I’m back for the round up of our New Mexico hike. In my last post, us three hikers had just come off Wheeler Peak and had a few beers. Taos was buzzing that evening as it hosted an artist’s street festival. There were performing artists out along with temporary art installments and quite a crowd wandering the streets. But as 10 pm approached, we were all sleepy and headed back to the hotel. The next morning we were up and out by 8 to breakfast, and with a little planning went to see the Rio Grande. First from on top at the Rio Grande Gorge and then from the bottom at the river’s edge. We were headed back to the airport, and decided we had just enough time for a drive through Santa Fe and along Route 66 through Albuquerque. We all had planes to catch.

I do recommend Taos as a very interesting destination, summer or winter. We certainly did not take advantage of all the things to do. We missed out on rafting, hot air ballooning, horse back riding, and historical site exploring. We didn’t take the ski lift to the top of the mountain, and we didn’t poke into art galleries. This is perhaps one of the downsides of traveling with a singular purpose, we didn’t have the time to do anything else. I definitely have Taos on my “to go” list in the future, along with the Albuquerque Hot Air Balloon Festival, and Santa Fe.

Now, it is the end of the trip and I wish I could travel home like “Dorothy” by clicking the heels of my sparkling red shoes and saying, “there’s no place like home” three times. I love home, I love being home, and I love hanging out at home. But traveling to get home at the end of a vacation is a drag. It is a half day of driving, flying, cabbing, waiting, wandering, standing in line, and sitting in a cramped area. Thank goodness for books!

Happy Trails

South of Taos, at the beginning of the gorge.

I was just standing on this bridge – 650 Ft above the river below.

From the bridge over the gorge

The start of a wildfire in the hills.

Yikes! Kerry almost stepped on this guy. Can you see him?