September 18, 2021 Breakfast - Ryus Bakery. Lunch - Zuly’s in Dixon. Dinner - Lax on Bagel Slices

September 18, 2021 Breakfast - Ryus Bakery. Lunch - Zuly’s in Dixon. Dinner - Lax on Bagel Slices

We awakened at 6:00, dressed, and went to the lake up the road around 6:30 to see if we could see a beaver.  We could not see one so we concluded that the opuwalked up the road to the next and larger pond and saw a flock of ducks.  They took flight and landed back on the pond and We were impressed with how fast they flew. I could not identify the ducks.

We then returned to the cabin.  Billy and Elaine had awakened and were dressed.  At 7:30 we drove in two cars to the Ryus Bakery in La Veta where we were meeting some of their Pickle ball friends for breakfast. We arrived about ten minutes early and they arrived about ten minutes after 8:00.  

Tom was an MIT trained Physicist and his partner a Vancouver trained nurse who met through sailing and are staying in La Veta for the summer.

I found them fascinating to talk to.  I ordered an egg sandwich with bacon and some pickled red peppers that was served on perhaps the most delicious English Muffin I have ever eaten.

Suzette ordered an almond croissant and coffee. I drank Bigilows Earl Grey tea.

After breakfast we said farewell to BIlly and Elaine and drove west to the Great Sand Dunes National Park about 25 miles west of Fort Garland.  At first I did not appreciate why a pile of sand would merit the distinction of a national park, but that rchanges when the ranger explained that this was the tallest sand dunes in the US.  Pretty impressive.

We then drove back to Fort Garland and south to Taos.  We arrived at 203 Gallery a few minutes after 1:00 and saw the very impressive exhibit Eric is mounting of Ron’s work spanning 7 decades. Most of the pieces were beyond our budget, but we were happy to own 6 of Ron’s works.

Suzette was hungry having eaten only 1/2 of the almond croissant and a bite or two of my egg sandwich, so we looked for a restaurant south of Taos and soon settled on Zuly’s in Dixon.  It had received a rating of 4.8, but food was served on paper plates and an aluminum take out dish with plastic silverware, which gave the food a shabby presentation.  Suzette’s comment was, “This is what Covid have done to us.”

We ordered a Zuly Salad with, gourmet lettuce, cucumber, tomato, dried cranberries, pecan pieces, and feta cheese served with a vinaigrette dressing and carne adovado enchiladas with rice and beans and red and green chili with a side of sour cream.  Both were delicious. The enchiladas were an immense portion, but we managed to finish most of them.

We were back on the road and stopped at Nambe for gas and then drove through to home by 5:00.

I lay down and read and napped.  I think Suzette had a cocktail and watched home improvement shows until 7:00 when she awakened me. We unloaded the car and put up the food. I then toasted two slices of bagel and spread cream cheese on them and then garnished the bagels with goat cheese, onion slices, and rest of the old Gravad Lax.  I brewed a cup of chai and drank a second after my dinner.

At 8:00 we watched a new episode of Father Brown and at 9:00 a new episode of Death in Paradise and then went to bed after we received word from Willy that Luke’s flight was delayed until 12:30 a.m.

It was an interesting day of people nature, and the Night Watchman that is starting to be interesting.

Bon Appetit