On the Road Again: To Utah's National Parks: Continuing our Travels

We took a brief break from National Parks and visited my brother in Tucson. It's always great to visit with family and Tom's house is beautiful, peaceful and welcoming. I was happy to be able to celebrate my brother's birthday with him - that hasn't happened in years. We visited the Pima Air and Space Museum and went up to Mount Lemmon for a refreshing break from the heat. Actually, Tucson has really awesome weather. The mornings are clear and relatively cool (78 degrees or so) and then it heats up fast. But the evenings are also cool with a slight breeze. I really love the Tucson area, but it does not have much water and the increasing population is putting a strain on the water supply.

When we left Tucson, we drove up I-25 to Taos, New Mexico. We have never been here before. It is a small city up in the mountains. It doesn't seem to get really hot like some other parts of New Mexico. The center of town is a historic Plaza - plazas are common in town - filled with shops, galleries, and restaurants. Taos became an artist's mecca in the early 1900s and the city is still filled with beautiful and inspirational artwork of all kinds.

We planned to visit an art museum today, but when we pulled in we noticed a sign saying the museum is closed today! We will try again tomorrow. So, we had to satisfy ourselves by visiting several shops and galleries. We have a few more of those to check out tomorrow too.

I love the adobe architecture here. The place where we are staying is fairly new, but is built in that old fashioned style. The inn owners built four casitas - small houses. Each one has a bedroom and an open living room/kitchen floor plan. It has a real kitchen! I'm very excited about that. It is a trial for me to eat all of my meals in restaurants or hotels. I am surprised that so many restaurants still do not regularly supply whole grains, vegetarian options, and fresh vegetables. This casita also has a washer and dryer. For folks who are traveling with one suitcase each, this is a huge benefit. In fact, this casita is pretty ideal for me.

Our hotel stays have left me with some notes and comments that I will share in a later blog solely devoted to lodging on road trips.