Track -Welcome Home, son. Radical face.
"The wilderness should no longer be considered as a playground for vandals, or a rich treasure trove to be ruthlessly exploited for the personal gain of the few - to be grabbed off by whoever happens to get there first." Archie Belaney aka Grey Owl.
Day 66.
Leaving amarillo we stopped off to checkout the Cadillac ranch. Just as we had imagined the cars are just there in a field on the side of the interstate. We did our own bit of artwork and tagged one of the cars.
We detoured off onto route 66 again and stopped in the small town of Midway. Just like eveything else on the old road it was pretty run down but we joined the large group of Brazilian bikers and had a photo. Then we made it to Tucumcari for a supermarket shop, lunch and a visit to the excellent Dinosaur museum.
It was part of the University paleontology department and featured and open window to the area where they cleaned up the fossils. Pretty cool. Pete managed not to be sick with excitment. We carried onto Santa Fe and found a gem of an RV park, all wooded and rustic. The internet worked and there was a pool which was pretty freezing but refreshing after the drive. We spoke to one of the camp staff David, a photographer, who gave us the idea of including southern Utah and Colorado in the trip. We celebrated with a film Grey Owl, and the replacement wine from Oklahoma.
Day 67
We had a lazy morning and then went to a local Children's festival in a open museum down the road. It was the New Mexicans answer to St Fagans or Morwellham Quay. There were working mills, we made tortillas on the open fire, tried oud grinding corn, sat listening to old church hymns in a hillside church, all that kind of thing.
It was lovely. There was a wolf from a local rescue centre with a man who we'd seen on TV who is into living with wolves. Later on there was dancing by a group of locals in traditional costumes including some very young girls who were very cute.
We were minutes too late for the face painting which resulted in a sharp departure to the car park for lunch. Back at the camp relaxed by the pool, did some laundry and made use of the internet again. Watched Soda Springs, not a classic. Not directed by Michelle Phiffer after all.
Day 68.
Sadly left Ranchero de Santa Fe and made our way to Taos in the mountains. The road twisted along aside the Rio Grande. A one point there was a very steep section of unpaved road causing lots of rattling in the back and Becs was getting thrown about whilst trying to keep all the cupboards closed. Sol slept through the whole thing. The Rio Grande Gorge Bridge made a good stop off for ice creams and coffee off some hippies in an old ice cream van. The bridge is the second highest in the US and the view was eye popping!
We then visited 'Earthships' a self sustaining off-grid community. The houses were made of recycled tyres, can and bottles as well as the local adobe techniques. There was a small visitors centre demonstrating some of the techniques for temperature control and water recycling. It was inspirational. After lunch we visited Taos Pueblo.
This amazing area, built in around AD 1450 and continuously inhabited ever since is the largest multistoried pueblo structure in the US. It sits under the sacred Sangre de Cristo Mountains and has the Red Willow creek running through it. The Natives who still live there and cook in outdoor 'horno' ovens open up their homes to sell artefacts and do tours around. There were lots of stray dogs and it felt like we had stepped into another world. It also felt very ethereal and spiritual. Back in the van we were on route north again across the mountain plains and arrived in Colorado.
With great difficulty we managed to find the Alamosa Welcome Centre and Elliot pointed us in the right direction with some maps and brochures. We had a great spot with a view of the mountains after the strange thunder sand storm in the KOA campsite and enjoyed the playpark, pool and pizza on offer.
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