Can has internets!
May. 21st, 2010 11:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wispfox$3 for the day seemed worth it. :)
So! Where was I?
Right! I was headed to Chama.
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heinleinfan helped me find block ice, which turned out to not be nearly as difficult as I was worried about. The hardest to find, mind you, was the marshmallow/hot dog roasting sticks. You'd _think_ those would be easy to find, but no! We did succeed, though!
After a hug and repeated reminders that I can call if anything happens, I headed out.
The drive from Colorado Springs to Chama, NM was quite lovely. There was also a fair amount of rain, sometimes quite heavy, and sometimes while there was sunshine. It's quite odd being able to see a rainstorm from ~15 miles away, as I'm driving toward it! The fact that there was not a lot to block the view (I'm much more accustomed to having trees right next to the road, for example) did make this happen quite often during the trip.
At one point, I had stopped to take a picture of the scenery, and right after getting back into my car and starting to drive, saw a deer (maybe? Had no antlers, but larger than most female deer that I've seen) _RIGHT_ by the side of the road next to me. It bounded off when it saw that I was looking at it.
I've repeatedly been amused by cattle crossing signs. I've also seen deer signs, and what I think were probably mountain goat and elk signs.
The place that I intended to camp in Chama ended up not being where I stayed for reasons of rain and snow. Even though it did stop after an hour and clear up quite nicely, I wasn't willing to trust the weather, or the dryness of the ground, to camp. So, instead, I ended up staying at a nearby hotel. The place that I was going to camp had some hummingbird feeders with three or four hummingbirds feeding at it. I had no idea, or had forgotten, how _loud_ hummingbirds are when in flight. I have a few pictures of them, too.
I have no idea why, but my photos keep uploading to flickr in reverse order. Ah, well. on the way to Chama pics.
I was _SO TIRED_ that night. And one heck of a headache. Also, missedmetahacker, so we chatted for a bit before we each went to bed. Ok, I did some yoga, and then meditated - which was helpful in reducing the intense headache pain. Most probably because I stopped the added pain caused by fighting it. I stayed up way too late the night before, I still have no idea why. Slept well that night, though. Felt much _much_ better the next morning.
During my drive from Chama to Taos, my battery for my camera died. And, having put the spare and the battery charger in what was, and is, a perfectly reasonable location, I was unable to find it. For hours. I even went ahead and purchased a replacement charger since it's not at _all_ fun to not be able to use the camera! On the plus side, I found the spare battery and charger before using the replacement, so I shall return it to Radio Shack tomorrow morning when it opens at 9.
The drive from Chama to Taos is _gorgeous_. It's rather ridiculous how often I feel the need to exclaim over the pretty, or call something breathtaking, but... it's _true_! I'm not sure how well the views transfer to camera, entirely ignoring the fact that many of the views, I couldn't take a picture of for reasons of driving at the time.
The Rio Grande Gorge bridge and the gorge itself are... impressive. I don't have much trouble with heights, but going onto the bridge to get to the center to take pictures was a bit difficult. Really, only if I looked down while walking. Not walking was tolerable while looking down. (I did have to control my breathing to not hyperventilate if I looked for too long) I very much approve of the handrails for reasons of helping to remind myself that it's _there_, between me and the drop.
I had no idea this was even here until I drove over it. :) I was tickled to find people selling things in the parking lots on both sides of the bridge. Bought stuff from a few different people, one of whom randomly gave me another of his necklaces as a gift. I have no idea. I'm not even sure I particularly like it (I don't _dis_like it, mind you!).
One of the things I bought, I need to send $5 to the seller as I did not have enough cash on me at the time to cover the full cost. I'm... pleased that there are people who are willing to trust others to do such things. Now, I just need to get a $5 bill to send her.
Also did the Taos Enchanted Circle drive on my way to the hostel that I'm currently staying in. I managed to get Red River Valley in my head, for reasons of driving through said location. It's... kind of disturbingly tourist trap-y. Or, as various of the friendly women at Taos Pueblo described it, it's very much Little Texas. Not that I've been to Texas, mind you. There were a lot of houses that just looked... WRONG. Wrong color, wrong building materials (log cabin-style houses), just... didn't fit.
The views, however, were gorgeous. During the entire drive, in Red River, all of it. It was just a bit of a shock to see the absurdity of Red River itself. (also, the gas station I found and used had only two pumps. No buildings, just an outhouse. Kind of strange)
I developed a great appreciation for the fact that I was able to downshift for driving down the steeper parts of the drive.
The sun was sneaky and burnt me through my open window. Not horribly, just... somewhat painful last night. Aloe is my friend. :) Face was also a little burnt, but it doesn't hurt at all, and was mostly just visible as slightly red.
Relevant pictures.
Staying in a hostel is interesting. On one hand, it's harder to sleep with other people still awake, even with earplugs and the fantabulous idea of having heavy blankets over the bottom bunk to provide privacy and light reduction. On the other, it's nice being around people who interact with me periodically and have suggestions and are friendly. Also, there's cats here. Two who live here, and two who are visiting.
This morning, I went to Taos Pueblo. (pictures) And stayed there for about 6 hours. :) There was lots of stuff for sale to look at, but more relevantly, many friendly people - especially the women - to talk to and get suggestions from. I am vaguely perplexed by one of the vendors having given me a smudge stick (sage and... something else. something evergreen) because he liked my energy. I even mentioned that I have some at home, but hey. He was proud of the fact that the one he gave me was harvested from their native land, and I do _like_ the smell of sage. Still very odd.
Many _many_ dogs all over the place. Some were probably not owned by anyone in the pueblo, but many were. For the large part, friendly. This may have been because I smelled like food (see the next paragraph). Although, no, there was a dog which was _utterly_ happy with me and wanted belly and inner leg scritches pretty much immediately after I entered the pueblo. :)
Had some tasty pie and breads made by villagers in their outdoor clay stove things whose name I am not recalling. Still have some bread that I bought a small amount of. It apparently lasts a week, due to not having any dairy in it. I _think_ this is unrefrigerated, even. I will put it in my cooler, though.
One of the women there gave me all _sorts_ of advice on where to go during my trip, including a very strong recommendation for Ojo Celiente. She even got out some paper and started writing things down for me, including her phone number so I can text her if I get lost of need suggestions, and her email address for less urgent reasons.
Another woman, when I said that I was not sure if I was going to go to Taos Plaza tonight or to Ojo Caliente, flat out said that I should go to Ojo Caliente. With two strong recommendations, what else could I do? :)
So I went, and the various hot pools were indeed hot. The one in which you could cover yourself in mud and stand in the sun while it dried, then go into the rinsing pool after was neat. Overall, eh. I like hot tubs, and this did not seem that different to me. Still worth going, if for nothing else the views on the way there and back. (some pictures)
Oh, and Brandeis did not accept me. Now, to figure out how to improve my chances for next year, and _hopefully_ see if I can volunteer in a research lab there.
So! Where was I?
Right! I was headed to Chama.
heinleinfan helped me find block ice, which turned out to not be nearly as difficult as I was worried about. The hardest to find, mind you, was the marshmallow/hot dog roasting sticks. You'd _think_ those would be easy to find, but no! We did succeed, though!After a hug and repeated reminders that I can call if anything happens, I headed out.
The drive from Colorado Springs to Chama, NM was quite lovely. There was also a fair amount of rain, sometimes quite heavy, and sometimes while there was sunshine. It's quite odd being able to see a rainstorm from ~15 miles away, as I'm driving toward it! The fact that there was not a lot to block the view (I'm much more accustomed to having trees right next to the road, for example) did make this happen quite often during the trip.
At one point, I had stopped to take a picture of the scenery, and right after getting back into my car and starting to drive, saw a deer (maybe? Had no antlers, but larger than most female deer that I've seen) _RIGHT_ by the side of the road next to me. It bounded off when it saw that I was looking at it.
I've repeatedly been amused by cattle crossing signs. I've also seen deer signs, and what I think were probably mountain goat and elk signs.
The place that I intended to camp in Chama ended up not being where I stayed for reasons of rain and snow. Even though it did stop after an hour and clear up quite nicely, I wasn't willing to trust the weather, or the dryness of the ground, to camp. So, instead, I ended up staying at a nearby hotel. The place that I was going to camp had some hummingbird feeders with three or four hummingbirds feeding at it. I had no idea, or had forgotten, how _loud_ hummingbirds are when in flight. I have a few pictures of them, too.
I have no idea why, but my photos keep uploading to flickr in reverse order. Ah, well. on the way to Chama pics.
I was _SO TIRED_ that night. And one heck of a headache. Also, missed
metahacker, so we chatted for a bit before we each went to bed. Ok, I did some yoga, and then meditated - which was helpful in reducing the intense headache pain. Most probably because I stopped the added pain caused by fighting it. I stayed up way too late the night before, I still have no idea why. Slept well that night, though. Felt much _much_ better the next morning.During my drive from Chama to Taos, my battery for my camera died. And, having put the spare and the battery charger in what was, and is, a perfectly reasonable location, I was unable to find it. For hours. I even went ahead and purchased a replacement charger since it's not at _all_ fun to not be able to use the camera! On the plus side, I found the spare battery and charger before using the replacement, so I shall return it to Radio Shack tomorrow morning when it opens at 9.
The drive from Chama to Taos is _gorgeous_. It's rather ridiculous how often I feel the need to exclaim over the pretty, or call something breathtaking, but... it's _true_! I'm not sure how well the views transfer to camera, entirely ignoring the fact that many of the views, I couldn't take a picture of for reasons of driving at the time.
The Rio Grande Gorge bridge and the gorge itself are... impressive. I don't have much trouble with heights, but going onto the bridge to get to the center to take pictures was a bit difficult. Really, only if I looked down while walking. Not walking was tolerable while looking down. (I did have to control my breathing to not hyperventilate if I looked for too long) I very much approve of the handrails for reasons of helping to remind myself that it's _there_, between me and the drop.
I had no idea this was even here until I drove over it. :) I was tickled to find people selling things in the parking lots on both sides of the bridge. Bought stuff from a few different people, one of whom randomly gave me another of his necklaces as a gift. I have no idea. I'm not even sure I particularly like it (I don't _dis_like it, mind you!).
One of the things I bought, I need to send $5 to the seller as I did not have enough cash on me at the time to cover the full cost. I'm... pleased that there are people who are willing to trust others to do such things. Now, I just need to get a $5 bill to send her.
Also did the Taos Enchanted Circle drive on my way to the hostel that I'm currently staying in. I managed to get Red River Valley in my head, for reasons of driving through said location. It's... kind of disturbingly tourist trap-y. Or, as various of the friendly women at Taos Pueblo described it, it's very much Little Texas. Not that I've been to Texas, mind you. There were a lot of houses that just looked... WRONG. Wrong color, wrong building materials (log cabin-style houses), just... didn't fit.
The views, however, were gorgeous. During the entire drive, in Red River, all of it. It was just a bit of a shock to see the absurdity of Red River itself. (also, the gas station I found and used had only two pumps. No buildings, just an outhouse. Kind of strange)
I developed a great appreciation for the fact that I was able to downshift for driving down the steeper parts of the drive.
The sun was sneaky and burnt me through my open window. Not horribly, just... somewhat painful last night. Aloe is my friend. :) Face was also a little burnt, but it doesn't hurt at all, and was mostly just visible as slightly red.
Relevant pictures.
Staying in a hostel is interesting. On one hand, it's harder to sleep with other people still awake, even with earplugs and the fantabulous idea of having heavy blankets over the bottom bunk to provide privacy and light reduction. On the other, it's nice being around people who interact with me periodically and have suggestions and are friendly. Also, there's cats here. Two who live here, and two who are visiting.
This morning, I went to Taos Pueblo. (pictures) And stayed there for about 6 hours. :) There was lots of stuff for sale to look at, but more relevantly, many friendly people - especially the women - to talk to and get suggestions from. I am vaguely perplexed by one of the vendors having given me a smudge stick (sage and... something else. something evergreen) because he liked my energy. I even mentioned that I have some at home, but hey. He was proud of the fact that the one he gave me was harvested from their native land, and I do _like_ the smell of sage. Still very odd.
Many _many_ dogs all over the place. Some were probably not owned by anyone in the pueblo, but many were. For the large part, friendly. This may have been because I smelled like food (see the next paragraph). Although, no, there was a dog which was _utterly_ happy with me and wanted belly and inner leg scritches pretty much immediately after I entered the pueblo. :)
Had some tasty pie and breads made by villagers in their outdoor clay stove things whose name I am not recalling. Still have some bread that I bought a small amount of. It apparently lasts a week, due to not having any dairy in it. I _think_ this is unrefrigerated, even. I will put it in my cooler, though.
One of the women there gave me all _sorts_ of advice on where to go during my trip, including a very strong recommendation for Ojo Celiente. She even got out some paper and started writing things down for me, including her phone number so I can text her if I get lost of need suggestions, and her email address for less urgent reasons.
Another woman, when I said that I was not sure if I was going to go to Taos Plaza tonight or to Ojo Caliente, flat out said that I should go to Ojo Caliente. With two strong recommendations, what else could I do? :)
So I went, and the various hot pools were indeed hot. The one in which you could cover yourself in mud and stand in the sun while it dried, then go into the rinsing pool after was neat. Overall, eh. I like hot tubs, and this did not seem that different to me. Still worth going, if for nothing else the views on the way there and back. (some pictures)
Oh, and Brandeis did not accept me. Now, to figure out how to improve my chances for next year, and _hopefully_ see if I can volunteer in a research lab there.
