Emptiness Tour 2021: Chasing the Fall: Breckenridge, CO to El Prado (Taos), NM

 

Hotel Luna Mystica - Taos, NM

Well, I am on my way back home to Florida.  However, not before I explore Taos, Santa Fe, and White Sands National Park - all in New Mexico.  I will then head west to Marfa, TX (look it up - very funky with a Prada store in the desert).  From Marfa, comes Fredericksburg, then Austin, TX.  Will hightail it to Florida after Austin.  BBQ here I come!

The colors of the turning Aspens peaked and I am chasing the Fall and warmth.  

Left Breckenridge, CO & Headed to Taos, NM

Beautiful ride with no little traffic, I was happy to get on the road again.  Once I crossed the Rio Grande Gorge ...


I was only 3 miles from my to be lodging at the Hotel Luna Mystica; an RV Park with vintage digs out of yesteryear.  Very mystical.

The stars were bright and plentiful as I sat at a campfire and talked with new friends Colin & Julie - and their two dogs.  What a great couple from Western Colorado.  The only regret is that I was so mesmerized by the fire, stars, and conversation, that I forgot to get a photo of them.  They both work in the health field, non-profits, and spend as much time as possible traveling in their small RV; camping as they go from one beautiful spot to another.

[Post Edit - here is Julie and two dogs in their Luna Mystica RV - Thanks Colin for sending:]


I had planned to visit the Taos Pueblo Indian dwellings, so I read up on this tribe.  This band of Pueblos are 90% Catholic, but they also practice their native sacred rites along-side their Christian faith.  Their patron saint is Saint Jerome.  Armed with this information, I headed to the reservation the next morning only to be turned away due to closure (Covid closure to the public).  Oh well.

When disappointed, go find the best breakfast possible.

The best breakfast I have ever had ... Michael's Kitchen & Bakery, Taos, NM.  My server is named Earnestine, a member of the Taos Pueblo.  She explained that from a very early age, the boys are taught to live off the land.  Once they achieve this feat, they are formally celebrated into manhood and the tribe.  I got the feeling that if a boy did not accomplish self-sufficiency on the land, that there was a lower status attached to that boy.

Hotel Luna Mystica was, well, mystical.  


Off to Santa Fe tomorrow for one night at the St. Francis Hotel.  I just hope I can bring some of the magic I experienced here back to Florida.

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