Taos On The Cheap

Ongoing deals for New Mexico residents at Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs (take valid New Mexico ID): 

* Two for Tuesday  – Turn up on a Tuesday with a pal, and you’ll get two entries to the Springs for the price of one ($16) if you live in New Mexico.  Treat a friend, or split the savings. (Every Tuesday, year round, but not valid for holiday periods.)

* Birthday Bliss – FREE entry to the Springs on your birthday, only for New Mexico Residents. (Valid any time. But no doubt you need to take proof of DOB.  Sauntering up with a candle in a cake won’t cut it.)

Get set for spring at Blossoms Organic Garden Center on Sat April 25, where there’s free family fun between 10:00 am – 2:00 pm to celebrate Earth Day. Free food, music by Omar Rain, and a fruit tree raffle. Kids can try rock painting, make a bird feeder, or take part in a plant-life scavenger hunt. At noon: Lecture on drip irrigation. At 1:00pm: Lecture on healthy trees by Ray Torrez.  Sounds like KTAO Solar Radio will be there too, giving away free CDs.

Even if you don’t have green thumbs, Blossoms is a lovely place to wander and breathe in some spring color after the long white season. (This event was planned for last Saturday, but along came more snow… so it’s rescheduled for the  25th.)

My dollar-saving tip: invest in a few herbs, to plant or keep in pots, and harvest all season long for cooking. Saves a fortune on buying packet herbs from the supermarket, and you’ve always got a few basil leaves or a sprig of tarragon when you need it. There’s nothing finer than freshly plucked herbs to spruce up a soup or a salad.

Meet author Allegra Huston on Saturday April 25 2009, from 2:00 – 4:00 pm at Moby Dickens book store. Huston’s new memoir Love Child: A Memoir of Family Lost and Found explores her family relationships with film director John Huston, British historian John Julius Norwich, and actor Anjelica Huston. (The April issue of Vogue featured a lovely excerpt from the memoir.)

Meet novelist Rick Collignon on May 9, from 2:00 – 4:00 pm at Moby Dickens book store. Collignon’s new novel Madewell Brown, is the 4th in his ‘Guadalupe’ series.  Publishers Weekly said: “Collignon writes with a plain yet evocative (and often moving) style that’s sure to appeal to fans of Tony Hillerman and Sherman Alexie.”

Both free author events at Moby Dickens on Bent Street, Taos.

Special rates at El Monte Sagrado to save a pretty penny at this luxury resort, through Aug 31, 2009.
* 3rd Night Free – stay two nights and, erm, get the third night free.  
* Up to 35% off when you stay 3 nights or more.

El Monte Sagrado Package Rates apply to selected rooms, with some blackout dates, but in a quick “consumer test” at their site for spring dates, I got the 35% off deal, staying 3 or more nights in a Native American Suite with kiva-style fireplace, private balcony or patio, fancy bathroom and all the El Monte fixings, for $155.35 a night (from rack rate of $239). 

Your dates and rates may vary, but it’s a great deal for this smart Kessler Collection AAA Four-Diamond hotel with restaurant, bar, and spa on site, close to the center of Taos. Check out the packages at El Monte Sagrado Living Resort and Spa, cited by National Geographic ADVENTURE magazine as one of the world’s “50 Top Ecolodges”, and by Condé Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Awards as a Top Resort in the mainland U.S.

Hear tales of adventure on the Old Spanish Trail at Taos Public Library, now through the end of May 2009. 
All free talks are at 10:15 – 11:15 am on Saturdays.

April 25 – Comanchero Traders, with Jerry A. Padilla
May 2 – Trail Books & the DVD, with Ron Reinikainen
May 9 – Remembering the Memory, with Lloyd Rivera
May 16 – 1750 Raid at Ranchos, with Paul H. Martinez
May 23 – Unknown Black-American History: Explorers, Trappers, Soldiers, with Rich Sanders
May 30 – Teaching the Old Spanish Trail, with Warren Kelly

Rent the yurt at Bull of the Woods Meadow, Taos Ski Valley, from Southwest Nordic Center (“Home of Yurt Mania”) and get a web discount of 20% off for dates in April 09, or 50% off dates in May 09. (You must refer to the web discount at the time of reserving and paying.) The luxury, insulated yurt accommodates up to 10 people in its 24 feet diameter space (plus an outhouse). Equipped with mattresses/pillows, woodstove and firewood, propane cookstove and lanterns, cookware and dishes, games, etc. the yurt is luxury backcountry camping, comparatively speaking. But you still need to be pretty hardy to get there – the trailhead lies in Taos Ski Valley, a two mile trail to 10,800 feet.