We left Mancos at the fairly leisurely time of 8:00am. Having changed our plans because of the dire weather forecast for rain, thunderstorms and flash floods we woke up to blue skies and not a cloud in sight - go figure! But, I bet if we hadn't changed plans and committed to a 350 mile trek into the mountains it would have been pouring. So instead of heading North to the San Juan Mountains we headed to Taos, New Mexico a day early and gave ourselves a bit of a break. We enjoyed a lovely ride into New Mexico. Along the way we decided to stop for coffee, missed a turn and ended up at a lovely little Mexican Restaurant and had the most amazing Huevos Rancheros for breakfast - we did not need lunch later!
We were fortunate to get a room here, at the Historic Taos Inn. It is an old Adobe structure and has lots of charm. Our room is off a lovely courtyard at the back of the main hotel building and is a cool, quiet oasis in what is a busy little town. Also, because the Inn has it's own well, it was the only hotel and restaurant in town with water after the water main broke this evening!
After checking in and getting settled we set off and explored the town - beautiful. Lots of interesting shops and art galleries - not that we bought anything, but it's always fun to look.
Friday, September 19th.
After sleeping soundly in our lovely cool adobe room, we set off to ride the enchanted circle. This is a scenic route that circles the countryside around Taos. We climbed up and over Bobcat Pass which brought us to a picturesque valley, still blanketed in morning fog. Eventually, we came to the town of Red River which is primarily a ski town with slopes leading right down into town. Here, we once again had a hearty breakfast of huevos rancheros, perhaps even better than yesterdays!
After completing the circle, which we thoroughly enjoyed as a great ride in itself, we stopped at the Taos Pueblo. This is a UNESCO world heritage center and is approximately 1,000 years old. It is considered to be one of the oldest, continuously inhabited communities in the the United States. The people that live here are committed to preserving the "old" way of life. There is no electricity or running water in the dwellings. They did have propane for lighting and presumably cooking. The dwellings are made of adobe and have to be continually recoated to maintain them.
The oldest building of the Pueblo - several stories comprising separate homes occupied by separate families. The doorways have been added as the original building had entrances in the roofs. These were accessed by ladders which made the homes more secure if the ladder was removed.
The original wall would have been higher to make the entire settlement more secure:
This is the river which provides the settlement with its water:
It was a fascinating visit and we were glad that we made the detour. But, we were happy to get back to the hotel and have a nice shower with plenty of running water and electric lights - things we take for granted very day.
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