Day Eight : Albuquerque, NM - Taos, NM

Atmosphere, serenity, bizarre, Taos....

As advised by the trucker's mother in the hostel the night previous, I took Route 66 as far as highway 14 north and took one of the best rides yet on the trip. On leaving Albuquerque I notice all the cool old dive bars that seem to be so popular in the city. It can probably be somewhat attributed to being along Route 66. Highway 14 is better known as the Turquoise Trail. America became ancient as I seemed to travel back in time, through the old towns of northern New Mexico. Towns stuck in the goldrush era, sometimes visited by modern aged tourists and bikers. The heat was starting to ease as I headed further north. I drove through a tiny ghost town and pulled into an eccentric looking house with modified art trash or whatever you want to call it, decorating the whole front wall of this residence. I just wanted to take some quick photos but when I pulled over and turned off the engine I heard a man shouting 'Welcome, Come in!!' - he sounded boisterous. This was a town called Golden and without knowing, I was talking to the raggedly dressed mayor. The town of Golden as of the 2010 has a population of 37 people. This absolute character I found myself talking to was a little inebriated but full of chat, I don't know if he'd seen anyone in a while; kind-of chat. He has a video on YouTube so he tells me and he asks me to send him hard copies of the photos I was taking.

Leroy Gonzales, Mayor of Golden

Golden was inhabited by Native Americans and the Spanish long before American settlers and the town didn't really boom 'til gold was discovered there in 1825. It was the first site of gold rush west of the Mississippi years before the California and Colorado gold rush. The town seemed to become a bit of a trading post as a few convenient stores, a school and a church were all established. In 1928 , after the gold rush and when only one general store remained open, Golden was officially declared a ghost town.

Theater with actual train engine on stage

I then headed on and hit a little town called Madrid which is one of the oldest coal mining towns in New Mexico. By the late 1800s the town was full throttle in coal mining and was now connected by a 6.5mile train track to the main Santa Fe line. The miners were accommodated in homes that were build from wood which had been stripped from old wood cabins in Kansas and brought to New Mexico. These buildings still stand today in all states of disrepair. I toured an old train depot which had since become a theater where they screen film (i.e. a cinema). The seats were old red velvet and overhead was a carved wooden balcony, the viewing confronted by a huge steam engine sitting at the back of the stage facing the audience.

One of the less maintained buildings in Madrid, NM

The mines all closed in the 1950s and now Madrid is a town of beautiful old buildings, some restored and maintained with bright colours, some buildings grey, crooked and haunted looking. An arty town, with lots of tourists buzzing around many bikers in there cliques. Much of the film Wild Hogs was shot here and the film Easy Rider also shot scenes here.

I continued and hit a town called Taos and stop for my final New Mexican as I leave this Mexican influenced state. Taos is in the Sangre De Cristo mountains (Blood of Christ mountains). This range of mountain runs all the way up to Salida, Colorado. The mountains appear a crimson red in the right light due to oxidized iron in the rock, this is particularly striking during dawn and dusk.



I go to a small tamale joint and being the tourist that I am, I try and eat the tamale, husk and all. The husk is the thready skin that sheaths a cob of corn when it is growing. A kind lady across the diner kindly informs me of my errors and tells me I must remove the husk and just eat what's inside. She starts asking about me and my map which I'm consulting to get to Colorado. She tells me of her late husband and his battle with cancer and I tell her my experience as a nurse working with cancer. The lady has left and we've enjoyed a nice conversation. I'm outside enjoying a cigarette and a different lady Aisling pulls up beside me in her jeep, she compliments me on my bike and asks about my flag. She tells me Taos is famous, the main reason for being famous is because it is simply a radical town, she insists I stay in Taos instead of going to Colorado and I'm really at a crossroads.

Years ago I watched a documentary about these homes that were made from soil and recycled bottles and such, they were all self sustinable, eco-friendly, integrated permaculture etc. These homes were the brain creation of Mike Reynolds. I knew these homes were in America in a desert and they had been on the back of my mind for hundreds of miles as I rode through the daily heat. I remember thinking to myself, 'That crazy hippie dude that rebelled against the system and build his homes off the grid, it was somewhere in America and I know it was in a desert.' I had googled things to do in Taos and I had come across this by pure coincidence, I was in the town where the EarthShips lived, I was sold to stay put for the night. 

Rio Grande Gorge

EarthShip

I drove straight to see them, in doing so I pass over the Rio Grande Gorge bridge. Most of this day I had travelled along this beautiful river as it meandered with the highway. I met some more bikers out here on the bridge and talked to some other guy selling precious stones and metals, I asked him about the pieterzsite which to my amazement he knew quite a bit about. Apparently pietersite contains high amounts of asbestos, and there was me in the hostel the night previously rubbing it on my forehead, fancy that. The guy expaining this to me fell in love with a copper bangle I was wearing from Zimbabwe I bought years ago. He said it would sell in his market for at least $50, that's African craftmanship for you! The EarthShips were fascinating but marked as private so I kept my distance. They were made from clay, glass bottles, old tires and solar panels. 

Arroyo Secco, View from Abominable Snowmansion

I drove up to Arroyo Secco and checked into the Abominable Snowmansion. During the winter this area of New Mexico is ski central but now it is green vegetation and fresh air with the right amount of warmth from the sun. Here I was in a dorm room with Mal. Mal was an old man in his 80s, he walked with a cane and had no memory, during the 24hours I was there he asked me my name at least 10 times, he didn't know where he was and he looked really poorly. I thought it so ironic his name was Mal (from the Old French (sick/ill)). He didn't know where he wanted to go or where he was from, I don't know who was paying his hostel fees, I don't think he was eating any food at all. I offered him a few times while I was there but he said he doesn't eat that much, usually just chewing gum. 

Spot the sheep.....

Mal insisted I got my map out so I could show him where in America he was. He then decided he wanted to go to Colorado and that he'd be joining me on the bike. I explained I had too much luggage to carry him also. I felt awful, bringing this old dude for a few hundred miles would have been some sight and I really wished I could do it. There were too many conditionals and I didn't want to expose this elderly man to any harm be it a bike accident or just the cold. At this moment of thought, Mal's chewing gum fell from his toothless mouth and dropped right onto my map. I think it landed in the Gulf of Mexico so I wasn't too concerned. It's my favourite stain on my map. I felt awful leaving him there, I thought again, maybe he might have enjoyed the adventure of riding north, maybe I'd have been stuck with him and would have brought him all the way home. I should have made it work for him. If I was in this situation again, I would have shipped some of my stuff home and took Mal with me. I remember mulling it over for a while. I emailed the hostel a week later to see how he got on but there was no response. 

Taos Mesa Brewing, Taos, New Mexico

Having settled into my hostel and establishing my bed, I ring Aisling the girl I met at the tamale restaurant. In fact, I stroll around the mountain village of Arroyo Secco and try to call her. As I suspect there is absolutely no network in this part of the mountains so I find a little bar (the only bar) in the village and I'm met by four men sitting side by side at the bar chatting and laughing as the barmaid dries a drinking glass. On my entry they quieten a little and turn to see who's disturbed them, well, it wasn't quite like that but I great the bar lady and ask her for something local. She kindly lets me use the landline to call Aisling but still no joy. She must be out of network also. I head back to my hostel and funnily enough there is no cellphone network but plenty of internet so I facebook Aisling and she's soon on her way up to the Abominable Snowmansion to pick me up.

My one night in Taos consisted of a sunset out in a microbrewery build by the EarthShips near the same location. We drank good beer, listened to good live swing and met some really interesting people. A lovely Irish guy Red ('Red Heron' as he introduced himself), from Birr asked me to join the EarthShips in Taos and I was so tempted. He also said they'll be operating in Ireland next summer which could also be a runner and he said it'd be cool if I could join!! He was due to meet Mike Reynolds the next day, a man I saw a documentary about, YEARS previously. I was amazed and remember telling Red that I had seen it and by pure coincidence I saw them on a travel website that day so that's why I was there for the night. Red was cool and the few other EarthShip crew were cool, they also smelled pretty good. The smelled like pheromones, earth and high-grade marijuana. Red was mad, Birr, Co.Offaly-mad. The night was topped off with a great swing band which I was certainly not going to be dancing to.

Swingin'

Well before now, I had decided as a rule I would only drink beer that had been brewed in the state I was in. Less transport involved, local economy and easier to decide on a beer of the so many breweries spread across the states. My other rule was not to go to Irish pubs. Aisling and I had a fascinating conversation about love, death and art. Sheakespeare would have joined but he wasn't to be seen anywhere. Aisling and I then spent some time star gazing and talking more shite. We had a lot in common, there was a spark....

Lessons;
-The nicest people are often the poorest (which relates to an undocumented event regarding a blanket and smoking bowls)

Outside Taos Mesa Brewing