 |
| Creator of holy dirt? |
 |
| Santuario de Chimayo |
On Wednesday, we took the
High Road to
Taos, a mountainous, twisty, turn-y road through lots of little towns. One such town is Chimayo, a place renowned for its very old
Santuario de Chimayo, a sacred Catholic church used as a Good Friday pilgrimage destination each year for over 30,000 of the faithful. The church is also known for its holy dirt, thought by many to cure ailments and afflictions, though, oddly, this special dirt can only be purchased in the gift shop. In any case, we walked around the campus of the tiny chapel and enjoyed the pretty weather and a neighbor horse interested in anyone who would pet him or feed him grass.
 |
| San Francisco de Asis Church |
We continued on the scenic high road to Taos, where we stopped at the
visitor center for lunch suggestions and tourist options. The friendly guide pointed us down the street to the
San Francisco de Asis Church, with the
Ranchos Plaza Grille next door. The restaurant was recommended because they have great red chile sauce, fantastic tamales and wonderful sopapillas. We had all three (and other stuff) and totally enjoyed it. After rolling ourselves out the door, we took in the sight of the church under increasingly heavy cloud cover. Just after we dashed into the church to see the altar, the sky opened up and a downpour ensued. We huddled in the church with some German tourists until the rain subsided and then walked around the little plaza to see the other adobe structures around it. We snapped our amateur photos of the
church, a building photographed by none other than my favorite photographer, Ansel Adams, and painted by the esteemed Georgia O'Keeffe. Well, la-dee-da.
 |
| Rio Grande Gorge Bridge |
 |
| Rio Grande Gorge |
We drove into downtown Taos as the rain threatened to drown us, so we passed on through to see the
Rio Grande Gorge Bridge several miles out of town first, hoping for better weather on our return. The Rio Grande flows 800 feet below the unassuming bridge, in the middle of a beautiful landscape in all directions. The mountains off in the distance were cloaked in sheeting rain and thick clouds while the gorge was bathed in sunlight in the foreground...it was gorge-ous!
 |
| Kit Carson Home and Museum |
We drove back to the historic section of Taos under a fair amount of rain, but once in the town, we were spared a soaking. We walked to the
Kit Carson Home and Museum, where we learned about this indomitable man of many talents. He is credited with helping settle vast portions of the western frontier as well as bringing to quick conclusion the war with Mexico. He was a fur trapper, mountain man, and legend in his own time, though his 5' 5" stoop-shouldered, slight frame belied his courage and daring in repelling Indian attacks.
He subsequently served in the US Army during the Civil War and, in 1863, Kit Carson reluctantly agreed to Col. Carleton's orders to round up and force march the Navajos to
Bosque Redondo, resulting in thousands of deaths. Many Navajos still consider him to be instrumental in the near-destruction of their people. Later he realized the failure of Bosque Redondo and was influential in Congress' decision to allow the Navajo people to return to their homeland. Shortly after returning from Washington after successfully lobbying Congress, he and his second wife died within a month of one another in 1868 (she of childbirth complications, he of an aneurysm) leaving their 7 children orphaned. Since he was a charter member of the Bent Masonic Lodge in Taos, his home was bought by the Lodge in 1911 and then restored and turned into a museum in the 1940s.
 |
| Rain over the mountains |
We walked into
Taos Plaza, a couple of blocks from the museum, and found a large square surrounded by little shops and art galleries. Taos is known for its strong arts community and we could see it in action all over. Murals are painted in and on various buildings, musicians play in some of the courtyards, and virtually every medium of art is practiced here, from ballooning to weaving to pottery to sculpture and painting.
 |
| Rio Grande River |
With the clouds looming darkly above us again, we opted for the
Low Road back to
Santa Fe. The low road simply goes around the mountains instead of through them, but it offers no less spectacular views and, in our opinions, perhaps better ones. We also found the Rio Grande River flowing next to us for most of the return trip, with the snow-capped mountains of Taos in the rearview mirror.
What a pretty day, despite all the rain!
No comments:
Post a Comment