Our spot along the Arkansas River was wonderful but I was looking forward to the excitement of Taos and cooler temperatures. The ride was beautiful with mountains and high valleys and quaint towns. The last settlement in CO was Conejus and boasted the oldest church in Colorado. Well I just had to turn around and investigate this claim. Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church was built in 1929 and beautifully maintained. See pictures. The inside was very spiritual to me and I enjoyed my visit. It was my Mothers birthday so it just seemed extra special.
Back on the road again we left the flat open land and saw more mountains, actually hills to start. There were trees and shrubs indicating more rain than other areas. Then the settlements began. There was an area where it looked like the hippies from the 60s grabbed a piece of land and dumped everything they ever owned around their dwellings. What a mess, but it was all scattered about with plenty of room between so it was broken up.
An area entitled Earth Ship had lots ranging from 10 acres to 120 acres where you could build the self sustaining home of your dreams out of any material you could find. I have to do more investigating, maybe tomorrow.
We finally made it to Taos and after finding the campground discovered there was someone in my assigned campsite. I called the office and was assigned another but found it totally unexceptionable. It was far from level and the picnic table and grill were on the wrong side of the camper and no sewer I called the office again but got the recording this time so I decided to utilize the dump station. While doing that the office called and assigned another site if I liked it. By this time I was a real grouch. I was tired, hot, temp was 98, hungry and pressed for time because I had to pick up my rental car before 3pm when they closed for the weekend. Enterprise would not pick me up because of Covid so I had to walk. It was a doable distance but as it turned out the directions for walking on the phone are
a bit confusing. They had me go way out of the way and by the time I got there I should have passed out on their doorstep. As it was they had an outside window open to serve us in the boiling sun with NO shade. The temperature was 98 degrees. There were several grumbling customers. I got the car, got back to the rv and blasted the ac. I have never been more thankful for electricity!
Watson and I spent the rest of the day slowly setting up camp and resting. The heat seems to be affecting him too, he is laying around even in the cool camper. We love our new spot with shade trees and a shelter for a tent. Watson lays in the dirt inside enjoying the cooler earth.
I had lots of plans for Saturday including the farmers market in the square but after evaluating the exposure to the virus and the stress test I had on Friday standing in the sun in a crowd didnt sound so appealing. After a walk I got in the car and explored town a bit. It is very confusing to navigate but
I did find a lunch spot for some Mexican food the found a nice grocery store to stock up on a few fresh things.
Back at the campsite I hung out in the shade for a while til it was cool enough for a walk. I watched some clouds form over the mountains and it looked like we might get a shower but not to happen.
