Taos Pueblo

I awoke to dark skies and the threat of rain.  However the sun would break through now and then so since I was leaving tomorrow I thought it best to get out and see what I could.

My first stop was the Taos Pueblo north of town.  It is considered to be the oldest continually inhabited community in the US. Some of the structures are over 1000 years old, but they are re-plastered with adobe annually because of exposure to the climate.    There were spots in the pueblo where you were not allowed.  This is the Hlaauma or North House that is 1000 years old.

There were many small shops located here and there where you could purchase Indian jewelry, blankets, artwork as well as bread and cookies.  This is a few pics of the San Geronimo Church built in 1850 and is now  a Registered National Historic Landmark.

They offered a free walking tour of the Pueblo which started at 1:00, but it started to rain so decided against it.

Kit Carson Home and Museum

I drove from the Taos Pueblo to the Kit Carson home and Museum.  He lived in the home with his wife and children for over 25 years.  Admission price for seniors was only $4 and it was well worth it.  They gave a talk on how Kit Carson had settled in Taos and then there was a 20 minute video that was very interesting.  His home was rather small with only four rooms.  The shotgun (top rifle) in this next pic was one he was known to use.

This room was the family bedroom.  All the rooms had fireplaces in them to keep the place warm during the winter.

This is the kitchen.

This last room was the parlor and possibly used by overnight guests.

I really enjoyed the home and museum with all the many pictures of Kit Carson and his family.

Lots of shops and galleries

Once you are in the downtown area you can wander all over and visit the many shops and art galleries as well as really nice restaurants and coffee shops.  This shop had all kinds of western boots on display.

I saw this wooden Indian standing outside another shop.

Some of the shops had beautiful murals on their walls.

Springtime was also showing up in many places.

Started pouring rain…

The weather took a turn for the worse and the rain started coming down in buckets.  I ducked into a coffee shop and took a break until the rain stopped.

Here are some other fascinating pics I got from several spots in town.

I have really enjoyed my stay here and would highly recommend it to others.  There is lots to see and many more things to do.

Met up with old friends…

Bruce and Jan from J and B and Lady Blue fame wrote me an email and mentioned they might be coming to Taos from Chama, NM.  They showed up late Sunday and we got together for wine and cookies this past evening.  I first met them in Quartzsite this past January.  It sure was fun seeing them again and talking about what we had been doing since we departed Quartzsite.

They have just started blogging about their travels so I hope you can hop over there to check them out.

Weather conditions improving (I hope)…

I have been closely watching the weather since there are so many storms in the area.  It is supposed to be clear tomorrow so I will be leaving Taos and heading into Colorado to the Great Sand Dunes National Monument.  It will be a short drive of only 124 miles so I should get there rather quickly.  I plan on spending a few days there checking out the sand dunes.