Art and Old Stuff in Taos

September 21, 2012

We started out the day by going to Historic Taos Plaza.  The historic buildings are now filled with shops, some with fine art and jewelry, and big price tags; others were typical souvenir shops.  After an hour or so we had enough, so we ventured north to the Millicent Rogers museum.  But first we stopped in a very large store selling all sorts of stuff.  One thing that caught our eye were ceramic sun faces, which we plan to mount outside on the east wall of the patio.  Should look pretty cool there.

OK, class is in session.  Millicent Rogers was the granddaughter of a  partner in Standard Oil, so she wasn't hurting for money.  She developed an interest in art and jewelry, and moved to Taos in the mid 1940s where she amassed a big collection.  She died there at the age of 51.  Her son set up the museum to share her collection.  It is located in a house donated by Claude and Elizabeth Anderson.  The architecture of the house alone is worth the admission.

The pottery in the following photo has a unique pattern of matte and gloss finish, and black on black.  The technique was developed by Maria Martinez in the late 40s.  The pot is polished first with river stone followed by the matte pattern painted on using a clay slip material. The black is created by blocking out oxygen during the firing process.

The cross shown here is gilded with what looks like gold, but is actually golden straw.  When sliced very thin it takes on the shiny gold appearance you see here.  There were several on display and you would think its gold foil.

Millicent Rogers had a huge collection of turquoise and silver jewelry.  Some of it is so rare as to be truly priceless.  In her later years she designed silver and gold jewelry, but died before the designs made it to market.

The last picture is of San Francisco de Asis Church in Taos.  It was built in 1815 and served as refuge for the Spanish inhabiting the area from Indian attacks.  It was restored in 1979 and, like the Pueblo, gets a fresh coat of Adobe every year.

Heading to Bandelier National Monument down the High Road tomorrow, stay tuned.  Class dismissed!

Fun in Taos

September 20, 2012

Today we took a kayak trip down the Rio Grande.  Although we traversed several rapids, the pictures only depict smooth sections of the river because I was too busy dodging big rocks and trying to keep myself upright, to take pictures then.  Note the bow on Lynn’s kayak, she banged into her share of these big rocks, and fell out twice, oops not supposed to tell you that.  It was lots of fun, but we are both really pooped tonight.

Paddlin' on the Rio Grande

September 19, 2012

We are enjoying our stay here in Taos, NM.  Bright and sunny with highs near 80 and really low humidity.  At night it gets into the upper 40s, a little chilly.  Were basically in high desert country about 6000 ft.  Today we drove around a bit, saw Rio Grande Gorge bridge, and the ski area up at 9800 ft.  Pretty landscape, but we have seen cooler scenary last year.

Today we also visited the Taos Pueblo. It is a community that originated around 1400, populated by Native Americans related to the Anasazi.  We learned last year they mysteriously abandoned their cliff dwellings and moved south around 1100AD. Today, about 50 people still live within the sacred boundaries of the Pueblo, with another 1900 in the adjacent reservation.  The people within the boundary maintain a lifestyle very much like it was over 400 years ago.



Taos Pueblo



The adobe pueblo in the picture is the only remaining multistory pueblo in the U.S. There was work going on to spruce up the outer surface with new adobe in preparation for a fiesta in a couple of weeks.  Adobe is applied like plaster, and needs to be fixed up annually. 



Church of San Geronimo

The church; San Geronimo, named for the patron saint of Taos, was rebuilt in 1850, after the original one got destroyed in the Spanish American War.  There were many shops in the Pueblo selling art items that you buy directly from the artist. All the people were very friendly there.

Get Your Kicks on Route 66!



September 18, 2012

We camped at the Texas Information Center in Amarillo last night.  They allow 24 hour parking and had a Barney Fife patrolling all night. Tonight we are in Taos, New Mexico, a small town north of Santa Fe.  There's a bunch of stuff to see and do here, so we'll be staying here a while.   

September 17, 2012

We made it to Amarillo, TX today after leaving Oklahoma City early to see some Route 66 attractions.  About 80 miles west of Amarillo is a restored gas station from the 60s, called Lucille’s Service Station.  It is listed as a National Historic Site by the NPS.  The price of gas, frozen in time, was 26.9 cents.  What is with the .9 cents?  Oil company’s stupid idea dated way back then, I guess.  If you are looking for this piece of history, it is on the north side of I-40 just beyond Hwy 58 on the service drive, which is Route 66.

Lucille's Service Station

We also drove a part of the old highway.  This thing is narrow, with no shoulder, at least in the section we drove.  It actually had a low curb on each side.  Route 66 is over 2300 miles long in total, going through eight states.  About 80% of it yet exists, although probably not drivable and as we have learned, not signposted either.



Old Route 66

In the town of Clinton is a Route 66 Museum, run by the state of  Oklahoma.  Each state seems to have their own Route 66 museum. The history of the highway began in 1925 when it was commissioned as a national highway.  It took the better part of 10 years to complete.  Its big years were right after WWII, when everybody wanted to see the USA in their Chevrolet, and Route 66 was it.  It was also used in the 30’s by people leaving the Midwest after the big Dust Bowl problem.  Ike’s new freeway system killed Route 66 and it lost its national highway designation in the 60’s.



The Valentine diner shown here were popular in the 50s & 60s.  It was like a business in a box.  You order it and they bring to site and drop it, no building.  The owner paid it off by leaving funds in a cash box, that were picked up by an employee of Valentine.  This one originated in Clinton, OK.

Valentine diner

The picture below is called the Cadillac Ranch.  What you see are 10 Caddys "planted", in a field about 20 miles west of Amarillo along I-40.  Is it art?  Is it entertainment?  Who knows, but you are welcome to bring your can of paint and add your bit of art to it.  We did learn the whole thing got started in 1974.  The paint is like an inch thick, and empty spray cans were all over the place.

Cadillac Ranch

Adding some "art"

Cowboys

September 16, 2012

Been a couple days since our last post, so let me first bring you up to date.  On Friday night we "camped" at the Bass Pro Shop in Springfield, MO.  It started to rain shortly after leaving St. Louis and rained almost all night in Springfield, like cats and dogs!  They were doing some remodelling at BPS so several areas of the store were closed.  The store is really big, but not as big as I thought it would be, likely due to the remodelling.

Saturday we left for OK City.  The rain finally let up about the time we hit the OK border.  Can't say much about the scenery, it was various shades of gray.  Rolling hillside through the Ozarks.

Today we went to the National Cowboy Museum in Oklahoma City.  We found it very interesting.  The museum helped us learn what a cowboy really is and how they got started.  Hollywood has  romanticised what a cowboy is to get people interested.  Cowboys got started after the Civil War, driving cattle from ranch to market.  Their skills were broad, as they had to take care of the cattle and their horses, but also included living outside and survival.  The gunfighter, gambler, and adventure seeker were not those guys.

The museum had lots of art in paintings and sculpture.  Most were no photos.  In the lobby is their signature piece called the End of The Trail which was originally commissioned for San Francisco.  It signified the end of the Trail of Tears endured by the Cherokees.  I could go on and on about my disgust for the way this country treated Native Americans that occupied this country before we got here.

End of the Trail

John Wayne

The rodeo was the way cowboys showed off their skills.  Originally it was just a friendly competition, although I'm sure there was wagering going on.  Today of course, it's a professional sport and an occupation.

The Civil War played a significant role in how cowboys learned many of their skills, and shaped the way cattle got to market.  This statue of Lincoln depicts him in deep concern over the country's situation.

Tomorrow we head for Amarillo, checking out some Route 66 stuff on the way.  More later!