You might have guessed by now, that I’m not the churchiest person. Spiritual, yes, churchy, no. But, as anyone born into Catholicism can tell you, once you’re in, you’re in for life. You can run away from it, but it never leaves you. Just when you least expect it, you’ll put up a velvet Last Supper painting above the TV, and stick a dashboard Jesus in your SUV.
As a recovering Catholic, I love checking out old churches. Maybe I’m subconsciously facing my fears, but the more realistic Saint statues and lit up candles they have inside, the better.
We’re done with workamping and back on the road this week. And now that our wheels are turning again, so is my stomach every time we fill up that tank. Today, the cost of B20 biodiesel in Santa Fe, NM is $4.46 a gallon. Regular diesel: anywhere from $4.17 to $4.34.
Like always, we swipe the card, fill the tank, and forget about it until the bill comes (it’s the American way!). While it’s painful, I try really hard to look at it as a cost of doing business; the business of living our life, seeing things we’ve never seen before, and having a good time. In light of the chaos happening in the world, I know that sounds like a truly schmucky thing to say. But for now, what else can we do except live our lives, one day at a time.
There are two big events that happen in Truth or Consequences every year. One is the annual New Mexico State Fiddler’s Festival, and the other, is the Fiesta. Last week, the fiddler’s came to town for three days..
It wasn’t the usual alt-country scene that we’re used to, with hippies, rednecks or cool cats from Austin. No, it was more like a retirement village dance. These old folks were dancing to bluegrass and western swing music long before it ever became cool again. And most of them still have their moves down.
Just as the music got swingin’, the oldest folks in the room started to leave. Then, at 9:00 PM, the announcer came out to tell us remaining kids that everyone was tired and they were ending the show early, because they had a long weekend ahead!
We went outside, got on our bikes to ride home, and prayed that none of these old people would run us down on the dark streets of T or C.
Ten years ago, Jim and I moved to Eureka on a whim. I knew it was rainy there, but I thought I could tolerate it, because I’d lived in San Francisco. But after a while, the rain forest was getting to me. The endless cold gray days, coastal winds and thick fog was wearing down my psyche. I constantly griped about what I knew I could not change; the weather.
So I started to have these fantasies about living in the desert. I wanted to feel the warm sun. Munch on chips and hot salsa and wash it down with cold beer. Sit next to a saguaro cactus and play my guitar. Go out at night wearing a summer dress, flip flops and a tan.
I thought that workamping here in T or C would convince Jim that living in the desert was a good idea. But after just one month, I’ve discovered that I’m too much of a wuss for this kind of environment.
In 1992, I’d just finished college, and in order to pay my student loans, I took a job as a receptionist at a big marketing firm. I was the lowest admin on the org chart, and it was an awful, demeaning experience. But little did I know that the skills I learned on that job would come in handy so many years later.
Here at Riverbend, we answer the phone when we aren’t giving tours, cleaning the pools or doing laundry. Although I do my best to sound cheery, I really hate picking up the phone; it just takes me back to that awful job. Many conversations are an exercise in Buddah-like patience, especially on busy weekends.
Our workamping job has been keeping us busy, but a couple of weeks ago, we made time to see not only the Trinity Bomb Test Site, but the Very Large Array (VLA) too, a collection of 27 giant satellite dishes made famous by the Carl Sagan fiction novel, “Contact,” and later made into a movie starring Jodie Foster. In the movie, Jodie Foster plays a scientist at the VLA, who is on the verge of making alien contact.
Like the Trinity Test Site, the VLA is only open for tours once or twice a year. As you head up to the desolate area where the antennas stand, it’s like walking into a Christo and Jeanne Claude art installation. With a beautiful desert mountain scenery in the background, the huge antennas standing among the plains are quite stunning.
We were lucky enough to join a small tour led by one of the VLA’s leading project managers, a female astronomer who was incredibly enthusiastic about her work on distant quasars. As she walked us over to one of the 230 ton antennas, she burst our bubble about the movie “Contact.” Although it was filmed on site, VLA projects have nothing to do with alien research or SETI (the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence). The VLA’s sole purpose is scientific stellar and galactic research. The world’s largest SETI station is actually close to where we used to live, just 75 miles east of Redding, CA.
When you think of New Mexico, what do you envision? Scorching desert landscapes? Native American pueblos? I did. But since arriving here in March, we’ve learned that this dry, arid place is also a haven for technology geeks from around the world. From observatories, to military technology development, to the world’s first private space port, New Mexico offers something for the geek in all of us.
April is a perfect month for technology buffs to visit. For one day only, propeller heads can walk amongst the low-level radioactive earth on the Trinity Test Site (home of the world’s first atomic bomb test).
My friend Coffeesister just can’t contain her excitement about Virgin Mobile’s cell phone service. Like us, she and hubby Rhodester are on a really tight budget. Yet, she has a phone that’s way cooler than ours, and a plan that costs about half of what ours does, for around the same amount of minutes.
She uses Virgin’s “Pay as You Go” option, which allows you to add minutes to your phone either online or at Target. Virgin uses the Sprint network, so coverage is good. One of the best parts about Virgin: no contracts, ever, even if you choose one of their competitive monthly plans.
When you start making plans to become a full-time road tripper, one of the things you’ll want to analyze before leaving is your current cell phone coverage. Do you have the kind of plan that will give you the flexibility you’ll need when traveling across the country? How much coverage does your current provider’s roaming network have?
I just learned that the town we’ll be workamping in this summer has terrible cell phone coverage. Since our antique phone will be sitting idle all summer, why should we pay our $65 bill every month when we’re not even using our minutes? Thanks to Coffeesister, we’re going to make the switch and save some money. I like that!
“The difference between whether you can make it happen or whether you can’t is not how many obstacles you have, it is how badly do you want to do something totally life-changing—totally for yourself.
We will give you the tools to change your dream into reality, but the implementation is yours to enjoy.”
— Phil and Carol White, authors of “Live Your Road Trip Dream”
I bought the book because I wanted to figure out how we could take some time off without going broke, and Road Trip Dream succeeded in helping us do just that. With the release of its second edition, the Whites’ book is as vital as ever when it comes to considering every critical aspect of how to plan, execute and live your own road trip dream. Don’t even think of embarking on a journey without reading and following the advice laid out by these two seasoned road trippers.
Let’s get one thing straight. I’m well aware of the damage that WalMart inflicts on local economies. Jim and I come from a town whose citizens actually kept WalMart from setting up shop along our waterfront. What a great moment it was, when Eurekans came together to stand up for their small businesses.
Because we didn’t have big box stores in Eureka, I shopped at my neighbors’ businesses. Sure, prices were a little higher than at big city chain stores, but knowing that more of my dollar stayed in the community was worth the extra pennies. At the time, Jim and I had a good income stream coming in, and although I made plenty of frugal choices, we could easily afford to shop local.
You might have guessed by now, that I’m not the churchiest person. Spiritual, yes, churchy, no. But, as anyone born into Catholicism can tell you, once you’re in, you’re in for life. You can run away from it, but it never leaves you. Just when you least expect it, you’ll put up a velvet Last Supper painting above the TV, and stick a dashboard Jesus in your SUV.
“The difference between whether you can make it happen or whether you can’t is not how many obstacles you have, it is how badly do you want to do something totally life-changing—totally for yourself.
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