Travels With Abs - Taos, New Mexico – Farmington, N.M.

Since DH and I did not go into the Taos Pueblo when we visited Taos several years ago, I decided to visit the old Pueblo this time. It is considered to be the oldest continuously inhabited community in the USA. I paid $10.00 for my entrance fee and $5.00 for my camera, but Abs was free.

The buildings in Taos Pueblo are made of adobe – a mixture of earth, straw, and water – formed into bricks and sun dried, then stacked and joined with more of the adobe mixture. The exteriors are plastered annually with the adobe mixture and the inside walls are whitewashed to make them bright. The buildings do not have running water or electricity. Residents carry their water from the river and use gas lanterns, much as the Amish do. Some have wood burning fireplaces for heat and cooking. Some use a horno, an adobe oven. We bought bread from a resident who had been up since 4:30 AM baking – I paid $5.00 for ½ a round loaf. We were allowed to wander freely about the village. The limits were clearly marked. After examining a few buildings and taking photos, there were plenty of shops to visit. In fact, most of the space in the small dwellings was devoted to merchandise.
It was only after I downloaded my photos at the end of the day that I discovered a dial had been accidentally turned and all my photos from the village were over exposed.

We left Taos and headed to Farmington. We stopped just past Taos at the Rio Grande River Gorge, but quickly moved on as a thunderstorm announced its pending arrival from the direction we planned to travel.

We had an unexpected surprise just past the gorge. There were several unusual houses scattered about. Some used earth embankments as part of the structure, all were very surreal. I only managed to get one photo.

Heading over the mountains, the temperature dropped from 82 degrees to 49 and I had to brave the rain to check my tires when the tire warning came on. Fortunately, everything appeared to be in order and I figured it was caused by the extremes in temperature.

Abs and I traveled most of the rest of the day through some beautiful country. We stopped to several times to drink in the beauty of our surroundings. Even the most excellent photographs cannot capture the moments. There is something about being in the place, surrounded by the mountains and sounds of the area, that has to be experienced in person. The quiet on the mountain, the lack of traffic after the bustle of Taos, and the freshly washed wildflowers, made the stops worthwhile.