The One in Colorado

 Monday - April 14

Taos, New Mexico - Durango, Colorado

Song - Durango Romance by Bob Dylan

(The one in Mexico)

Enjoyed a great breakfast at our lunch place from yesterday, The Bent Street Grille, then hopped in our car and began our days drive. Lots of dry desert, sagebrush, the Rio Grande and a few hairy parts (ie cliffs)!

Drove through Coyote and almost to Cuba while Nina Simone was belting out “I put a spell on you” on our car radio.

We crossed back over the Continental Divide.

Our bartender, Clint from Taos does the drive from Taos to Gallup often and he recommended the southern route as it was less “hairy” than the northern route and it had some Native American ruins to be seen in Aztec, NM.  They are called the Aztec Ruins but have nothing to do with the Aztec people from Central America. As the ranger explained to us that the Spaniards who conquered the Aztec culture and then headed north, thought these ruins looked like the Aztec’s so let’s call them that…and the name stuck. 

The Aztec Ruins were actually constructed by the Pueblo Indians in the 12th & 13th century. 

The ruins were fascinating and we were glad we got to see them. As we headed into Colorado we saw the San Juan Mountains in the distance and everything around us turned from dust to green.

Mr. B had heard that Durango was a fascinating Western town with mining & lumber heritage and they had trains!

After checking into our hotel, The General Palmer we walked down the street for dinner at the Mahogany Grille located in the Strater Hotel. Delicious!

Mr. B had Elk and I had Herbert (their nickname for filet mignon). Then we ordered Bananas Foster which was prepared and flamed table side!

Afterward we headed straight home and rested up for our drive back south tomorrow. 

Parts Unknown

 Sunday - April 13

Taos

Song - Taos Round Dance - Part 2

Slept in, grabbed a quick breakfast and headed to Taos Pueblo about 6 minutes up the road.

The Pueblo was much bigger than I remember from 39 years ago when we traveled there with our 3 year old son, Andy. We took a small group tour today which was led by a Native American woman named Bear and it was very interesting. I didn’t know that the doors were painted blue to ward off evil spirits. The photo above is just about 1/3 of the Pueblo community. 

 

The people living here get into their home from above

Above is the Geronimo Church which is their Catholic Church. The original (see the cemetery photo below) was destroyed in 1847 during the Mexican American war. 

The cemetery and the ruins of the original Geronimo church

Two bread ovens 

On the way home we passed a “pop up protest”. Only 8 - 10  people but very passionate.  Gave them the thumbs up through my open window and got lots of whoops and hollers.  Also, I love a hat that I saw today which said “Make America Gracious Again”!!! It is made by a small business in Santa Fe. 

We returned home and freshened up a bit then walked around the corner to the Kit Carson Home & Museum. Fascinating but ugly history. Carson was married three separate times. Tragically, his first wife, an Arapaho woman named Waanibe (or Singing Grass), died giving birth to their second child. He then married a Cheyenne woman named Making-Out-Road, which ended up in her divorcing him by putting his child & personal items outside of her tepee.  He eventually married a woman from Taos, Josefa Jaramillo.  She gave him seven children, they adopted 3 Navajo children which seems incredible since he helped wipe out several Native American villages - men, women & children. Josefa died 3 weeks after giving birth to their last child due to complications and Kit died several weeks after that from an aortic aneurysm. 

Had lunch at The Bent Street Grille in Old Town and it was so good!  We sat outside and the light breeze kept us at the perfect temperature. Mr. B had a Grilled Ruben and I had Huevos Rancheros with just the perfect amount of heat. We walked around the Plaza in Old Town window shopping then headed back to our hotel for Mr. B to rest and me to do some blogging.

The best part was meeting Thunder! 

In the evening we decided to have something light in the hotel bar. Music tonight was Charley Solito. Our waiter Michael was great and when we asked him about which route to take tomorrow to Durango, Colorado he told us to talk to the bartender, Clint. So after dinner we sat at the bar and talked to Clint. He actually was from Klamath Falls, Oregon. Has ridden his motorcycle over to Durango many times. When we told him that I don’t like cliffs, he suggested us taking the Southern route and told us to stop at Ghost Ranch & Aztec ruins on the way. Great people here!  Well except for Kit Carson…

I had asked Mr. B to pose for a photo in his new jean shirt and this was what I got after I took several bad shots and asked him to give me a “sexy” look. 

Thanks Guido that’s just what I was looking for!