Without The Unruly — Unruly Skoolie

After leaving T or C we landed for a few days just up river in the beautiful Elephant Butte State Park. This little desert oasis gave us some much appreciated wide open space, wide open water and warm glorious sunshine. The water was a frigid 55 degrees but it didn’t stop us from taking a few plunges- even Phoenix got into the spirit. Skeet was able to kite board, too, a passion of his he doesn’t get to do near enough. It was pretty special sitting on the banks of that strange hole in the ground and at night, the stars and moon shone through the skylights in the bus, reminding us that we were home.

And then off to Albuquerque.

We knew we needed a new radiator, we just didn’t know it would take so long to happen. The crew at Summit Truck Group in Albuquerque told us it would be a day or two job. Without going into the boring details of how we ended there a full week later, let it suffice to say that we were lied to, mislead, strung around and in the end presented with a price tag that was almost as much as the bus cost when we bought it. Not cool, Summit… not cool. At least the technician knew what he was doing and the sales manager knocked off a few hundos. But I’m skipping ahead again….

Somewhere in the Southwest a mobile garden grows...

For the first few days in ABQ we worked on enjoying the city while feeling the wind knocked out of our sails without our Unruly. We did the tourist thing strolling around Old Town looking at art and jewelry, but the highlight for Phoenix was definitely this frozen yogurt spot where he was able to pick his dream cup of “ice cream”. We also hit up the zoo, and although it’s beautiful to see hippos and giraffes and elephants, zoos always depress me. It’s terrible to see the animals inevitably anxious and/or depressed. I know that people find them to be sanctuaries and educational, but the more we learn the more we find that these animals are intelligent beyond our expectations. Seems to me that zoos aren’t doing much in the way of actually achieving true conservation of lands and habitats. They just seemed like undignified jails. If we can't live with these amazing creatures and share the earth, perhaps we don’t deserve to walk around eating fried ice cream and gawking at them.

shocked and delighted at his good fortunes.

At the aquarium, Phoenix was pumped to have lunch in a cafe where a full wall peered into a deep blue seascape with huge tuna, sea turtles and sharks. These poor souls looked trapped too, some barely moving their powerful fins as they circled their cage, others feverishly lapping and lapping, never reaching their destinations. It's a double standard, but I was more into the aquarium than the zoo. Life underwater is so mystical. I was hypnotized watching these graceful beings and daydreamed of the desert, once covered in water and ruled by creatures I've only imagined. How much we've destroyed....

Well, at least we ended at the botanical gardens, where no plant or tree gave us any obvious signs of distress. On the contrary, their spring blooms gave us hope and solace and we ended the day thinking about our little farm back home- about our efforts to work with nature and restore and transform and grow.

Trex reminding us to evolve or tie. Flowers and P reminding us of the cycle of life.

After three days feeling kind of trapped ourselves at The Hotel Blue we decided to rent a car and head north to Santa Fe and Taos. We love this area, especially Taos. From the pueblo style sand colored architecture to the quirked out vibe of the desert rats, it always kind of feels like home in this area. We spent a couple days in Santa Fe hiking the Atalaya Peak trail and window shopping in the luxurious “high-end money siphon” that is the historic district of downtown Santa Fe. We ate, we drank and we were merry. And we saw our first real snow of the trip.

Taos is a different animal. The mesa is so vast and exposed and west of the wildly impressive Rio Grande Gorge feels like the wild west. That is where we stayed last time we were here and this is where we stay again. We’re lucky this time to have accommodations in the Greater World Community of Earthship homes on the mesa. This is a subdivision like none other. There are no paved roads and no infrastructure- no water, no electricity. There are only about two dozen gorgeously hand crafted homes made of earth and trash strewn about the lunar landscape- snow peaked mountains in the distance. The vibe is futuristic but the artictecturhe, or biotecture as Earthship creator Mike Reynolds coined, is now. Lucious curves, colorful glass bottle walls and south facing indoor greenhouses are the signature outer signs that you may have found an Earthship, but what makes these systems beautiful and desirable are the inner workings. Earthships are self contained and fully self sufficient systems that collect sunlight and water as they occur naturally to power and feed the home. Water is used three times before it is sent to the septic system starting in the sink or shower, then filtered through the indoor gardens and finally being sent to the toilet. How’s that for efficiency? No heating or cooling is needed as geographic orientation, a system of earth cooled vents and the earthen material itself breaths and retains heat brilliantly. We entered from a cold and dry 40 degree landscape to a balmy and humid tropical garden that naturally ran somewhere in the mid to high 60’s. We were elated to see bananas fruiting, jasmine blooming, figs and papaya, lemongrass, oleander and all kinds of fragrant, healthy looking beauties with a snowy outside of no concern at all. The whole house stayed warm the nights we were there and we never really stopped marveling at the genius of the place and daydreaming of how great our next home will be… of all the practices and skills we’ll be able to implement.

South-facing greenhouse room warming the house and heart.

I can’t talk about Taos without mentioning the infamous Taos Mesa Brewing Company. The beer is good, maybe not the best I’ve ever had, but the brewery, dare I say, is my favorite. Set out on the mesa just off the main road east of the gorge the vibe is Mad Max but the clientele is more eclectic than that. Cowboys brush shoulders and exchange hearty handshakes and hugs with hipsters, mountain guides, snow bunnies, ruffians and characters of all kinds. But it feels normal, too. It certainly isn’t trying hard to be “weird” or unique, but it achieves, because this area draws a certain kind of rebel. As a Texan, I recognize in the people of Taos an independent and adventurous spirit. I see people who are friendly but who have an edge… the edge of people who live close to nature, who know her extremes and respect the ferocity of the land. Bless ‘em.

Off in what seems like a junkyard for old trailers sits a classic airstream where the most legit radio station streams across the land the funkiest and most interesting barrage of tunes you could hear anywhere. Turns out the junkyard is actually a trailer park campground in the works called El Mystico. A blatant rip-off of Marfa’s El Cosmico, perhaps, but more power to ‘em. This world needs more options that speak to souls that haven’t forgotten our sometimes unruly natures.

Every so often as the days passed in Taos and Santa Fe and ABQ we’d got a little sad thinking about our bus in the shop. We kept calling only to hear “another day or two”. Early in the trip I wrote about these generic RVs, the Shastas and the Road Warriors and I felt self-righteous about breaking the mold with the Unruly. Well, being creative certainly has a much greater risk factor and sometimes price tag than just going with the flow. We drive around in our hyper uncool rental car and see the Prowlers and Imperialists wiz past us off to some cramped campground with full hookups that we don’t even need or want and still I feel a little jealous. (We never saw an Imperialist RV. Skeets just made that up.) But DIY creativity and style and form and function and beauty and surprise is what we’re about. We can’t do it any other way. I guess that’s why the Earthships and the ruggedness of the mesa and it’s people speak to us.

Our last full day in Taos we hike down into the gorge to a natural hot spring on the Rio Grande. The water isn’t as hot as we remembered, maybe because the river is up with the snowmelt, but it still feels spiritual to be here together again. I was just barely pregnant with Phoenix last time we were here, maybe a week pregnant, and now seeing our child enjoying himself in the warm waters, naked and pleased with himself reminds me of all we’ve been through in the last five years together- the deaths, the grieving, the sicknesses and hospitals…. the farm and our homestead. I’ve been extremely lucky but I’ve also been extremely clear on how I want to spend my time, on who I am and what I want. As a wife, mother and daughter, I’ve of course made sacrifices along the way, but in the words of Sean Rowe- "I’ve never had to sell my soul just to pay the bills. I never had that kind of job and I never will.”

Later that day we find ourselves at Ojo Caliente Hot Springs Resort. Another stop on our three years prior Conception Expedition, as I’ll now call it. This serene and rustic little resort sits at the base of some golden cliffs and can look like a dream when steam rises all around you in the cold. Like me, Phoenix loves hot springs and we are glad to soak our bones in the mineral rich waters.

I don’t want to mislead. I don’t want it to seem like our life with Phoenix is always so perfect and calming and interesting; it’s not. Our Conception Expedition took us on on a similar route through the Land of Enchantment, but life before Phoenix was certainly more…. quiet. I was going to say romantic, too, but although our relationship is certainly different than it was before Phoenix joined us, the romance has…. evolved. When before we soaked in the pools at Ojo, gazing at each other silently through the mist, now we hush Phoenix almost constantly, reminding him that this is a quiet place and laughing quietly with each other at how silly he is- at how silly we are. I love Skeets for going on this journey with me and for keeping it so adventurous and fun and real so that we can grow together, strong and wise.

Back in ABQ we were elated to get the bus back, and wasted no time heading north. After the debacle that was dealing with Summit Truck Group, in the end they did the job, and it was a damn good thing. The day took us over some big climbs and the Unruly didn’t overheat once. But no new parts would get us out of the unfortunate mess we’d find ourselves in just a few hours up the road….

May our appetite for risk not be the end of this adventure….