Taken by Taos

$10 for parking?   Yep, that would be today's moment of impulsive decision making.   Unlike yesterday, today I had done a bit of research and  had picked out a place for lunch, had the directions all set with Waze, even confirmed they were open with  no reported construction projects that  would leave our poor GPS confused.

Sounds like we  were  all set for a meal time win, right?   Yeah, not quite,  as we approached the restaurant (located in the heart of downtown Taos), I called out to Hubby "better turn in there" as I spotted a parking lot.   Oh sure, I had spotted  a very spacious, supervised parking lot, to the tune of $10...only to walk a few blocks and find pretty decent street parking right near the restaurant.  

Thankfully, Hubby gave me only a wee bit of grief, as the place we picked out was a delicious hole-in-the-wall type restaurant with tasty eats and very affordably priced.

I think he was also in a rather forgiving mood, as the road trip to Taos was filled with several unexpected surprises.

First was our visit to the New Mexico Vietnam Veterans Memorial.  Built by a father, using his own money and doing much of the work himself, he set off to find  a way to honor the sacrifice of his son and his 15 teammates who were killed in 1968 in Vietnam.  The memorial is now part of the New Mexico state park system and located just around the bend from our campground.   The memorial park contains not only a well crafted and thoughtfully designed memorial chapel but also a small yet very well done museum.

*photo courtesy of Hubby 

From here, we would  hit the road  referred to as the Enchanted Loop with the objective being to visit Taos, eat lunch and do a bit of sight seeing along the way.    

As we approached Eagle's Nest (the first town you hit on the Enchanted Loop from Angel Fire), I looked up in the sky and sure enough, there was a soaring eagle!   I didn't even try to take a picture, instead just taking in this majestic sight!   

I found today's ride more "enchanting"  than the portion we rode yesterday.   I enjoyed the wider views, the taller pine trees (compared to the Pinyon pines of yesterday) and the rock walls that lined the canyon before heading south into Taos.

After lunch, we walked around the town for a bit.   While I was disappointed in the "tired" look of Taos (I was expecting more), I was pleasantly surprised when a woman called out to me "Martha, is that you?!"   Yep, a former collegue of mine from the high school where I worked for 6 years was also spending Fall Break in this area.   Wow!   Two Raptor sightings in one day!  (the school where I worked, the mascot is the Raptor).

We decided to skip a visit to the Taos Pueblo.   Again, the day was slipping away, and we knew that without the sun guiding our return trip, the ride would get rather chilly...that and the $16/person seemed a bit steep when neither one of us are huge fans of the Native American arts.   

We did make one last pit stop before heading back to our glamping campground:   The Rio Grande Gorge Bridge is one of the nation's highest bridges, rising some 650 feet above the Rio Grande River. I'd like to say it was impressive, but honestly, walking across the bridge, was a bit unsettling...the fact that there are phone booths with direct lines to suicide hotlines scattered across the path only add to my sense of feeling unsettled.

And now, here I sit, in the cozy comforts of Uma.    As for a glamping report, the bed sleeps fine, the furnace keeps us toasty warm at night, and overall, Goldilocks continues to find this type of exploring to be "just right".  :)