Day 4, Tuesday, June 6 - Las Vegas to Taos

Left the motel in Ls Vegas about 7:20 and headed up NM-65 toward El Provenir, hoping to get a good view of Hermit Peak.  Didn't realize we'd  have to go up it to see it, so turned around about 7 miles up.  Then headed up to Mora by the scenic route, NM-94.  Saw a few interesting buildings en route, and had little traffic to fight on this curvy road.

This place purports to be a Guest House

Mora has some interesting buildings.  The barn is just out of town on NM-518, while the old mill is just north of town on NM-434.

From Mora, we headed north on NM-434, which starts out as a typical narrow, winding road, then gets even narrower and more winding.  Unfortunately (for those who like narrow & winding roads), the NM highway dept is upgrading about 10 miles of it.  We eventually came out at Angel Fire, then visited the New Mexico Vietnam Memorial.  It's a scenic & moving place, and was built privately by a doctor in memory of his son, a Marine 2Lt killed in an ambush.

One more canyon, and we were in Taos.  Lunch was at El Taoseno, a locals restaurant with no frills, just good food.  We enjoyed lunch so much, we went back for supper.  In between, we visited the Taos Plaza, with its mixture of tourist traps and art galleries/stores.  Our favorite book store has changed hands and changed names, and it no longer hosts the oh-so-photgenic bookstore cats - the new owners are allergic. 

We're staying at the El Pueblo Lodge, a classic Taos motel - a significant upgrade from our previous lodgings at the Sun God.

Only 122 miles on the day, 1124 on the trip.  Tomorrow we see the pueblo and enjoy the rest of Taos.