Taos NM

Tuesday we drove up to Taos. It's about a 90 minute drive. Going up we took the scenic "high road" and coming back we took the "low road." The high road is high. At one point we were at 8150 feet. You climb up and then go back down into Taos. I personally would not recommend the route for an RV, although we did see 2 fifth wheels on the road.
This is the view from the windshield.


These are the Sangre de Cristo mountains. They are the southern end of the Rockies.

At the Taos visitor's center the sign read the pueblo was open today. So we decided to go there first. It was extremely uncomfortable for me. The Taos Pueblo has a UNESCO World Heritage Site designation as an living aboriginal site. So, you pay $10 to walk through what is called the Sacred Village. The tribal leaders have allowed wood burning and propane for heat, but there is no electricity and no running water. The bulk of the living space there has been converted to retail. It just felt very awkward to be walking through someone's neighborhood gawking at the citizens.
The Taos Pueblo is old, probably back to 900 ad. The date varies depending on who you're reading. This is the North House, and it believed to be about 1,000 years old.

There are single story houses as well. This is someone's studio, selling real Indian stuff. Click on the picture if you can't read his sign.


They do have a great back yard.


This is a structure beyond the perimeter of the Sacred Village. I like the touch of turquoise on the column.


There is a Catholic Church. Although the Pueblo People have made great strides in recovering their original language and traditions, many remain practicing Catholics.

The water foreground is the source of drinking water for the Pueblo. If you're living in the Sacred Village, water must be hauled to your residence with buckets.

There was not much information on where the bulk of the people on this pueblo live, we suspect that they are elsewhere on the reservation. Then again, it's not really any of our business to know that, so we looked at what the Pueblo People were willing to share with outsiders and left it at that.

Then we went back into Taos. The central part of Taos is much like Santa Fe only smaller. There are many small shops full of cuteness and art.


The town plaza.


Kit Carson's house. It's a museum now, but due to budget cuts and the planetary recession it wasn't open. He led a long and interesting life as a mountain man, scout for the military, married man with 8 kids and he was a Freemason.


This is the "low road" just out of Taos.


The Rio Grande Gorge is just stunning. We drove along running water for quite awhile. Click on this one to enlarge it so you can see the canyon.


So that was Tuesday.