GLS in New Mexico

By Laura Rainey, story and photos

In late June, a number of us headed out by caravan to our GLS destination at Takoja Retreat in northern New Mexico. For some, traveling through the summer heat of the desert in this long stretch of desert might not be considered the highlight of a trip, and many probably prefer to drive on through to get where they are going as quickly as possible. Not for us.

We had our initial stop at Peggy Sue’s in Yermo, Arizona, followed by a peaceful walk through the nearby Daggett Pioneer Cemetery. It’s hard to imagine now, but this area apparently was the hub of the Mojave area in the late 1800s and provided important services to nearby mines. The cemetery’s numerous gravestones for people of all ages from this period serve as a reminder of the challenges of living in such a remote, harsh area.

For our first night, we stayed in the infamous teepees of the Wigwam Motel in Holbrook Arizona. This is a great stop if you want to take a moment to savor the historic past of Route 66. I couldn’t help but wonder where my family stayed when they came through here in the 50s, on their way from Missouri to settle in southern California. The construction of Interstate 40 really impacted towns that were bypassed, and Holbrook was no exception. Even though parts of it seem like a ghost town, there still are many cool places in this former cowboy town that one can visit.

The next stop was the nearby Painted Desert and Petrified Forest National Park. The beauty of the multi-colored badlands is only surpassed by the amazing views of the fossilized logs throughout the park. During a power outage at the park’s visitor center, we were very fortunate to have one of the interpreters guide us through the geological process this former tropical rain forest underwent as the

fallen logs were embedded in river sediment and then later, as a result of nearby volcanic ash deposits, transitioned to stone via cellular replacement of organics with minerals, such as quartz. These “petrified” logs were then later exposed, and are today considered some of the densest exposures of petrified rocks in the world. Using our cell phones as flashlights, our guide showed us around the darkened visitor center’s exhibits, as she enthusiastically described the diversity of fossils found in this area. How cool is that! A short hike nearby confirmed that this was truly an amazing place to visit, at any temperature.

After a long drive the second day, dinner in Taos was at Sonic with a double treat – a pickled jalapeno chocolate shake and a brilliant colorful sunset. It wasn’t long before we arrived at the property, where Anya and her little Cairn Terrier Millie greeted us. They were the most gracious hosts! Millie and Carlos soon became inseparable, and Millie also became Karen’s new little bed buddy. The Takoja domes were very

comfortable and the dramatic monsoonal weather made every day into an interesting adventure. We had it all – clouds, lightning, thunder, hail, and oh yes, Mike playing the castanets. We kept threatening to dress him up as Carmen Miranda….

Numerous Native American Pueblos are around the Santa Fe area, and we visited the San Ildefonso Pueblo, home of Maria Martinez, who was very well known for her revival of Pueblan black pottery. Later, we visited the town of Los Alamos and saw rustic Fuller Lodge, home of the historic Los Alamos Ranch School. This beautiful rustic log cabin was later used as a dining hall to support the Manhattan Project. These historic buildings are now open to the public

and are destined to become part of the Manhattan Project Historical National Park, one of the nation’s few parks to focus on American Industry and highlight the role of science, technology, engineering and math.

We then visited Valle Grande National Preserve, which is a spectacular location to view a caldera (collapsed magma chamber). This place was truly my favorite stop on the whole trip, and is a geological wonderland! Our hike started off with thunder and lightning, and then rain. As we walked the trail in the rain, we ended up following a herd of momma and baby elk, ultimately gathering into a herd of about 30 in all. I’ll never forget the eerie sounds of the high-piercing calls of the babies, followed by the calls of the mothers as they ran near us. One of the hikers on this trip learned the value of wearing appropriate hiking attire in the event of bad weather.

We also visited the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve walking through grassland, then crossed a river, then climbed the dunes. These are reportedly the tallest dunes in North America, and have an impressive diversity of ecological habitats. After playing in the river, Karen had an impressive collection of sediments in her shorts and various other places. On the drive back, some of us visited San Luis (reportedly the oldest town in Colorado), where we walked up the hill to visit the shrine.

From Colorado, we went south along the northern Rio Grande Valley, back to the domes. It is interesting to

note the Spanish influence throughout villages in the northern Rio Grande valley, whereas Pueblos are dominant along the Santa Fe area located further south. The trip also included numerous amazing nearby hikes, and many yummy family-style breakfasts and dinners (thank you Anya!). All made it safely back home, and have since been day dreaming of the larger than life weather, scenery, history and culture of New Mexico.

Thanks to Mike and his family for such a wonderful and memorable trip