Paris Door Project

I took a long walk through the streets of Paris.
It was still western culture, but a slightly tweaked version of my reality. The subtle details were different than the subtleties I knew well. I looked at the doors, with knobs in the middle, that met busy sidewalks and quiet sidewalks equally, inches offset from the whirr of 2000 years of traffic. Each one was hiding something. A more complex story, four stories high. Apartments, pets, doctors, families, courtyards. Generations of pets.
Of doctors, families and courtyards. 

Moab, Utah

If its reputation doesn’t call impressive extremes to mind consider how many places you know with destinations like Poison Spider Mesa and Dead Horse Point. Even the road signs have oddly specific messages warning “Eagles on Road.”

Serving as home to world class bouldering, mountain biking, off-roading and rafting it’s one expansive adult playground where the Jeep population is so near the population of the town itself you’d think the vehicles had voting rights.

Although most often divided into North and South Moab we hunted out BLM land to the east and west and were not disappointed. Temps can rise to 115º in full summer. Luckily we caught 65º and partly cloudy for most days… unluckily we caught rain every night. Nonetheless, there’s real satisfaction in dozing off to the sound of rain testing the nylon walls of your temporary home.

We were able to camp alone on the cliffs of Longs Canyon, wake up and off-road down into its belly, play a little target practice with road signs and hop onto the soft sandstone below for some sport climbing and bouldering. And that was only the first morning. 

Last notes - for some non-campfire grub head to Milts or the Moab Diner. You will find burgers and milkshakes in abundance.

It's Wild, It's Taos

We found ourselves in Arroyo Hondo watching hot air balloons rise with the sun as we warmed our bones in a hot spring along the Rio Grande River.  As seems to be the standard at any decent hot spring, a leathery older gentleman with too many concerts under his belt was exercising his right to share his well-formed world views -

“If you come here with nothing, you’ll gain something.
But if you come here with money, you'll waste it all!
People and their houses…

‘Oh my grout isn’t the right color.’
‘Oh no my drywall is cracking.’

You can’t fix it. Don’t fight it!! It’s WILD. IT’S TAOS!!”

And it was.

 

PART 1:

It was Labor Day Weekend. The quick itinerary was to head down the 285 Friday afternoon and camp when we hit Buena Vista. We would make it to Taos by midday Saturday and camp outside of town. After that we just had to make it home by Monday night. Short, sweet and spontaneous.

From behind the wheel southern Colorado provides a bizarre backdrop. With a mixture of foothills, open valleys and expansive prairies, weather systems visibly circulate in multiples… chasing each other off the horizon. With no true agenda, we bent with the turns along our way, found some secluded BLM land in Buena Vista and happened upon a massive car show in Alamosa before making it to our destination.

 

PART 2:

New Mexico. Aside from having arguably the coolest license plates in the country, has a unique feel. Taos specifically is known as an artistic hub. Half of the downtown is comprised of art galleries, both high end and chintzy. The other half is a mix of second hand cowboy boots, kilim textiles and coffee shops. It's a place people come to find freedom to create. That freedom also makes it a place people come to drop off the map. Either way it's magnetic and has a gravity of its own that draws you in and captivates the senses. We met a man who had been living in New Mexico for years. "What made you want to come here?" "Well, I was driving through on my way to California when I got a flat tire. Been here ever since." Saturday night, after making friends with the woman working the second hand boot shop we found ourselves at a going away party on the edge of town, fully-equipped with a bonfire of illegal proportions.

 

PART 3:

The route home was circuitous, landing us in more BLM land near Penrose on Sunday night. The following morning brought us to Canon City where we found both excellent donuts and the largest rock collection we've encountered to date. The best part of having no true ambition to your road trip is that each stop can unexpectedly become the highlight of your journey. We say go to Taos. Heed the leathery hot springer's advice. Don't bring much money and don't fight it. Simply expect the unusual.