think liz.

We had the pleasure of a vacation the week between Christmas and New Year where my parents took care of Jude and we got to visit Taos, NM. We went with my awesome brother-in-law and lovely sister-in-law and it was so much fun. Let me tell you, they know how to do road trips well!

On the way to Taos, we stopped outside of Amarillo at Cadillac Ranch – a landscape art installation that I studied while in school but never had the chance to see in person.

Turns out it’s really fun to vandalize cars. Ok, ok, I didn’t really vandalize anything (my rule-loving nature would not have that) – it’s encouraged to stop and paint on these cars. It’s an interactive art installation.

It was a fun, snowy, muddy mess out in the field but it was so worth it. Even if I did get some mud on my rear.

And just across the street we found a viable establishment to stay the night if we ever needed to stop outside of Amarillo.

And forgive me, but I had a hard time narrowing down the pictures of the house that we rented. It was called the Enchanted Hobbit House and oh my, it certainly was! There were so many details about this house that were just amazing: all of the walls curved, the plaster had mica mixed in with it to make the walls sparkle, an iridescent green powder was added to the stain for the cabinets and beams in the ceiling, almost everything in the house was custom made – doors, cabinets, mirrors . . . so quirky and amazing!

Here’s the outside:

And from another angle:

And the view from the backyard was just stupendous (yes, those are teepees):

The kitchen (so fun to cook in, let me tell you!):

The living room:

Master bedroom:

Master bath:

And oooo the sunsets. Gorgeous:

Now, one of the reasons we went on the trip was to visit Sipapu to do some winter sports. A few years ago I gave snowboarding a try and cried the whole time – I have never felt so inept at something in my life! But I owed it to myself to give skiing a try and I did. Turns out I’m more suited to the lodge and a good book. But thankfully that didn’t stop everyone else from enjoying the slopes and the snow! Jason had a great time getting reacquainted with his love of snowboarding. What a hottie. Glad he’s mine!

We did a bit of site seeing – this is the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge – fifth highest bridge in America. The Rio Grande flows through it and it just appears out of a otherwise flat bit of landscape. It’s terrifyingly high but amazingly beautiful at the same time.

We did a scary little trip into less deep part of the gorge and saw some beautiful scenery, but for some reason, this bridge is just amazing to me.

And if you know me at all, you know I sought out the best food and Taos delivered! They have a focus on local and organic foods which just thrilled me. The Dragonfly Cafe had some delectable bites that we got to sample. Here, the salted dulce de leche tart and an ancho infused raspberry baked chocolate mouse tart. Mouthfuls to say but better mouthfuls to eat! We also enjoyed dinner there one evening and it was delish. Other noteworthy stops on the trip? Michael’s Kitchen, Mante’s Chow Cart, Tune-Up Cafe (in Santa Fe), La Cueva Cafe (ooo the guacamole!), and Five Star Burgers (happy hour burgers!).

And can you believe every single one of those photos was taken and edited on our iPhones? Technology these days. Ridiculous!

What about you guys? Did you go anywhere fun over the holidays?