Taos NM

Our granddaughter (why we stay in
Denver so long)

Staunton State Park CO on Staunton
Ranch Trail

We had a wonderful two month stay in Denver visiting our daughter and her family. We volunteered at Cherry Creek State Park so that we could stay there as long as we wanted and be as close as we can get. We ended up not doing a lot of exploring while in the area. We made only one day trip into the mountains to Staunton State Park because we wanted to spend as much time with out sweetie as we could on our days off.

We are on our way back to Arizona now and making a few stops. We stayed a couple nights near Colorado City just to wait out snow in the La Veta pass on US 160 in southern CO. We then spent a few days near Taos NM to explore. A few miles west of town is Rio Grande Gorge which is part of one of our nation's newest National Monuments, Rio Grande del Norte.

Rio Grande Gorge

Sunset shining on Sangre De Cristo
mountains east of Taos

The next day we got a late start waiting for the rain and clouds to move out. We drove up to the Taos Ski Valley. There was massive construction going on in the ski village so I didn't get any pictures. The valley is pretty narrow and the ski runs are pretty much out of view of the village. There was fresh snow starting at about 10k feet. I didn't get any good pictures due to the narrowness of the valley.

San Francisco de Asis Church

The next couple days we explored things in the town of Taos. We walked around the Taos Plaza which is all fixed up with modern shops. We liked the lobby of the Hotel La Fonda de Taos which was built in 1820 and has been well maintained. We visited the Kit Carson home and museum, which was underwhelming, and then the cemetery where he and his last wife are buried. We visited the San Francisco de Asis Church built in the 18th century. It has been restored and is a registered National Historic Landmark.

Our next visit was the Hacienda de los Martinez (Wiki). Construction of the Hacienda began in 1804 by owner don Antonio Severino Martinez with 4 humble rooms. By 1827 the Hacienda had grown to 21 rooms. It is interesting to tour (self guided) and read about the history and use of each room.

Hacienda de los Martinez

Hacienda de los Martinez