During our extended stay in Albuquerque, we decided to explore a little bit of Northern New Mexico. So, we took a two-day excursion in one weekend, traveling north from Albuquerque to Santa Fe then to Taos spending the night in Taos. Along the way, we explored a few national monuments, admired arts at many art galleries dotted along the Canyon Road in Santa Fe, learned a thing or two at The Los Alamos Nuclear Museum, and checked out the way it was at the Taos Pueblo in Taos.
Day1- Driving Distance: Albuquerque to Santa Fe: 1 h 3 min (64.1 mi) via I-25 N Santa Fe to Taos: 1 h 33 min (70.1 mi) via US-84 W, US Hwy 285 N, and NM-68 N
Instead of taking the mundane Interstate 25 from Albuquerque to Santa Fe, we opted for Hwy 14, the winding curving old route 66, which they coined it, the Turquoise Trail to Santa Fe. This is a National Scenic route where mining towns used to be. This Turquoise Trail is about 60 miles. It’s a much nicer drive between Santa Fe and Albuquerque than the main interstate highway.
We stopped at the town of Madrid on the way and had a coffee break. We saw a bunch of French riders on Harleys revving up their machines on the side of the road. It must be a favorite thing for Europeans to do, coming to the US, renting a world famous American made Harley-Davidson, and riding on these scenic back roads of America. We saw an interesting sign on the door of a coffee shop that says “On this site in 1897 nothing happened”…J. We walked by a quirky shop and a museum called Mine Shaft Tavern in Madrid.
We got to Santa Fe, the oldest capital city in North America and the oldest European community west of the Mississippi, and had a pleasant stroll on Canyon Road. This is where all of the galleries with expensive art work lined up along both sides of the street. You see fine arts from artists throughout the United States and the world, all in one place with selections featuring everything from traditional to abstract contemporary. A friend of ours saying that art galleries here do good business with Texans, they come in trove buying expensive arts, but not this Texan…heheh.
We had lunch at a nice Mexican restaurant nearby, then heading out to Taos, about 1 and ½ hrs away. Taos Pueblo is an interesting Native American commune. The only living Native American community designated both a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and a National Historic Landmark. The cool multi-story adobe dwellings have been continuously inhabited for over 1000 years, the Red Willow Creek runs thru the commune serves as the direct source of water for the community. We took a tour and got a little spill of how the bad Spaniard took their lands and imposed religion and forced labor on them. Nowadays, the commune is still there for the tourists to see, all but a few still live here with no plumbing or electricity.
We then traveled west on US Hwy 64 to the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, about eight miles northwest of Taos. What an awesome view. You’ll remember the spectacular view long after your visit here ended with rugged terrain, deep canyon, and rough water from Rio Grande River. I spotted a sign on the bridge that says “Crisis Hot Line. There Is Hope. Make The Call”. My guess is that there are probably quite a few cases of people jumping off the bridge.
For dinner, we walked about a mile and a half to our restaurant. On the way, we checked out the Historic Taos Plaza. It has been the center of local trade and gossip for centuries. Nowadays, the old mercantile stores around the plaza house galleries, restaurants and shops.
We had dinner at Restaurant Aji, a Peruvian Restaurant. Dinner was quite good. We started with the traditional Peruvian Pisco Sour, infused with passion fruit that provided a nice kick. We had steak that was cooked perfectly and trout that was moist and tasty. The restaurant was not that busy tonight so we had a very quiet place to ourselves and an attentive wait staff.
We stayed for the night at El Pueblo Resort Hotel. The property was quiet and quaint. The staff was all exceptionally pleasant and friendly. The buffet breakfast was nice; we had it outdoor in the crisp and cool morning, thus it made the coffee tasted 10 times better than normal. The bed was comfortable and the room was clean and well maintained.
Day2: Driving Distance: Taos to Bandelier National Monument: 1h 30 min (70.9 mi) via NM-68 S Bandelier to Los Alamos: 18 min (11.9 mi) via NM-501 W and NM-4 E Los Alamos to Albuquerque: 1 h 34 min (95.8 mi) via I-25 S
After a nice breakfast at the hotel, we filled up our car with gas then left Taos at around 8:15am. On the way to Bandelier National Monument, we made a first stop at Puye Cliff Dwellings, the ruins of an abandoned pueblo, located in Santa Clara Canyon near Española. The site was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1966. It was an awesome experience accompanied with nice weather. We took the one-hour tour of the site which including climbing down couple steep wooden stairs. It was quite fun while learning the history of Pueblo Indian.
It was time for lunch, so we drove to the city of Los Alamos for lunch. It’s a nice little town. We had a quick lunch then headed over to the Los Alamos History Museum on the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, just a few blocks away. This is the place that is recognized as the development and creation place of the atomic bomb. A lot of history on atomic bomb was presented. Seeing pictures of giant clouds rise up from the ground, reading stories here and there on the wall of how the people lived and worked here to prepare for the destructive forces. It gives you a chill running down your spine, no matter how many times you read and hear about these things.
We then went to Bandelier National Monument. The monument preserves the homes and territory of the Ancestral Puebloans of a later era in the Southwest. We had a tour at Puye Cliff Dwellings, so we decided to have a short walk along the bank of a creek in the park. It provided a nice cool shade in a rather hot afternoon.
After Bandelier, we took the scenic road SR4 back to Albuquerque along the southern curve of Valle Grande, one of the largest measured calderas on earth, we passed by Valle Caldera National Preserve with the impressive view of the vast, grassy bowl at some 500 feet above.
We took a coffee break at Jemez Springs, a nice tiny town bubbling with soothing hot springs before heading back home to Albuquerque.
It was a nice break from the big city and along with it, quite an educational experience of the Native American culture.