In the dry empty expanses of Southern New Mexico, any thing not desert becomes a major attraction on the map. Flocks of retirees driving south for the winter fill the parking lots in their bus sized RV's complete with little yapping dogs and shiny Harley Davidson's for weekend cruzing. Just across the Texan border lies the Carlsbad caverns, a large system of limestone caves formed from and ancient coral reef now buried inland.
The caves were huge and filled with towering rock formations, but the most amazing feature was the elevator shaft cut into the limestone hills, shuttling tourists forty stories down from the visitors center above like a subterranean skyscraper.
With the A/C on high, we drove North through Santa Fe, a small but fancy town, with brown stucco buildings modeled after the traditional adobe mud buildings of the Pueblo Indians. We were
going North to meet my step brother, Johnathan, {Frederic's son} in Colorado so we quickly checked out the upmarket jewelry and craft stores of Santa Fe before heading up to Taos.
It was winter now and in the high alpine desert we had to layer on the blankets and cover our heads at night as the temperatures dropped well below freezing.
During the day the sun roasted the car and we stripped of the layers to tee shirts and shorts; this extreme environment had kept away the soft and only new-age hippies and outdoorsman types had populated the small desert towns.
Charming little Taos was still unspoilt by the elitist stores and hotels filling Santa Fe; it still had a local friendly community who had managed to keep separate from the seasonal outsiders and their RV's.
Before climbing out of the desert plains into the snowy Colorado mountains, we had to stop and check out the Earth Ship homes Eric had admired and spoken of so often; energy efficient, off grid, sustainable homes made from used materials sunk into the ground, harvesting the sun, water and air without the interference of public utilities.
We really enjoyed the tour, making careful notes of our impressions of the design and flaws of the Dr Seuss like structures. It was really impressive, if not entirely perfect for every man, but living in a desert of extremes in relative comfort with out grid power or water is still an amazing accomplishment.
Leaving the deadlocked hippies of NM for the dry alpine air of the Colorado rockies, we felt the cold air of reality breaking us out of our 10 week road trip daydream; it was getting just too cold to sleep in our car!
