Day 5: TX and NM

9:40am Left Amarillo, TX

It was a balmy 70 degrees yesterday in the canyon; however, this morning was 25 degrees!! 

Stopped a couple times for gas, stretching, and snacks.

3:00pm Arrived in Taos, NM (went back an hour)

Ok. So. Let me just say this… New Mexico. Is FREAKING GORGEOUS. I don't know how to stress this enough. It is absolutely breathtaking. We passed a lake and a national park on the drive to Taos and they were so so incredibly beautiful. I want to come back some spring/summer to explore more!

4:00pm Rio Grande Gorge Bridge

This is a suspension bridge over the Rio Grande River. You can't really see the design of the bridge because it's all below where you drive/walk, but the bridge is almost 600 ft above the river. There are little places along both sides of the bridge that jut out for better views. Now, I am not one who claims any kind of fear of heights, but whenever I look down somewhere and realize that there is barely anything between me and a very long drop, my knees get a little wobbly. COMPLETELY worth being scared down to your skivvies! 

5:00pm Taos Mesa Brewing

Hung here for a while to wait for live music. There was a 3-man Irish group fully equipped with bagpipes, recorder, guitar, mandolin, and vocals. We had a couple local craft beers, ate some good noms, and even tried house-cured tofu bacon! I almost ALMOST got a grass-fed burger, but I opted for the Winter Salad instead, which was phenomenally delicious. Also, it was Happy Hour, so our beers were only $3 and we got chips and salsa for $1. Can't beat that! 

8:30pm Headed "home" to Sun God Lodge

Thoughts

• The hills became "chunky" looking just north of Amarillo, TX and turns out we were going through a town called Chunky!

• Lots of wind farms in Texas, both modern and old school

• There were Native American vendors at the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge selling beautiful necklaces, earrings, bracelets, and other gifts/souvenirs. My initial thought was that these items would be obscenely expensive, but actually they were very reasonably priced. They all hand cut, polished, and made the pieces themselves with minimal tools/equipment. The quality of the items were gorgeous and the cost-value was very fair. 

Playlist

John Mayer (duh)

Switchfoot

Train

Gorillaz

Katy Perry

Audiobook - Bossypants by Tina Fey

Audiobook - Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese (was making me fall asleep :-\)

Audiobook - Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver

Local radio station that played lots of oldies

This was a cozy little sleeper bench in our hotel in Amarillo

Goodbye, Texas

These were little silver structures that were in just the shape of young Thai coconuts!

Lots of drills

So, this is Xis Ranch Motel...... Seems to me that this would be pronounced "zit" ranch, but Mama Ku astutely pointed out that it was probably meant to be like "exit" ranch (it was located off an exit). Needless to say we had a pretty good laugh about zit ranch.

Hey, New Mexico!

What's that white stuff? Frost? Oh!!

Hello, pretty frost on fluffy grasses!

Beautiful and surreal looking frost fields

Winter wonderland

We saw pronghorn antelope! Click on the picture to check out their cute faces and white butts!

Mountains

Gorgeous New Mexico

So pretty!

Cimarron Canyon State Park,  Palisades Sill

Click to zoom. There is an adorable little vertical rock structure just chillin.

Our trusty Honda Pilot

Dirty with love (it wants to be a Subaru)

Mom's Sketch of the Palisades Sill

Eagle Nest Lake. We drove over a hill not knowing this was on the other side, and when it appeared we both gasped at how stunning it was.

Taos!

The entrance to our suite at the Sun God Lodge

Rio Grande Gorge

This was so dope

Whoa suspension bridge. You're kind of scary with how easy it would be to fall off of you.

Mom was nervous on this bridge and wanted to get off ASAP

When cars drove by, the entire bridge would shake. Scary but so awesome!

The camera doesn't do justice to the depth and magnitude of this rockin gorge.

Sunset

Happy hour!

Local craft brew on an awesome bartop with shells, rocks, gears, bike chains, etc embedded in it. I want a counter like this!!

Winter Salad:

Live music err night

Tons of building in Taos are adorned with these cute little lights that accentuate the adobe style

They are very pretty at night

Just outside our suite at Sun God Lodge

Decorative fire place with nice tile floors

Mini kitchen, even stocked with dishes

Cool little nooks in the living room

Cozy bedroom, check out those sconces! Can you spot Hootie?

We are excited to explore more of Taos tomorrow, drive through Santa Fe, and meet up with Papa Ku, Jason, and his girlfriend Hojung in Albuquerque! This trip has been such a blast so far and I am excited for my adventures on the way back home :)