Taos Pueblo

Taos Pueblo is considered to be the oldest continuously inhabited community in the USA. There are still a few families who live in the 1000 year-old structures with no electricity and no running water - but most Native families prefer the comfort of more modern homes just beyond the picturesque village which looks almost like a movie set.


But the cemetery is a solemn reminder that the people of Taos Pueblo were forced into Catholicism and slavery by Spanish priests in order to become "civilized."

Houses were originally accessed via ladders rather than doors

The village is very much alive and sacred to the native people who still hold ceremonies in the round underground kivas (accessed via ladders) seen in the picture below

Tourists are not allowed near kivas

Red Willow Creek provides drinking water for the village

Santa Fe

Santa Fe is known for its traditional adobe architecture

 and its lively arts scene

Shidoni Foundry

 as well as the surrounding desert landscape

Camel Rock

 

Chaco Canyon

Chaco Canyon in northwestern New Mexico was a gathering site of ancient Pueblo peoples over a thousand years ago. It is a mysterious place, with highly planned architecture, numerous "great houses," and a wealth of petroglyphs.  The location is extremely remote, but well worth the visit.

Fajada Butte

Steep cliffs - ready to fall at any time

Kiva

 

 We climbed up through a narrow passage in the cliff. From there, we could look down on the structures to gain a better appreciation of the overall architecture.

Pueblo Bonito seen from above

Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

We arrived in Albuquerque on Saturday, October 6th, to find out that the day's events had been cancelled due to high winds. And the forecast for Saturday night and Sunday morning called for more winds. Oh No! What if we came all this way and didn't get to see the balloons??

Fortunately, Saturday evening's event - the Balloon Glow - went off as planned. The balloons are inflated but don't fly.

 We set the alarm for 4:30 AM Sunday morning, crossing our fingers that the balloons would be able take off. The first event of the morning is called Dawn Patrol when the first ballons take off in the darkness.

Followed by hundreds of other balloons

 

 
 Of all shapes and sizes

 

 

Road trip

We will be taking a road trip through New Mexico for the next several days, visiting Chaco Canyon, the Albuquerque balloon fiesta, Santa Fe and Taos. Pleased stay tuned for more stories and photos from Colorado's southern neighbor.

Clyfford Still

We have eclectic tastes. When we're not rising before dawn to watch the elk, or attending a model airplane rally (photos coming soon), we like to visit art museums. I learned of a new museum in Denver which houses the entire collection of the American abstract expressionist painter Clyfford Still.

Still's early work (1930s) is representational and the museum points out influences and similarities with the work of Van Gogh.

Clyfford Still self-portrait 1940

The monumental later works are pure examples of abstract expressionism.

The Clyfford Still Museum is right next door to another of Denver's Art Museums.

Art comes in many forms.

Elk bugling (le brame du cerf)

Beep beep beep beep . . . The alarm goes off at 4:45 AM. Time to get up, grab a quick breakfast, and jump into the car so that we can be in Rocky Mountain National Park before dawn. It's the mating season and the bull elk are competing for females. It's quite a spectacle as you can see and hear below. Well worth getting up in the middle of the night.

Father and son

A large bull watching over his harem

This young male is too small to compete

Sunrise in Rocky Mountain National Park

Dawn breaking on Longs Peak