USA Road Trip: Weeks 5 and 6

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We left the national parks of the Southwest, and spent some time in cities.

Taos (New Mexico) is a “magical spot even by the standards of this Land of Enchantment. Taos remains forever under the spell of the powerful landscape that surrounds it: 12,300 feet snow-capped peaks rise behind town, while a sage-speckled plateau unrolls to the west before plunging 800 feet straight down into the Rio Grande Gorge. The sky can be a searing sapphire blue or an ominous parade of rumbling thunderheads so big they dwarf the mountains. And then there are the sunsets...” (LP, USA, 2018, p. 904). We went for a scenic drive east of the city, that led over a 9,800 foot pass (about 3,000 meters). It got so dark at one point that it looked like we were going to get poured on for sure, but it cleared up after just a few raindrops.

Santa Fe - “the city different ... the city that makes its own rules without ever forgetting its long and storied past. ... Santa Fe has a timeless, earthy soul” (LP, p. 896). I loved the adobe houses in the area, which are made from a mixture of soil/clay, water, sand and organic materials.

We had spent four weeks getting from Seattle to Santa Fe, and driven about 6,200 miles (about 10,000 km), with a long way yet to go. So we gave short shrift to the areas in between - southern New Mexico, Texas, and mostly did freeways to New Orleans and beyond. We spent a night in Austin, Texas, which we really liked. But we had to move on ...

New Orleans was very hot, and parking was a major issue, and we had both been there before, so just spent a bit of time in the city. We liked the colonial buildings with the details and lovely iron work, and some of the houses with fun colors. Sometimes you have to look twice - yes, that is a skeleton hanging over the railing. We also drove along the River Road, outside New Orleans, to see some of the plantations.

Mileage driven after this blog, from Seattle: 7,690 miles, or 12,400 km.

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Comments

[Mary Holm]

Hi
I hope you got out of the Louisiana area before the big rains. How fun to see snow around Taos!

[ontheroadagain2017]

Yes - we’re actually in Cape Cod, and have been really lucky with the weather, so far. We got dumped on, on the Blue Ridge Parkway, but other than that, it’s been pretty sunny.