Month: September 2017

More of Pueblo Bonito:

And it’s not all squares and rectangles.  There are lots of round rooms, too.  Each had a purpose, largely ceremonial.

More of Pueblo Bonito:

Here’s what historians think Pueblo Bonito might have looked like in it’s glory days.  600 rooms, as many as 4 or 5 stories tall and covering 3 acres.

Further up the road is Casa Rinconada, another of the ruins in the Park.

Looking back towards Pueblo Bonito from Casa Rinconada:

When I left Chaco Canyon I drove north to Bloomfield, then west to Shiprock (which hopefully you’ll see pictures of tomorrow – the sun was in the wrong place for good photos today), and then north to Cortez, Colorado.  I was only in Colorado for about a half hour before arriving at the Retro Inn, which I posted pictures of about a month ago.  I am staying in Room 1954 (the year I was born).  The room itself is unremarkable.  The motel is a one-story, cinder block structure.  I have a king size bed and the room is decorated with a baseball theme – pictures of Wrigley Field in Chicago, Babe Ruth, a Louisville Slugger ad and some other items.

Here is a photo of the sunset from when I came out of Wal-Mart, having bought my dinner salad.  They do have some amazing sunrises and sunsets out here in the west!

Tomorrow I’m off to Canyon de Chelly National Monument in northeast Arizona (not far away) and hopefully I’ll have time to get close to Shiprock and also visit the Aztec Ruins before heading up to Durango for the next 7 nights.  The weather doesn’t sound good for Wednesday and Thursday but I’ll try to make the best of it.  I need to get some car maintenance done (time for oil & filter already, plus new tires and wheel alignment.  Good thing I didn’t get the wheels aligned before I was in and out on the Chaco access roads today!).  I also need to do laundry again so Wednesday may be chores and errands and, if the weather isn’t too stormy, maybe pictures of downtown Durango.

 

I figured I couldn’t come to Taos and not visit a ski area, even though I am not a skier.  Turns out there is one only 10 miles from where I was staying the last 2 nights of my visit near Arroyo Seco, just north of Taos.

And yes, there is already snow way up there on the highest peak (I thought it looked a little whiteish from town earlier in the day).  From the parking area where I took this picture it was 55 degrees, although the wind chill today made it feel like about 15!  I was parked at an altitude of 9,517 feet.

Taos Ski Valley has 110 trails, gets an average of 300 inches of snow per year and is among the 3 highest populated areas in the United States (or is the highest, depending on who you ask).  Their Kachina ski lift is the highest triple chair lift in the US reaching a peak elevation of 12,481 feet.  Up until 2008 this ski area was one of only four in the United States which did NOT allow snowboarding.

This cool dude was ramming around on his bright blue bike wearing his stylish mohawk helmet.  His mom said it was ok to take his picture and post it on the blog.

I bought a hat and a slice of pizza to kill time until 3 o’clock when Happy Hour started at the Stray Dog Cantina.  I then enjoyed two yummy Bloody Mary’s while listening to the end of the NASCAR race on my phone and watching a football game on their TV.

As I was leaving I noticed that in addition to the pretty-people cars (an Aston Martin and an Audi A8, among them),  I was parked next to a pickup truck with a makeshift tailgate.

Now… about those taillights, sir…..

This picture was in an ice cream shop called Taos Cow in Arroyo Seco, where I discovered my new favorite flavor may be Pistachio White Chocolate (in a waffle cone, of course).  These ski types certainly have a sense of humor.

And when I was in Breckenridge, Colorado a few weeks ago I asked my brother David, who used to work there for one season, if he wanted me to get him anything while I was there.  He said a ski in/ski out condo on Peak 6.  I did see a sign for one like that which is available here in Taos.

A steal at only $ 525,000 but hey, you might be able to rent it out on Airbnb and recoup some of that investment.

Look at this picture and see if you spot anything interesting.

Let’s try a little closer…

See it yet?

Don’t feel bad, the first time I was here I didn’t see it either, although I had an idea of what was coming.

I was on Route 64 West, about 10 miles outside of Taos, when suddenly I was dangling (well, that’s not the right word exactly – driving) approximately 565 feet above the Rio Grande River.

Throwing caution (and my fear of heights) to the wind, and keeping a firm grip on my smartphone, I marched out on the bridge to take a few photos.  I was here a few years ago and I hadn’t heard that it had collapsed and been rebuilt since then so I had a little confidence that it would remain standing.

Looking north from the center:

Looking DOWN from the center (one eye closed, phone held out over the edge):

Looking out towards the south:

And looking down towards the rapids on the south side:

And not to make light of a serious problem, but this suicide hotline call box was out in the middle of the bridge.  I wonder how many calls they actually get, once someone has come this far….

Looking back towards Taos.  The reason suddenly appearing on this bridge was such a surprise is that there is no superstructure above ground level indicating what you are about to do.  One minute you’re driving in the desert, and the next you are high above the Rio Grande.

Some Native American artwork on the bridge railing:

This community is located out in the desert west of Taos.  It is apparently sustainable living, structures built to utilize solar power and natural light and minimize the dependence on conventional utilities.

These are the two main structures, located near the entrance.  There are signs posted that this is private property and that you are not to trespass beyond these two buildings, although there were many similar houses out in the desert.

This is the Visitor Center.  There was an admission charge and I opted not to go inside, figuring I could read all about it on their website.

This is a larger unit, across the dirt road from the Visitor Center.  It is apparently still a work in progress.  You are not allowed inside.

There are lots of solar panels, satellite dishes and south-facing windows.  The north side of almost all the structures were covered by mounds of dirt, apparently to minimize the dissipation of heat and cold from within the houses.

The houses were somewhat futuristic in appearance but, frankly, looked like Epcot Center at Disney World if it had been abandoned for 10 years.  The inside might be nice, and I admire the intent to be self-sufficient, but I can’t say as I was impressed.

There are some of these houses listed on Airbnb but they are higher than my normal rate (because of the novelty factor, I’m sure) so I doubt if I’ll be staying in any.

 

 

I decided to just spend the day today in and around Taos.  Being a Sunday morning, things in town were pretty quiet and parking was free and plentiful.  I tried going back into town later in the day and the traffic was crazy so I turned around and headed back up towards Arroyo Seco and the ski area.

Taos is a small, artsy town which reminds me very much of Chapel Hill, North Carolina.  Lots of restaurants, craft and jewelry shops, art studios and high-end clothing stores.  When I was here a few years ago there was a guy dressed up as Zorro riding his horse around town, posing for pictures but I didn’t come across him in the five days I’ve been here.

This is a side street I parked on:

Many of the stores are around the park in the middle of town square:

And there are lots of nooks and crannies, pedestrian-only side streets:

This was some interesting artwork.  A stand-alone nose and mouth, bordered on each side by figures whose heads give the appearance of eyes on a face.

And this stuffed bear at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory was taking a break, getting rested up for his big day ahead.

This was my big surprise of the day.  As I approached the eastern end of my scenic drive, about 85 miles east of Taos near the town of Raton, NM, I saw the entrance for this facility.

I drove down the flag-lined entrance road (flags representing each of the 50 states)

Once inside the Visitor Center I was soon greeted by a young man named Greg.  He told me about the facility and told me I was free to look around and take pictures.  He said to be sure to go through the museum.

The Whittington Center, named for a former president of the National Rifle Association (NRA), is a non-profit enterprise and is not actually owned or operated by the NRA.  They get their funds from donations, membership fees, facility entry fees (I could have paid to go out on the shooting range) and contest fees.  This 30,000+ acre facility is the largest of it’s kind in the United States.  They have over 15 shooting ranges (the largest over 2 miles long!), as well as cabins, an RV park, primitive campsites, a cafeteria, and lots of other buildings.  They host numerous competitions throughout the year and have professionals on staff who train people (average folks as well as law enforcement officers) in the safe and proper use of firearms, as well as defense tactics and precision shooting skills.  They also have organized “hunts” on the property.

Greg rattled off all kinds of various firearm types as well as the numerous competitions for specific skills.  I’m not very knowledgeable about such things but it was fascinating to listen to and he is obviously very passionate about it.

Following Greg’s advice I went through the museum.  Again, not being a gun person myself it was kind of lost on me but I’m sure an enthusiast would get a lot more out of it.

And it’s not all about guns.  This knife has an affadavit behind it which explains it’s significance.  It was given to the gentleman for which this facility is named by a legendary “Mountain Man” named Ben Lilley, one of the last of his kind.

There were two other guys walking through the museum and I asked them if they were allowed to bring one thing home with them, what would it be?  After a second or two of thought they both said “the Gatling Gun”.  I didn’t want to show my ignorance by not knowing what that was but tracked Greg down and asked him.  He said “well, they’d have trouble getting it out the front doors…”.  This is the Gatling Gun:

Here is Greg (on the left) and his co-worker Bryan.  Greg only took up shooting about a year ago.  Bryan likes to “bench shoot,” which is trying to put multiple bullets through the first bullet hole he makes in a target.  He does this with the target at 100, 200 and 300 yards away (that’s 1, 2 and 3 football fields, folks…).  I want these guys on my team.

Oh, and they’re having a raffle!  You could win this Ruger AR-556 with bipod, plus the Leupold Mark 6 1-6×20 scope.  Given my luck with r/c helicopter raffles I should have bought tickets.  I don’t know exactly what I’d do with it if I won, but living in Durham, North Carolina these days it just might come in handy.  I don’t know when the drawing is but if you’re interested call Greg and I’m sure he could hook you up with tickets.

These are some of the things I saw on Saturday as I drove a big scenic loop east of Taos.

These are some of the things I saw on Friday when I took a scenic road called the “High Road to Taos” down to Santa Fe.  I enjoyed the drive so much I took it going back to Taos as well.

These were taken once I got to Santa Fe:

And these were taken on the way back home:

This was set up in a room I went through soon after entering the “house”.  It was looking at a dish of seashells.  As you moved the dish ever so slightly, the images changed.  I had seen something like this at a botanical garden in Oklahoma City earlier this year (pre-blog).  It used various tiny plants as the thing being observed.