Off To Taos New Mexico

Another cold start to the day today as the temperature was only 26 degree. Lou adjusted the timing on his A and it made a big difference in hill climbing. We cleaned the windshields to remove the bug juice since we would be heading directly into the sun, and it was a good thing as the sun was shining brightly.

The one thing that we noticed is the condition of the roads, they are not friendly to Model A’s, the expansion cracks and other maladies sure made for an uncomfortable ride. We left the city of Farmington behind and eventually ended up on Navaho land where we noticed lots of storage type tanks and pumps, some looking like oil rig pumps. We eventually made a pit stop where we met a gentleman who was a member of the Navaho nation and explained those were natural gas wells. He said the royalties from the gas is a big help to the reservation. He also mentioned that it was hunting season and to be careful on the highway. He also showed us a rack of antlers from a bull Elk with his granddaughter as reference and that was rack so huge compared to her. Wow was it huge.

The ride to Taos was loaded with great scenery and as we approached Chama we actually crossed the Continental Divide, which was nothing more than a sign on the side of the road, no big mountain to go over, just a sign on a hill. Leaving Chama we could see that we would eventually have to navigate over a big mountain. The scenery was wonderful and we hardly noticed that we had started our big climb. The Model A’s are great little cars and even though the mountain seem to keep climbing upward they kept chugging along. Switchback turns and continued upward climb kept the A’s working but nothing they couldn’t handle while still in third gear. We finally reached the top at 10438 feet. The good news was that it was now downhill. Again the scenery was awesome and we laughed when we saw a sign to watch out for cattle. Well it wasn’t long thereafter that we saw cows on the side of the road. Who knew cows would be up this high on the mountain.

Outside of Taos we came upon another amazing site. The Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, which spans the 1200 wide gorge and is 650’ above the river below, was something to visit. Walking out to the middle of the bridge was a great way to experience how high the bridge was above the water.

Taos was only a few mile from the bridge and we proceeded we passed some very unusual homes built into the earth. I believe they were called Environmental Biostructures. You had to see them to appreciate their designs.

We arrived at our hotel and did some more maintenance to correct some of the shaking the cars took on the roads today.

It was about 240 miles today.

Tomorrow we will be in Texas. Check back in tomorrow.

This is the tribal logo on the man's jacket we talked
to at the tribal store

David and Jean Smith, who were out for a drive in their Model A

The landscape changed from mountains to flat land

We aren't used to seeing bridge structure under the bridge

650 below was the river

the Model A in front of the Sagebrush Hotel

Warning signs alerted you to cattle near or on the road 

The official area where the bridge was loacated

Lou getting read to add some water to his radiator