Tuesday - We got up early and checked out of the motel at 8:30 and were on our way to drop Jeanne off at the airport. Jill & I headed north on I-25 toward Santa Fe. It was a pretty day to be on the highway and traffic was fairly light. We went through Santa Fe but didn't stop. I am not big fan of what Santa Fe has turned in to...it's choking to death on it's own popularity. We did drive past the plaza so Jill could see it but she wasn't much impressed.
We stopped at Ranchos de Taos at the San Francisco de Asis church and took some pictures and walked around a while. The church looks nice....last time I saw it 2 years ago they were putting on a new layer of adobe mud and there were workers on scaffolds slapping on the wet mud. We went on to Taos and ate lunch at a roadside restaurant that turned out to be very popular with the locals and had good food. I had a Navajo Taco with beef and green chile sauce and Jill had chicken strips -- both were good.
We headed north through the series of Indian pueblos that str
etch along the highway...most have casinos and some look like they are doing OK. At Espanola we began following the Rio Grande through it's gorge past Embudo and on toward Taos.
etch along the highway...most have casinos and some look like they are doing OK. At Espanola we began following the Rio Grande through it's gorge past Embudo and on toward Taos. 
We stopped at Ranchos de Taos at the San Francisco de Asis church and took some pictures and walked around a while. The church looks nice....last time I saw it 2 years ago they were putting on a new layer of adobe mud and there were workers on scaffolds slapping on the wet mud. We went on to Taos and ate lunch at a roadside restaurant that turned out to be very popular with the locals and had good food. I had a Navajo Taco with beef and green chile sauce and Jill had chicken strips -- both were good.We drove
around Taos a while and then headed north to Questa and into Colorado. This is a beautiful route to travel. The scenery keeps changing every few miles and became very sparsely populated and mountainous north of Taos. There are places where you can see open country for miles with no houses or ranches in sight. The Sangre de Cristo mountains were on our east side all the way up.
around Taos a while and then headed north to Questa and into Colorado. This is a beautiful route to travel. The scenery keeps changing every few miles and became very sparsely populated and mountainous north of Taos. There are places where you can see open country for miles with no houses or ranches in sight. The Sangre de Cristo mountains were on our east side all the way up.We crossed over into Colorado and continued to San Luis and then to Ft. Garland. San Luis is the oldest city in Colorado. We turned west and headed past Blanco Peak (14,345 ft) through Blanco and then on to Great Sand Dunes National Park.
What can you say about Great Sand Dunes NP other than "Wow, that's a lot of sand"? It is really a cool spot. The sand dunes are piled 750 feet high and create a special en
vironment. We walked out on the dunes for a short distance...it isn't easy walking in the loose sand...and took a bunch of pictures. The cloud shadows made the dunes change colors and made it really interesting. There were several groups of people on the dunes. We watched some slide down the slope on snow boards. Some others seemed to be intent on climbing up to the very top of the highest dunes. We circled around back to the car as the wind began to pick up.
vironment. We walked out on the dunes for a short distance...it isn't easy walking in the loose sand...and took a bunch of pictures. The cloud shadows made the dunes change colors and made it really interesting. There were several groups of people on the dunes. We watched some slide down the slope on snow boards. Some others seemed to be intent on climbing up to the very top of the highest dunes. We circled around back to the car as the wind began to pick up.We retraced our route back to Ft. Garland and got some gas and something to drink. Trudging over hot sand dunes makes you thirsty. We followed Highway 160 east to Walsensburg and caught I-25 and headed north to Pueblo and our motel. We had supper at an adjacent restaurant.
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