You know it’s a great vacation when you start picking out paint colors for the rental house. And when you find yourself pricing season ski passes. And when you have to look up what day it is.

It was a great vacation.

We have decided that two week vacations are the way to go. We have also decided that Ed’s Blackberry needs to break en route. Not because he couldn’t keep from checking email and voicemail the whole time, but because his Blackberry actually broke en route, and it was the best thing ever.

The rental house worked out great. Bigger than we needed, but Ed finagled a great price using the economy as a bargaining tool. It was on the road to the Taos ski resort, eight or more miles from the town of Taos, before the road got steep. Just a half mile past a tiny village called Arroyo Seco. Beautiful mountain views in all directions. Apricot trees in season. A hot tub. A hot tub during the Perseid meteor shower, even better.

This was our fourth trip to New Mexico together (Ed and Erica also took a golf trip a few years ago). Needless to say, we really like New Mexico. It’s beautiful, but more subtle about it than Colorado. I think it’s this that makes it seem less touristy. But so much to do! Especially outdoors. Skiing, hiking, camping, biking, kayaking, rafting, ballooning. And history. And art. And music. So much to do that in two weeks, we didn’t manage to see the main tourist attraction there, the Taos Pueblo. For that and the other things we missed (and for the things we want to do again), we’ve already decided that another trip to Taos is in order.

Highlights:

• We saw a performance of Aleceste at the Santa Fe Opera. This is a beautiful covered, but wall-less opera center with a view of the just set sun and the sound of crickets augmenting the performance. Beautiful, and the opera itself was one where subtitles were unnecessary, so it was nice that every seat had its own subtitles, and they could be turned off.
• Two beautiful motorcycle rides: the Enchanted Circle, and later, another loop, this time to the west, which took us through high cool forests and then strikingly beautiful hot desert formations.
• An unexpected artist meeting. Ed had bought some notecards he liked at a museum gift shop, and searched for the local gallery representing the artist. We stopped in to see if they had any small original works of his for sale, and the artist happened to be there minding the shop and working on a painting. It turned out they didn’t have any small paintings Ed liked in the gallery, but the artist had some at home, so we drove him there (just a half mile away), and had a look (and met his wife, daughter, daughter’s boyfriend, dog, and had a look around the garden). The painting we picked wasn’t even signed yet, so we got to watch him do that. Neat.
• Every day we watched cyclists ride past the house to tackle the road to the ski resort. Naturally, I had to do it too. What a pretty ride, and not as tough as I thought. Certainly worth the wild ride down.
• Another notable ride: while cycling in Wild Rivers Recreation Area near the Rio Grande, a young bighorn sheep trotted along with us for a bit.
• Ed’s first backpacking trip, and a hike up the highest mountain in New Mexico.
• Looking at the stars. Living in a city, I forget how many there are.

Thanks, Taos, see you next time!