Road Trip USA New Mexico to California
Road Trip USA – Epic Journey 2016-18 Part XIII
New Mexico
When we arrive in Santa Fe, we pass the 20'000 mile mark. We have been on this road trip through the US and eastern Canada for almost 5 months. We feel it. Slowly we are tired of driving and are looking forward to the end of the road.
Texas we have left behind us. New Mexico doesn't hold so many secrets for us anymore because we know it from previous trips. Nevertheless, we are looking forward to the old adobe buildings and the artsy scene of Taos. And maybe some old acquaintances.
In the wild south of New Mexico in the high steppe where cowboys and Indians used to say good night to each other, the air has already become considerably cold despite the sunshine. It is noticeably November.
From Albuquerque, the road leads further up into the mountains to Santa Fe. We have never visited this well-known small town. We make up for it today.
As expected, it is a tourist gem. Trendy cafes alternate with art galleries that go hand in hand with souvenir stores. Some of the art sculptures and paintings on offer fascinate us. They seem to have sprung directly from Native American mythology. Of course, with a generous touch of modern hippie flair.
An hour and a half north lies Taos, on the edge of the mountains where the ski season will soon begin. We've already camped here. Cold. That's why we don't feel guilty when we check into a motel for two nights.
Taos is a smaller, quieter version of Santa Fe. Decades ago, many hippies, artists, and other people with alternative lifestyles retreated here. We feel at home in Taos. The adobe facades take us back in time. At the blackboard of the local library and record store, we read about various colorful projects.
We don't visit the Hanuman temple anymore. In 2010 when we were here for the first time, we were not really interested in it either. But we would like to see the Zen priest Stan again whom we met at that time during a common meal in the temple.
I wonder if he still exists. He was already over 90 years old at that time, although we hardly noticed it. Just writing about him brings a smile to my face 🙂 If you don't know his story yet, you can read it here: Taos and the Zen Priest (the penultimate section of the report).
Later at the motel, I read on the internet that Stanley left this world less than a year ago. But the memory of him will live on in us and, I am sure, his spirit is still over Taos.
Earthships in Taos
Outside of town on the plateau plain, we check out the Earthship Museum. It consists of a showcase house where we are taught about the principles of the "Earthship" and an Earthship University where anyone can learn the craft to project management of building an Earthship.
These self-sufficient buildings are made of recycled materials, such as old car tires and glass bottles, draw energy from solar power, and are designed to make full use of collected rainwater. That means drinking water is filtered, gray water is used to flush the toilet, and black water is used to fertilize plants. Especially here in the desert, the economical use of water is an important point.
The south-facing winter garden integrated into the house allows fruit and vegetables to be harvested all year round. The clay walls ensure that the temperatures inside remain relatively constant in winter and summer.
The idea of the Earthship was developed in the 1970s by the American architect Michael Reynolds and is now a worldwide concept.
The Hopi People
We drive on to dust-dry Arizona. There we visit the reservation of the Hopi Indians, who even today, unlike other indigenous tribes of North America, still preserve their traditions. Therefore, visiting their villages and towns is only allowed with their permission.
So we stay mainly on the highway and look at the dry expanses where rocky plateaus rise, so-called mesas, from a distance. On three such mesas, the Hopis have built their settlements.
For centuries they have inhabited this area which today lies in the middle of the Navajo reservation. They are the westernmost group of the Pueblo Indians and also call themselves Hopituh Shinumu, "peaceful people".
Briefly, we get into a conversation with a Hopi vendor who is at a rest stop advertising his and his clan's handicrafts.
He says that he and his can survive in this barren wasteland only thanks to the favor of the spirits for whom they hold their ceremonies. They do not need irrigation for their corn fields, although it rarely rains. For this, they pray and dance.
The structure of Hopi society, their way of life, and their world of spirits are extremely complex and unfortunately, I can only remember a few details. What I remember most of all is that they live in harmony with nature and although nowadays they have a small income from homemade souvenirs, they still guard this traditional life.
According to their mythology, we are already living in the fourth world, after the Creator destroyed the previous three because people became evil.
See this short paragraph from Wikipedia:
The Hopi believe that in the near future the fifth age will begin because prophecies about the end of the fourth world had already come true: "the pumpkin full of ashes" is interpreted as the atomic bomb, and "the house of glass where the peoples meet" as the UN building in New York. According to the legends, it should burn everywhere on earth and begin a time of great upheavals. Only people who have not forgotten how to live with nature would survive. Multiple attempts by the Hopi to address the White House and the United Nations were ignored. These attempts to dialogue with Western culture are also part of their myths.
Click here for the full report on the Hopis on Wikipedia..
Closing the circle
Meanwhile, we continue west, back to Western civilization.
We stop only to spend the night. On a campground after the border to California, we spot snow for the first time in a long while. Brrrrr.... Quickly we move on.
When we reach the Pacific coast, everything is Californian sunshine again. Sea, palm trees, surfers. So it is in Santa Cruz, south of San Francisco, where we visit Geoff. Here he not only takes advantage of the fabulous waves but also deepens his hand skills in guitar making.
We are approaching the end of our monumental USA road trip faster and faster. Without any major breakdown, we reach after 21000 miles and 5 months the starting point of our trip at Misha and Charlie's place in Anderson Valley.
Our dear friends take us in, as they have done many times before. We feel welcome, part of the family. We still get to enjoy a few trips even once or twice on horseback but have one thing on our minds above all else.
We need, before this epic journey moves to the next chapter, to sell our faithful van. We advertise it online and on the local radio, and feel good about passing it on to a Dutch couple who have a similar journey ahead of them. Not quite as far, not quite as long. Not quite as epic.
But the beloved vehicle that has taken us on so many adventures will not disappoint them.
Wow, yes, so many adventures! The natural beauty of Washington, wild, little-noticed Idaho, Glacier and of course Yellowstone National Park, the endless expanses of South Dakota, the solar eclipse south of St. Louis, the Mississippi River separating the west from the east of the U.S., Rachelle hosting us in Detroit and educating us about the food bank, Seraina's parents visiting us in Quebec, New York, oh yes, New York.
Then that tree, that mythical creature, the Angel Oak in Charleston, deep-red Florida, Latino fever in Miami, tropical Key West.
The music capital New Orleans, the alligator swamp of Louisiana, and of course this Mississippi over and over again.
Again these expanses, this time the prairie in Texas, the natural wonders at the border to Mexico in the Big Bend National Park.
And finally the wild west of New Mexico, the Hopis in Arizona, and our family in California.
America - a wonder of the world.
By the way, I'm writing these sentences five years after our epic journey, more or less from memory. That's probably why some of the details have been lost. But if you want to hear more stories about the USA, you should listen to the podcast of the German reporter and USA lover Dirk Rohrbach 50 States where he presents stories from every single state of the US.
For us, however, the journey is not over yet. Just the chapter "Roadtrip USA". Before our departure from San Francisco to Mexico City, we are once again allowed to stay with Ben in Oakland. And because he has the same friends in Mexico as we do, we take him with us on the plane.
We are looking forward to seeing what legendary Mexico has in store for us this time!
Epic Journey 2016-18
Back to Part XII:
Epic Journey 2016-18
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