16 Jun Celebrating Birthdays in Taos

Happy Birthday Aaron (May 10th)!

We were so excited to spend our birthdays in Taos this year! For Aaron we filled several days with good food and friends around town! We went out for happy hour the night before Aaron’s birthday to 5-star for some fried green beans and a burger! The morning of Aaron’s birthday we made a quick trip up the canyon to the Gavilans trail to find the illusive waterfall about a mile up. Though the trail ended as the hillside slide away to the overlook of the falls, Aaron and friend Cordell decided to make the descent for an icy cold waterfall spritz!

Back at the Snowmansion / Peaceful Earth Gardens property, we prepped a feast of root vegetables, squash and aaron’s birthday wish: cookies! We also got to test out the new popcorn machine which was a huge crowd favorite!

The week was also filled with lots of music! Local friend Cordell played some acoustic tunes at the cafe across the street one day, and we all loaded up in the van to hit the downtown-Taos Cantina Karaoke on another night! The fun seems to fill each day so heavily that they bleed into one another — definitely keeps us on our toes!

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Happy Birthday Sarah (June 1st)!

My birthday fell immediately after Memorial Day weekend and after a few weeks of bustling gardening, keeping up with our freelance work and lots and lots of fun nights with our crew, I was ready for a few days of secluded nature!

We easily and quickly loaded up the van on the eve of my birthday, and stopped for a quick appetizer & cocktail at the lovely restaurant down the road Medley. After that, a quick drive 30 miles north to Questa, and we were parked for the night just outside Rio Grande del Norte National Monument, with epic views and our only company being a herd of grazing cattle.

The next morning we lazed around van enjoying the solitude of morning yoga, slow-steaming some local chicken-green-chile tamales for breakfast and prepped for a hike down into the Rio Grande canyon. The recreation area had several different trailheads with looping trails along both the Rio Grande and Red River which flows out of the mountains and joins the Rio Grande within the park.

After the hike, we drove back to the edge of the recreation area and found another BLM parking spot off a dirt 4×4 road. Once again we were totally alone enjoying the canyon & mountain views!

The next day, we took the opportunity to drive up to Red River, another small ski town up in the mountains west of Questa. The drive was lovely and we enjoyed a classic diner breakfast and walking around the quaint biker town, finally stopping at Red River Brewing & Distillery for a round, before heading back to Arroyo Seco that night. What a fantastic, relaxing and recharging birthday!