanut sauce while we ate and watched a movie.  Since we have solar panels, we didn’t even have to use the generator.  About the time I was getting into bed the rain started in earnest and I had to rush to close the vents and windows. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMABhmMw9XQ

Reluctantly, we started on our way the next morning, unwilling to leave this pleasant place for more heat.  We passed Flagstaff and kept going on I40. We started seeing more “Trading Posts” advertising “real” Indian jewelry and Navajo rugs.  We passed a giant jackrabbit in the middle of nowhere and a petrified forest. In the meantime, the landscape we were passing was becoming more colorful and redder. You could see thunderclouds dropping rain and see it hit the ground.  We drove right through a huge rainbow.  But when we were just before the New Mexico border, the landscape erupted into jaw dropping beauty. All around us were red mesas, rock sculptures and Navajos boys riding painted ponies herding sheep.  Natural caves were worn into the rock, testament to the forces of wind and water.  This is truly a sacred place, a place of power of balance, of beauty.  We pulled into the rest area to drink it all in while we had lunch. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fc9j-L_1LgM

We were back on the road and driving into Albuquerque.  We headed south on the I25 and the I47. Our vistas were first high-rise building, miles and miles of junkyards then just before we turned off the Isleta exit, farmland.  We pulled into Isleta Lakes and registered.  We decided to try one night to see how we liked it.  We just dropped the Tortuga into the RV space and called for a shuttle to the casino, so we could catch dinner. Isleta Casino is a Hard Rock Casino, which means that Hard Rock runs it for the tribe.  To say we were disappointed would certainly be an understatement.  The Casino is across the street and at least a half-mile away from the peace and quiet of the lakes.  Thank you to the person responsible for that.  We ate in the Mexican restaurant, which is on the third floor.  The best part of the meal was the margaritas; at least that was my opinion.  Andres felt the drinks were watered down.  We were seated on the patio had a nice view overlooking the valley. The food was horrible, and cold by the time it arrived.  We had a very inattentive waiter, who should become a professional hot chick-hitter-on.  Because that is muck more his calling and all he seemed interested in.  Ten percent tips are rare in the Monreal world, but sometimes it just has to happen.  As we were leaving, the band was setting up and I was checking out their gear.  They were running a Mackie board with about 16 channels had some very nice undetermined speakers and the usual mics and onstage monitors.  He had in sync graphic eqs and dbx compressors.  So, I could tell they were serious about their sound. The look was generic New Mexican, latins with slicked back long ponytails a la Antonio Banderas in Mariachi. We have yet to find any place so far that doesn’t feature musicians playing latin jazz.  It seems to be all-pervasive, even at the Kimo, where we attempted to catch some theatre.  Maybe further down the road. We were too tired to wait for the set, besides we had a motor home just sitting in the dock.  We went back to our space and started putting our little world back together.  Andy plugged in electricity, sewer and water. About that time the sprinklers came on and the hand wax jobs we had spent 6 days working on was history.  We covered the sprinklers with towels. Generally, there doesn’t seem to be any knowledge of sprinklers and watering systems here.  Everywhere we go sprinklers are set too high, or are watering the cement or they are the wrong type of sprinklers and the water pools and runs off.  We are dumbfounded but no one else seems to notice.  We were exhausted by the time it was all done and slept soundly. 

The next morning we decided to move our site a little away from the train station.  After a bike ride and some Tai Chi on the lakes we decided yesterday was a fluke and decided to stay. Andres got out the fishing pole; let the R&R begin!!!  We laid low for a day, enjoyed the lakes and recovered.  I finally got to wash my hair and felt like a human being again. We cooked fresh caught catfish on the grill.  Life is good! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kp0Wlglfx1U

The next morning, we started out early and caught the Road Runner Express into Albuquerque.  This is the coolest thing going.  The sides of the train are painted like the cartoon character and it makes that “beep, beep” sound when the doors open and close.  At the early hour we were starting, the passengers were all business commuters.  This train goes all the way to Sante Fe north, and there are plans to extent the stops further south.  Tickets were cheap, $4 round trip.  You just look for the bicycle signs on the cars to see which ones you can board with your bike.  The rail staff was great, they helped us to stow our bikes but no one on the train seemed to know about the Paseo del Bosque Bike Trail or where it began even though they were bike commuters, so we just followed our maps. We got off at the Sun Port stop, hopped on our bikes and went looking for the trailhead.  Eventually we found it and started on the 16 mile paved path. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFzvoypQiK0

The sun was just starting to peek up and the ride was gorgeous.   We followed the trail to the heart of Albuquerque to a lovely little park with lakes, a train, wild geese and ducks and hot air balloons overhead.  Further north on the path we headed into Old Town.  We happened onto a breakfast place near the plaza called “Little Anita’s” and had our first taste of authentic New Mexican food.  I’m a green chili person (milder) and Andy is definitely red. After breakfast we headed for the Old Town plaza, which was just like all the plazas we saw when traveling in Mexico.  It is the heart of the town and surrounded with quaint little shops and art galleries and situated under cool trees with comfortable benches.  The locals sat visiting with one another.  After that we headed back to the Bosque on the Bicycle Boulevard, which were neighborhood streets with a 17-mile an hour speed limit.  All the traffic was polite, even though they really didn’t slow down that much.  Soon we were back on the Bosque and the local riders were starting to come out.  We saw lots of people with the Zuni Sun Sign riding shirts.  People were out walking their dogs, jogging or pushing baby carriages.  Everyone was pretty much friendly and said hi or good morning.  When we got to the end.  We crossed a bridge and Andres was able to photograph a beaver in the water swimming away.  We headed back on the trail toward the Bicycle Boulevard where we would catch the train back to Isleta Lakes.  On the way, we got a phone call from my cousin Pam, who invited us to a family gathering at her daughter’s house. 

We made our way back downtown and rested at the train station from our 30-mile bike ride while we waited for the southbound train.  Andy dropped some money out of his pocket and one of the other people waiting handed it back to him. When the train arrived we had an easy ride south and back to our RV.  It was starting to get hot (90s) so we enclosed ourselves in cool ac, rested and bathed and waited for Pam and Sharon to pick us up.

When they arrived we had introductions and hugs all around and headed off for Pam’s daughter Mandy’s house for Sharon’s 51^st birthday party.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2gPJ3Hhets

When we arrived, it felt just like the family gatherings we share with Andy’s family. Mexican families are always huge and you need a chart to keep everyone straight.  In fact, Linda sat down next to me when I got out my notebook and helped me write one and spell everyone’s name correctly.  Check out the family tree at www.workmantabor.com to see I’ve added them all and they have been added on Facebook as well.  By the way, they spell their name Taber.  It is spelled both ways but originally we believe it was spelled Tabor.  Anyway, we had a great time, got to meet everyone’s kids, grandkids and spouses and had more great Mexican food. 

The next day we just lay low for a day again.  But, the next morning it was time to check out of Isleta Lakes and head to the Turquoise Trail.  We used our Iphone to find a Wal-Mart Super Center and a Sunflower Market, which was just as good as our Sprouts back home.  We were taken aback by how they advertised “fresh California produce” at cheaper prices than what we pay.  

After an impromptu lunch in the Sunflower parking lot, we drove to the Turquoise Trail RV Park.  We passed through the town of Tijeras where Pam lives and on to Cedar Crest were the TT is.  We drove up, and while a lot of the motor homes were nice, they obviously have some full-timers with trashy sites.  The staff here is lackadaisical and laid back.  The price to stay here was not cheap.  It has nice views, but no wi fi or other amenities. When I was down washing clothes in the laundry, the Back in 5 minutes sign that was posted on the Office door was really a half an hour with coaches backed up and running their diesel engines and waiting to check in.  That’s how long I had to wait to purchase a token for the washing machines, which were very pricey at $2.50 each. There were some shady characters hanging around washing dishes from the tent sites as well but some of our favorite people in the world Carolyn and Nestor Gonzales arrived with Annie and Finn (doggies) in tow and are in a site across from us. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-IHV4AK4VQ

We decided to have a barbeque and invite whatever family wanted to come, so we let Carolyn and Nestor get situated and started preparing food. The menu was grilled chicken, grilled pork, salad, quinoa, pinto beans, mango salsa, and fresh tortillas from the Albuquerque Tortilla Company, which Sharon had tracked down for us.  We also shared a bottle of M wine from Oregon that Marsella had introduced us to in a wine order and we happened upon in Costco.  It was a chance to introduce Carolyn and Nestor to Pam and Sharon and a chance to share stories and get to know one another.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjO2zALR4F0

The next day, Carolyn and Nestor headed down to Socorro to visit Nestor’s family and Pam and Jerry picked us up and took us for a day trip to Madrid.  Madrid is a great town with a baseball diamond that was built in the 1800s and charming little shops and cafes.  It is sort of a cross between Julian and Taos.  We parked and walked the streets and explored the shops.  Madrid’s claim to fame was being the setting for the movie “Wild Hogs”, the plot of which we heard in full from Jerry (Pam’s husband) as we walked around.  The t-shirts were everywhere, so of course, I had to buy Andy one.  Madrid was sort of a mixed bag, Harley “Hog” culture, Mexican and Hippie.  I found hand dipped copal in a metaphysical shop and bought a bunch.  By this time we were all starving and went to the Mine Shaft for lunch.  This was Jerry’s favorite place.  We all had buffalo burgers except for Pam who had the tortilla burger.  The food was good, the service so so.  During lunch, we got the chance to get to know Jerry a little bit, he spends most of his week down south working and only comes home on the weekends.  We got some New Mexican political insights that were very helpful and found him intelligent and informed. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUHiOJUsCMA

Andres had been looking for some live theatre that would be interesting and came up with a play for us to see called Miss Margarida’s Way.”   Carolyn and Nestor have been acting as chauffeurs since we are not towing so we headed to the Hispanic Cultural Center to see Miss Margarida’s Way.  It was so so.  The concept is: the audience is the class (8^th graders) and Miss Margarida the teacher. Miss MargariDa, (Andres says that is an anglicized spelling and that was the point), spent a lot of time screaming and yelling at us 8th graders but we had to do whatever Miss Margarida says.  Andres of course, had to act up and was called to the head of the class, where he started clowning around and getting more laughs than the principal actor, so she sent him to his seat.  I guess the point was, (but I had to rely on other people to tell me, Nestor, Carolyn and Andres) that it was a political statement about the government and how the people are like sheep and just do what ever the government says.  Andres says that the teachers in Latin countries are like that also. Anyway, we talked about the play on the way home while a lightening storm raged overhead.  In fact, we would get clouds and lightening and a little rain most afternoons. 

The next morning early, we headed out on bikes and rode toward Madrid.  We had a long straight ride and then cut in land toward the golf course.  It was beautiful backcountry, still wild, even though there was a housing development.  Each house was on at least a half-acre of land. We saw a coyote making his breakfast run.  He was healthy and gorgeous.  In the afternoon we hung out at our campsite and we had days of just enjoying were we were at. 

On Sunday we were invited out to dinner by our Albuquerque family.  When we arrived at the restaurant, we found a pleasant old adobe set under trees with a nice patio.  The place was hoppin’ and the food was great.  We seated ourselves next to Sharon and Robert and got started with a margarita.  We heard more family stories.  Pam and Sharon had great stories about Grandpa Truman and Grandma Arizona.  They went to spend summers with them so they had a lot more time with them than we did.  They also talked a famous personage named Granny Walden and that is how I first came to know that we were related to Zeke Proctor, the famous Cherokee.  I will go into more depth on the family stories on the family web site.  Look for an update sometime soon.

After we said our good byes and headed home, I was a little sad.  We just didn’t have enough time to get to know these great people but it was time for us to be on our way. As we were leaving Pam handed me a dvd of “Wild Hogs” as a present.  It is hilarious.  Thank you Pam you made us laugh.  

The next day, we were up and on our way to Sante Fe.  When we reached the town of Cerillos, we smelled a burning smell coming from our nether regions.  At first we thought it was coming from the town we were driving in, but as we headed down the road the smell got stronger and smoke started coming from our left rear panel. Andy pulled the coach off the side of the road and there were sparks coming from the compartment, so we had to choice but to shut it down and call for a tow.  I called AAA, whom we have been paying for years, but never used.  They offer RV towing but beware. My first call, I got a young man, who put in our request for a tow.  He pulled up a repair facility in Sante Fe where we could be towed to and gave me the number and asked me to call.  It was a good thing I did.  They didn’t work on RVs.  That place referred me to a new place that I called and they didn’t work on RVs either.  And in the meantime, I’m getting calls from AAA saying that they can’t find anyone who can tow a 40’ RV. First they said that they couldn’t get anyone to tow us until the next day.  Well, that wasn’t making us very happy. Eventually after some hard work, Rebecca from AAA found a company in Albuquerque to tow us and I found a place to repair us in Sante Fe.  We waited 3 hours by the side of the road in the heat.  Fortunately, we had shade from a tree.  When our tow driver arrived he was completely professional and knew exactly what he was doing and had been working for the company for 30 years.  This was very fortunate because if the tow truck driver doesn’t know what he is doing or has the wrong equipment, your $100,000.00 RV can be toast.  Eventually, we made our way to Hal Burns Truck in Sante Fe, just in time for the mechanics to go home for the night.  However, the people were nice enough to plug us into electricity and we camped in their repair bay until the next morning.  At 7am, people starting arriving and Hal himself came to look at our RV.  We had to remove everything out from under the bed and make a path for him to walk to our bedroom.  The estimate: $1,500 to repair the AC compressor, which had frozen, or go on our way, without AC.  We chose the later, paid a minimum bill and were on our way.  However, we are going to have to cross the Arizona desert without air conditioning, which means we are going to have to do it at night. We had been getting worried calls from Carolyn so they were relieved when we checked into Los Campos RV Park 1 day late.  We pulled into our site with a great deal of relief and continued our vacation.  Los Campos was the best RV Park that we have stayed in and we would highly recommend it.   Sante Fe is a wonderful town.  We absolutely loved it.  Carolyn and Nestor discovered a trail behind the park when they were walking the dogs and told us about it.  What we discovered was the Canyon Bike Trail, a paved bike trail that runs behind the main through fares of Sante Fe, so you access anywhere in the city from a bike and that also connectes to the Sante Fe rail trail, so you could ride all the way to Albuquerque. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgP35KuK_e4

Carolyn and Nestor drove us to the Plaza and we explored the sights and churches and did some shopping for the next two days.  Our visit to Sante Fe was cut short by one day, so we were up and packing and ready to move onto Taos. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LECJEmA6GYE

On our drive to Taos, we traveled over tribal lands.  And every few miles there were Casinos.  This is very different from the last time I was here.  After the Pueblos we came into the high desert with the Rio Grande off to our left.  Closer in to Taos, all the white water rafting companies had their boats in the water and tourists cars parked along side the road.  We pulled into the Taos Valley RV Resort, which is sister resort to Los Campos RV, but not as nice.  We pulled into our space, which has a nice view out the front and we have low-lying clouds and mountain peaks to look at.  We got ourselves situated and in for the night. We were fine this time, but Nestor and Carolyn had discovered that they had a tire problem and had to return to Sante Fe the next day to take care of it.  Andres and I got up early and rode our bikes into the plaza.  We rode along Highway 68, which was a big mistake.  We were both almost hit by drivers not paying attention. But we made our way to the Plaza and the coffee shop in the La Fonda Hotel only to discover that we were in the middle of preparations for Fiesta.  We were there early and hoping to meet up with the Tai Chi class that meets on the Plaza at 9am every morning.  That would be every morning except during Fiesta.  Being aware of Fiesta as a former resident, I had looked online from home to see when Fiesta was, and it was listed in August, but there you have it.  We walked around the Plaza and window shopped since nothing was open.  I gave Andres a walking tour of the downtown.  We walked around the plaza down the Pueblo road and back to Kit Carson Park, where they were having another Art Festival and vendors were setting up their tents and wares, back towards the Taos Inn, onto Bent street and the Kit Carson home.  Quaint old adobes, just add to the charm, and I have to say it really hasn’t changed all that much.  The zoning codes don’t allow for all the modern stuff to happen, so it looks pretty much the same.  We made our way back to the RV Park and waited for Carolyn and Nestor to return from their business in Sante Fe.  Pretty soon they pulled up, walked the dogs and we were onto the St. Francis de Assisi Church in Ranchos de Taos.  This church is famous for being photographed by Ansel Adams.  We toured the church and went into the gift shop and while we were there, a deluge started.  We were waiting in the gift shop with fellow travelers waiting for the rain to at least slow down so we could make it to our car.  Eventually it did and we stopped at Guadalupe’s restaurant for dinner.  The meal and service were excellent.  While we were waiting for food to arrive, Andres remembered we had left our windows open so he and Nestor ran home to check on things and found water in our motor home everywhere.  After dinner, we came home and finished the mopping up.  Sometimes you learn your lesson the hard way. 

The next day, we went to tour the Earthships, which is something that Andres has been talking about for five years now.  Anyone interested can visit their site at www.earthships.com.  Earthships are houses that our self-contained, like our motorhome.  They use recycled materials to cut down on the use of cement and adobe.  Old tires are used for insulation in the walls, glass bottles are used in decorative motifs and recycled cans are also used, as well as the traditional adobe building technique which actually builds two walls, an inner wall and an outer wall parallel to provide dead air space as insulation which keeps the house cool in the summer and warm in the winter.  Houses are built with south facing windows that provide sun and heat for indoor greenhouses that are used to filter and clean grey water, also food crops are grown inside.  Each house has a cistern on the top that collects rainwater that filters down into a 3,000-gallon holding tank for household use.  Solar Panels, windmills and passive solar design are used to regulate house temperature and are controlled by a computer system in a Control Room.  Houses are completely off the grid, cost of construction is 1/3 of what a “normal” house would cost and there are no electric or utility bills and you grow at least a portion of your own food.  This all made our little group so happy that Nestor and Carolyn created a song about it that Andres will perform for you.  Cid’s is the natural food store that we found in Taos. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIRX2przSRc

Later on, we headed towards Taos Plaza and experienced the Fiesta.  This Fiesta was quite different from the ones I remember.  In the old days, everyone would come to the Fiesta, quite dressed up.  Women wore beautiful Spanish style dresses with mantillas and looked like Spanish dancers, flamenco guitarists and dancers, couples doing the Mexican two-step on the dance floor.  Men in black suits, women in the colorful colors of the south, Mexico and Guatemala. Couples would walk arm in arm around the promenade visiting with neighbors.   This fiesta had vendor set up in tents like a powwow and selling jewelry and t-shirts and the people attending were dressed in gang wear. Thank you hip-hop.   Like I said a completely different culture.  There was also a much larger police presence.  There were 12-15 policemen/women just in the plaza and more in the town.

The next day it rained all day so we were stuck inside our motor home but had a chance to catch up on laundry, do some cleaning and play a scrabble game that I won, thank you Andy. I love it when I can beat a teacher.   

The next day, we took a tour to Red River, which has a completely different culture from Taos.  Where Taos is all about old adobes and chili ristras Red River and all the Ski Valleys including Taos Ski Valley are all about skiing and mountain culture.  We were treated to beautiful mountain vista and streams long the side of the road.  These villages were created by Europeans that came to the area and created their the ski valleys and towns because it reminded them of home. In fact, my first job was at Taos Ski Valley when I was 17 for the Taos Music School.  I was very pleased to see that it is still going on and being held every summer at the Hotel St. Bernard.  Unfortunately, we didn’t go that direction so I didn’t get to see my old friend and boss Jean Mayer.  But, we did see the concerts listed in the paper. Jean Mayer, who is an Olympic downhill skier from France owns and runs the Hotel St. Bernard and Dado Mayer, Jean’s brother runs the Edelweiss Hotel. We walked around the town of Red River, which was very family friendly with lots of activities for kids.  Carolyn stopped a couple and asked where to have lunch so on their recommendation we stopped in a cafe and had a very disappointing lunch before heading back to Taos. We checked out RV parks and bike trails on the way down the mountain and soon we were headed toward Taos Pueblo for the Corn Dances.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfaFU6JySK8

Taos Pueblo is ancient and has been inhabited for over a thousand years.  The Pueblo is beautifully situated with a vista of the Sangre de Cristos and a stream running through the center of it providing fresh water.  The water must be good, we saw people coming to fill up water bottles right out of the stream.  We sat under a shade tree and waited for the ceremony to begin.  No cameras were allowed so we couldn’t take pictures or video and we will respect that.  The drum entered the ceremonial circle from one side and the dancers from the other.  They started the ceremony in front of the church.  Like many pueblos, there is a Catholic church in the town.  I noticed that the singers and drummers were all men, seated in a circle around the drum.  The women, dressed in shawls, skirts and moccasins were standing with dignity back behind the drum.  The dancers were a mixture of men and women dressed in colorful regalia.  We know that each piece of regalia has symbolic meaning although we had no explanation of what each piece meant.  There was a person in charge of the dancers as well as a men who were in charge of keeping tourist out of the sacred hoop and moving the crowd when necessary.  Some of the dancers carried gourds and dancers were in two lines, just like they dance in Andres’ town of Mesillias, Mexico.  We stayed for a while and added our prayers to theirs but eventually the dogs needed walking so we had to go. 

The next day, we were up early and rode our bike into the plaza.  This time, as per one of our waitress’s suggestions, we used back roads with wide bike lanes to get into town, since the first time we were almost hit twice by errant, non-focused drivers.   We had coffee this time at the “World Cup” a great little coffee shop with friendly barristas.  Before we had gone to the coffee shop at the La Fonda and the people who waited on us were surly both times we went there.  The “World Cup” was full of locals snagging their cup of Joe before they went to work.  We loved the anti-corporate logos everywhere, this is a fair trade coffee shop and we were happy to spend our money there.  After coffee we went to the Plaza and started our Tai Chi practice.  Soon the Richard Leirer’s Tai Chi class arrived for their daily practice on the plaza and for the first time ever we did Wang Style Tai Chi. We tried to follow, although the names are the same, the moves are different.

Afterward we rode our bikes back.  We were very pleasantly surprised that we didn’t really suffer from any altitude sickness during our entire trip, which let’s us know that our workout routines and diet are working.  We remained in good health and feeling good except for the first day we arrived in Taos, I was a little down and felt like the energy there was weird at times, but I was fine the next day after sleep.

We met up with Carolyn and Nestor and headed out for Chimayo.  Chimayo is where Carolyn and Nestor hang out when we are not there to keep them in Taos. Chimayo is a beautiful little town.  The main attraction there is the Santuario de Chimayo that has a healing room and sacred healing dirt that is blessed and that people can take.  We brought some back for ourselves and some for our loved ones that are suffering sickness.  The walls were lined with crutches that people had left behind in the healing sanctuary. People were wheeling themselves in wheelchairs to pray for healing.  Carolyn, who practices Reiki and healing massage and is very sensitive to energy fields had told me about the energy in the Church ahead of time so when I walked in, I stood in the doorway and waited.  I felt an overwhelming sadness like a huge ball weighing down on me, and I almost burst into tears, then I breathed through it and let it pass through me.  But the walls of the building hold the sadness of all the people that come here for help.  I could definitely feel their prayers.

Carolyn hadn’t eaten so we found a little restaurant that was open.  While Carolyn and Nestor were served tamales and Andres and I had cold drinks, Nestor started speaking to the people there in Spanish.  The people who own the restaurant were originally from Uruguay, and the Spanish that they speak is almost exactly the Spanish that Nestor grew up speaking in Socorro so he was thrilled to be able to speak that dialect again and had a great time arguing and bartering with the people there.  Soon we were headed back but not before we stopped by a roadside vegetable stand to pick up some local squash and cucumbers.  While we were shopping Nestor was chatting with the man and discovered that he had business dealings with his relatives that were farmers in Socorro.  It’s a small world sometimes. 

Our last night in Taos we wanted to take Carolyn and Nestor out for a nice dinner so we chose Doc Martins at the Taos Inn.  Although everything was delicious, we each had their chili relleno light portion, one chili relleno with a tiny bit of salad, not very filling.  The margaritas were great tasting, small and cost and arm and a leg.  We each shared desert.  The food was good, but prices were tourist trap so, we will not be doing that one again.  You live and learn. 

While we were having dinner, a gentle rain had started to fall, so our plans to walk around weren’t able to happen.  We went home, got up early and packed ourselves up and got ready to leave early the next day.  In the morning, we said goodbye and thank you to Carolyn and Nestor and headed back to California our vacation over too soon but still glad that we did it.  New Mexico we love you.  It has all the charm and beauty of Old Mexico but is safer, and the people are great. It has wonderful things to offer.  We just scratched the surface, there is so much more to see that what we did.  We hope you all will consider going there, we highly recommend it. 

 Happy Trails!  Kate