Day 3

After two long days of travel, I allowed the children to sleep in.   In fact, I enjoyed sleeping in almost as much.  Sleeping in meant getting up at 0730 instead of 0600.  I got up and made some breakfast tacos for the gang.  I figured such food might provide the appropriate energy for our first hike of the trip.
I started the generator while we cooked to charge up the ships batteries a bit.  The trailhead was only about 5 minutes away at the next campground up the river from us.  We made the trip and pulled in next to what looked like a horse trailer.  To our amusement, tied to the side of the trailer were a pack of llamas.  Apparently you can hire a guide an take pack llama trips up into the mountains.  We set out on the hike, a relaxing but uphill hike 3 miles to a turnaround point.  On the way up, there was the usual whining but they kids quickly set into a rhythm.  I would occasionally carry the smaller two boys but it wasn't a bad hike. The first hike is always somewhat difficult with the altitude and such.  We found a turnaround point and had lunch at a water crossing. The kids enjoyed playing in the water and trying to spot salamanders.
The hike down was a different story.  The younger two children ran out of energy and devolved into crying messes. I ended up swapping the two of them on my shoulders to give them a break.  Halfway down we encountered another family.  They turned our attention to an abandoned gold mine that was sort of hidden up a rock slide.  Amy and Alex continued on, while myself and the boyse went to explore.  Harris had brought a head lamp and we ventured into the cave.  The temperature suddenly turned cold and damp.  We walked in about 50 yards and that was enough.  The kids became scared and my common sense got the better of me. No gold was found.
We completed the hike to find Alex and Amy waiting.  We decided to head into Taos, about 45 minutes away for some fly fishing supplies and dinner.  As we pulled out and headed West, the beatiful mountainside gave way to a barren waste land as the Forrest had been sold off to some sort of strip mine.  It was sad to see.  The children asked why that sort of thing would happen.  I explained that this was why I was so adamant about protecting our countries public lands.  Once they are taken in such aa way, they will never come back.
Taos was an interesting city with an interesting vib.  It felt like a Southwestern South Austin in a way.  We found the fly shop and I procured my flies for fishing tomorrow.  The shopkeeper informed me of a pond that was good for fishing with children near the local fish hatchery.  We had been given advice from a colleague to check out the up attached to the local NPR station.  KTAOS is an NPR affiliate that is completely solar powered on the edge of town.  The interesting part is that there is an attached pub with a kid friendly outdoor area.  The whole thing overlooks TAos mountain and had a spectacular view.  The station had an interesting assortment of hippies and local families.  The DJ was broadcasting live from a studio in the middle of the bar encased in soundproof glass.  We found the outside and the kids had fun hula hooping and playing tag while Amy and I absorbed the view and atmosphere.  This Friday was also a special family night.  They had a large movie screen set up in the pavilion in which they were going to show Jim Hensons's "Dark Crystal".  Families are encouraged to attend and bring a mat to lay down and enjoy the show. There was families, couples and dogs al enjoying the signature puppetry of Jim Henson.  We ate dinner while watching the show.  The kids were engrossed in the film and left with all smiles.
We headed bad with enough daylight to start a campfire.  Harris lit the fire today and they again enjoyed s'mores while Alex, Amy and myself provided music with the drums and ukele.  The kids were a bit hyper after all the soda at the pub, but all in all a fantastic day.  Taos seems to be worthy of a repeat visit in the future.