Adventure Package Update

La Posada de Taos recently announced that we would be offering an Adventure Package that includes 4 nights in a premium room and your choice of one of the following:  White Water Rafting, Horseback Riding, or the Llama Trek.  For an additional $75 per person, guests can choose the Hot Air Balloon Ride through the Rio Grande Gorge outside Taos.

As the snow begins to melt in earnest and the Spring Storms bring wet snows to the region, the headwaters of the Rio Grande River will begin to rise and pick up speed heading south.  Located in the San Juan Mountains northwest of Taos, the headwaters this year will be fed by a snow pack that is well above average.  Huge storms have pounded the San Juan Mountains all winter long and more are expected to bring that needed moisture in the coming weeks.  Although snow pack in the immediate vicinity of Taos is only 80% of normal, that will not adversely impact the white water rafting season.


Simply put, the White Water Season is here NOW and it's time to come and see what all the fuss is about.  Here's a general video from Travel Guide New Mexico regarding Adventure Sports in Taos.

Another source of some great Taos Box White Water experience can be found in the following video:

Here's another particularly good video we love:

The White Water portion of the package is truly an exciting adventure and we wanted to fill in some details.  


1.   Any true package includes features that you cannot possibly buy separately for the same price or less elsewhere.  In this case, the individual costs of rooms plus white water rafting trips for 2 would range from $1,100 to $1,300.  Not only do we discount our rooms, but we discount the white water rafting trip and we pay the local lodger's tax.  Total savings for guests booking La Posada de Taos' Adventure Package is substantial.


2. Local white water companies do not guarantee any particular run of the Rio Grande in advance due to changing weather and water conditions.  Therefore, when you book with us, although we cannot guarantee the Taos Box is going to be available, the outfitter company does guarantee an amazing adventure somewhere in the nearby vicinity that will include some whitewater.  In our experience the need to change away from the Taos Box can be governed primarily by extreme high or low water conditions as well as extreme weather.  Although the need to change away from the box is rare, we believe in full disclosure.


3.  White Water Rafting is a sport.  This means that you need to be able to swim.  All Taos outfitters insist that those participating in this sport on their rafts must be able to assist in their own rescue.  Each person is provided with safety equipment including helmets, life vests and other gear the guide believes is necessary on the day of launch.

4.  Children under 12 are not allowed on these trips and age restrictions rise with water levels, so be sure to check with us regarding age limitations.  If you have children under 12, there are plenty of other white water choices right here in the vicinity for just about any age.

5.  La Posada de Taos' Premium rooms are large and comfy.   They have whirlpool style tubs and showers in the private bath.  Each room has a private entrance and a wood-burning kiva fireplace.  Each morning you will be provided with the full, multi-course breakfast prepared by one of our professional chefs and each day our housekeeping staff will refresh your room completely.  Your Innkeeper will serve as your Concierge during your stay, assisting you in making restaurant reservations and directing you to and from the Adventure.


If you're ready, give your Innkeeper, Brad Malone a call today:  (800) 645-4803.

Why Taos?

Many of my high school and college friends as well as many of my former business and law school colleagues have asked me how I ended up in Taos -- or rather WHY TAOS?  People who knew me in my "previous life" knew me as a driven individual.  I suppose most of my family and friends expected something other than being an Innkeeper.  Without a doubt, however, I have come to realize that Taos is my home and that this place was patiently waiting while I chased my tail elsewhere.

To quickly summarize, I chased my future career all the time.  After getting a Bachelors and Masters from Trinity University in San Antonio, I went to work for the Air Force who sent me to New Mexico in 1986 for procurement training at Kirtland AFB.  Never happy with what I had, I moved to Dallas where I continued to chase an elusive future of "happiness."  I eventually went back to school and got a law degree, even getting published along the way (See page "x" for the title of my paper).

Even after my career took me away from the Air Force, I kept coming back to New Mexico.  My stories posted to this blog from 2007 tell the story of one ill-fated trip down the Chama River in 1995.  But there were lots of other trips.  Climbing the La Luz Trail outside Albuquerque, visiting the Gila Cliff Dwellings, White Sands, and even doing that almost impossible drive into Dog Canyon at Guadalupe Mountains National Park and then spending a few days and nights far, far away from anything but nature.

When I went back to work I'd always have a smile on my face.  Co-workers would ask, "What are smiling about?" Describing New Mexico and telling stories of my adventures here would only puzzle people in Dallas.  "You did what?  White-water what? Cliff Dwellings?  What hotel did you stay in?  Where did you eat?" were common questions that frankly I came to understand had no real answer for those who had to ask.

I now look back on all those years as preparation for Taos.  When guests at La Posada de Taos ask me the question of why I came to Taos, I often jokingly tell them that Taos is a great place to have a mid-life crisis.  I guess that means that Taos is my Corvette?

After years of chasing the dollar and pursuing a career track to the heart attack, I began to realize that maybe I was allowed to define success and happiness for myself.  In fact, I eventually understood that I would never be happy if my success was always going to be defined by how much money I made, what kind of car I drove, whether my teeth were perfectly straight, what neighborhood I lived in and whether I got my hair cut at the top-ranked men's barber in Dallas, Texas (which I did, go figure).

Too bad it took me 17 years to figure that out.

I understand now that those years of being detached from the place where my bliss resides were probably necessary for me to enjoy the life I now have.  Instead of spending an hour or two driving to work each way every day sitting in traffic watching bumpers, I now walk down a flight of stairs open the back door and take a long look at the mountain above town.  Instead of being pulled in a hundred different directions  to solve problems that were primarily the product of work-making inventions, I'm pulled away to help someone make reservations for a balloon ride or a white-water rafting trip.  Best of all, instead of receiving dozens of phone calls and e-mails that took a staff of administrative assistants to help me sift through, I now take every call myself and answer every e-mail personally in an effort to help people come to Taos and have a great time.

Although I intend to get active and be a citizen of Taos through various volunteer efforts, I've also had time to settle in and do things that feed my soul.   I've repaired and maintained a pond complete with fish and water lilly.  I've grown a large vegetable garden that produced a bounty for La Posada's chefs (see pages 3 and 4) to use all summer and early fall.  I've ridden down the Taos Box of the Rio Grande just outside town and have sped through walls of white water for no other reason but to make it to the other side.  I've been on the lifts and the slopes (bunny only) of one of the world's most challenging ski mountains and lived to tell about it.

Most of all, I've allowed myself to finally find my own measures of success and happiness in ways that have added years back to my life.

A Fish Pond Complete with Water Lilly Was One of My First Taos Projects

By the time I left the Big D, little A, double L, A, S, my blood pressure was already through the roof and out of control.  My skin was pale and I felt sick most of the time.  By the time I reached New Mexico almost six years ago, my hair had turned mostly gray and the circles under my eyes had become a permanent scar -- or so I thought.

Here at 7000 feet in Taos, I smile each morning as I drink my cup of coffee and watch the sun rise to light up Taos Mountain a few miles off my back balcony.  My Facebook friends from years back remark that they see the change in my face.  (I always thank them.)

The life returned to my soul when I came to Taos and for that I am thankful every day.

Growing a Large Vegetable Garden at La Posada de Taos was my "Zen 2010."

Taos is a lifestyle, but it's also a place where my soul can take the spiritual journey it has longed for.  Stay tuned. . .