Guys, I have been trying to get fancy and added a page to my blog.  I thought it would be real cool to have my travel stuff separate from the normal News.  Alas, I don’t like it, for various reasons, so I’m going to just post the Travel Tales here.  If you missed Part 1 of our trip to Santa Fe, click Here.

Day 3

 I had a plan to take the Low Road to Taos and the High Road back to Santa Fe.  I also wanted to check out the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge.  The bridge is just north of Taos and I figured we’d go there first, so I punched the coordinates in the GPS and off we went.  Google took me off of the Low Road (though I didn’t realize it at first) and down some country roads, directly to the bridge.  It was kinda cool to see the farms and homesteads  as we drove,  but I had read about the gorgeous vistas on the Low Road and was sorry I missed them.  By the time we got to the bridge, I had to use the Ladies’ facilities.  As I returned to the Expedition, I tripped and fell…skinned my knees and hands, shook me up, and killed my buzz…   I did not take a picture of my knee, but it wasn’t pretty.  (healing well now, thanks)  I did get the pictures I came for, but was whiny the rest of the day.

We hustled into Taos, stopped and got some ice to make an ice bag for my knees and hands.  I started to feel better.  We pulled into Taos Plaza, a teeny-tiny-little plaza surrounded by shops and restaurants.  Going straight to a place called “The Gorge”, I ordered up a margarita and felt even better.  I guess I had greater expectations of Taos…it seemed a little like Gatlinburg, though not as trashy…and I kept thinking I missed something.  It just didn’t impress me.  I Was impressed by my Mozzarella Caprese open-face sandwich, served with a smile at the La Fonda.  The pesto was delicious and the chef shared that it was a little lemon juice that made the difference.  Gotta try that.  The chef entertained us with stories of his family, who have lived on the same land for 300 years, and indulged us with samples of his soups.  I am inspired to use more hot peppers in my cooking.

 The day just didn’t want to get any better.  Here’s what we saw when we drove back to Taos Pueblo…

Hmmph… That happens when there are religious ceremonies to perform.

The High Road south to Santa Fe follows the Rio Grande River…

We hobbled through a couple of wineries…

But mostly we just enjoyed the scenic drive…

You can see the puffy clouds floating through the blue skies, present for us nearly all day.  When we got back to the Park, it was raining somewhere, gifting us with a rainbow.  (This was the 3rd rainbow we’d witnessed this trip, including one in front of the previous day’s storm and a full, side-to-side bow that we literally drove through in MO)

I propped my feet up and felt pretty good.

Monday:  Bandelier National Monument and Santa Fe Plaza.