Living in a climate that gets snow once every two years or so, you forget what a pain in the butt the stuff can be. Beautiful, sure, but always scraping it off your car, or having a chunk of it slide down into the open top of your short boots, or trying to drive on roads coated with the stuff and sludge, too? Not so much.
On our last morning in Santa Fe we woke up to this view out of our hotel window.
Yay! The stuff was really coming down. Unfortunately, we were going to have to drive through it to get to Taos, which was expecting somewhere between 6 and 12 inches. So we resolved to take the river road (as opposed to the high, scenic road through villages and pueblos) and set out on mostly unplowed roads.
Sadly, we didn't see any elk.
The drive was actually really nice, and though visibility was low we could tell we were driving through some lovely country. About two-thirds of the way up to Taos, with the snow having mostly stopped, we pulled off the river road to take the high road the rest of the way into town.
Husbear probably wishes I could have calmed the freak down to appreciate it, though, since I spent a lot of the drive gripping various bits of my door and hissing "slow. down."
But he did a fine job driving, and got us there without major injuries to us or the car. We checked into our little motel and immediately went in search of a bite to eat in the rapidly deteriorating weather.
Ricky's was warm and small and very, very inviting. A cup of coffee started to take the chill off, and then our food banished the remaining shreds.
I ordered a taco made on Indian fry bread with green chile, and Husbear got a stuffed sopaipilla Christmas, meaning with both red and green chile. Yeah, that's really the term - I promise I'm not setting you up to look stupid on your next trip to New Mexico.
The bread was fried perfectly and the ground beef topping was well-seasoned and not greasy. Their chile was more warm than spicy, and the cooling touch of the guacamole really set off the warm, pillowy bread.
Though I gotta say, I don't think I liked a single serving of rice we had the entire time we were in New Mexico. I guess it's a stylistic thing, but most of the rice we had seemed gummy or too runny or both.
And for dessert? A basket of sopaipillas served with butter and honey. Nothing could have been more perfect.
After this massive lunch, we were feeling sufficiently warmed and stuffed to go see Taos Pueblo.
Taos Pueblo gave the town of Taos its name. It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it's a National Historic Landmark, it's been continuously occupied for more than a thousand years. It's old, and iconic, and welcomes visitors - sort of.
This is one of the two main complexes, made entirely of adobe. And snow.
There were ladders leaning up against almost every building. Homes used to not have doors - the entry to each house was through the roof, hence the ladders. Good security.
Adobe ovens dot the plain. It looks like homes share them. A few were steaming quietly, but most were just collecting snow.
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We briefly visited the cemetery, with its poignant rustic wooden crosses telling of mostly short lives.
There were very few people out and about, but puppies were everywhere.
We even met one extremely friendly cat, who followed us around for at least ten minutes.
Many of the Taos Indians have converted the front rooms of their homes into small shops, selling Native goods like tomahawks and drums as well as jewelry, rugs and hangings. We visited several, and business was slow. We only saw three other visitors in the pueblo while we were there.
By now, we were close to frozen again, so back to the hotel to figure out dinner plans, and then out to the Taos Inn. It was decorated beautifully with farolitos shining through the continual snow.
The lobby bar was great, with lots of little nooks and a giant fireplace we were lucky enough to sit right next to. And a nice Christmas tree.
They were having an open mike night that started out surprisingly well, then went rapidly downhill with warbling, quavery reimaginings of Cat Stevens hits. Our hot toddy and hot buttered rum helped us through.
Then we went and grabbed a green chile pizza, light on the cheese, and a healthy sprouty salad from Taos Pizza Out Back and brought it back to our snug hotel room. A perfect, low-key end to a cold, packed day.
Ricky's (no website). 615 Paseo del Pueblo Sur, Taos NM. 575.758.3589.
Taos Pueblo. Just north of Taos. Follow the signs. Certain times of year the pueblo is closed - you might want to check ahead on their website.
Taos Inn. A hotel and bar, too - plus a nice restaurant and a great location!
Taos Pizza Out Back (no website). 712 Paseo del Pueblo Norte. 575.758.3112.
I'm going to have to come back to blogging this trip later, since we're leaving tomorrow for a week or so in Louisiana. I hope to have blogging time there, but it's never worked out before, so we'll see!
Happy Chanukah and a Merry Christmas!
