Boone with the Cousins

Aunt Chrissy and Uncle Chris brought their crew up from Florida in February, hoping to see some snow.  Unfortunately, we didn’t have any in Charlotte (it’s hard to predict here) so we all headed to the NC mountains for the weekend.  The Blue Ridge Parkway was closed so we couldn’t access any of the free sledding hills, but one of the ski resorts was just fine for a little snow exposure to kick our weekend off (pictures from goofing around in snow piles at the ski resort are on Instagram).  This was actually Emilee’s first time seeing snow.  The next day was the real deal—not only did it snow for us that day, but we had enjoyed a great morning so snow tubing at Hawksnest.  On our way home from tubing, we also fit in a visit to Linville Caverns to which was a pretty interesting tour.  I overheard Emilee say, “I can’t believe I’m inside a mountain!” 

Hopefully one winter we’ll be able to introduce our other little Florida cousins to snow, too! 

Instagrammin’ in January

I guess it was a quiet month on the Instagram front, but January was a good one nonetheless.

“snow day” | go panthers! such a fun season and they’re going to the superbowl! #keeppounding | two mondays off of school well spent volunteering at Promising Pages. | ella’s officially a certified “safe sitter”! | father-daughter date night to see ‘wicked’. | so proud of jack trying a new sport this year.  he had a good season and even got his first black eye from a sport—basketball is rough!

Petroglyph National Monument: December 29

On our way in to Albuquerque we stopped for a short walk in part of the Petroglyph National Forest, home to over 20,000 ancient petroglyphs, or Native American and Spanish rock drawings, carved into volcanic rocks.  This national monument is home to the “world’s largest accessible collection of petroglyphs”.  We explored the Boca Negra Canyon and had a fun time hunting for the ancient carvings, and then even more fun trying to determine what they were (alligator with a lollipop for one—find it below).  We also saw a jackrabbit and roadrunner on our short hike.  The trail provided some beautiful views of west Albuquerque and we even got to see a hot air balloon gliding over the city.  We ate dinner at a more contemporary taco joint in downtown Albuquerque with yummy salsa and even better margaritas.  It snowed again overnight and the next morning, after hitting The Frontier again for breakfast (we didn’t get to try their famous cinnamon rolls when we stopped there for lunch a week earlier) we spent a long travel day to make our way home to Charlotte. Another family adventure in the books—so wonderful to show the kids more of this glorious country and I loved how active we were able to be on this year’s trip (multiple days of hiking, skiing, and snowmobiling).  And the q.t. with the fam can not be beat.

Tent Rocks: December 29

Just a slight detour between Santa Fe and Albuquerque took us to Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument where sandstone rock formations literally look like teepees.  These “hoodoos” as they’re called were created by volcanic eruptions millions of years ago and then wind and water erosion over time since.  Hoodoos without a round capstone are eroding more quickly now.  This was definitely landscape nothing like anything we’d ever seen.  A 2-mile hike took us through the Tent Rocks canyon—and it was a beautiful day for a hike, much warmer than we’d been in Taos! 

Taos Pueblo: December 29

On our last morning in Taos, before making our drive back to Albuquerque, we visited the Taos Pueblo.  A UNESCO World Heritage site, the adobe walls of Taos Pueblo have been continuously inhabited for nearly 1000 years.  Native American customs allow no electricity or running water in the main pueblo houses and about 100 people still live in them full-time.  Tours are provided at the pueblo by Taos Native American college students currently studying Native American history.  Our tour guide was visibly moved in her retelling of Taos history as it related to Spanish explorers and the U.S. government.  The church at Taos Pueblo, the Church of San Geronimo, was built in 1850 to replace one destroyed by the U.S. government in 1847 during the Mexican War.  We visited the site of the old church, now just a foundation and crumbling walls with a graveyard of crosses and headstones stacked on top of each other, and I couldn’t help but cry as our young tour guide described women and children seeking refuge in the church as U.S. soldiers sent cannon shells inside its walls.  Historians tell of 150 Mexican and Indian rebels hiding in the church after leading a rebellion and killing the governor and many other officials.  Nonetheless, I could feel the pain on the old site of the church and chose not to photograph the impactful field of stacked crosses in front of the ruins of the church. 

Taos Pueblo was pretty quiet on the morning of our visit, we were among just a few visitors.  The setting and buildings of the Taos Pueblo were quite stunning, yet the familiar sense of poverty that we’d seen in the many pueblos we had passed through on this trip pervaded.  On the flip side, there is also a sense that history, tradition, and community are more important that the materialism that pervades most of American culture.  Every pueblo also seemed to have a pack of wild dogs roaming the lands.  The dogs mostly ignored people, playing—and sometimes fighting—amongst themselves.  But at Taos Pueblo one group of puppies took a liking to Jack and Ella—it was cute until one jumped up and grabbed Ella’s scarf in its mouth (see photos below).  After that it felt like time to move on.  We drove the Low Road away from Taos towards Santa Fe and then the main highway from Santa Fe to Albuquerque with a few detours along the way.     

Taos: December 28

After spending the entire day skiing on the 27th, we were back up at Taos Ski Valley at the crack of dawn the next day for another day in the snow.  Jonathan had booked us on a tour of Taos Ski Valley on snowmobiles.  Jack rode with me and Ella rode with Jonathan—it was a first for both of us driving a snowmobile.  They slide all over the place so it’s really a lot harder than it looks!  We spent two hours on mountain trails, some right along the steep slope of the mountainside, winding our way up to 12,000 feet above sea level and then making our way down again.  The landscape was an untouched, sparkling winter wonderland.  We had beautiful perfect weather that day allowing for gorgeous views of the southern Rockies.  Such a fun adventure!

Since the weather was so beautiful that day we decided to take another shot at seeing the Rio Grande Gorge.  The sunny, windless day provided some stunning views of mountain ranges in every direction.  Pictures do not give a real feel for how high it feels to be on that bridge above the 650-foot drop to the Rio Grande.  I can’t tell you how happy I was when we all stepped off of the bridge.  Awe-inspiring and frightening at the same time.  Beers, root beer, and lunch at Taos Mesa Brewing really hit the spot after.  One of the owners spent quite a bit of time talking to us on both of our visits to the brewery—I’d love to go back to the brewery in the summer sometime.  There were some pretty spectacular views from the brewery, which is in an old airplane hangar, and they had several earthship-style stages outside for summer concerts.  Hopefully one day we’ll be back to Taos to check out the mountain trails on mountain bikes instead of snowmobiles!  I hear it’s in the 70s all summer… 

High Road to Taos: December 26

The day after Christmas we left Santa Fe and took the High Road to Taos, a scenic drive through the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.  A snowstorm was moving in to the area later in the day, so this was our only real chance to drive the more treacherous mountain route of the High Road—we’d head back to Albuquerque in a few days via the Low Road.  We took a small detour off of the High Road to see the Santuario de Chimayó, a lovely little church built in the early 1800’s.  Tens of thousands make a pilgrimage here during Holy Week every year to take a sample of the dirt from a hole in the ground inside the chapel that is thought to have healing powers.  The pilgrims leave behind the crosses, rosaries, photos of loved ones, and other items that they have brought on their journey.  Exploring the grounds of Santuario de Chimayó, we honestly felt like we were back in Spain.  Between the American Indian culture we experienced the previous day and the idea of so many pilgrims coming to this site in hopes of healing, it truly did feel like we were in another country.  I love that this trip provided our kids the opportunity to learn more about the diverse experience within America.  We studied the history, stories, food, and culture of New Mexico over the several months leading up to our trip.  And, learning so much about Spain’s history the previous year helped us all understand their part in New Mexico’s past and present, too. 

We continued on our way to Taos, up through the foothills with some spectacular views of the Rio Grande valley.  The closer we got to Taos, the more snow and ice was on the roads.  It was slow going in our little rental car.  Through the mountains, you could see where families had just pulled off to the side of the road to find a sledding hill in Carson National Forest.  We were wishing we had some sleds in our trunk, too.  I think we were all a little relieved, though, when we made it back onto the main roads when we arrived in Taos.  The roads still had some snow on them, but it was slushy and full of red dirt making the driving easier.  For lunch we decided to try a famous green chile cheeseburger from Blake’s Lotaburger (when in New Mexico, right?) and boy are those green chiles spicy!

After lunch we headed to Ranchos de Taos to see the San Francisco de Asis church, a large adobe church built in the 1770s that we had seen before our trip in paintings by Georgia O’Keeffe and in photographs by Ansel Adams.  Those artists both loved the large curved buttresses at the back of the church, but I don’t think in their day the parking lot went within three feet of the church’s walls.  But regardless, it was beautiful to see although the setting at Chimayó was so much lovelier.

That afternoon we headed just west of Taos to see the Rio Grande Gorge—a 500ft cantilever truss bridge that spans the 650ft drop to the Rio Grande below.  There are sidewalks on both sides of the bridge and an observation deck in the middle, but just as we arrived to the Rio Grande Gorge a snowstorm rolled in.  You can’t tell from my pictures of us at the gorge—it just looks like fog—but the wind was blowing so hard and loud and the snow was blowing into our eyes.  I can’t believe people were actually walking on the bridge in that weather.  We took a short walk to look over the edge a bit, from a safe distance, but quickly headed back to the car.  Luckily, right down the road was what Travel & Leisure called one of “America’s Coolest Breweries” so we headed there for shelter, dinner, local beers, and some of the best root beer we’ve ever had that was made at a New Mexican pueblo.  Taos Mesa Brewing had some of the best food we had while in Taos. 

Our second day in Taos, December 27th, we spent skiing in Taos Ski Valley.  Ella and Jack had never gone skiing before so they spent their day learning how to ski in Taos’s ski school.  How’s that for a first-time ski experience!  Jonathan and I, not having gone skiing ourselves since before kids, explored the “mountain green” slopes which are more like high intermediates of the East Coast if you ask me.  Taos Ski Valley is the southern Rockies and conditions were beautiful.  The kids enjoyed every minute of their skiing experience and can’t wait to hit the slopes again.  Jonathan and I enjoyed our day to ourselves skiing together, having lunch and beers at their Bavarian restaurant, and then enjoying beers in the Taos Mesa taproom in the ski village before picking the kids up.  Ever since visiting New Mexico with my mom in my early 20s, skiing in Taos had been on my “bucket list”—don’t ask me why it had originally gotten on my list, but a day of skiing was a wonderful addition to our winter vacation.