Taos, New Mexico

I arrived in Taos (yet another AT&T blackspot - yawn) about 3 hours ago, took Cherry Bomb to a local bike shop for a check over and a power wash. She was looking pretty ropey after the Oil Incident, and subsequent hot days in dusty desert wind. They wouldn't touch her initially because they're Yamaha people and "don't do Suzuki" but after I explained where I was from and what I needed, they literally sprang to attention and couldn't have been more helpful. In particular, Dave D (who I secretly believe is The Most Gorgeous Man In America - believe it girls, he is TOTALLY HOT), who had been to EnZed himself, went the extra mile checking my girl over. They were all very impressed that I've done three thousand seven hundred miles already (6000km) with still a ways to go.
My motel is kinda cool. Its like a hacienda type structure, with a rampantly noisy air conditioning unit, but the staff are lovely, they put me right at the back, away from sight of the road, and apologised profusely for not being able to put me on the ground floor. After checking in and unpacking the bike, I went in search of a cyber cafe, and found a really nice one, tucked away inside a walled shady courtyard behind a supermarket, and they do really good iced coffee there. Its not the easist place to spot, but a woman in the town gave me good directions, after I called into an IT store to ask if they knew where I could go. Taos is a nice town. I came here once before, many years ago, and spent a very pleasant afternoon in the Old Town, which is very picturesque and combines architecture that's traditionally Mexican and Native American. Its quite touristy, but not in the kind of in-ya-face way you'd expect. A lot of the stores sell really good quality arts and crafts made by the Indian people, many of whom now live on reservations. I've already driven alongside a couple or reservations, and I have to say they look like pretty soulless places. Taos is set against a backdrop of stunning mountains, and its really pretty here. I feel safe in this place. The Bomb is safe too, and we've had a really good day together. The scenery in from Santa Rosa, thru Las Vegas NM, thru the Mora Valley into Taos was really spectacular, as well. I went through a mountain pass area where there's a ski lodge, which apparently gets pretty busy in winter. Not much wildlife seen around today. Chipmunks are very cool little critters, though. They're everywhere there's forest, and they always make me smile.