Today we drove from Taos, NM to Cortez, CO. It was a beautiful drive through some very scenic mountains. Our first stop was Michael's Kitchen in Taos, where we had a most delicious breakfast (cheese blintzes for Chloe, German pancakes for me and regular old pancakes for Ryan). Then we set out and came upon the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge. We had been told by someone at Taos Pueblo that you could walk out on the bridge, so of course, that's what we did.
We continued on and came upon these funny little houses built into the ground. I saw the sign for Earthship Visitor's Center, but had no idea what it was and didn't stop. After checking online I really wish we had stopped. All these houses had incredibly unique architecture and I'll bet the visitor's center was fascinating. Well, maybe another time.
We had to stop and wait for quite a long time in a section of the road that was being paved, so I took this photo of the landscape. It doesn't really do it justice. This land is so pretty!
We stopped in Chama for a break and visited the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railway. We found out about this from one of the families at Live & Learn who live in Chama. We only had a few minutes to spare so we didn't contact them, but we did see some of the train cars (the steam engine was out on the day's run).
Our next stop was the Pagosa Bakery in Pagosa Springs, CO. We had a very tasty lunch, including my Chicken and Green Chile soup which I'm going to try to recreate at home. We also passed through Durango where Chloe's new friend, Sienna, from Live & Learn lives.
Oh, how I wish we could have another month on the road to visit these new friends and see more of the southwest. We had to drive right past Mesa Verde National Park. Do you know how hard that is? I went there as a kid and have very strong memories. It's definitely a place I want my kids to see someday. I sure hope we make it back down here soon.
We'd also like to ride the railroads including the one above and the Durango & Silverton Railway. There's so much to see in this big world. Somedays, I'd like to chuck it all (house and regular activities) and just stay on the road. We've done it for 3 months in 2003, but we hope to do it again.
Well, we got to the hotel here and decided to skip a regular dinner because of our very late lunch. We ate our "car" food for snacks while Ryan watched tv and Chloe and I made more ATC's. Tomorrow: on the road to Salt Lake City.