Day 8: High, Low, AND Vertigo
Saturday, September 09, 2006
The past two day’s entries have been a lot about smell. Bad smells. Today was more about equilibrium and adjustments.
¡Casa Benavides es muy bien y bonita!
We both loved our Taos B&B and would definitely stay there again. They had pottery everywhere, and I’m on a mission to find the artist and acquire some. It was not a local artist so I’ll have to work at it. We did find some locally made pottery elsewhere though, being sold by the artist and purchased a piece. Buying directly from the artist appears to be significantly more affordable than purchasing in a gallery.
Well rested, we left Taos and the high desert behind for mountains – though not before crossing the Rio Grand Gorge via the Rio Grand Gorge Bridge (vertigo #1). I love the desert sage in and around Taos. It smells sooooo good and it’s everywhere. There are also a ton of yellow flowers in bloom (small ones, not the type I included in my last entry). Well, I came to find out that these evil little yellow flowers wreck havoc with allergies. Ah-ha! Those were why I had to steal a box of Kleenex from our hotel – and why my eyes have been burning since just outside Amarillo where the little darlings began popping up.
We took a scenic byway out of Taos, the Chama Valley Road which runs through the Carson National Forest. This road is just north of Georgia O’Keefe’s home, Ghost Ranch. I’ve yet to be able to tour the home but would like to on a future visit. We also were unable to visit Taos pueblo so I’ve still not seen it either.
After our scenic drive, we stopped for lunch and window shopping in Durango. It’s a college town (Fort Collins College) and it’s really cute. I liked it last year when visiting with Tammie also. Tammie and I got caught in a rainstorm while eating alfresco. Donnell and I ate lunch at the same restaurant though we choose to be indoors just in case. We had sunny skies while in Durango, but rain on the way in and out. It even hailed on the way in – temps dropped from the 60s to 50s and then into the 40s from the hail. By the time we settled in Durango temps were back up into the mid-60s.
This afternoon we drove half of the San Juan Skyway, a scenic byway. The portion we drove today is called the Million Dollar Highway. It has million dollar views – they are breathtaking. The road twists and turns via switchbacks as it goes up and down the mountains first to Silverton and then to Ouray (our stop for tonight). There is no guardrail anywhere and in some places one side of the road is a cliff up and the other is a cliff down. Donnell actually passed someone – I was not amused but it WAS technically a passing zone, as he pointed out to me.
Our first stop in town was the Box Canyon Falls (vertigo #2). Now we’re in our room and damn it if the OSU game isn’t on. Since the PSU game is done (and yes, the lost horribly), he is watching the OSU game. I’m nearly certain he’s routing for the longhorns. We looked at shirts for him in TX but he never bought one. If you watched the game – why is Matthew McConaughey bouncing around so crazily on the sideline? And even more odd, why is this the second time I’ve mentioned him in my vacation blog? I can’t say I’m a huge fan (not that I’m anti him – just not a huge fan).
Dinner has arrived, and it’s time to come up with some type of game plan for tomorrow. It’ll be a long day with more drastic scenery changes – and the other half of the San Juan skyway.
Today’s highlights: Casa Benavides, Rio Grand Gorge & bridge; finally a pottery purchase; Chama Valley scenic drive; hail storm; Durango; stocking up at Dancing Willow Herbs; Million Dollar highway; Box Canyon Falls; beer at Billy Goat’s Tavern; dreams of owning a Jeep Rental Company in Ouray . . . PRICELESS
posted by Shannon @ 9.9.06,
2 Comments:
-
At September 10, 2006,
said...
-
Sorry to hear about the smells in texas! We miss you lots here at the store Donnell (sorry Shannon!) hope you enjoy the last week of your vacation.
-
At September 14, 2006,
said...
-
Ooh Did you hear the Taos hum? Creepy!
http://amasci.com/hum/hum.html
Hope you're having fun :)
