Thanksgiving in New Mexico

I've been working in Truth Or Consequences, New Mexico again so instead of flying home for the holidays, Ms Darlene flew out so we could cruise around from Albuquerque through Santa Fe and Taos.



Our first night (Wednesday) was in Santa Fe where we wandered around the Old Town sector and eating at a local restaurant called The Shed.

It's quite common for people to put out luminaries during holiday seasons.  Luminaries originally were paper bags with a candle in them.  We saw newer versions in store that amounted to a plastic version of the bag with battery powered candles in them.

For Thanksgiving Day, we made our way up to Taos and the Taos Ski Valley which had just opened for the season after receiving a bit of snow.  Unfortunately, Angel Fire was not due to open until later on in December.

Instead of taking the quick way up, we took the scenic route stopping often for the views.

  We were amused at how tame the deer seemed to be as we rode around the homes at Angelfire.

Our memorable Thanksgiving meal was a chicken sandwich from the ski shop but that's OK, we didn't over eat. 

We sat and watched the skiers for quite a while, marveling at the age of some on the slopes.



One little girl we talked to was only 4 and already quite the enthusiast.

Friday after Thanksgiving we drove around the Enchanted Circle through towns like Eagles Nest, Red River, Sipapu and Questa.  Red River and Sipapu had small ski slopes open and seemed to attract families on a budget.



 On past Questa, we drove across the Rio Grande Gorge bridge just north of Taos.  Now, that's a deep ditch.  After a walk halfway across it and back again, we enjoyed the sundown in the square in Taos.






The last night in Taos found us shopping for....well, just the sake of shopping but eventually wound up in El Prado and had dinner at Orlando's.

 Orlando's is pretty popular and located in an older, bright colored home with a fire pit outside. The only problem I had was while we waited outside at the fire pit, they would call people's names to be seated and the speaker was so loud, when it went off I nearly threw my cell phone in the fire...twice.







 Saturday we removed ourselves from Taos and headed back to Santa Fe in time to wander a bit more in the Old Town.

Visiting the cathedral there.
 

We had been advised to check out the crepes at a French bakery.

 Just as it began to darken, they lighted up the trees in the square where local musicians sang and drummed.

Over all we really enjoyed our 5 day weekend and ended it by driving back to Albuquerque to meet up with one of Darlene's long lost cousins.  The best part was we didn't have to eat Mexican food and enjoyed ourselves at Pappadeaux's cajun restaurant of all places.

So, Monday morning I put Ms Darlene on the plane and headed back south for Truth Or Consequences.