I am back at the library in Abiquiu–one of my favorite libraries in my experience–and am writing to repeat the importance of supporting this rural library, which is the heart of the community. Have a good printer you can donate to them? They need one!
In the mean time, we spent Oct. 15 through Oct. 20 camping in Taos NM at the Taos RV Park. Leaving Abiquiu knowing we’d be leaving a true love, we breakfasted at the Cafe Sierra Negra. We so appreciate Melodie Milhoan’s love put into her every dish. We arrived in Taos in the afternoon, camping at site #21, next to Stuart in his Casita linked to Starlink for his computer work.
That afternoon we visited the Mabel Dodge Luhan House, a center for art and culture for more than 100 years. We felt instantly at home and welcome in its rooms and by the people who worked there.
Afterward, we drove to Arroyo Seco, where we have come to appreciate its simple charm. We ate boxed dinners from Cyd’s Natural Food Store while we watched a 40-minute rainbow.
Walking up a road leading out of the village, we met a local woman, a veteran Taos jeweler, walking her two dogs and throwing a stick for them. We told her about the incredible Northern lights and comet we’d seen in Abiquiu and she asked for us to send the photos to her. We developed a text relationship over the next few days, and later visited her at her built-from-scratch fine jewelry store in Taos, there for more than 40 years. While we chatted in her shop, a pair of thuggish men came in, and later the woman told us they were casing the place. She recalled a previous break in, and said it’s getting rough in Taos. That if someone threatened her with a gun, she’d pull her own gun and shoot the thieves.
Later, when we were camping at Ojo Caliente, we mentioned this story to a group of four sisters, who were staying at the resort. One sister wisely said that a parasitic relationship develops between the have nots and the über wealthy,–which are increasingly visiting Taos–exacerbating this tension. The folks who once rented for reasonable rates are becoming unhoused with the increase in housing costs. We agree. The jeweler, a very strong woman, is at her wit’s end, wanting to continue her craft, yet having to deal with a population on drugs, who kicked her door in and stole from her in the past. One of Taos’ shadow sides. Another shadow side is a woman I met in our RV restroom at 10:30 one night, a paranoid woman, applying foundation makeup, which, in her nervousness, she splattered on the wall. I told her I was concerned for her well-being. I hope she can find peace.
The following morning we drove along the High Road to Taos, stopping to eat at Sugar Nymph in Peñasco. Great home-cooked food and desserts in a real home of character. We chatted with Bill Hood, who enjoys teaching middle and high school kids computer skills. He mentioned the schools received a grant from NASA to build and launch their own satellite. Bill Hood said he enjoys the students’ wanting to learn a skill.
Outside Sugar Nymphs Bistro was a painted sign of Peñasco, and an ad for Retablos–devotional folk art paintings, and Bultos–wooden sculptures of saints–by Lorrie Garcia. Her husband Andrew builds quality Spanish colonial furniture. Both are retired teachers whose later life avocation has won awards. We drove to their comfortable home where Andrew worked outside putting finishing touches on a cabinet. He showed us to the studio where we marveled at Lorrie’s work. We bought a Guadalupe Retablo that she painted in 2024. You’ll learn in a little bit why Guadalupe figures big in our world.
We said our goodbyes to this lovely couple and headed for the Santa Barbara NFS campground–now closed–but still available for a good walk. High mountains, aspen and conifers embraced us along the way.
On the way back to camp, we drove through some back streets of Taos and saw this pink beauty:
The following morning we spent time at the UNM Taos Library and walked its trail through sagebrush meadow. Afterward we ran errands, including Bill’s stop at Wild Leaven Bakery in Taos for some sourdough rye. After a walk along Don Fernando Creek between El Nogal Recreation Area and La Vinateria, where we once filled our bottles with natural spring water, we learned the pipe delivering the spring water has been removed due to water pollution. The yellow willows and sound of the merry creek cheered us. On the way home we pulled over to take a photo of this sunset.
Friday Oct. 18 we drove out toward Arroyo Seco–we feel more aligned there than in Taos, where we feel the sharp edge of pain of the have nots and the too crowded tourist attractions. We drove up into Taos Ski Valley and hiked among aspen along the high elevation Twining Road–some 9600 feet high.
After our exhilarating mountain walk, we wound around toward Arroyo Hondo along NM Hwy 522. We wished to visit the church. In May 1992 we visited the church and women there told us the shroud of Guadalupe was being carried through the town. “Expect a miracle!” the ladies told us. Well, I came home to discover I was pregnant with our son Raymo, who was born the following February. So, many thanks to this patron saint for a wonderful son.
Hungry, we stopped at two Mexican restaurants. With my sensitive gut, I could tell by the smell of grease inside, they wouldn’t work. But we did find an outdoor art gallery in northern Taos.
We heated up left overs and wanting to continue the mountain feel, I Googled great films about mountains and found a Spencer Tracy and Robert Wagner film called The Mountain, filmed in Chaminex, France, and released in 1956. The mountain climbing scenes and acting in the film, based on a true story about an Indian Airline crash in 1950 in the French Alps, are riveting.
Saturday morning Oct. 19, the weather called for big rain–boy did we not know how big! First we visited the San Francisco de Asis Catholic Mission Church nearby camp in Rancho de Taos. A kind woman at the gift store gifted me with a CD of the church’s choir, after I told her Bill and I were moved to tears by a song with the refrain El Señor, we heard back during our first visit to Taos in 1986. We will need to find a CD player to listen to the music. I bought a blue St. Francis shirt for our son-in-law Gino.
Bill drove me to the Millicent Rogers Museum, which we had visited 2 1/2 years before with our friend Larry’s wonderful step mom Amy. Bill wished to squeeze in a walk along the Rio Grande gorge while the weather still held. The story goes that Millicent escaped to Taos in 1947 following a heartbreaking affair that ended with lady killer actor Clark Gable. She caused quite a stir at the time–Mabel Dodge Luhan felt jealous of this beautiful socialite who collected art and Navajo jewelry. Millicent’s art collection is housed in the museum nowadays.
We visited Taos Wools in Arroyo Seco, where we swooned over churro–local sheep wool–rugs dyed and created by local weavers. The rugs called to us long after we left. Bill enjoyed his favorite kind of blueberry muffin–one with lots of fruit and good crumb from Taos Cow. We each enjoyed their delicious breakfast burritos.
With the rains pouring down, we drove back to camp at Taos RV Park. Oh boy! Our outdoor rug was floating in 3 inches of rain water from the lake that had formed in the gravel campground. Bill called the campground owners and we moved to higher ground at another site, #23. That night we went to sleep with the sound of steady pelting rain on Marion’s fiberglass roof.
Sunday morning October 20 we woke up to find Marion’s rear window leaked, soaking the cushions and leaking into the storage pontoons below. Discarding soaked cereal boxes–whose contents were enclosed in waxy plastic bags fortunately–Bill set our electric heater in the pontoon area after mopping up the moisture. He turned our propane furnace to high and placed our cushion and plywood seat liner in front of the heat. We drove to the Taos Cow in Taos for breakfast burritos. There a beautiful server with deep brown eyes told us how much she loves Abiquiu country and Cero Pedernal–our favorite mesa, and Georgia O’Keefe’s art. Her kindness took the sting out of the challenging morning of having our Marion spring a leak. We packed up the trailer and headed for Arroyo Seco once again. We bought delicious premade salads and lunch material at the Sol Food Market in Arroyo Seco, along with good provisions for our upcoming four days at Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs Resort. Eating lunch while parked across the street from Taos Wool, we felt the siren song of the beautiful rugs calling to us. We walked through the door and Jen was there, telling us she had moved to the area from San Luis Obispo, where she majored in art. Arriving only last June, Jen has taken to the weaving scene as a natural. We bought a rug, entitled Arroyo Seco.
Stoked by finding a beautifully woven locally made rug from a place we feel an affinity for, we headed for Ojo Caliente under dramatic skies. Wait till you hear about Ojo Caliente! Ooh la la!
Signing out from Cactus Cate and Bajada Bill.
