We did have another weather challenge; there was a tornado warning right in Taos! We've been in virtually every kind of weather and now a tornado warning. Lucky us! Fortunately, it was over the mountains, miles away and we kept going. I was tentative and thought perhaps we should ride back to Santa Fe. I didn't want to get caught in rain again or find ourselves stranded somewhere. Randy, as always, is more positive about our weather situation. Luckily, with Randy's GPS, he could follow the weather via satellite. We watched the storm clouds blow over the mountain and rode on, mostly in sunshine. At one point, we were headed right toward the blackest clouds and then we cruised right away from them into sunshine. We dodged bad weather again!
I didn't stop and take a photo but check out these photos from Geraint Smith. On the day we were riding into Taos, the clouds looked just like this! Beautiful but a little scary. He has amazing photographs online, look at his website: www.geraintsmith.com - he's is incredible.
We originally were going to visit Albuquerque and Santa Fe, but most people, (bikers and non-bikers) told us to go straight to Taos. We were anxious to get home so we decided to take their advice, and bypass Albuquerque and Santa Fe. We'll visit both on another trip. After our fun day of touring in New Mexico, arriving in Taos felt mystical, magical and just fun!
We arrived in the late afternoon, went for a quick swim and out for the evening.
Taos has a small downtown area filled with restaurants, breweries, art galleries, clothing shops, western shops, antique stores, sport shops, etc... There seems to be something for everyone. Most of the shops were closed but the restaurant and bar patios were filled and everyone was having a great time in the wonderful warm evening weather. The Downtown area had a positive vibe.
That night I decided to leave my bike parked and ride with Randy. I've ridden with Randy a lot and thought it would be nice to be his passenger for the evening. The Downtown area was less than 10 minutes from our hotel.
What I learned is that I'm out of practice getting on and off the bike with him. What made it a little challenging was that I had to ride on the luggage rack/portable folding chair. Even though I didn't have a back rest to lean on for balance, I got on and felt OK, but unsteady. Luckily, Randy kept the passenger floorboards on and I settled in hugging him tightly. Felt good! Until we started off. Without a backrest, I was so uncomfortable that I made him take me back to the hotel to get my own bike! Then, I almost couldn't get off the bike, because I didn't have a backrest to steady myself. Randy held the bike steady and was fine, but not me! Part of the problem was the seat and the other part was, now that I ride, I like being in control! We were both laughing about this situation!
Now that we're home, I'll need to get on his bike, with seat and backrest and go for a ride. As much as I like riding my own bike, sometimes, I do miss being his passenger - we've had great times together on one bike.
Surprisingly, we couldn't find Eske's the brewery downtown. It was tucked away in an odd location and with the traffic patterns, we couldn't get there. A first for us, missing a brewery! We ended up at Station Cafe 3 one 6, right on the main road with a parking lot filled with Harley's. We cruised in and parked our bikes with the others. I should note that every Harley parked, were all customize and awesome. Of course, ours fit right in. However, I think my was the best of all of them.
Orlando, the owner, immediately commented on the fact that we had cruised by on one bike and arrived on two. He laughed out loud when he heard our story about my control issues!
We sat on the patio for a couple of hours, had a great dinner (nachos and fish tacos with home made blue corn tortillas), watched the world ride by and enjoyed the sunset. We had a fun conversation with Ronnie, from Arizona, who joined us to talk bikes and road travels. He was on a sweet 2009 Road Glide.
Station Cafe 3 one 6, turned out to be a great choice! The owner, Orlando, owns another restaurant in town and wanted to do something new. So he took an old Sinclair Station and renovated into a restaurant. Very cool! If we lived in Taos, we'd hang out here. Great food, beer and atmosphere.
Next morning we cruised by the Taos Brewery, another missed opportunity, and we know that Taos is one area that we are definitely coming back for a visit! The riding in the area is wonderful, great restaurants, spas, shops and outdoor activities. I feel couples road trip coming on! Or maybe just a girls trip? Jayme, Stephanie and Patty...are you in?
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