A day in Taos......................

Last Thursday morning we headed out bright and early for Taos! As we drove through Albuquerque, we spotted several balloons - most likely coming back from a sunrise adventure. Its very hot here, and though not humid....there is still a haze over the city. Not sure what that is!

See the balloons amidst the haze over Albuquerque? One on each side of the highway

coming in for a landing

still flying high.....

The air started clearing out as we headed toward Taos. The drive was very nice....scenic. We traveled through the Rio Grande Gorge, a very popular recreational area. There were tons of rafting and floating companies nearby, and we saw lots of rafts and kayaks as we traveled the winding road along the river and through the canyon.

heading past Santa Fe to Taos

the Rio Grande River 

a beautiful drive through the Rio Grande Gorge

popular rafting area!

As we neared Taos, we could see a giant rift in the ground.  A mini Grand Canyon! Actually, it is the Rio Grande Gorge. Our first stop was to the Visitor Center in Taos. We already had a pretty good idea of what we wanted to do, but it was very helpful to get directions and advice from the Visitor Center.

the Rift....shocking when you first see it

very helpful Visitor Center

the entire west seems to be hot and dry...like a tinderbox

Taos Pueblo was the first stop for us, since we didn't want to be exploring in the heat of the afternoon. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a National Historic Landmark. The main structure is one of the most painted and photographed buildings in North America. For more information, click here. We took a guided tour, which was very interesting to us. I find it fascinating how people lived in the past, and how modern cultures have evolved.

The historic area of the pueblo is one of the oldest continuously inhabited communitites in the U.S. This area has no electricity or running water. The adobe structures housed families in two rooms each, one for sleeping and eating, the other for cooking and storage. The individual pueblos were accessed by ladder to the roof, where a small opening gave access to the pueblo. The individual pueblos, though connected to each other, had private entrances and were private....not connected to each other via doorways once inside. The modern section of the Taos Pueblo houses about 1000, but that area is off limits to tourists.

Many of the inhabitants of the Pueblo are only there certain times of year. Some have set up shops in their pueblo, with authentic and very reasonably priced wares. I may have purchased turquoise earrings, with turquoise mined from Arizona and set in sterling by the Puebloan silversmith. We learned a LOT about turquoise when we visited the Turquoise Museum in Albuquerque last week. The hour and a half long tour was very enlightening and entertaining as well. (No pics from that excursion)!

getting our bearings at the Taos Pueblo

back in the day, the only entrance was through the roof (no front door!)

beautiful church windows 

waiting for the tour to start...most people found what little shade there was!

National Landmark 

the Pueblo graveyard

the bell tower of the original church (that the U.S. destroyed during the Spanish/American War)

It was very interesting to learn about the building of the Pueblo, and the simple use of mud and mud bricks to form the adobe buildings. They are sealed with new mud about three times a year. See....no matter what...homeowners have a lot of upkeep to worry about!

We also learned that those beehive-looking structures are actually ovens, and they are covered to keep the heat in. Each family usually has their own oven. They are not communal.

two ovens...side by side

adobe bricks up close

there were so many bees along this wall.....just sayin'

another example of the outdoor ovens

There were two sections to the historic ancient Taos Pueblo - North and South - and we were able to walk through all areas. Some of the occupied pueblos had signs up ...no admittance....but most did not have signage. Many shops to be found in this pueblo community too....food, drinks, jewelry, pottery....all good quality and authentic.

what a nice community!

more of the ancient Pueblo-historic area

one of the most photographed and painted structures in North America

The Taos Pueblo had a Catholic Church, and the people actually have two religions....Catholic and the original ancient spirituality tradition. A little confusing, but a lot of the Native culture is passed down verbally. Nothing written, or to be studied.

this Catholic Church was rebuilt after the original was destroyed

notice the outdoor cooking areas

details up close

more details

heading to one of the main structures  (Blue Lake is located in the mountains we see from here)

The water for the old Pueblo (not the modern one) is from Blue Lake, up in the mountains, and it comes down through the stream. This lake is considered sacred by the Taos Indians. The lake was returned to the people by the U.S. government in 1970, when Nixon was president. The water is collected from the river and carried over to the Pueblo and stored in pottery. We were instructed not to contaminate the water in any way, and we were also advised not to drink it ourselves since we didn't have the antibodies they had. 'Nuff said, and then I totally skipped buying some fry bread, since it would be made with that water.

water from Blue Lake

one of the most photographed people in North America standing in front of one of the most photographed structures

a shop in the Pueblo (I may have purchased beautiful turquoise earrings!)

After leaving the Taos Pueblo, we headed over to the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, which towers over 600 feet from the gorge below. We were surprised there was no "structure" above the bridge, like the Tappan Zee or George Washington Bridges. If you missed the sign, you may not even realize you went over the bridge! There are viewing areas from the bridge, which was quite crowded, or the state park next to it. There were also vendors selling their wares near the bridge. Since it was lunchtime, we had a picnic in the park, and then just viewed the bridge from there. We were a bit surprised by how little water was in the river too! From the look of the gorge, it would seem that it would be a raging river. For more information, click here.

driving north of Taos to the Gorge Bridge

the bridge in the distance

lots of people and vendors

if you missed this sign, and there were no people around, you would barely know you were going over a bridge

view as we drove over

lunchtime!

small nice park right next to the bridge

view from the park

the river below...its about 600 feet down

Not too far from the bridge was our next stop....the Earthship Biotecture. What a cool place! The homes are built to be totally self-sustaining (water, sewage, power, food production), and there are about 70 homes at this New Mexico site. The earthship homes are located all over the world, but we had never heard of them.

The homes are made of recycled items...mainly car tires filled with dirt, and glass bottles. Aluminum cans are used as fill also.  The water needed to live is collected on the roof, and filtered as needed. The power is from solar panels. Plants are used to shade the windows, and grow food for the homeowners. I took photos of some of the poster displays, in case anyone is interested in learning more detail on these structures. We watched a slide show and a video, all of which was enlightening. You can learn more about this here. Very interesting. Though the homes are not visually aesthetic, the appeal is in the self-sustaining systems in the architecture of the structures. These homes cost about the same as a "tiny home", but you get so much more space and it costs less to live in due to the self-sustaining systems (according to the hostess at the Visitor Center).

a view of Earthship biotecture

the Visitor Center

the back of a display being worked on

lots of bottles in those walls

this is a community....visitors cannot just drive around....the roads (and houses) are private

view of one private house in the distance

a look down the "private road"

this house could clearly be seen from the Visitor Center

another private home (and lots in the distance!)

the Visitor Center

the bottles in the walls look cool!

some of the posters

more

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we liked this feature the best....hanging gardens growing vegetables! Reminded us of some greenhouses in Iceland

great idea!

"Steps" leading up to the roof of the Visitor Center

the house "next door" to the Visitor Center (looks huge to me!)

another home

that really is enormous, don't you think?

close up

the roof of the Visitor Center-water is collected here from snow and rain

the water is captured and stored

a close up look at the main building blocks of these structures (tires filled with dirt) and decorated with bottles

inside look at the parking lot wall

the bottles are actually really nice....looks like stained glass...lets light in, but not really bright

"building block"-recycled tire filled with dirt

another home....not for viewing though...its an experimental structure

these are all experimental and are being worked on right now

lots of bottles!

close up

this is as far as we could go.....there are a few experimental "condos" just beyond

the condos

another experimental structure

After a day of sight-seeing, we were headed to visit the townsquare in Taos, to do a little window-shopping and gallery viewing. It was just a little bit too hot, and so we decided to forego that part of our day. As we were driving slowly through the crowded streets to get back home, we passed a shop I would have been seriously interested in. Thankfully, there was no parking nearby. That saved us a bundle!! Right Tom!!

lots of art everywhere

WAIT! Does that say Yarn?

view as we rode by in the car....no parking nearby

love the artwork everywhere

lots of interesting nooks and crannies as we drove through town (way too HOT to stop and shop!)

Actually, we did have one last stop...and that was to San Francisco de Asis Church, one of the oldest churches in this country. We looked for it on our way into town, but did not see it. We learned in the Visitor Center that we missed it because the BACK faces the street! So, we found the parking lot and walked around. There was a service going on, so we did not go inside. Georgia O'Keefe depicted this church in her artwork, as did many other artists. Personally, I was fascinated by the out-buildings as well. For more information on the church, click here.

buildings around the church

pretty touch!

across the parking lot (the rectory?)

love the details

the church! we found it!

This is what you see from the street! Hard to tell its a church!

walking around the side to the front of the church

the front of the church

St. Francis....my fav

one of the oldest churches in the U.S.-a service was going on so we didn't go in

see those two dudes in the church yard? they were playing cards!!! 

the other side of the church

heading to the parking lot....very hard to tell its a church from the road!.

driving back through the beautiful Rio Grande Gorge

Once we left the mountains, and the nice drive through the Rio Grande River Gorge, we were pelted with intense heat and hoped that our car did not break down! I was so relieved the air-conditioner worked fine!! Yippee!!

can it get any hotter????? (wait....don't answer that!)