Day 4 July 8
Today started just as we planned. We got up late, then explored Taos. I found out I had been pronouncing it incorrectly. I said Ta Os . It’s really pronounced like “house” except with a “T”.
Taos is a thriving tourist town. There had to be at least a dozen motels that lined the main road through town and twice as many shops for me to look in. After shopping in one roadside shops we concentrated on the plaza’s where there were restaurants, coffee shops, artist galleries and more! Shopping is my favorite pastime so I had fun going through the shops looking and ,of course, buying. After eating at an authentic Mexican restaurant for lunch we left for Santa Fe.
The “A” did pretty good going up, down and twisting around the mountains in the 90+ heat, but when we saw a sign for a winery we thought we’d stop and let it rest a bit as we tasted some New Mexico wines.
When we left the winery the road changed from a 2 lane to a freeway. Going as fast as we could at 45 mph (sometimes slower) cars and trucks were passing us like we were standing still. We were almost to Santa Fe when Steve noticed the cars engine was getting hot nearing 200 Worried that we had more hills to climb, we turned off at Pueblo of Tesuque, a rest stop, to let it cool. He parked it under the only tree in the lot and we waited about ½ hour before we decided to travel on. The engine had cooled back to the normal 160 until we hit the next few hills. The highest it reached was a little above 200, but then we started down the mountain and it went back to 160. What a relief! Traffic was terrible, but we did make it to the Inn on the Paseo, where we were staying for the night and yes, this time we had reservations!
The Inn is in walking distance of historic Santa Fe so once we settled in, we decided to explore it. To our surprise all of a sudden the sky darken, thunder rolled and we were in a downpour! The temperature went from 90 to 63! We ran to a nearby restaurant and quickly decided to have dinner there before we were drenched. The restaurant offered a “specialty dinner” called Frijoles Pie. Thinking it was something from the region we ordered it. To our surprise and disappointment it was the same taco salad I have made for years with just a different name! The rain shower was over by the time we left so the rest of the evening we walked around town and then headed back to our room.
Tomorrow we plan on taking a Santa Fe City tour and shop (me) and relax. Saturday we’ll leave for Durango, CO and more adventures.
Not many interesting facts today,.
Gas is cheaper in NM, $2.99
I forgot to mention yesterday we reached an elevation of 9600, today we’re sitting at 7198 in Santa Fe.
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