Friday, 5 May; Santa Rosa, NM To Taos

Another cool morning. We sat outside drinking our coffee with a plan, but not in a rush.  We paid bills (yuk), showered and then packed up for a road trip. Taos, NM. Neither of us has ever been here before. 
I was expecting it to be a bit more like Santa Fe, but it is totally different.  It's a very unique town.  It is all about Art.  The arts and crafts are extremely important here.  There are also more Lilac trees and bushes here than any place I have ever been. They all smell soooo good.
The drive was nice.  We left about 10:30 and it was 2 hrs and 40 min. Scenic!

I should have taken this picture sooner.  The mountains off in the distance look like an elephant.

We checked into the Taos Historic Inn.  It's nice. The first room they gave us was cute, puebloish, but had a very odd and strong smell.  After about 10 min my Nose and eyes were burning.   Rob went and asked if we could change rooms.  They very nicely accommodated us.

After settling in and checking out some of the brochures we had picked up at the visitor's center we decided to go on the city's walking tour. There are a lot of very old historical buildings and things.
We found the Historic Taos Plaza with its quaint southwest style shops; 

Bella's Mexican Restaurant, 

The pretty, but way to modern Lady de Quadalupe Church, 

our hotel, The Taos Inn is on the tour, 

I also liked this sign.

The Kit Carson House and Museum 

and the Kit Carson Memorial State Park. 

In it is a cemetery where he and several of his immediate family, as well as, descendants are buried.

As we continued on our walk we came upon the Black Mesa Winery and tasting.  So, we went in to give it a try.  They had some yummy wines.
We continued on and completed our walk and went back to our room for a glass of wine.
Rob got some bad news about his line for next month and the new bidding system, so while he was srewing about it I took my glass of wine up to the lobby to listen to the band.  It was a Blues Brothers style band and they were really good.  The place was packed so I sat on the stairs leading up to the balcony.  People were dancing  wherever they could find space and it was really fun watching them.  After a little while Rob came and joined me.  We stayed for a while longer and then decided to go and have dinner.
We went to Bella's naturally.  We heard it was good.  We sat outside in the courtyard and it was very good.  We walked back to the Inn and to our room