SPAS, TRAINS, HIKING AND ANCIENT SITES IN CO, NM, UT 2014 day 5


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North America » United States » New Mexico » Farmington
September 26th 2014
Published: December 31st 2015
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Ojo Caliente, New Mexico through Abiquiu to Cuba to the Aztec Ruins in Aztec to our destination in Farmington, New Mexico


September 26, 2014
From Ojo Caliente and the Chimayo area we began our journey west through Cuba, NM for our B&B reservations in Farmington that evening. It was about a 4 hour drive to Farmington and lunch was a necessity for my husband (not a car picnic). I had heard about El Bruno, a Mexican restaurant in Cuba so that is where we decided to stop for our lunch.

It’s hard to believe that two restaurants in a row would garner my accolades for best meal but El Bruno’s in Cuba and Rancho de Chimayo earned those titles for best lunches. Not only a great way to break up that long drive but food worth driving for. El Bruno’s is unassuming from the road, tucked away with only a tall sign and charming adobe arch with a bell to announce it’s presence. If you are not a local you might miss it. Once inside the archway you we were brought into the outside courtyard that had a casual, not contrived, atmosphere that I found very authentic. The food is certainly authentic but my only complaint is that we were kind of forgotten in the corner until we made noises to finally get a waiters attention. When the waiter finally came and took our order (it wasn’t very crowded so I don’t understand the wait), and then finally brought our food we dove right into delicious corn tacos filled with chicken, lettuce, tomato and a medium hot (our request) salsa and red chili sauce. My husband had one beef and one cheese enchilada with green and red chili options. Both meals came with rice and beans and sopaipilla with honey. The bees were free. This place may be out of your way but if you are planning a drive through north central New Mexico, consider this as a wonderful break in your drive.

Our next destination was the Aztec Ruins National Monument, located in Aztec, New Mexico, a small suburb of Farmington in the Northwest corner of New Mexico. It was nearly 2 hours from Cuba so we could not linger over lunch. We drove north through the “New Mexico Badlands” a beautiful area that is now being torn up for fracking and industry. I had wanted to take some time to photograph this area in depth but the I needed late afternoon light and if I had stayed we would have missed the Aztec Ruins so…on we drove knowing I might have a second chance in the morning on our way to Chaco Canyon.

We made it just before they closed the doors at the Aztec Ruins National Monument, and were glad we did. This site is just south of Mesa Verde and north of Chaco Canyon. Canyon de Chelly lies west of here, all worth spending a day or two exploring the differences and similarities of these Puebloan ruins (we spent several days in both Mesa Verde and Canyon de Chelly several years ago). There were only two other people at the Aztec Ruins the day we were there so we basically had the place to ourselves. We were given basic information and a map for a self-guided tour of this ancient Pueblo community, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The 900 year-old ancestral Pueblo Great House is the keystone of this society and is an extended part of the Chaco Culture National Historical Park. These ruins are beautifully restored and boast over 400 masonry rooms, some with the original timbers in the roof. The Aztec Ruins are on the Trails of the Ancients Byway. It is pretty clear that these people traveled around trading and likely offering services to each other. We didn’t spend much time here because it was so late in the day and we knew we had a long day ahead the next day at Chaco Canyon, but these ruins are worth a visit if you are in the area.

We stayed as long as we could exploring the kiva and Pueblo ruins before heading out in the dusk to Farmington for dinner. We chose the Three Rivers Eatery and Brewhouse in the middle of downtown Farmington. When we arrived we found the inside restaurant to be very smokey, so much so we were choking for air. I assume someone burned something in the kitchen but there was no adequate ventilation. We ended up sitting in an enclosed outdoor terrace that was not fancy but adequate. The beer offerings were quite good (my NM Colona Beer was great). The food was good but nothing special. We had a chicken club salad with bacon and blue cheese and Manhattan chowder with a grilled cheese and yellow tomato sandwich. If the atmosphere were better I would have enjoyed my meal much more.

It was nearly dark by the time we began our search for our B&B (located on the river with it’s only access down a narrow dirt hill behind the local fire station) and it was then that we realized we were in trouble. Our host’s directions were not easy to follow (she warned us it would not be easy) and arriving at night and driving down a road that looked like it was going nowhere was a bit iffy in the dark. We spent a good half hour driving in circles until we found our way to this B&B. When we finally arrived we were met by Diana, our host and owner of the Silver River Adobe Inn, who said she had upgraded our room to the suite next door which turned out to be a totally separate but attached unit facing the water. There were no outside lights to the doorway of this guest house so we fumbled in the dark until we found our flashlights. The guest house was spacious inside with private kitchen and refrigerator (where we were able to store our provisions for our next day’s picnic) and a spacious dining/living room with a pullout futon (not comfortable for seating) a shower with no hot water, and oddly hot water was in the kitchen but not even the bathroom sink except for intermittent blasts of heat, making us take sponge baths running between the bathroom and the kitchen. We stayed here for two nights and I slept well for the first night but hardly slept the second because it poured rain so loudly onto the tin roof above that for me, sleep was nearly impossible despite the good bed. At least the fire trucks were not summoned! There was no clock in the guest house which would have been nice to have somewhere in the bedroom so I might have been able to tell what time it was in the middle of the night.

Breakfast the first day was a small waffle with apple and blackberry tarragon sauce that was trying to be gourmet and I think missed. With that we had good strong coffee and juice, but no protein at all. The second breakfast was better: cornbread with jalapeño and apple butter, sweet cantaloupe and strong coffee but sadly still no protein which I rely on to get the day started, especially when I am staying at a B&B.

This B&B is quiet if it doesn’t storm and if there is no fire (firetruck noise from the nearby station) but we do enjoy a B&B for the company we meet in common areas and since we were apart from the main house (and it was cold and stormy), this was not often possible, especially in the evening. Plus, I never did see a common area in the B&B except for the breakfast area so I don’t even know if it was possible to relax with others in the evening or meet before breakfast.

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