LATEST TRICKS: The High Road to Taos

Santa Fe to Taos, New Mexico
Tuesday, October 26, 2010  (Happy Birthday Ted!)

Three months on the road requires some periodic "household maintenance" and we were definitely due. So, we started off the day doing laundry at the motel, hauling much of the contents of the van out onto the pavement, and repacking the whole kit-and-caboodle. Perhaps the staff found it a bit odd to see hot pink plastic bins, tote bags, shoes, cans of Diet Coke, fresh-washed clothes, and books strewn about their parking lot, but it all made sense to us.

Content with our reorganization, we took a stroll around the beautiful grounds of our motel, the El Rey Inn, before a cheerful check-out with Sylvia at the front desk.

Now it was time for fortification and the Tecolote Café was the perfect spot. We had a hearty and delicious southwestern lunch of Huevos Yucatecos with fresh-baked biscuits, blueberry muffins and flour tortillas.

The Café was celebrating 30 years in business and we can understand why they have been successful. The food was wonderful and everyone there was friendly, hospitable, and excited to hear about our journey. They shared several good recommendations for some of our upcoming destinations and wished us safe, happy travels.

Pleasantly stuffed, we set off on The High Road to Taos, a recognized scenic byway. As much as we enjoyed Santa Fe, it felt good to get back into nature. The views along The High Road were breathtaking.

One memorable stop along the way was El Santuario de Chimayo. Built between 1813 and 1816, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. El Santurario is known locally as "The American Lourdes" because of its reputation for miracles and healing. It felt like a "sacred space" because of its beauty, serenity and the reverence that it embodied. It was inspiring to visit this special place.

Arriving at Taos, we checked in to the El Pueblo Lodge and headed out to dinner. Finding most of our original picks closed on Tuesdays, we followed an old traveler's trick--look for the place with the most cars in the parking lot. That place was clearly the Guadalajara Grill North. Inside we found a cheerful, casual Mexican restaurant. We shared their Chicken Monterrey and Camarones Veracruz with sides of rice, beans, corn tortillas, guacamole and salsa fresca. What a feast! Ted tried the Mexican beer Carta Blanca and absolutely loved it. He said it reminded him of the refreshing light beer Medalla that he enjoyed so much in Puerto Rico. I think he'll be stocking up on Carta Blanca from the local grocery store!

  

After dinner, we returned to our cozy room at El Pueblo Lodge, lit a fire in the kiva-style fireplace, and relaxed with some American Indian flute music. Sublime. Ted said it was a perfect birthday.
-- Ted and Laura