So as some of you may have heard, we ended up postponing our trip to Australia, it’s a long story but was just too much for us right after the wedding and right before the holidays.
If you’re an SD Member you know that our December Wellness Session kicked off this week, and we would have lost a lot of planning time for this session if we went on a big trip right away. We pushed the trip back until 2015, pictures to come!
But we still wanted to take a mini trip… somewhere relaxing, where we could still get some work done… so off to New Mexico we went!
You might be thinking “what’s in New Mexico?” Well so was I :) We were both so surprised by how cool New Mexico was!
We stayed in the most amazing Adobe house in Taos, a little ski town about 2.5- 3 hours from Albuquerque. With a population just under 6,000 people it was very quiet. We rented the house Via airbnb if you don’t have an account you should, it’s free!
The house we stayed in was full of local art, apparently a lot of artists move to Taos or retire there.
We had a lot of fun checking out little shops, art galleries and of course their local health food store: Cid’s Food Market.
Cid’s was amazing, they had everything we needed, plus some! It seriously reminded me of our natural food store Jimbo’s Naturally, as both companies have been in business about the same amount of time and each give back to local charities using the token system when you bring your own bags.
We made a friend, Mark, in the produce section. He gave us a little background on the store and a really helpful map of Taos. We even saw Cid working up in his office overlooking the store! Mark said he comes in every day and works just like everyone else… we think that’s pretty cool!
Since we had the most amazing kitchen in Taos, and all the time in the world, I cooked all of our meals and Peter was in charge of keeping the fire going :)
We made juice every morning, smoothies, big fall salads, Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with chocolate frosting, drank tea every night (keep reading for the giveaway!) and ate lots of dark chocolate. One night we even got a bar with coffee in it and didn’t dig in until 10pm… needless to say that was the night we stayed up until 2pm watching Christmas movies.
We did some running, which surprisingly wasn’t too cold for us Californians even though the temperatures were in 30-40s! I think the elevation helped… we were pretty much running on a mountain!
We went on a hike while in Taos where I totally felt the elevation gain! (Taos is 7,000 feet above sea level. We live at 52!)
And we saw the Rio Grande River… which was seriously breathtaking. The owner of the house we stayed at said her entire family did a 2-day rafting trip last summer and now we’re considering making a trip next summer and tackling it as well.
I must say it was a long car ride… like whoa!
We downloaded a bunch of playlists, podcasts and even bought a book on Audible, but next time we go we’re flying to Albuquerque and driving to Taos from there.
Taos is very interesting as the population is mixed between Caucasians, Hispanics and Native Americans. And you can tell there is an income divide, the town seems very poor but then you go into the shops and everything is very expensive. Apparently a lot of famous people live here while others struggle to find work or work multiple jobs to support themselves.
If you know much about history (Peter and I are the worst!) then you know New Mexico has a lot of history going on. New Mexico used to be the wild west where they solved things via shootings and the owner of the house we stayed with said they still do that… yikes!
It was strange but we didn’t feel like the town was unsafe, no one really goes out of their way to bother you. We decided it’s a place where everyone minds their own business and as long as you do the same, you won’t have any trouble.
So all in all we had an awesome time! Like 1,000 times more awesome then I ever expected!
Oh and we also spent 2 magical days in Sedona, AZ – but I’m saving that post for another time!
On to the Giveaway
While in Taos we picked up this amazing tea from Taos Tea Co and drank it like crazy, so we brought 2 bags to giveaway to 1 lucky reader.
What you get
- Good Morning Tea – ginseng, ginger, alfalfa, licorice, rose hips, cinnamon and orange peel
- Good Evening Tea – chamomile, quakers bonnet, passion flower and spearmint (this one is my favorite!)
**In order to win you need to leave a comment below, and make sure you’re on our email list…you must sign up as we’ll be announcing the winner in our newsletter (you can sign-up for that below).
22 replies to "Secret Trip to New Mexico (+ A Giveaway)"
Would love to try those teas!
I have not been to new mexico, only Mexico. The pictures you took look absolutely beautiful! Thank you for the juice recipes you have sent! I’m new to juicing so anything helps. The teas look wonderful, I’m always looking for new teas.
You’re so welcome Heather! We’re thinking about creating a guide to making juicing more of a habit and incorporating into your routine. Let us know if that’s something you’d be interested in;)
This sounds like a cool trip. One of these days I want to make it out west and this may definitely make it on the agenda. :)
Yes Darin, please come visit. We’d love to meetup!
Hello! Have never been but you adobe looks fantastic! And the tea sounds delightful! Thank you for sharing
We recently drive through New Mexico and loved it. It is definitely one of the more scenic drives, and we were on the interstate!
I love NM. Did you get a chance to try some Hatch chile?? It is the absolute Bomb! Hatch chile (red or green) is the pride of NM. I used to visit NM frequently (Taos, ABQ, etc.) when I lived in El Paso, TX. I even had a couple pieces of parcel in Rio Rancho and Timberon, but lost it in a divorce. Anyway, NM is beautiful! I miss it dearly.
Hi Rebecca, yes we’re familiar with the Hatch Chile! I’m sure most of the ones we’ve eaten came from New Mexico, but never knew. We didn’t eat any hatch when we visited but we’ll make sure to get the Full Hatch Experience next time!
Also, I’m sure NM is missing you too, I think it’s time for a reunion:)
No……..but now its on my bucket list :-)
I would love a spot of tea!
New Mexico is lovely, but I’d probably freeze to death. I went to Bosque de Apache once in November to see the snow goose and sandhill crane migration. I love how much open space there still is there!
Lovely, guys! So glad you did that! FYI, Alex and I did our honeymoon six months after our wedding, and that rocked. You’re both glowing in the photos, BTW. ;)
Oh, oops, I didn’t answer the question! I have been to Santa Fe and Sedona. :)
Never been to New Mexico, but now I want to go! :)
I have always wanted to go to Albuquerque, now I am interested in Taos! Your trip looked incredible, plus, who doesn’t love being cozy by a fire??? These teas sound delicious and would live to try them out!
Christian – yes you should check them both out! The trip was epic, and I loved building a fire indoors every night. It felt like we were living in 1853.
New Mexico is BEAUTIFUL! When I was driving back to WA from GA I drove through there and it blew my mind. I don’t know what I was expecting, but I wasn’t expecting so much beauty in one place. The sunrise was my favorite!
Totally, it’s so open and clear out there. The sunrise really lights the sky on fire.
New Mexico is on my bucket list. Did you experience the “Taos Hum”?
OMG Terri – I just looked it up, but I’m not sure what to think! We didn’t hear anything like that when we were there, but it sounds like 2% of the population hears the Taos Hum. I’ll have to further investigate next time we go;)
Is the cool adobe rental avail to rent by others?Looks very cool. Is there a website for the rental?
Hey Carla! Great Question, the Adobe is available to others. We used Airbnb. If you don’t have an account you can use this and get 25 dollars off your next rental any where: https://www.airbnb.com/c/sotoole9?s=8. This is the place we rented: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/2330255