Day 2: On the road to Santa Fe and the Meow Wolf mad house
The next morning, after refilling the cooler with ice, buying our lunch and getting our caffeine fix, we headed north to Santa Fe. The drive was gorgeous and we arrived in town around 3pm (about a 5h drive).
We really wanted to visit the House of Eternal Return exhibit (also called Meow Wolf), which had just been ranked #1 attraction in town… Well, what a disappointment. I still cannot figure out for the life of me why all the jazz for such a smelly/germy crowded place. It just feels like a playground for kids under 13. The cool pictures you see online give it more than it deserves.
Unfortunately, by the time we exited Meow Wolf, most attractions, such as museums or federal buildings, were closed. We therefore hung out near the main square where there was some liveliness, and a few boutiques still open.
Day 3: Earthships, Rio Grande, and a change of plans on the parking of McDonald’s
– Earthship Biotecture –
On Monday, we took the road to go visit a few points of interest North of Santa Fe. We started by driving to the peculiar houses of the Earthship Biotecture. Earthships is a community of homes made of natural and upcycled materials, which use natural resources such as rainwater and solar/wind power in order to operate “off-the-grid”. You are only allowed to visit the interior of one house thought a self-guided tour. During the visit, you learn about the techniques residents use to be self-sustainable (e.g.: they maintain an indoor hydroponic vegetable garden, recycle their water, and generate their own electricity). We expected to be able to drive around the whole neighborhood to see many other homes. You can only see a second Earthship, and unfortunately, the rest of the roads are marked as “Private”.
– Rio Grande –
We then left the Earthships and drove about 10 minutes to the nearby Rio Grande Gorge Bridge. After parking, we crossed the bridge by foot to appreciate the immensity and depth of the canyon. Unfortunately, no picture can do justice to this sight.
– An impromptu visit of Ghost Ranch –
We had then planned to go visit Taos Pueblo, which is a Native American adobe-style village/community, classified as a world heritage site. As we got closer to the site, the main road leading to it was closed. We therefore had to take the long way, driving on a dirt road for a good 15mins extra. When we finally got there, someone from the Pueblo informed us that there was a funeral taking place inside the Pueblo. “It’s closed for the day, so yeah, just turn around and go back to where you came from.” Awesome.
We then tried to go the modern town of Taos, which is supposedly similar to Santa Fe. I say “supposedly” because we never ended up visiting the town. There was so much traffic and nowhere to park. As we drove through, the main streets were so crowded that the we no longer wanted to visit. We ended up stopping on the glamorous McDonald’s parking to brainstorm on how to turn the afternoon around.
– Ghost Ranch: the Chimney Rock Hike –
After looking online, Pierre eventually found the Ghost Ranch. It looked like a beautiful retreat, with hiking trails traversing rocky red landscapes. It was an hour and a half away, and a bit of a gamble as we were not exactly sure if it would still be open by the time we got there (the website was unclear and no one was picking up the phone). One thing was for sure: it could not be worse than being stuck on the parking of McD’s, so we went for it.
The scenery along the drive was beautiful, and we actually drove along the Rio Grande for a bit. Luckily, when we arrived, the ranch was open! We just had enough time to attempt completing a hike up to the Chimney Rock before sunset. The hike was great, it took us under an hour to get to the top walking at a good pace. We watched the sun set on the gorgeous landscape and then headed back down to our car.
The drive back to Santa Fe was another hour and a half.