It was a lovely day today driving the High Road to Taos NM. We left the RV at 9:30 and headed north. The scenery was beautiful, and the weather was great. We saw several old churches, the first being the Santuario de Chimayo that was built in 1814. Mass was going on, so we just got a glimpse of the inside. The impressive thing there was a side room that contained a hole with dirt in it. Taking a scoop of the dirt was supposed to bring good luck.
A block down the street was the Santo Nino Chapel built in 1857. It was decorated with all kinds of child things. It is said that Santo Nino goes about at night performing miracles and wearing out his little shoes, so visitors bring baby shoes to the church. There was one room full of little baby shoes of every description.
Right next to the church is a restaurant called Leona’s. As we were leaving, it smelled so good we had to stop and get something (we had also read good reviews!). Bill got a tamale, and I got a cheese burrito with green chili, tomatoes, and onions. Everything is homemade, and it was amazing. Best burrito ever!!!
So then we hit the road again. More beautiful scenery, lots of wildflowers, and more churches. We stopped at San Jose de Gracia Church in Las Trampas. It was built in 1776. It wasn’t open, but the architecture on all of these churches is beautiful. Bill was really impressed with the remains of an old Spanish aqueduct made of wood. A flume is still being used and visible from the road.
We made it to Penasco to the Sugar Nymphs Bistro where we had planned to eat lunch (before our ‘snack’ at Leona’s). It is a hippie type restaurant run by two older women, and it has gotten all kinds of rave reviews and write-ups over the years including a piece of Gourmet magazine. I got a heirloom tomato sandwich with wonderful tomatoes, pesto, lettuce, and goat cheese on focaccia. Bill got a ‘burger in a grilled cheese’ that was also good. Each sandwich came with a huge, super-fresh salad that was also great. The reviews had raved about the homemade carrot cake, so we got a slice to share. It was so huge we had to bring half of it home.
Along the way we saw lots of adobe ovens outside adobe and wood homes. The scenery was gorgeous all the rest of the way to Taos. They call this road the ‘high road’ because it goes up into the mountains. At Taos we went to the San Francisco de Asis Church which was constructed from 1772 to 1815 (today's photo). Georgia O’Keeffe painted this church (the back of it!) in a rather famous painting. We walked around the church taking photos, and then we went into the parish hall to see a video clip about a painting called “Shadow of the Cross” by Henri Ault (1896). We saw the painting itself, and the fact that in complete darkness the background luminesces and a cross is visible. As we were getting ready to leave, another Tracker was driven in and parked next to us. The older couple had to stop and chat. The man had seen Bill’s military sticker on the car, and it seems he, too, was retired Air Force. So, they chatted a while before we headed back to Santa Fe.
Going back we took the ‘low road’. This road was also beautiful, and the Rio Grande River joined the road, and we followed it for some time. We stopped at the Rio Grande Gorge visitors center (which was just closing), and got a good view of the river. On the road there, we could see the huge gorge.
We made a quick stop at a Walmart on the way home to pick up some items and fill our water jugs. I think tomorrow will be a relax and regroup day.
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