Taos, New Mexico

So you may have been wondering why this random picture was posted a while back--and I know the suspense has been killing you. I finally have time to post the rest of the pics and the stories that go along with them.     This was taken in Taos, New Mexico--where Sam and I escaped for a little weekend get-away for his birthday, he had seen a position open up for a dentist here and since there is a ski resort just minutes away--his interest was peaked and he wanted to check out the town, and since his interest being peaked could mean a future move for me--I took up his offer to come along and make a vacation out of it.   He even booked us one night in a quaint little historic bed and breakfast.  (pictures of that are at the bottom--and I out of not wanting this to take forever I am not going to rearrange them).  This picture is where we ate one day for lunch--and after escaping Phoenix in mid April which had already had temps topping out at over 100 degrees, being able to sit outside and actually enjoy lunch in a cool and crisp 65 degrees seemed like heaven, no exaggeration there. 

Before this trip my view of new Mexico was that it is the armpit of the US.  Seriously, Every time I drive through or had to visit for one reason or other I vowed to never go back.  Yet, every time I talked to someone that had been to Taos they said it was different, so beautiful (compared to the rest of new mexico).  So still, the question in my mind was "So, is it pretty compared to other states, like southern Utah or southern Colorado?  Or is it only pretty compared to the other trashy cities that make up New Mexico?"  (aka Gallup, Farmington, and even Albuquerque I was not impressed with).    So here is a picture of what it looked like coming in to Taos--it was early spring--so there were a lot of dead looking trees but then there were some covered in cheery pick and white blossoms--signs of hope, and this picturesque view of the snow capped mountain (read: ski resort) in the not so distant background.

 The Rio Grande River comes through here so we went to look at the bridge and a view of the gorge.

Rather than sight-seeing, I was driving around looking at houses and neighborhoods trying to see if I could imagine myself living there.  99% of the housing is pueblo-style housing--based of the the Taos Pueblo indians who settle the area back in the day  (think Anasazi times)  And there are still native americans who live in the ancient pueble--and this would be the tribe that has a clinic with an opening for a dentist.

Sam said waking up to this view of the mountain would be a dream come true...which while I think is in fact pretty...it's just too bad you have to look past all this hideous sage.

The historic area of Taos does look a little run down--but it seems almost intentional--as I can tell they are trying to keep the historic quality of it all....but once you get out of that area there were some beautiful properties lining the roads.

And this little shopping area was tucked behind the more run down looking buildings, and it was a cute little area with ice cream, book stores, quaint restaurants and clothing stores (well, outdoor clothing stores anyway--there is no high fasion--but for those who like trail running shoes and hiking pants you would be all set.)

View from the car of the "historic" aka slightly run down looking down town, but looks can be deceiving because these buildings have some amazing art galleries inside--Taos is very artsy and it is one thing the town is known for--both Native American (New Mexican type art) and even the type of art the rest of the US...even the rest of the World says is art :)

A bad pic from my phone, but the shops were lit up with Christmas lights at night.

This was the bed and breakfast where we stayed, it was in a *very old* historic building. 

They had a hammock there, I love hammocks.

 The breakfast did not disappoint, tasted delicious and even looked fun too.

The old building came with a few little quirks, one of which was the short door.

 Another view of the down town area, which I will say does not get be super excited just looking at it...but did I mention that the other thing people know about Taos is that Julia Roberts has a home there??  It's true...or so the internet says  (and the internet can never be wrong)...and so if Julia Roberts has a house there--it can't be all that bad...right??

When we left my impression was that if I can enjoy living in Chinle, then I could probably enjoy living here.  The people seemed very nice, I was quizzing everyone we met (Owners of art galleries, the waitress at restraunts, random young people that looked my age and seemed to be locals) If they liked living there and they all made it sound like a friendly little town.  Kind of quirky, so if you can embrace the quirkyness then you will probably love it.   Either way I got a nice little vacation out of it.