We were up and in the car at a crazy early hour but we had may miles to cover to reach Denver at a decent time. I had plans to have dinner with Valerie and we were also thinking of rush hour traffic. Instead of a long day of highway driving, we opted to take a back road up to Toas. This was the best choice because it was one of the most beautiful rides I'd ever taken. If you ever get the chance, please drive north form Espanola to Taos. It follows the Rio Grande River and Rio Grande River Gorge. There are the Sangre de Cristo Mountains to admire and you travel through part of the Carson National Forest. The only downside of leaving so early was that the many shops, wineries and cafes were not open. This stretch of highway, especially for the first 10 or so miles has a day's worth of tourist stop and shop fun. As we came out of the forest we could see hot air balloons floating over Taos in the distance.
We didn't actually go into Taos because it was a bit further north than we needed to travel. We did, however, stop in Ranchos de Taos for coffee at the brand new (only 4 days old) Milke Way Coffee and to snap a few shots outside the Ranchos de Taos Church.
After coffee we headed East on Rte. 64 and stopped in Angel Fire to snap one shot of a beautiful alpine lake but it turned out funky. Not sure if the film was old or the processing was bad. However, you can still get an idea of the pretty lake. Then it was on through Eagle Nest and Ute Park then up to I-25 to take us to Denver, Sally's hometown.
In the reflection of this way cool car you can see the church on the left and me right in the middle.
This is the shot of Angel Fire that came out freaky. I played with it as best I could so you can at least tell how scenic this place is. Basically a ski resort town because it's over 7,000 ft. in elevation.
WE MADE IT!
My mom and I met Val on our Rick Steves Barcelona tour in 2004. Concetta and Val hit it off immediately with their fondness for black clothes (in any weather), open sandals (in any weather), and hot flashes (you get the idea). They made quite a pair trying to share an umbrella on a rainy Barcelona day considering Val is about 6 inches taller than Concetta. Val and I ate at the Cherry Cricket. Great Cobb Salads. We caught up on family and friends and personal changes. Taking an after dinner walk while sipping a latte we walked right past North, the restaurant where Sally and Katherine were dining. We spotted them in the window and made silly faces at them. Fancy restaurants love that.
Katherine and Aiden added to kitties to their household. This is the younger one, Murray Mao. That collar is almost as big as his head. I hear that now he is plenty big and runs all over the house. When we visited, he and the older cat, Maeomi, were confined to Aiden's room because they were recovering from their spay and neutering procedures.
What's this fuzzy yellow thing?
Hey, someone left a fuzzy yellow thing over here!
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