Another early day up at 7 and on the road by 7:40 AM. We drove west into New Mexico and stopped just outside the town of Cimarron on the Santa Fe Trail at the Philmont Boy Scout Ranch. Here, they have a small museum, library, mess hall, camping area, and trading post. Along the drive we saw pronghorn antelope and prairie dogs.
After a stop in Eagles Nest for lunch, we finally arrived at the UNESCO World Heritage Site in Taos NM. Here we had a Native American whose parents both live here give us a tour. Highlights included the St Jerome Church built in 1850 on its present site. The original church and cemetery date from 1619 and was destroyed in the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 in an effort to remove the Spanish from the area.
The North House is a five story adobe pueblo. About 15 families still live in the Pueblo community. The structures must be replastered twice a year. The Red Willow Creek flows through the plaza and is used for their drinking water. They bake breads in small rounded structures called hornos. They speak the Tiwa language which is so sacred there is no written form of it. It is passed down orally from one generation to the next.
We then drove south to Santa Fe and camped in the National Forest.
No comments:
Post a Comment