We are at our good friend David Benavides’ cabin off the road to the Santa Fe ski basin. We arrived here from Moab November 20th and have been nestled in the Ponderosa pines at about 8000 feet. Dave has a great cabin he has rented for 7 years from “an old hippie” as he calls himself who moved here with a group of friends in the 60’s and homesteaded this canyon. It’s cozy with a small bedroom and loft, wood stove for heat and an outhouse (thank god for the carpeted seat). We’ve been sleeping in the pop-up and have broken new records….last night got down to 12 degrees and we were actually toasty under our down bags and comforters! The second night here we got 4 inches of snow and the canvas above the bed was sagging from the weight of it when we awoke. It was great---it felt like we were in a giant cocoon.
The 5 of us made Thanksgiving dinner at Dave’s cabin and his folks came up from Santa Fe to join us. It was a great group effort, especially since none of us have done our own before. One of those times when you realize how much goes into this rather excessive tradition. It’s amazing that Chris, Dave and I have made it this far into our 40’s and 50’s and haven’t done this yet! But we did great and had a tasty dinner. We followed this up with another traditional dinner on Friday at Dave’s parents which almost made a trip to the mall for bigger clothes mandatory.
Dave is considering being a homeowner after many years of renting and we have been discussing the possibility of going in together on a house if we settle here. We’ve looked at some interesting houses/compounds and we’ll see what the future brings. Many areas are actually affordable which surprised us for this part of NM. The house searches which we have done in Boulder, Grand Junction, and Manitou Springs have been a little time-consuming but have given us a good idea of what it would cost to live in the different areas. It has been stressful to the kids to talk about resettling in these different areas as it takes longer for them to let go after we move on to the next possibility. How we do this as we move forward will be a work in progress.
Our next leg of travel will take us to Albuquerque, Bosque del Apache Refuge, Portal and finally Tucson. We’ll set up the trailer there for a base until we move over to Uncle Lee’s on about December 13th. Teslin and Dad will be returning to New England December 6th to 12th for 6 days of visiting, storage locker searching, Teslin’s birthday celebration, and a break from driving. Cassidy and Mom have their own 6 day itinerary which involves tent camping while birding in SE Arizona in search of the Elegant Trogan, Sandhill Cranes, Hummingbirds and other exotics. They’ll be hiking in the San Pedro River Riparian Corridor and in the areas around Portal, Fort Huachuca, and Patagonia having their own adventure. We’ll see how we all deal with the separation!!!!
We’ve been in our car and trailer now since July 2 and we are getting quite attached to being together in our little pop-up, doing our home school, planning our stays, taking in the world. It is not without its own stressors but getting on the Road is a great salve for most problems. We have spent more time together as a family these 5 months than we had done in the prior 10 years combined and are getting to know each other. Teslin and Cassidy think that perhaps Daddy has forgotten that he is no longer “the boss” at a job-- the dragon of the democratic principles of consensus and taking turns keeps on rearing its troublesome head!!!! The Road has proven to be the great equalizer-for better or worse. One thing we all agree on is that we wouldn’t take these experiences back for anything. Let the quest continue!
Chris
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