The Past Five Days: Santa Fe to Cortez

WHEW.... The last five days have been incredible! Let us share with you some of the highlights...

We finally got off of I-40 just inside New Mexico. Even though we were still driving, we felt like at last we had arrived at our destination. The loud and terrifying highway gave way to a lonely two-lane highway through wide open plains filled with sagebrush, mesquite, cacti and stunning mesas. We decided that it says a lot about a place when people wave to each other as they drive by. We like wavin' country.

Santa Fe was charming. We could definitely live there if we had to. We camped 8 miles out of town in the Santa Fe National Forest, which was such a welcome relief to stuffy motel rooms. Penny loves camping and ended her hunger strike. We made friends with a bat we named Betty.

The farmer's market was truly inspiring. Farmers markets are where we meet our heroes. We bought some chorizo from a guy who treats his pigs well... they have their own hot tub.

After two nights in Santa Fe we made our way into Arizona. Again driving along tiny state roads, we got to see some really amazing (and empty) scenery, including the extensive lava fields and sandstone bluffs of Malpais. Not long after we crossed the state line, we started to climb into the mountains. This was not what we expected of Arizona. By the time we reached our campsite at Big Lake, we were in Alpine meadows and the temperature had dropped about 35 degrees. It was magnificent and gorgeous and pristine. The next morning we heard the menacing howl of a pack of Mexican wolves who had recently been reintroduced into the area. Penny hid on Rob's lap.

We then departed for.....The Grand Canyon!!! On the way, driving down old Route 66, we passed some interesting relics from the heyday of American tourism in the region. There was a motel with a giant sign reading "Sleep in a Wig-Wam!", with a cluster of eight or ten giant tee-pee shaped structures. No matter that a wig-wam is a far cry from a tee-pee or that the native peoples of the southwest never lived in tee-pees. Right next to that place was a Flinstones themed motel complete with a giant plaster Fred and colorful purple bedrock style dwellings. I also saw my first tumble weed that day.

But that big red hole in the ground really stole the show. The Grand Canyon at sundown was..... divine. Not much more can be said. The next morning at sunrise I did my morning yoga practice on a rocky precipice overlooking that valley of temples and spires. Gravity is much more tangible when you can see how far you might fall. That canyon demands your attention and wills you into itself. Penny thought it was terrifying and would not stop shaking. She has had nightmares about it for days. Rob had two very poignant thoughts on the place:

1. "It gives me hope... hope for everything"
2. "I feel like I got a spiritual hand job. I feel very at ease."

We will be back to that place for sure. It is very calming and refreshing to be reminded of how small you are, like looking at the stars.

Our drive that day was the most intense yet. We drove through the painted desert, monument valley, in and out of Utah and into Colorado. We crashed into our hotel room, enchanted and spent.

Today we were right back at it, and took a tour of some of the ancient cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde. Around 900AD the ancient Anasazi decided it would be a great idea to live on precarious little cliffs below the rim of the Mesa Verde Canyons. They did so until around 1200AD when they disappeared. Unfortunately what sticks out the most in my mind about that tour are the first three questions that were asked of our ranger/guide by our fellow tourists:

1. Were they cannibals?
2. Did they fling their dead over the cliff into the canyon?
3. Did they disappear because of the black plague?

I giggled at the first two, but I had to swallow a gasp of disbelief at the last question. Luckily, someone was nice enough to correct the person who asked, stating, "Nah, that was a hundred years later." At that point I lost a good bit of faith in my fellow American tourists.

Tomorrow we head up to Telluride and then over to Price Canyon in Utah. Due to a combination of my own technological ineptitude and weak motel internet, I cannot at this moment upload pictures. Check out facebook if you want, Rob put an awesome album up.

Over and Out.