Taos, New Mexico

Thankfully Jason and I were able to go off for a few days by ourselves right after the new year. After we visited with Jason's family in Fort Worth we drove to Midland the next day and dropped Aspen with the grandparents. We continued our drive west to Taos, New Mexico. The drive was about 8 hours from Midland, but went by much faster than we thought since we didn't have to worry about entertaining a toddler the whole time. It was so much fun spending that time together and reminded us both of our honeymoon (when we drove to Colorado).

I've never spent time in New Mexico and honestly thought of most of it as desert. However, Taos had beautiful scenery, good food, and very friendly residents. We stayed at the Dreamcatcher Bed and Breakfast in the town. All of our past ski trips that we have taken we always stay at the ski resort. However, we both really enjoyed staying in the town and it was only a 20 mile drive to the mountain. Our b&b was awesome and we hope we can visit again someday in the future.

Taking our picture with the resident guest greeter--Jake.

We loved the skiing at Taos. It was more challenging than I was expecting, but the conditions were perfect and we never had to wait in line at the lifts. My biggest accomplishment this trip was facing my fears and taking on a black diamond run (the second most challenging--they had double blacks, which I had never seen before) that was full of moguls. We tried to take a picture of the run from the lift, but it didn't come out very well, but can't you tell how proud I am!

 Here's Jason coming down one of the runs looking like a rock star.

We took one day to drive out to two different sites that everyone told us we had to see while in Taos. The first was visiting the Rio Grande Gorge. It was really cold out and the wind was blowing and the bridge was iced over--so walking to the middle of it was slightly nerve-racking. I have never considered myself afraid of heights, but while we were walking I definitely could see how somebody could be thrown into that place of anxiety. It was a beautiful view and quite a site to see.

The next place we visited was the Earthship Visitor Center. Earthships are sustainable green homes made completely from recycled materials (the walls are made from tires that have a controlled temperature of about 60 degrees). They use the sun and wind for electricity, rain and melted snow for water (which is then used four times over), and they use the sun for heating. There is also a full green house "porch" where they grow all their food all year around. It was quite interesting to see these communities and get to tour one of the homes. Of course Jason spent the rest of the night talking about how we need to get an earthship--we'll see on that one!

We had a fantastic time and I am just so thankful to spend that alone time with my best friend. It was a wonderful trip that both of us will remember for a long time.

***Jason's parents had a great time with Aspen and I know she did too. Here is still getting into "trouble" at their office one day.