New Mexico - Day 3 Taos

On our third day in New Mexico Nate and I took the scenic high road to Taos. We saw views like this:

And felt like we were in New Mexico, which we were. And this:

And felt like we were in Colorado, which we were not. At some points along the drive we had a lovely New Mexico-like view to the west and a lovely Colorado-like view on the east. What interesting country.

Along the way we stopped in Las Trampas to see the 250 year old San Jose de Gracia Church. The church has been well cared for and is still used as a parish church today.

On our way into Taos we stopped in Ranchos de Taos to see their famous church, San Francisco de Asis. Work on the church began in 1771 and was completed in 1815.

The church is one of the most oft depicted structures in the United States. Artists like Georgia O'Keeffe and Paul Strand painted and photographed the building multiple times.

With images like these among some of the most famous depictions of the church, (Nate and I actually had no idea what the front of the church even looked like until we got there) Nate and I really had to wonder why on earth the back of the church now looks like this:


Note the power lines crisscrossing the structure, and the gas meter, and apparently you can now park your vehicles right behind the church. Frankly, I think these photographs are a real testament to the power of this structure because it still looks dang awesome despite all these modern-day annoyances. (Also, it helps that the power lines aren't nearly as obvious in the photographs as they were in person.) Still, seeing the church at Ranchos de Taos was probably the highlight of the day.

A little about Taos and American art: In 1898 artists Bert Greer Phillips and Ernest L. Blumenschein were on their way to Mexico for a painting trip when their wagon wheel broke 20 miles north of Taos. While waiting for their wheel to be repaired in Taos the two artists became so impressed with the scenery that they decided not to continue on to Mexico and instead they stayed and painted in Taos. Phillips remained permanently in Taos and Blumenschein eventually moved there. The two artists convinced their friends to come visit New Mexico, and Taos became an artistic destination for several generations of artists.

The artists who journeyed to Taos admired the landscape and the Taos Pueblo, portrayed below in Joseph Henry Sharp's Sunset Dance--Ceremony to the Evening Sun (1924).

A visit to the Taos Pueblo, a structure that has been continuously inhabited for over 1000 years, was also one of our main objectives for this day trip. We even called from Kansas to make sure that it would be open for our visit, but, when we arrived at the Taos Visitor's Center, we learned that the opening of the Pueblo had been delayed a week. Needless to say we were disappointed, and suddenly we didn't really know what to do with ourselves in Taos. So we went to a museum, visited a couple art galleries, sat on the plaza eating icecream, ate dinner at a little gallery/ restaurant, and wandered around admiring the architecture.

Well, at least we didn't become crazy, gawking tourists like the ones pictured below in John Sloan's engraving.

Our day ended with a pretty spectacular site. We went to see the bridge that spans the Rio Grande Gorge. As we were driving toward the bridge we couldn't help wondering if we had made a mistake because the land seemed flat in every direction, and then suddenly we were there. This aerial shot will help you understand the shock value of the Rio Grande Gorge. It's basically an enormous fissure in the flat landscape.
We found the Rio Grande Gorge and the magnificent cantilever bridge pretty amazing. Here are some of the pictures that we took:


We drove back to Santa Fe on the equally scenic low road, which follows the Rio Grande for miles.