A Day in Taos

This morning we left Santa Fe before 8 am and headed out for Taos. There are two ways you can go: the low road and the high road. We had read that the high road was more interesting, so we took that. Also, I wanted to see the Sanctuario de Chimayo where the largest pilgrimage in the United States takes place during Holy Week, with up to 150,000 pilgrims walking from Santa Fe to the church.

We put our destination into Google Maps and started following the recorded voice which directed us south-west away from Santa Fe, sometimes on dirt roads. Finally we ended up in front of an out-of-the-way empty parking lot, promising petroglyphs on the cliffs. We walked around for a bit, but didn't see any petroglyphs. When we got back into the car and opened Google Maps, it became obvious that we had made a mistake entering our destination, since we were going in the opposite direction.

Turned around, we headed back to Chimayo. This route took us through several different Indian reservations, and all of them were closed. Only takeout food and gas was available. We had planned on stopping and eating breakfast en-route, so that was a surprise. Finally, we found a supermarket that was open and got a bear claw (the pastry).

When we got to the church, there were no long lines of pilgrims. The church was completely closed for all of Holy Week and there was no parking. Later I found out that the entire pilgrimage was cancelled again this year because of Covid. We drove by the church but couldn't even stop and walk around.

We spent the rest of the morning driving through the beautiful landscape of Northern New Mexico on small winding mountain roads, narrowing in places to a single lane. By 2 pm we arrived in Taos at the Historic Taos Inn (that's apparently its name, not an adjective).

Our room wasn't ready, so we headed down the street to El Cueva and had lunch. I learned my lesson yesterday; anything with green chili was off limits. I had a couple of good tacos and Kathy had sweet corn soup and a salad. After the long drive, it was very welcome.

After lunch we walked across the street to the Taos Plaza. We browsed through the shops and bought a few souvenirs for the folks back home. Notice the mask in public.

Next, we tried to follow the downtown walking tour from our guidebook. Along the way, I got distracted and tripped, falling into the road on my back. I didn't really hurt anything, but several motorists and a policeman stopped to make sure I was OK. I'm fine.

Continuing on we stopped at the Kit Carson Memorial State Park, where we visited Kit Carson's grave.

I had thought that my parents told me we were related to Kit Carson when I was a child. I asked my brother, and he told me no, my great-great-great grandfather worked with him. 

I wanted to learn a little more about him, but like all of the other museums we've seen, the Kit Carson House was closed. I managed to put my camera through the fence and shoot this picture of the courtyard.

My brother sent me a quote he had copied from some of my Dad's papers:

I do not know a great deal about my grandfather’s early life even though I knew him when I was about twelve years old. We were renting a large house in Oakland, CA. and there was a small duplex on the back of the property where my grandfather, David Marion, lived. I talked to him a lot. From time to time, he would tell me some stories that I found interesting.

One time he told me about sitting on Kit Carson's lap as a child and listening to his stories. He said that his father, David H. Gilbert, had worked for Carson bringing wagon trains through the mountains.

 

After we came back, got checked into our room, unpacked and relaxed a little, we got back into the car and drove ten minutes down the road to Rancho de Taos.

Our goal was to take a look at the San Francisco de Asis church that gained fame through the photographs of Ansel Adams and the paintings of Georgia O'Keeffe.

It's really impressive. I find it very beautiful for something that is so simple and unadorned.

After taking some pictures, we headed across the street for dinner at Old Martina's Hall. Now we're getting ready for bed, so we can get up early for the long drive to Alamogordo.