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Taos - Day 1

I woke to snow yesterday!  I had about 2 inches on my car to clear off before heading out.  Thank goodness my host left me a ice scraper/brush thing!  I went to the Plaza and walked around until I found a coffee shop.  It was COLD out and overcast so no sun to warm things up. 

The Taos Plaza was not nearly as impressive as the one in Santa Fe.  But still worth a stop.  I went into the old Courthouse building to look at the fresco's which are impressive - but a little heavy handed in the way they were obviously trying to influence/manipulate the locals.

After a quick stop at the Taos Visitors Center, I drove out to the Royal Gorge Bridge.  Amazing scenery but also a little unnerving when a semi drove over the bridge while I was walking on it.  It didn't take long for me to decide I'd had enough of that!

Since it was so cold and overcast it was a good day for a drive.  So I drove the "Enchanted Circle Tour".  This goes from Taos to Questa, Red River, Eagles Nest, Angel Fire and then back to Taos.  Very nice drive that takes you into the mountains and then down into a valley and then back up into the mountains.  I stopped at most of the towns along the way to explore and made a day of it.  I had lunch in Red River which is a very pretty mountain town that has a ski lift in town.  Ski season officially starts on Thanksgiving weekend but some of the resorts are already open on weekends. 

Then back to Taos where I stopped for dinner and then found some live entertainment at a hotel bar, The Pueblo Bar.  The first performers where a guitarist and a harpist.  They were amazing!  Then the the open mic portion of the evening which was less than amazing.  The original song abut mangoes was when I decided to head back to my Airbnb. 

Today we have sunshine so excited to get out and explore...even though it was 25 degrees when I woke up!


 Snow!  View from my window.

 Fresco in the Old Courthouse

There were about 12 Frescos, all very dramatic!
 
 
This box is on the Gorge bridge...so sad.
 A view along the Enchanted Circle Drive
 
 On the drive I saw signs to be careful of deer, mountain goats, and elk but this sign was by far the one I saw the most.  Cracked me up every time!
 I stopped for lunch at the Red River Brewing Company which just opened in May.




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