Taos, NM Day 1

August 6, 2018

Salida, CO to Taos, NM

Drive time- 3 hours

Sleeping in a two person tent sucks. We both slept terribly and just wanted to get on the road. Patch does make the mornings better.

Breakfast

We found a gem this morning. We drove out of Salida forgetting to stop for coffee ☕️ so we stopped a little ways away at the Villa Grove Trading. I totally judged and said this place wouldn’t have non dairy milks for me, but I was wrong! They had 2 choices, both hemp and almond! Jason had a great conversation with the owners and workers. They looked like they just had picked veggies from their garden for the restaurant and told Jason that they made a mean breakfast. He declined today but does want to come back to this place! They had handmade jewelry and crafts and was a very hippie kind of style. Love it!

Great Sand Dunes?

Apparently (obviously) not sleeping doesn’t put me in a positive mood. As we approached the Great Sand Dunes from a distance I thought, that’s it?? It looked like a mound I would build at the beach. I was certain I was taller than the dunes, questioned why anyone would call them great, and suggested we skip going and head right to Taos. Jason rolled his eyes, having been here before, and kept driving. Needless to say, I was wrong. They were pretty great.

We did not stay long because even though we got there early, the sand was hot! We stayed barefoot so we would know if it was too hot for the dogs to handle. FYI- these dunes can be as high as 750 feet. I’m 5’3″. I’m definitely not taller.

Taos bound!

I have been so excited for Taos. The drive felt like it took forever because I wanted to just be there already! We were basically on the road alone so we stopped to take some pictures. Yup. We stopped and took pictures in the middle of the road. We could never do that at home!

We stopped at a viewing tower for UFOs too… because why not?

Earthships

Jason has had a few conversations along this trip about earthships. These are homes that are self sustainable using the environment and recycling of items. They use water 3 ways before they use it to flush the toilet. The man at the end is using a brush to pollinate the indoor plants since they don’t have bees! Very interesting.

Planes?

We saw two huge planes flying very low to the ground. Jason suggested it was military practice. Who knows?

TAOS

We got to Taos too early to check in, so we drove around town to find lunch. My HappyCow app lead us to a bar named Eske’s. Great outside patio with a space for music. I informed our waitress that I was vegan and asked about a burrito with rice, beans, and green chili (my new favorite food). She told me that the flour tortilla has lard in it…… I didn’t even know what to say about that. So I shifted gears and got the green chili as a cup with beet salad with pepitas and balsamic.

I still am not sure about lard in flour tortillas…..

Hotel Luna Mystica

Kevin and Chris have never steered us wrong! When we said we were coming out, they suggested we absolutely try to stay at Hotel Luna Mystica and if at all possible, stay in Judd. Well 5 minutes later I booked Judd for two nights. He is so cute!! Hotel Luna Mystica has taken several old school campers and turned them into rooms. So awesome! I counted maybe 10 of them on the property. And we got the one with the best view!

Judd is a 1953 Vanabond. Just the best Taos color too!

Look at those mountains!!

Sunset was insane here too. Apologies for all of the pictures. I can’t choose.

Dinner

We decided to eat in tonight. Da Kind soup to the rescue!! Coconut Dahl with rice and lentils. It was so creamy without having any dairy! Love.

Starfest ⭐️ 💫 🌟

Well I thought I had seen all the stars up in Crested Butte, but I was wrong. Taos gave me all the stars. And over 10 shooting stars as well as the Perseids dazzled us all night. We stayed up til 1am, right before moon rise.