To Chama, NM for the first day of summer

June 21, 2010 First day of summer! Coolest morning of our trip! We were able to break camp in about 45 minutes and head toward our destination for the day, Chama, NM. We stopped at Michael’s Kitchen in Taos for a breakfast with local flavor – which requires chili or green chile sauce on virtually everything, including the hash browns. Needless to say, by eating this breakfast, we avoided having to take any over-the-counter or prescription remedies to keep our sinuses in check – we have been in 7 to 8 thousand feet in altitude for the last 5 days, and will stay in that range for most of our trip. There are too many galleries in Taos to begin to think about visiting – we had to move on due to space and budgetary constraints. On the way out of Taos, we came upon the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, which was an unexpected treat – we didn’t realize we were going to drive over it and were very glad we did. The most unique residential development (or commune) we have ever seen appeared in the desert outside of Taos. Called Earthship, the area consisted of many different residences and a visitor center, all containing banks of solar panels, and fashioned into adobe spaceships that were neither gaudy nor too bizarre, in fact they were very appealing. We regret that we didn’t stop to photograph them for your viewing pleasure. Most of our travel today was up and over mountains in the Carson National Forest and we had to stop to photograph the wildflowers, the most imposing was a huge patch of wild iris, that were fronted by some plants that were also very attractive. The pictures won’t do them justice, but we had to return back up the mountain to capture them on the little digital thingy. We are going to make every effort to take our meals, when we dine out, from local establishments, to further enhance our appreciation of the places we visit. We are getting a late start in doing it, but we are also going to include a picture of each one. Tonight, we had dinner at High Mountain Restaurant and Saloon. Another one of those great places out here that cater to an eclectic clientele of real cowboys, fake cowboys, geeky tourists, local legends, local characters, professional types, and of course, the ever cool fly-fishers. Keeping with the local cuisine, we had some kind of New Mexican special dish that was smothered with the green chile sauce. Very tasty, very medicinal, and not too rough on the system, at least in the short-term. Another great finish to this meal: dishes of FX O’Reilly microcreamery ultra premium ice cream, Black Raspberry for me, Expresso Toffee for the lady. OMG! And here’s something really cool; the saloon was filled with the aforementioned mixture of characters, all of which were tuned in to a World Cup telecast on the big screen. First the world, then the US of A!