Turned out Nancy and CT were tied up today, and we knew Brett and Sandra were busy with their show, so we decided to head north on some dirt roads to intercept Rte 502 near Los Alamos and Bandelier and then go over to Jemez Springs to have lunch at Los Ojos Restaurant and Saloon, a place that's been there since 1947. Well that was the plan anyway. We meandered north on washboarded dirt and sand about 15 miles only to find out the GPS was lying to us. We couldn't get out and ended up at dead end after dead end, so we had to work our way back the 15 miles. We were watched by this guy who probably was laughing at us cause he knew we weren't going to make it :)
Well by then the plan was shot, so we changed things up. We had a quick lunch and decided to go up The High Road to Taos, at least to Truchas. It's a pretty drive with more incredible scenery. We made it to Truchas, a pretty tired little enclave that did not welcome visitors until just a few years back. We also found out they filmed parts of Easy Rider there. It is now more of an artist's mecca, with some fantastic views.
We debated whether to turn around there or continue north for awhile. We opted for north and we worked our way to Las Trampas, a tiny town you might miss if you blinked at the wrong time. But it did have an incredible Catholic church built in 1760!
The adobe work was fantastic, rich with detail, with the straw that was mixed in with the mud showing throughout. It's hard to believe it has held up this well over the years! We were disappointed we weren't able to go inside. Leaving town we saw this interesting sluice made from hollowed out logs still being used for irrigation water.
It was getting late in the day and Jan wanted to talk to the campground owner about buying some of her cards so we headed back. It was a successful and enjoyable day nonetheless plus we beat the rain showers that were building all around.
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