(sorry, photos still out of commission, this is the sky in Montana)
Before our trip, we stayed at a KOA over the memorial holiday in California, where the population was decidedly sedentary. Here and there, scattered across the campground, were massive specimens of vacationing humanity. Most of them had their feet up on coolers and were engaged in a non-stop orgy of eating and drinking. One group of four people had even brought a portable oven and gleefully stuffed a 25 lb turkey into it. In these dark days of Atkins diets and 12-step clubs, it's refreshing to see such unapologetic gluttony and alcoholism in action.
As we headed north, we began to find our fellow campers more slender, but occasionally infiltrated by religious cults. In Missoula, for example, we met up with some ex-pat South Africans, whose women who wore bonnets and gingham dresses and sang prayers before dinner. I heard a 12 year old boy explain to his mother that the reason he had taken a bike from another boy was "because he has to learn to be more patient about adversity." I see a great future in politics for that young man.
As you turn south, things change again. The encampments of boy scouts, trout fishermen, and Church of Christ buses give way to vacationing teachers driving their kids across the country in hybrid vans.
By the time you get to New Mexico, everything becomes "cool" again. For a good example, you need look no farther than the upscale town of Taos, whose adobe buildings have all the appearance of having been built out of slightly melted coffee ice cream.
If you haven't heard of Taos, it's because you're not an artist. Its chief attraction is the Taos pueblo, whose adobe houses and church were an object of veneration for Ansel Adams and Georgia O'Keefe. Even today the pueblo is a rite of passage for serious painters and photographers, who come hoping to measure themselves against the masters. Its residents, who are determined to exploit this mystifying stream of artists, open the doors early and charge per camera.
The rest of the town is quite a pleasant, sunny place. Its main square is composed of open air cafes, fair-trade shops, and dozens of "galleries" selling Native American-inspired art. We celebrated our return to this kind of civilization by purchasing fresh-roast coffees, and spending ten minutes deciding not to buy an interesting disk of green glass for $59.95.
But if you are the kind of person who finds it hard to resist a painted headdress or a piece of iron twisted into the shape of an eagle, I'd advise giving Taos a wide berth.
3 comments:
If you make your way from Taos to Santa Fe, you will be driving along the Rio Grande rift, an abandoned spreading center that was similar to the modern Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The area has undergone many ups and downs - the basement is seen on the surface as the Sangre de Cristo Montains (Blood of Christ) to the east, but things become more complex to the west due to the periods of intense volcanism.
One prominant feature is Black Mesa, which is at one point was at the valley floor and now stands in the middle of the abandoned rift as a high point. The lava once flowed and hardened over these sediments, and it now the basaltic weather resistant feature protects the sediments below it.
To the west, the Jemez Mountains are the most obvious remnant of the periods of volcanism with the huge Valles Caldera. The huge white bed throughout the area is the Bandelier Tuff, also a product of previous volcanism and easily carved out by the Native Americans in the region to form elaborate cave dwellings in Bandelier National Park.
Santa Fe is my second favorite place in the world after Mansfield Grove. I've returned to visit SAGE, Summer of Applied Geophysical Experience, almost every summer since I attended it in 1996. I was recruited by big oil from there in 1997, and I continue to recruit others there every summer. I'll be there on Monday. Please feel free to stop by the College of Santa Fe and visit my great friends George Jiracek, Scott Baldridge, Shawn Biehler, John Ferguson, Larry Braile and Bernie Gilpin. I used to say they were like having five dads because they're so proud of me, but they took offense so I had to switch it to five 'older boyfriends.' They'd love to meet you, however I would pass on any offers of dinner in the cafeteria.
Also check out Maria's in Santa Fe for the BEST margaritas you'll ever have.
life's too short to drink cheap tequila, as they'll tell you at Maria's
What's up with your camera, Joe?
The cameras are fine, but we have two and the numbers of the images they were recording overlapped so I accidentally ended up deleting two days worth of images. Rookie mistake.
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