Santa Fe to Taos

Today we leave Hacienda Las Barrancas and head to Santa Fe to go to the Spanish Market. It is one of the biggest street art festivals. The Market is held in the Plaza and surrounding streets. Most of the art is "folk" and lots of the same...saints painted on wood (retablas), leather or pounded into tin. We did find a cross with a bear totem that we bought. Vicki found a nice glass piece for her necklace.

Around noon it started to rain, so we had lunch at the Cafe on the Plaza and then headed up to Taos where we will be staying at the Little Tree Bed & Breakfast where we stayed in 2006.

It rained most of the way up to Taos. Our first stop was at the Gearing Up bike shop where I got some ride suggestions.

Arrived at Little Tree. They have hummingbird feeders all around the property and there are many, many, hummingbirds buzzing around. We have never seen so many hummingbirds in one place! There is a feeder outside our window and the hummingbirds can be watched from the bed. Very cool.

Had dinner at El Meze. The restaurant is a fusion of New Mexican and Moroccan food. We dined on appetizers - fries, blue cheese stuffed olives and hummus, downed with some good wine. All very good. For dessert we shared a lemon mousse neopolitan with raspberry sauce. The wait staff was great. The evening was most enjoyable.

Leisurely

Started the day with a terrific breakfast prepared by Emily and Tim, the Hacienda Las Barrancas owners. For starters we had nectarine scones and fresh fruit. Vicki had an avocado and green chile omelette. I had lemon ricotta blueberry pancakes.

For the day's activity we decided to hike Tsankawi, the ancestral home of the Tewa Pueblo people in the 1400s. The hike consisted of a two mile loop that went up to the top of a mesa where a village once stood. On the way down, in the face of the mesa, were a number of "cavates", caves, carved into the side for shelter and food storage. Lots of petroglyphs are carved in the stones as well.

It is interesting to note that a decision has been made to not dig up the archeology in these areas out of respect for the native people. These ancestral grounds are sacred and it is important that the ancestors not be disturbed.

Had dinner at Gabriel's Restaurant. They have a lot of outdoor seating, but it was raining. The wait would have been more than 40 minutes, but we found a table at the bar. We ordered guacamole prepared at the table. It was good, but a bit bland. We waited for our food for awhile and I was wondering if our order had been forgotten...and it had. The waiter came by and apologized for losing our order. The food did arrive quickly once it was reordered. No big deal, we were not in a hurry.

The tortilla soup Vicki ordered was some of the best she's had. It was loaded with fresh vegetables and avocado slices. The handmade corn tortillas were thick and very good. Since I am always on the hunt for the best chile rellenos...I ordered the Santa Fe version. The poblano peppers were stuffed with chicken and cheese. They were good, but won't make my top three.

New Mexico 2010

Vicki and I left for New Mexico yesterday after work. We made it as far as Childress and stayed overnight at the Hampton Inn. Nice bed.

We arrived in Santa Fe around 3 p.m. Dropped off Vicki's wedding ring to get a stone repaired at Santa Fe Goldworks. Found a couple of things for family Christmas gifts.

Drove north about 15 miles to the Hacienda Las Barrancas bed & breakfast. We have not stayed here before. It's a peaceful quiet place. We are staying in the "El Pajarito" room.

We had dinner at the Sopaipilla Factory in Pojoaque. We ordered "chile de arbol" salsa with our chips, but it was so spicy hot we couldn't eat it. And, we are "used" to hot salsa! We had the waitress bring us the regular tomato salsa which was spicy as well, but good a edible.

The menu consisted of the Mexican food usual suspects. Vicki had tacos and I had a combination plate with a chile relleno and a cheese enchilada. Both dishes had a "kick" to them provided by the area red chiles. Great flavor!