But I think my days of romanticizing the open road are over. Our recent drive across the states was filled with incredible experiences.
But you know what?
We're tired!
Our shift from slow travel to speedy travel has been a reminder of why we prefer being slow-mads.
In three months we've driven about 2,000 miles and slept in 13 beds:
5 housesits (60 nights) -- 66%
3 stays with friends (21 nights) -- 23%
5 Airbnbs (9 nights) -- 11%
We're now in NOLA for three weeks and then...we face the road again. By the time we finally get back to our casita in Mexico next spring (gulp), we are pretty sure that will be the end of long road trips for us.
BUT...we've experienced many incredible things on this journey. I already wrote about our time in California. Here's what came next:
Vegas
We drove from L.A. to Pahrump, Nevada--just because it's fun to say pah-RUMP. Actually, there were two more reasons: It's close to Death Valley and Vegas, places we wanted to visit.
On our way to Vegas, we stopped at Red Rock National Conservation Area. While the rest of the tourists were crowded into the same few spots, we found a trail with magnificent views that we had to ourselves.
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| Red Rock National Conservation Area |
I hadn't been to Vegas since 1989, and while it's changed a lot, it has the same feeling: cheesy extravagance on the Strip trying to lure you inside to spend money. Dave's not a gambler, and it's not fun to give in to your fixation on slot machines when your husband is pacing the floor, so fortunately, we didn't dump much money into the gambling industrial complex.
One...singular sensation...
We did enjoy checking out the Bellagio's fountain that danced to "One" from A Chorus Line, the streams of water reminiscent of chorus girls' legs. Inside the Bellagio, we gazed at the spectacular Chihuly glass ceiling and walked through the Disney-esque Harvest Garden display.
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| Chihuly magic ceiling: It was vast. |
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| Every 3 months the display changes to reflect the seasons. |
We didn't go to a show or eat at one of the extravagant restaurants. Instead, we wandered through three casinos and ate at VegeNation. I guess we're just not Vegas people. Still, I'd call the day fun. But if I don't go back for another 32 years, that's okay.
Death Valley
We woke early the next morning to drive an hour to Death Valley, where we watch the sunrise paint dramatic colors on the landscape.
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| Zabriskie Point |
Then we took a hike through Golden Canyon to Red Cathedral. Doing it in the morning was perfect: most of the way we were in the shade, and we beat the heat. The picture doesn't quite capture the gold and red, but they were brilliant.
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| Hiking to the Red Cathedral |
Arizona
On the drive from Nevada to Arizona, we stopped at Hoover Dam. It's more striking than I'd imagined, definitely worth seeing.
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| The water level was quite low. |
The next morning, we woke early in our comfy Airbnb in Williams, Arizona and drove an hour to the south rim of the Grand Canyon. We rented power-assist bikes (e-bikes that require pedaling but give you a boost on hills)--and because we had made reservations we didn't have to wait long in line.
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| Dave loved it too. |
I've been fortunate to do many amazing things in my life--and riding a bike around the rim of the Grand Canyon was one of the most spectacular. It was...soul-stirring to feel the sun and air on my body, smell the trees and fragrant vegetation, and see that primordial canyon spread out before me.
Part of the ride is on paths, and part on the road, but the only vehicles are tourist shuttles. Those shuttles drop off passengers in designated spots. But because we had bikes, we could stop in places where we had the stunning view all to ourselves.
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| Can you see the second one? |
At one point, Dave signaled me to stop and pulled out his camera. It took me a few minutes to see a deer in the brush. That he spotted it while we were whizzing by on bikes shouldn't surprise me. He has radar for wild animals. Later as he examined the picture, he saw there were actually two deer.
New Mexico
Next up was a housesit in Tijeras, New Mexico, a mountainous community just outside of Albuquerque. On the way we ate a super delish lunch at Oasis Mediterranean in Gallup. The place looked like an abandoned gas station, but it was an authentic family-run business with fresh falafel, hummus, pita and dolmas.
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| Dave with Foxy |
We stayed at this housesit for four days, caring for two sweet dogs, a nice respite from the road. But our real reason for being in the area was to spend time with our friend Kari. One day we hung out in her cute house, chatting while a desert storm raged. Later we hunted down some excellent vegan New Mexican cuisine at Vegos.
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| The band, The High Desert Playboys, was a blast. |
The next day we drove to the charming, arsty town of Madrid (pronounced MAD-rid) for live music at a downhome outdoor venue called The Mine Shaft. After so much time sheltering in place, I'm still grateful every time I can boogie to a band.
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| So great to spend time with Kari. |
After that, we drove south to Carlsbad, and checked into our Airbnb, an RV--a first for us. In the pictures it had looked cuter and less outdated than it was--and the cleaner had neglected to find weevils crawling around in a kitchen cabinet. One call to the owner, and someone came to clean it up. We didn't ask, but they reimbursed us, so it turned out to be a funky but free place to sleep for two nights.
Not our picture (credit)
At dusk, we were seated in the outdoor amphitheater at Carlsbad Caverns National Park, listening to the ranger tell us about the Brazilian free-tail bats we'd be seeing shortly. Soon, like a column of smoke, they emerged from the cave...and kept coming and coming. They were so close we could smell their guano-esque scent and hear their tiny flapping wings. A surprising urge welled up in me: some primordial part of me wished I were one of them, soaring out into the night.
One of the zillions of incredible formations in Carlsbad Caverns.
The next day we took the hike deep into the cave. Honestly, I'd been dreading it, the vestiges of a claustrophobia I've mostly conquered rearing its head. The idea of being deep underground, not able to escape, was freaky. Also, I'd made the mistake of reading about tourists getting stuck for hours in the elevators. We planned on hiking in, but we knew the hike out might be too much. To refresh the phobia-quashing hypnotherapy I underwent years ago, I listened to guided meditations the night before. So glad I did.
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| Barbary sheep in Carlsbad Caverns National Park |
Hiking into the darkness, seeing all of the dimly-lit incredible formations everywhere I turned, felt like being in Mother Nature's vast and sacred temple. I was too in awe to be bothered by a silly phobia. The place worked such magic on me that, a couple of hours later, I was able to step into the elevator with Dave (we had it to ourselves) and float without worry 750 feet back to the surface. If you want to see one of the great natural wonders of our planet, go to Carlsbad Caverns.
Texas
We had three more days to drive to reach our housesit in New Orleans--and that meant crossing Texas. The first part of that huge state featured arid land with lots of tumbledown mobile homes surrounded by derricks nodding their dinosaur heads to pump oil out of the ground. Not to mention flames shooting out of the oil-works giving a Mad Max vibe to the place. But when we hit Abilene, we were charmed. Our Airbnb was nestled in a lovely neighborhood shaded by mature trees.
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| cute and comfy |
Walking around, we discovered a town with a large library, symphony, arts, and murals everywhere.
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| downtown Abilene |
The next day we faced another five hours of driving to get to Marshall, Texas, almost at the border of Louisiana. The Airbnb sat on the property of the owner's home, between the peahen coop and the pond. The owner was a good ol' boy named Richard, who'd just had a pacemaker put in but clearly had no desire to slow down. He'd built the adorable cottage using wood from railroad cars, and the place was filled with his wood-working touches. He had a story about everything. He told us he'd been flooded out of his coastal Louisiana home and landed in Marshall. He struck us as a friendly, resilient man.
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Finally the next day we drove the last leg to New Orleans. Dave's tooth was bothering him, so while he drove I made him an appointment with a NOLA dentist who had great Yelp reviews. What happened is the story for my next blog.
Let's just say, we're happy we had all these experiences but the road was long. We're ready to rest, which isn't exactly the New Orleans way. But we're not on vacation. This is our nomadic life, and even in NOLA we're going to do our best to tap into the slow-mad style.
