Taos

We were supposed to begin our visit with Stacy, Ella and Nick. Due to Candy's miserable cold we stayed only one night with them, made arrangements with the apartment and continued on down I-25 with a visit to Taos in mind. Severe thunderstorms and just plain pooped caused us to stay two nights in a little motel on I-25 near Walsenburg. We opted for the scenic route (160) to Taos.

Taos was interesting but we saw items that are imported and for sale in St John (except they cost even more) and the galleries/stores were heavy on commercial "southwest" decorator items. It was very hot and dry. We were amused by a big black dog that took a bath in one of the fufu fountains. The architecture was probably the most interesting. We visited the "oldest continuously lived in pueblo" nearby and we stopped just north of Taos to see the Earthship houses. There were at least 15 houses, each very different exterior designs but all constructed with tire burms and natural/off the grid heating and cooling. We stayed at a KOA Alamosa. The next morning we explored Sand Dunes National Park. The dunes are huge and you can see tiny people climbing the dunes in both photos. We headed our for Royal Gorge which was a disappointment as it is totally commercial and one can hardly get close to see the gorge without paying to enter an "amusement park". This really illustrates what a wonderful treasure we have in the preservation of natural wonders by our national parks. We stayed in a little campground nearby and left for Denver arriving around 5:00 the following day.