New Mexico V - Back to St. George

While in Taos, we discovered that KR left a bag in our hotel room in Albuquerque containing some library books and videos. That meant we had to return to St. George via Albuquerque. There are not a lot of ways to get to St. George from Taos, so it didn't really matter that much. However, I did want to see the famous Rio Grande Gorge (and bridge crossing it), so we returned to Santa Fe on the "high road". You know when you see a world-class spot, and this is one. The gorge cuts deeply through a flat plain and you can see it from a distance, but it does not look that impressive until you cross over it.

Red Hot Chili Peppers at the
Gorge Crossing (On the Right on Red Truck, Not
In Blue Fleece)

The Gorge and Bridge

The Rio Grande

Our intent was to make it home to St. George as quickly as possible. But we did see and experience a few things that are worthy of note. One that was very interesting was a cluster of homes near Taos constructed using Earthship Biotecture principles. These are off-the-grid passive solar houses made of natural and recycled materials (glass bottles, tires, etc.). They are built to use solar energy in various forms and wind power. As we drove along the road, we noticed there were not electrical wires connected to the homes. We felt like we were on Tatooine.

Water Heating Towers

Further on down the road is Tres Peidras and I told KR there must be three rocks somewhere around there. Sure enough, as we approached it we could see three large rock formations sticking up. We took a sharp turn south at "Three Rocks" and eventually joined the Rio Grande at Espanola. They built a Santa Fe bypass road and we made quick work of getting around the traffic there. Somewhere between Santa Fe and Albuquerque we saw a sign whiz by that had "Mormon" on it. We got off at the next exit and found a forlorn marker commemorating the passage of the Mormon Battalion along that route on their way to California. Interesting.

We made it to Albuquerque in good time and got the forgotten package. We then backtracked up I-25 to Bernalillo and took 44 across the wastelands of northwest New Mexico via Cuba to Farmington, where we planned to spend the night. What beautiful, desolate, wonderful country. We had a hard time finding a room (at least a reasonably priced one), as we discovered the Northern Navajo Nation Fair was going on in nearby Shiprock. Had dinner at Fuddruckers. I love hamburgers. Call me Wimpy (if you don't know who that is, look it up).