Taos Pueblo, NM

 Between Wild Rivers NRA and Bandelier National Monument, our next destination, we stop at Taos Pueblo - "Place of the Red Willows", a small native village just outside of Taos, New Mexico.  A Unesco World Heritage Site, it is believed to be the oldest continuously inhabited village in all of the United States, dating back at least 1,000 years.  The village and its people have survived many conflicts, first from aggressive, rival tribes, then in the 1600s and 1700s by conquering Spaniards, and finally in the 1800s during the US/Mexican war.  Today, the few remaining natives maintain their ancient customs and way of life, including living in adobe homes without electricity and running water, although they do own vehicles.

We take a tour around the village with native guide who describes the history and explains the day-to-day life.  Then we are left to wander the many shops and streets on our own.  We have a delicious lunch of "fry bread", seemingly a flour tortilla dropped for about one minute into boiling oil.  We first have a taco with this bread with seasonsed beef, lettuce, tomatoes and cheese, then finish off with another fry bread topped with honey and cinnamon for dessert.  Mmm-mmm!  I have never eaten such a yummy, fast meal.

	Ancestral cemetery and the remains of San Geronimo (Saint Jerome) Church which was rebuilt in a different location of the village in the 1800s
	The North House, a multi-level condo which faces the main village square where trading and communing would take place
	Rounded object is an oven which is used to bake bread and cakes as well as pottery
	Marilyn deciding on lunch - Fry Bread with taco fixins' or honey?