Taos and on the way back to Denver

It was a nice but short escape to New Mexico to watch the eclipse and eat some spicy food (click here for previous part - Somewhere between here and there... Town of Los Cerillos)... but we needed to get back to Denver. We woke up early and left Las Vegas (New Mexico, not Nevada ;) ). We only made one short detour to see Montezuma Castle. United World College - USA uses the building now so we could only look at it from some distance (and, unfortunately, couldn't see much) ;)

 

It wasn't really a detour because we weren't planning on taking the direct route and wanted to take a longer but more picturesque road. Highway 518 is a winding, narrow road through the mountains and we didn't regret taking it... The views were stunning and the fall colors so vibrant...

We didn't stop much, but at one point we pulled over and stood for a few minutes, breathing in the cold air (I mean it - it was about 30 degrees this morning) and admiring the mountain slopes covered with green and yellow trees...

We made another short stop about 30 minutes later in the small town of Vadito - we wanted to look at the Church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción. Old and small, located just a minute walk from the highway. Unfortunately, I didn't find much information about this church, but it looks really old and could probably tell you a story or two... but not today ;)

Meanwhile, we continued our journey towards Taos, stopping only once more (there is nothing surprising here - to admire the bright aspen foliage in the distance)...

In Taos, we had a quick breakfast (coffee and snacks ;) ) and instead of driving along the main road, we drove through La Loma Plaza, one of the oldest neighborhoods of Taos. Let's take a walk there before continuing back to Colorado...

Click here to see the same place but a few years back (and a bit more gates and walls too) - Taos, a place you will never forget ;)

 

Again, instead of taking the shortest route, we chose the more scenic road and made another stop at the Rio Grande Bridge. Just to walk down the bridge and look left and right... at the Rio Grande river...

Walking across the bridge, I looked straight down and was struck by the intricate pattern of shadows below...

Our last stop was in Antonito (or rather Conejos) to visit the oldest church in Colorado - Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish church.

Originally built back to 1863 it was burned down in fire (twice, in fact - in 1926 and 2016) but was rebuilt and restored and continues to serve the congregation.

Simple on the outside and beautiful on the inside... Quiet and peaceful... stopping there for about 30 minutes was exactly what we needed before our final stretch to Denver.

Click here if you want to learn a bit more about this church - Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish – Antonito.

Here is 24 minutes documentary on the restoration of the church after the last fire damaged it in 2016:

We spent 3 days on the road... Enjoyed the vibrant fall foliage... Watched the annular eclipse... Traveled over 1000 miles and almost forgot about living in a busy city ;) It was really the perfect escape and our only regret was that we don't make these escapes more frequent!

Pictures were taken on October 15, 2023.