Ah, New Mexico. We had been looking forward to making it here. Not for the scenic beauty, the quaint towns, the architecture, the art, the insanely good food; although all of that is awesome, we were meeting up with friends. Friends we had not seen in over 6 months and missed terribly. We spent 3 nights in Taos, 3 in Santa Fe, and 2 in Albuquerque with them, and it went by all too quickly. We changed gears and did less hiking and sightseeing than usual, and enjoyed the company of good friends with plenty of chili! In New Mexico, there are dilemmas at every meal; red or green?  I generally prefer the red, but occasionally I find the green is exceptional. If you can’t decide, you can order your dish “Christmas” and try them both. Vegetarians – always ask your server if their chili is vegetarian. The red is most places, but the green is filled with chunks of pork at many. Sorry to linger on the subject of chili (it’s hard not to), I’ll move on.

We stayed in a home in Taos that was built in the 1800’s and is on the National Historic Record. It was awesome! This is one of the top places we have ever stayed, full of character. It was walking distance to the plaza, so the cars stayed parked and we walked off some of the chili we were eating! We enjoyed looking at antiques, textiles, jewelry, and art. The weather was perfect, and the company top notch. We visited the Rio Grande Gorge, Taos Pueblo, Ghost Ranch (an inspiration to Georgia O’Keeffe), and the town of Cerrillos (famous for turquoise and vampires). We found a few cool places along the way, such as a gas museum that was full of cool, old stuff ranging from rusty to pristine. This was our second trip to New Mexico this year, and I can see how it could become a habit!