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Thursday, September 07, 2017

Sketches, Photos, Taos Trip

We had an interesting day.  Gene had been to the Taos Ski area back in the early 1980s.  I had never been.  We drove out about noon.  It was a pretty drive.  From Angel Fire to Taos is a winding road up to the cumbre and down to Taos.  Beautiful.  Then you leave Taos and twist and turn to the ski area.  Another beautiful canyon.  It is very touristy compared to Angel Fire.  There is no extreme bike riding so most of the visitors were hiking or fishing.  You can climb to the top of Wheeler Peak, the tallest mountain in New Mexico from there.

 The Stray Dog Cantina on the left where we had our snack and drinks.

The ski lift and bits of the run.

Near the lift box office.


The main lift goes straight up and over the top to who knows where??

We had some wine and shared a Frito Pie, New Mexico style.  That is Fritos with red chile, grated cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and onions on top.  They offered Christmas chile which means half red and half green so we tried that.

 Down the canyon.

 Gene checking for fish after our nap.
Look at that old style cut in the rocks.

We drove back to Taos after a nap along the way in the canyon.


Worth the Wait
Pastel 12 x 9 inches
Framed in black frame with museum glass
This is Orlando's, painted a few years ago.  Available to purchase, hangs at home.

We had dinner at Orlando's.  New Mexico style food.  I like that they have posole (dried corn similar to hominy but has been cured with mineral lime) instead of Spanish rice.  What does Spanish rice have to do with New Mexico food?  Nothing but the restaurants all serve it now for the "gringos".  Must have started in Texas or California.  Gene had carne adovada which should be pork cooked in red chile.  Instead it was pork medalions with red chile on top.  Not quite the same.  I had tamales which are very good there and come with beans, posole and a tortilla.  Orlando's does not have sopapillas, which are served in most New Mexican food restaurants.  Gene had flan and I had avacado pie.  I had to try that, such a weird thing to put avacado in pie.  It was OK, sort of like key lime pie.

We were going to see Susan Gibson at the Taos Inn at 7:30 p.m. so we were just taking our time.  When we got to the inn about 6:50 p.m., Susan was singing and had started at 6 or 6:30 p.m.  She had a couple of guys, Jim Bradley and Don Richmond from The Rifters, playing with her from the Michael Herne Barn Dance.  It was a great show.  If you don't know, Susan wrote the song, "Wide Open Spaces", which was a big hit for the Dixie Chicks.

You can see a couple of short clips on my Instragram at https://www.instagram.com/jocastart1/

I did get a few sketches done in the last couple of days.
For Scavenger Hunt 510 with the song names....


Number 6, Larger than Life - Gene's personal song, so I sketched him reading on his computer.
Number 7, The Joker - a couple from a deck of cards.

For the Southwest forum on wetcanvas, September Challenge from photos.
http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1433502


A scene from Texas Canyon in Arizona.  You pass by on Interstate 10.  The place reminds me of City of Rocks by Silver City, New Mexico.  Huge rocks from where???   These sketches were done with a Prismacolor 01 in the big sketchbook.




Zeb's is a regular hangout in Angel Fire.  It has been around forever and is interesting as it has lasted and stayed very much the same.  We went in for drinks and dinner the other night, just ate in the bar.  We had the special:  chicken fried steaks with salad bar, vegetables and potatoes and a roll for $6.99.  That is cheaper than hamburgers, sandwiches or appetizers in most places.  It was very good.  They have a standard menu.  We also made happy hour on our drinks.  Can't beat that!

Tomorrow and Saturday are packing days.  We leave on Sunday.  Chimayo will be our first stop.  Only about an hour and a half away.  Hope we are ready.......


6 comments:

Bag Blog said...

That sounds like the perfect day in Taos. If you drive past the ski area - as far as the road will take you, you come to the Bavarian - a bar and grill. It has lots of outside deck seating. From the Bavarian, we walked the trail to Williams Lake. It is about two miles and an easy hike. When we hiked down, we ate at the Bavarian. I think the food was good, although we were starving after our hike. Some friends of mine posted pics on FB where they hiked from the Red River side up to Wheeler Peak and over to Williams Lake to eat at the Bavarian. I'm sure they had rides home!

Of course eating at Orlando's is my favorite, too. The pasole is so much better than rice. I usually get the chili rellano. Seeing your pics of Susan Gibson reminded me of our time a few years ago. So much fun!

Jo Castillo said...

Bag Blog, thanks. We didn't try hiking, Gene's back is giving him fits. The lake sounds like a hike I could do. We are going to head home early and skip Chimayo and the southern families. We had lunch at Chimayo so will only miss the B&B which is so nice. Ah, well, can't do everything, everytime.

I think of you when I think about painting which I did very little of. Another sigh.....

Joan Tavolott said...

You make me want to revisit Taos. I never saw the ski area when we were there. It was a long time ago during one of our cross-country trips. My mouth was watering as you described the food. Mexican isn't real Mexican up here in the north. lol Chimayo was another place we visited. Enjoy!!

Jo Castillo said...

Joan, it is great that you have been to Taos. It is so interesting, old and new. We didn't make it to the Pueblo this year. That is interesting and they have fry bread. :) I'm always thinking food. The Hacienda Chimayo is so nice for a B&B. No phone, TV or internet. Always peaceful.

Jennifer Rose said...

the cantina looks like a nice place to grab something to eat :)

looks like you both had a good but busy day :)

Jo Castillo said...

Jennifer Rose, yes the cantina was neat. We sat outside until a whirlwind or dust devil came by. Inside was nice, too. It was a good and long day. Thanks.


About Me

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Bastrop, Texas, United States
I Grew up in a small town , Magdalena, New Mexico. I enjoy art and the pleasure other people get from my work. I always donate some of my sales and art to charities, especially for children. That started in Bolivia with Para los Niños. "I cannot pretend to feel impartial about colors. I rejoice with the brilliant ones and am genuinely sorry for the poor browns." -- Winston Churchill

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