Visiting Taos

Jake, Debbie and I spend an afternoon and an overnight in Taos two weeks ago.

We did shopping on the plaza, drove out to the Rio Grande Bridge, drove up to Taos Pueblo (which was closed to visitors when we were there) and stopped at Taos Mountain Casino for a little gambling and dinner. There was some heavy rain during the afternoon.

I guess we were having a great time, because I forgot to take many pictures.


At the Taos Plaza:





At the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge west of Taos:

Up on the High Road to Taos

There are two routes to take to Taos..one meanders along the Rio Grande from Española up to Taos, and is generally called the low road to Taos.

The other, winds up and over the mountains between Chimayó and Taos, and is popularly referred to as the High Road. It is the way I prefer to go, especially with visitors, because the scenic vistas and the quaint little northern New Mexico Spanish villages are breath-taking.

Here are a couple pictures I took at one of the highest points along the High Road:

A Stop at El Santuario de Chimayó

I love to take visitors to El Santuario in Chimayó. I like to see their reactions when they hear the story of the miracle church and the healing dirt.

Jake, Debbie and I visited Chimayo on a beautiful day several weeks ago on our way to Taos. They liked the little church and the interesting grounds.

Old Santa Fe

While Jake and Debbie were here, we had lunch with friends at Upper Crust Pizza in Santa Fe. Right next door is the oldest church in the United States, and the oldest house in the U.S. Both were closed when we were there, but we wandered around outside.

San Miguel Mission Church was built by Tlaxcalan Indians from Mexico in the early 1600s, under the direction of Fray Alonso de Benavides. The reredos (or altar screen) in the Mission dates from 1798 and is the oldest wooden reredos in New Mexico.







Street in front of San Miguel Mission:





The oldest house in the U.S., built in 1646, is right next door to San Miguel Church:

Tea Partying at the Roundhouse

Tuesday, September 6 was a brilliant sunshiney early fall day in Santa Fe. It was also the opening day of the special session of the state legislature.

The combined tea party groups from around the state gathered to petition the legislature to pass a law repealing New Mexico driver's licenses for illegal aliens. We had a good crowd,and some excellent speakers.

Jake and Debbie enjoyed taking part in the tea party rally. Debbie and I wore T-shirts that said "Santa Fe New Mexico Tea Party" and got a lot of attention.

I saw one Democrat legislator in the crowd, my own representative, Brian Egolf, and Debbie and I had fun engaged in a lively political discussion with him. I don't agree with him on nearly anything, but he is fun to talk to and always a good sport.

There was another group taking part in the opening day event, a pro-illegal immigration group who were supporting the right of illegals to get New Mexico driver's licenses. THEY didn't have to meet outside; they held their rally right in the rotunda of the building. One of the speakers even said, "I am an illegal resident of the state...." My brother said, How can someone stand in the state capitol building and confess to being illegal and not get arrested? Two words: "sanctuary city."

Here are some pictures of OUR rally at the Roundhouse entrance:


Jake and Debbie at the rally:






Sherry Morrison and Orlando Baca:





Therese Cooper of the East Mountain Tea Party:




Lt. Governor John Sanchez:

Scenes around Cerrillos

One day during Jake and Debbie's visit, we took the Turquoise Trail from Santa Fe to Albuquerque. The highlight (and everyone's favorite) of the drive was our stop in Cerrillos, New Mexico.

Cerrillos is such a cool little town, untouched by development or modernization, a step back into the past. We wandered around the town, took lots of pictures, met a few interesting characters, and found ourselves hoping that tiny little Cerrillos will remain unspoiled.












The hanging tree:

Labor Day weekend at the Santa Fe Plaza

I went with my brother and sister in law on Labor Day weekend to the Plaza in Santa Fe. It was a busy weekend there - an arts and crafts fair was going on, the Queen and her Court for the upcoming Fiesta were there, and as usual, the shops were colorful and fun to visit.

Here's a few pictures I got: