New Mexico (continued)

---

Day 2 in New Mexico was spent on a day trip to Taos. They say that of the 5,000 people in Taos, 1,000 are artists. We were on a pretty strict schedule so we were only able to step into a few galleries, but I made sure to hit up the local bookstore during lunch. Cody and I both really enjoyed Taos, it was a little bit Evergreen and a little bit La Junta. MORE PICTURES HAVE BEEN POSTED!

---

Photos

Road to Taos
The entire bus ride to Taos followed along this 600 foot canyon. The Colorado River and the Rio Grande helped to cut these deep canyons. The landscape all along the route was varied, one minute it was brush and cactus and the next it was green trees and mountains. I was surprised at the fact the Taos elevation is around 7000' (much higher than I thought).

Road to Taos
This is another St. Francis of Assisi (they are big fans of St. Francis down in New Mexico). Anyone that is a fan of Georgia O'Keefe will recognize this church as an inspirations for one of her more famous paintings called "Ranchos Church #1." We did a "drive by shooting" of this stop. (For anyone not familiar with the Radkowski travel technique of "drive by shooting" it is when you drive by a location, don't get out or stop, and shoot a picture")

Taos Pueblo
After surviving the "drive by shooting" unscathed, we actually got out at the Taos Pueblo. The Pueblo is home to about 100 Pueblo Indians that still live in the original adobe structures without electricity or running water. The pueblo is open to the public and the native people sell their goods throughout the area.

Taos Pueblo
This is a bread oven that the people still use to cook their breads and meats for feasts. While many people do not live on the pueblo anymore, feast times and celebrations bring everyone back to the pueblo.

Taos Pueblo Church
This is the Catholic church on the pueblo. It is one of the newer structures. Photos were forbidden from being taken inside. The Pueblo people have created a combo of traditional Catholic and ancient Pueblo ceremonies.

Taos Pueblo Church
More church.

Taos Pueblo Church
View from the inner courtyard of the church.

Taos Pueblo
This is the other side of the creek that provides the sole water source for the pueblo. It was neat to see the mix of modern and old. There were UPS men knocking on the doors of these ancient adobe buildings.

Taos Pueblo
More of the pueblo...

Taos Pueblo
More of Fried Dough Tour 2008 (my Indian beignet)...

Taos Pueblo
The cemetery on the pueblo was filled with wooden crosses. They no longer use the native cemetery as of 2006 due to lack of space.

Gorge Bridge
About twenty minutes outside of Taos was a bridge that spanned the aforementioned gorge. We were able to walk across the bridge, which had sidewalks and three observation decks on either side. It was amazing! 600 feet straight down!

Gorge Bridge
More "gorge"-ous views. Ha ha ha!

Gorge Bridge
More gorge.

Lunch in Taos
A quaint little restaurant called "The Appletree." In the back are Kenny, Louise, and Kathy, our new friends. On the right, by himself, is DJ (not BJ as we called him all week long, oops), the bus driver.

Lunch in Taos
We both had a green chile burger on a jalapeno cheddar roll. It was awesome. They also gave us chocolate cookies for dessert that we ate on the bus ride home.

Bookstore in Taos
Since our time was at a premium, after we placed our orders at lunch we ran across the street to the little independent bookstore, called Moby Dickens (isn't that a clever name). I got a book on the history of art in the Santa Fe/Taos area.

After lunch snack
No lunch would be complete without my daily chai!

Chimayo Church
Following lunch, DJ (not BJ) drove us to Chimayo, NM. As the story goes, one night a farmer saw a bright light out in a field. Upon investigating, the farmer found a cross in the ground. Perplexed, he removed the cross and took it to his priest. The next night it happened again. This time, the entire congregation went to see, and decided that a church must be built on this site. Every year since, people flock to this site, sometimes walking for weeks to make the annual pilgrimage.

Chimayo Church
More church

Chimayo Church
Behind the church is a small cemetery and quiet garden to go for reflection. We liked this particular cross because of all the adornments that people have placed on it in prayer.

Comments

[Leo Radkowski]

Dessert
Your dessert looks like bologna with strawberries. Ha. Have fun and love you guys.

[Cranson]

Dessert
Never thought of that...but it kinda does!! It tasted much better, though. Thanks for the comment. Love you, too.