Why is it akways getting ready to rain in my pictures?
The healing Church in Chimayo - the Holy Dirt place
the inside of the Church in Chimayo
Now where did they ever find trees big enough around here to make a sluice out of tree trunks?
The Church at the Taos Peublo
The Taos Peublo
yes, it's raining again, again I made it to the parking lot two minutes before it started
a fence at the peublo
what's left of the original Church and the cemetary
another peublo view
Sorry, no pictures - the interweb is not working very well for me right now. I have a call in to Al Gore to have it repaired.......in the mean time
Hi Gilbert – thanks for reading and writing!
I’m not doing nearly as many miles a day as I have in the past. The places that I want to see are much, much closer to each other, Outside of the almost 300 mile ride from Mesa Verde to Santa Fe, I’ve done a little bit more than 100 miles from Santa Fe to Taos and less than 70 miles from Taos to Red River. And that’s taking the long way between destinations.
Santa Fe is a picturesque town with a small old town/downtown core, but the outskirts have really expanded since I was here about ten years ago. The town square is very vibrant, but there are many more storefronts for lease than I ever remember from prior visits. And once you get out of town, the number of galleries/stores/studios/tourist traps that have gone out of business is amazing. None of the restaurants or bars that I have gone into have been crowded, most motels do not have the No Vacancy signs lit up even late into the night, it’s very clear that the recession is really impacting the tourism industry.
I did the sightseeing thing in Santa Fe, visited the Church with the staircase with no visible means of support, the town square, and noticed that one of the inscriptions regarding ‘indians’ had been altered on the monument to the dead in battles and wars.. Political Correctness knows no boundaries. See picture later. I did a walking tour of the areas finest establishments for dinner, limited myself to 2 margaritas and one appetizer in each and only lasted three places before I had to return home. Lightweight! But I am happy to report that the Sleeping Dog, Blue Corn and Tacos, and the Bell Tower in the La Fonda Hotel are still up to snuff, with one exception. What’s up with the change of name and ingredients for the Silver Dollar Margarita (now known as the silver coin)? This was a major disappointment that “Eat Me Foods” margarita mix is no longer used at the Bell Tower Bar, bit I expect that I’ll get over it. Pasquales still serves a killer breakfast!
The trip from Santa Fe to Taos was 105 miles. Somehow, it wound up taking me 4 hours, and I only remember stopping twice, one for fuel in the armpit of New Mexico, Espanola, and once at the Santuario de Chimayo, the American Lourdes. This is a healing place, there is an amazing number of crutches, walkers and handicapped parking permits that heave been left in the Church and on the premises. I picked up some of their “holy dirt” (no, I am not being a disrespectful smart ass – that’s what it says right on the brochure), so if you believe in miracles, I am more than willing to share some with you. But, you gotta believe. While I was leaving the church on the way to the obligatory stop at the giftshop (holy dirt containers starting at only $2.00), I saw this Priest that looked at least 100 years old. At the giftshop I found a book that he had written. So I picked up a copy, headed back to the Church and had him autograph it. He joked a bit about not smiling for the cover of the book because he didn’t have any teeth then, but he had them now and gave me a great big smile!
I have a bone to pick with the numbnuts at GoogleMaps. I do not appreciate being misdirected to the wrong location while looking for my residence Tuesday night. Especially with the rainclouds threatening. I was relatively sure that the Taos Worldmark was not three hundred yards down the road from the Taos Pueblo, but you were insistent that it was. Many thanks to my friend at Mapquest that guided me to my destination with two minutes to spare before the monsoon began. And the monsoon lasted 5 hours. There were creeks running through the parking lot, raining much too heavy to ride someplace for dinner, so I walked. Up yours to all the dry people sitting in Doc Martin’s restaurant that thought that it would be witty to ask a soaking man coming through the door if it was still raining! My answer to you is still F*ckoff!
Wednesday, July 22 – the day broke just absolutely beautiful with the azure blue New Mexican sky that you see in the tourist literature/photographs. The only thing on my agenda today was a visit to the Taos Pueblo. I still find it hard to believe that people have been living there for a thousand years. And I still can’t figure out where they poo……..I took the free twenty minute tour (no doubt subsidized by the $10 entry and $5 picture fees) and snapped some pics, had some fry bread and took the long way to Red River. It was so chilly today that I actually had to put on my insulated riding jacket, the first time that I have worn it since being in Washington on June 26th. And I got sprinkled on while riding, an ominous gloomy sky appeared as soon as I headed into the mountains. I arrived in Red River under sunny skies and within 90 minutes it was monsooning again. I sure hope that the weather system creating this passes before we camp again in two more days. I’m not looking forward to camping in the mud!
Mileage from Mesa Verde to Santa Fe – 280
Mileage from Santa Fe to Taos – 105
Mileage from Taos to Red River – 64
Cumulative miles – 6,016
Best thing past couple of days – the concert in the square at Santa Fe, lunch at Orlando’s in Taos, and finally getting my hand on the ‘holy dirt’ at Chimayo. When I was here with the ‘dark side’ I failed to do so, and have rued myself ever since. At last, I have some!
Challenge – none
And I’m reunited with my brother and my nephews here in Red River. I’ve missed them the past few days – they went to look at the bats and phallic rocks at Carlsbad, I went to look at the homes of dead Anasazi’s………….
Hi Gilbert – thanks for reading and writing!
I’m not doing nearly as many miles a day as I have in the past. The places that I want to see are much, much closer to each other, Outside of the almost 300 mile ride from Mesa Verde to Santa Fe, I’ve done a little bit more than 100 miles from Santa Fe to Taos and less than 70 miles from Taos to Red River. And that’s taking the long way between destinations.
Santa Fe is a picturesque town with a small old town/downtown core, but the outskirts have really expanded since I was here about ten years ago. The town square is very vibrant, but there are many more storefronts for lease than I ever remember from prior visits. And once you get out of town, the number of galleries/stores/studios/tourist traps that have gone out of business is amazing. None of the restaurants or bars that I have gone into have been crowded, most motels do not have the No Vacancy signs lit up even late into the night, it’s very clear that the recession is really impacting the tourism industry.
I did the sightseeing thing in Santa Fe, visited the Church with the staircase with no visible means of support, the town square, and noticed that one of the inscriptions regarding ‘indians’ had been altered on the monument to the dead in battles and wars.. Political Correctness knows no boundaries. See picture later. I did a walking tour of the areas finest establishments for dinner, limited myself to 2 margaritas and one appetizer in each and only lasted three places before I had to return home. Lightweight! But I am happy to report that the Sleeping Dog, Blue Corn and Tacos, and the Bell Tower in the La Fonda Hotel are still up to snuff, with one exception. What’s up with the change of name and ingredients for the Silver Dollar Margarita (now known as the silver coin)? This was a major disappointment that “Eat Me Foods” margarita mix is no longer used at the Bell Tower Bar, bit I expect that I’ll get over it. Pasquales still serves a killer breakfast!
The trip from Santa Fe to Taos was 105 miles. Somehow, it wound up taking me 4 hours, and I only remember stopping twice, one for fuel in the armpit of New Mexico, Espanola, and once at the Santuario de Chimayo, the American Lourdes. This is a healing place, there is an amazing number of crutches, walkers and handicapped parking permits that heave been left in the Church and on the premises. I picked up some of their “holy dirt” (no, I am not being a disrespectful smart ass – that’s what it says right on the brochure), so if you believe in miracles, I am more than willing to share some with you. But, you gotta believe. While I was leaving the church on the way to the obligatory stop at the giftshop (holy dirt containers starting at only $2.00), I saw this Priest that looked at least 100 years old. At the giftshop I found a book that he had written. So I picked up a copy, headed back to the Church and had him autograph it. He joked a bit about not smiling for the cover of the book because he didn’t have any teeth then, but he had them now and gave me a great big smile!
I have a bone to pick with the numbnuts at GoogleMaps. I do not appreciate being misdirected to the wrong location while looking for my residence Tuesday night. Especially with the rainclouds threatening. I was relatively sure that the Taos Worldmark was not three hundred yards down the road from the Taos Pueblo, but you were insistent that it was. Many thanks to my friend at Mapquest that guided me to my destination with two minutes to spare before the monsoon began. And the monsoon lasted 5 hours. There were creeks running through the parking lot, raining much too heavy to ride someplace for dinner, so I walked. Up yours to all the dry people sitting in Doc Martin’s restaurant that thought that it would be witty to ask a soaking man coming through the door if it was still raining! My answer to you is still F*ckoff!
Wednesday, July 22 – the day broke just absolutely beautiful with the azure blue New Mexican sky that you see in the tourist literature/photographs. The only thing on my agenda today was a visit to the Taos Pueblo. I still find it hard to believe that people have been living there for a thousand years. And I still can’t figure out where they poo……..I took the free twenty minute tour (no doubt subsidized by the $10 entry and $5 picture fees) and snapped some pics, had some fry bread and took the long way to Red River. It was so chilly today that I actually had to put on my insulated riding jacket, the first time that I have worn it since being in Washington on June 26th. And I got sprinkled on while riding, an ominous gloomy sky appeared as soon as I headed into the mountains. I arrived in Red River under sunny skies and within 90 minutes it was monsooning again. I sure hope that the weather system creating this passes before we camp again in two more days. I’m not looking forward to camping in the mud!
Mileage from Mesa Verde to Santa Fe – 280
Mileage from Santa Fe to Taos – 105
Mileage from Taos to Red River – 64
Cumulative miles – 6,016
Best thing past couple of days – the concert in the square at Santa Fe, lunch at Orlando’s in Taos, and finally getting my hand on the ‘holy dirt’ at Chimayo. When I was here with the ‘dark side’ I failed to do so, and have rued myself ever since. At last, I have some!
Challenge – none
And I’m reunited with my brother and my nephews here in Red River. I’ve missed them the past few days – they went to look at the bats and phallic rocks at Carlsbad, I went to look at the homes of dead Anasazi’s………….
1 comment:
I do believe, and could use some "Holy Dirt". Maybe I could rub it on my hip?
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