![]() ![]() The environment says a lot about the sustainability of this community. A living artifact, the past and present form a delicate harmony to produce a unique travel experience. The Pueblo still has ten families of around 150 native people working to maintain the culture and the adobe architecture for generations to come. This is the longest inhabited living arrangement in the US. ![]() This appeared in the August/September 2014 issue.įew places in North America are anchored in a heritage like the Pueblo of Taos. It was a parent’s-and child’s-dream hike. We crossed a nearly dry creek by hopping hand in hand from one downed log to another and were back in time for lunch, before hunger, fatigue, or boredom could set in. After about 45 minutes, we were walking back toward the visitor center. While Mom and Dad squatted-“Watch out for your bald head, Daddy”-Luke could explore without even hunching. ![]() He paused in triumph at the top, then set off to wander the caves. (We saw no more than 20 people on the trail.) Luke could climb the rungs at his own pace. “Just take it slow.” There were no lines of impatient parents pushing their children to race up the ladder. “It’s too steep.” “You’ve got this, buddy,” I said. “I don’t want to go up, Daddy,” Luke said. Ladders of salvaged wood lead to rooms that the Pueblo people carved out of the cliffs here over 800 years ago. We prefer the term incentive.) The scavenger hunt sent us off on the Main Loop Trail in search of birds, trees, and bugs, as well as the feature that sets Bandelier apart and makes it perfect for kids: cave dwellings. The visitor center offers kids a booklet of activities that, when completed, earn them a Junior Ranger patch. At Bandelier National Monument, about an hour’s drive from Santa Fe, New Mexico, she is. (On a trip to the Canadian Rockies, as my wife and I snapped photos of the relentlessly picturesque mountains, my son, Luke, investigated how quickly he could break his toy helicopter.) Luke expects Mother Nature to be his playmate. I’m not sure at what age humans develop the skill to stand still and appreciate scenery, but based on a scientific survey of kids who live in my house, it’s not age seven. Don’t forget your mountain bike on your next trip to ABQ! The trail is single-speed friendly and the climate is great year-round! Although the trail is primarily geared towards mounting biking, hiking and horseback riding is welcomed here too. ![]() This place is hella cool! The geology here is amazing and the desert sky always sets a dramatic backdrop. There is also an amazing sinkhole at the top of one of the largest climbs on the trail. And gypsum makes for a great surface for single-track! Get ready to shred! It is also a paleontological experience because of the dinosaur bones sticking out of the eroded rocks here. They call it White Mesa because of the gypsum that makes up most of the trail system. Yes, there are some great things about the ABQ besides “Breaking Bad”! Just outside of Albuquerque is one of the coolest trails I have ever ridden called White Mesa. There are a lot of places in the United States that get a lot of hype for mountain biking like Fruita, Colorado and Moab, Utah, and I love visiting these places, but if you live in the south then I would recommend stopping over in Albuquerque, New Mexico on your way out west. I would do it every single day if I could and at times I do. I love mountain biking! I am basically obsessed with the activity, have been racing for half my life, and spend the majority of my disposable income on bike related activities. (The population is around 400.) And in 2006, the town served as the set for the John Travolta film “Wild Hogs.” Driving in from the south, you’ll note the brightly painted houses just after the highway curves, find a place to park among the motorcycles and grab a coffee at Java Junction (they have a B&B upstairs)-their motto: “Bad Coffee sucks.” The morning I stopped here, the café had a welcome sign in German some Mercedes businessmen were having a road-trip meeting.Madrid is alive and well. By the 1970’s the town began to be reoccupied-artists moved in, galleries set up.it claims to have more artists per capita than any other town in the country. (Note-do NOT pronounce it the way you would the capital of Spain here it’s “MAD-rid.”) In the early 20th-c., some four thousand people lived here by WWII it had become a ghost town when the local coal demand dropped. Halfway to Santa Fe you’ll come to Madrid. Drive east on I-40 to the backside of the Sandía Mountains, get off on exit 175, and head north on Highway 14, also known as “The Turquoise Trail.” You’ll wind through forest to plateau, through mining towns and old Spanish land grants. To get from Albuquerque to Santa Fe, don’t take I-25 North-it’s busy and sterile. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |