New Mexico

Albuquerque 

Albuquerque was our first stop after the New Mexico state line. Strolling through the old town and its various galleries filled with pottery, paintings and sculptures: creativity was waiting on each corner. 

Besides a short visit in the old town, Christoph was anxious to tour around the city in search of ‘Breaking Bad’ film scenes. 

After I withstood the madness, we were on the road again.

 Chile peppers!

 

The Tourquoise Trail and Sante Fe

An alternative route to the main highway between Albuquerque and Santa Fe was ‘the Turquoise Trail’. The scenic byway which gets its name from turquoise that was mined by the early Pueblo peoples is lined with six corky towns. The most interesting town in my opinion was Madrid, a town that takes a step back in time. Rustic cars, art galleries and hippies were scattered around town as we peaked through antique shops and galleries. Outside a local bar, a group of musicians played anthems of lost love on their timed instruments. 

 

  

Barefoot, dirty and happy while having a picnic in a parking lot and watching the sunset. 

Colorful, artistic, lively. Santa Fe. Another artistic town, filled with galleries, small shops and independent cafes. Before making our way to Taos, we strolled through an open market on Sunday morning and stopped for a coffee in a local café. 

 

 

Taos and our Earthship adventures

After almost destroying our car on backroads (although I am not sure one could even refer to them as roads) we arrived at the Rio Grande gorge where we ran to the bottom of the gorge and hopped in the hot springs. Three hot, rock lined pools situated on the side of the cold Rio Grande. A gift from nature. After a long hot bath we made dinner and slept in the car at the top of the gorge. 

 

The next morning we took a dip to warm up after the long cold windy night and then we were off to Earthship Biotechture where we would take part in a three week internship program building sustainable homes out of garbage. (If you want more information on Earthsips here is a link:

 http://earthship.com/). 

After our first day on the worksite. The first day I cemented an outside wall. I was full of cement and that night actually had dreams of cementing. My arms were really sore but I was apparently feeling good enough to smile.

After getting orientated with the team and the Earthship community we were brought to our new home for the next weeks: the castle and the pods. A bed, a shower, a kitchen, a flourishing garden and new faces- I could not have asked for anything better.  We spent most of our time in the castle where we had more space to cook and socialize. Days were spent on the worksite and evenings gathered by the fire, playing games, reading, and sharing thoughts. On weekends we spent time in the hot springs, hiking or exploring corners of Taos. Weekend evenings were spent gathered by outdoor fires of sage (very intelligent in the dry desert of course), making music in the castle with random kitchenware and playing violent Russian card games. And one must not forget to mention the Pyramid where we all became suddenly intrigued and somewhat creeped out with the way sound and acoustics work. 
 

there were always enough dogs running around the worksite to keep me happy and distracted
Photo credit: Angela Bean

working on an interior bottlewall

 the sun and me get along well

Tires tires and more tires!

Photo Credit: Angela Bean  

 working on the exterior bottle wall

On the far left is the 'grandfather of all earthships'- one of the first earthships built by Michael Reynolds. On the far left is the castle where we spent most of our free time. 

 Photo Credit: Angela Bean

This is the pyramid, finished I believe in the 70's.
 

Speaking, clapping and drumming adopt new intensities in the pyramid. A loud laughing meditation,  chanting and a laser light show made for some great fun. Maybe the pyramid is just sort of a place you have to experience….it is difficult to put into words.

 

Kass on the accordion

 

 Jamming in the kitchen together 

I played the humble spoons  

Fireplace in the Castle

 hanging out in the brewery for open mic night cheering on Joe 

Photo Credit: Angela Bean 

 

 Taco night!

Photo Credit: Angela Bean 

 burning sage and throwing fire (Thanks Kass, Rick and David for the latter)

Oh yeah I also got a tattoo in Taos! The Native American symbol Zia represents the four directions, seasons, times of the day and stages of life. Inside the Zia is a symbol for Mother Earth. I woke up with the thought to get this tattoo to mark my time in Taos and the entire trip in the Southwest US. So I did it. Thank you Ally for helping me with the design idea! 

 before

during (yes it hurt)

after 

 

 Christoph also got one

 on a weekend hike we collected pine seeds and made pesto for dinner (thanks Immy)

 

  

 

 

 hanging out in the hot springs with each other on the weekend- music, drinks, food, fire, weed and one another

We played hookie one day and instead of helping out on the worksite we drove to Ghost Ranch to get in some hiking and explore the place where many Hollywood movies were filmed. I would say it was worth missing a day on the site. 

  

One day after work we went to town to get some groceries where we randomly invited to someone’s house for an ‘art evening’. Toby, we would come to learn, happened to be completely fluent in German which was either coincidence or fate. Anyways, he invited us to spend time with him and his friends, climb their home made rock climbing wall (which was so cool!!). We shared a few beers, talked about life in Taos and working at the ski valley and we were given a sum of fresh weed from Oregon (how nice!). It was a fun and random memory that I will always smile about.

doubting my climbing abilities 

 

The three weeks in Taos was a time that I will not forget. I was given tools, taught how to sustainably build and live, learned the importance of off the grid living, recycling garbage, getting creative and working together. I met new people. I made spectacular memories. And what I believe most important: I was left inspired by the people I met and worked alongside. Inspired to think outside of the box, push boundaries. Inspired to read books, let go and be who I am. I am so grateful for the people I met, spent time with and made memories with. I am grateful for all the things you have shared with me and given to me. P.S. You are all also welcome to our (Christoph and I) place if you ever find yourself in Germany. 

 

Leaving Taos was bittersweet. It was a cool rainy Saturday when we pulled out of the gravel driveway on blueberry hill. It was sad to leave new friends, experiences and the Earthships behind us. It was however exciting for the adventures that were still ahead and to take so much knowledge, experiences and memories with us. So we hit the road. Our next stop: Moab, Utah through a snowy corner of Colorado.