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Published: July 11th 2010
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After the Storm
Interesting clouds and sunset after a rainstorm in northern NM June 6—Today I stayed at the RV park to rest and work on the blog. I was interrupted by a lot of barking and had to rescue Cali from a couple of dogs that had run her up a tree.
Cali—Silly dogs. There were two of them. One real big one with a loud bark and one little one that yapped. I climbed an easy tree that was leaning down. I must say I did get nervous when the little dog climbed right up after me!! I got out on a small branch that was swinging around with me on it. He got pretty close. I was glad Mommy heard all the barking and chased them away. I didn't want to let her know it, though, so I took my time getting down and just ambled back to the RV! Toward late afternoon we had quite a rainstorm. I watched the clouds gather over the nearby mountain and saw the curtain of rain as it moved in. The clouds broke up just before sunset but still looked fiery. It was another spectacular sunset. I have never seen so many beautiful sunsets all in a row.
June 7-- I
headed back to Taos to see the Pueblo. There are many Native American tribes in New Mexico who are descendents of the ancient cliff dwellers. Several of them have built the adobe pueblos in which they live and work. People can tour these pueblos and purchase the Indian arts and crafts as well as food. The Taos Pueblo is one of the largest and most visited.
I dubbed the pueblo houses "condos" because they are built stcked on top of each other. Those who live in the upper stories climb ladders to get to them. I watched a woman climb one of those ladders while talking to a person on the ground. She never missed a step. There are several clusters of these stacked homes on the grounds, all built of adobe--real adobe with visible evidence of the straw added to the clay. I don't know what an adobe house is like in the winter, but they are sure cool in the summer. It was refreshing to step into one of them, out of the desert sun. Their church is also built of adobe. It is a Catholic Church and very plain compared to many others I have seen.
A Pueblo Home
This home/shop sold pottery and had their entrance nicely decorated. The round thing is a horno or outside oven. Tourists are not allowed inside.
Many of the homes on the ground floor are also shops. At one shop the owners gave us a drum and song concert. That got the attention of the tourists and brought a crowd to their shop. At another store/home, I watched a lady paint some pottery she had made. I bought a colorful necklace made of corn kernals dyed different colors, a card replica of an Indian painting and some bread which had been baked in one of the hornos. Hornos are round, adobe ovens located outside and usually in front of the houses. I ate the bread while walking around. It was still warm and good! I really enjoyed touring the pueblo and observing the daily life of the pueblo Indians.
After I left the pueblo, I drove to the bridge over the Rio Grande Gorge. There are sidewalks on the bridge so visitors can walk across and take pictures or just look at the river 800 feet down. The bridge shakes some when trucks cross and that caused some squeals from some of the walkers. I stayed for a bit, watching some rafters float down the river under the bridge.
Pueblo Workroom
A woman at the Taos Pueblo was painting baskets in the workroom in her home. The river here is not very turbulent. I took quite awhile for the raft to reach the bridge and pass under it.
June 8—I had been told by one of the RV park owners to be sure to visit the Wild Rivers National Recreation Area, so I decided to go there today. This area covers much of the Rio Grande Gorge and where the Red River flows into the Rio Grande. There are several camping and picnic areas as well as hiking paths, but not much else. I was going to hike one of the path which was only a mile long down to the river. It was listed as a moderate hike. I found it pretty difficult myself and made it only half-way down before I turned back. As it was it took me twice as long to get back for having to stop and rest every few minutes. It was well cared for, but pretty steep on much of it. The views on the path were great however. In this area there were more rapids in the river and I could see that rafting would be pretty exciting.
June 9—I decided to take another day off
Indian Concert
These two sang and drummed up a lot of customers!
from sightseeing and worked to catch up on my blog. (You may have been noticing a big difference between the blog dates and the publishing dates! I have been 'way behind. Time got away from me!) In order to get on line, I had to take my laptop down by the office. I found, however, I could sit at one of the picnic tables by the pond and still get on, so I had a beautiful, peaceful setting in which to write. I also did some painting. I have collected so many pictures and photos I want to paint I will have to live several thousand years to do them all!!
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Kathy
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Taos
Martha, I am still enjoying your blogs as well as your lovely photography! So glad we met up at Pike's Peak!