After last night's events, we decided to play it by ear and see how the morning went. The original plan was to head to Taos. Jack bounced back so I went and got Starbucks and rolls for breakfast. By 9:00 a.m., we were in the car on the High Road or Kings Road to Taos.
The first stop was the Santuartio de Chimayo; Jack and Sharon particularly enjoyed this stop. After stopping at a vista point, we went down into the village of Cordova, a woodcarver's community famed for unpainted religious carvings. None of the pieces that we saw struck our fancy and we did not buy anything. The third stop was the San Jose de Gracia Church in Las Trampas. Although highly touted by the guidebook as one of the best-preserved and most representative examples of the Spanish Colonial churches in New Mexico, Sharon was not overly impressed.
From there, we drove the rest of the way into Taos. We actually went through an area that was heavily forested. I am going to write a longer post on the terrain that we saw over the course of the trip.
We stopped in Taos for lunch. We wandered through plaza. Old town Taos has a much less commercial feel than Santa Fe. We ended up having lunch at the Apple Tree Restaurant. The restaurant was recommended both by one of the guidebooks and by the attendant in the parking lot; it was very good.
After lunch, we wandered briefly through the Kit Carson Home and Museum
The next stop was the Taos Pueblo. Taos Pueblo is the only living Native American community designated both a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and a National Historic Landmark. The multi-storied adobe buildings have been continuously inhabited for over 1000 years. There is no electricity or running water. As we pulled up to the pueblo, it started to storm: lightning, thunder and pouring rain. We waited by the admission booth for a break in the rain. We wandered through the settlement, including the San Geronimo Church, while it rained lightly. Jack ended up buying a tomahawk in one of the shops. The pueblo is in a valley with some towering peaks in the background.
The final stop for the day was the San Francisco de Asis Church in Rancho de Taos. We toured the church, saw a film on parish's history and viewed the mystery painting!
We took the more direct route back to Santa Fe. For part of the way, the road runs along and through the Rio Grande Gorge offering some interesting scenery.
It was almost 6:00 p.m. by the time we got back to the hotel. We got cleaned up, had a drink in the hotel bar and had the shuttle take us to Andiamo's for dinner. After almost a week of New Mexico cusine, we both felt in the mood for something else on the last night. Although not as good as Luggatti's, the food was solid, but the service was slow. Sharon faded during dinner. We called the hotel shuttle and were back at the hotel and down for the night a little after 10:00 p.m.
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