Taos Outback

The only reason I am calling this entry "Taos Outback" is because we ate dinner at a really great place called "Taos Out Back Pizza" for dinner tonight. It is literally out-back, behind another business and hidden behind. I had a really great salad and then we had some gourmet-style pizzas to follow. The bathroom is decorated with the table crayon drawings from customers, clearly not the ones who have spilled a cup of water on the paper like Sorrel did (quick reflexes let me escape dry as the water came rolling toward my lap across the table). This was clearly a local favorite, as well as a good spot for tourists to chow down, like us.

This is our 4th day in Taos, the van is still getting fixed, no word on what is going on exactly. The shop just re-opened today, after a weekend of no work, so we have been left hanging on for a diagnosis, hopefully will find out tomorrow. This weekend we explored the town and some of the surroundings. On Saturday we checked out the local laundromat to do some laundry, and met a woman who is a genuine Taos native, who lives in the Taos Pueblo, which is an historic site where people have been living for the past 1,000 years. She was in a wheelchair, slowly using her legs. James talked to her a bit and found out she was paralyzed during a c-section of one of her children. The anesthesiologist was intoxicated and hooked her up to an oxygen tank that was empty, which damaged her brain and she has been in a wheelchair ever since. What an awful story, but still not surprising to me at all. Ah if I could write a book of medical mishaps that I have personally encountered and stories from the people I have met.....

After our trip to the laundromat we were getting ready to drive away in the car and saw someone that James and I both knew from Prescott College. I called out his name as he was walking by (not 100% positive that it was the person), and sure enough, it was! He said he'd been living in Taos with his girlfriend for about 2 1/2 years, living just across from where we were. He gave us his number and said to give him a call. We did try to call yesterday, but haven't heard back. It's all good though, as we have had plenty to keep us busy. It is quite ironic that there is at least one person here that we know from PC, and I have a feeling there are more around....

Sunday we went to visit the Earthship community located just outside of Taos, across the Rio Grande gorge. The bridge over the gorge provided some great views, at which time we realized James had left his camera at the hotel....oops! The Earthship concept is awesome, a realization of something James and I have been talking about for some time now. The idea is that the house is made almost completely of recycled materials that can be found anywhere (as in anywhere on the planet, therefor accessible to all). The structure is mostly rammed earth, but instead of creating a form for the rammed earth, discarded car tires are used as the form. Then cob type material (mud, sand, and straw) is packed around the tires and seals in the rubber (so there is no off-gassing) and it can then be plastered for an adobe style appearance. They also use glass bottles to allow light into the space, aluminum cans, plastic bottles, recycled appliance parts, really anything. There is beauty in so much of our "trash", it is much easier to realize this once you see it in practice. You can visit their website to get the idea  www.earthship.com
They also orient the buildings to the south, of which the south side is completely composed of a greenhouse space attached to the rest of the building, which is all that is needed to heat the house, and feed the people inside. One can grow all the fruit and vegetables you'd need to live off of in this space, year round. The water system uses each drop of water 4 times, through a well thought out water redemption and recycling system. There is a small septic system for the black water from the toilet. Please don't ask me exactly how all of this works, there are many books and seminars written and presented by the experts and creators of the first earthship ideas, there was so much information to take in, this is just the tip of the iceberg! It was a really amazing place, and the backdrop was quite spectacular as well.

Later that day we took the kids to a really great playspace called "Twirl" which is a toy store that has a huge outside play structure that is totally netted and self-contained. They can also play inside on a train table and upstairs in an art room. After they played there for a good long while we went to a cafe and the kids got smoothies. The woman there was convinced that we were going to be moving to Taos. There was also another guy at a place called "Raw to go" which makes vegan raw food (really great!) that we met the other day who was also convinced we are going to be moving to Taos.....hmmmm.

I do really like it here, and the "lodge" we've been staying at is really great as well. The owners, Pam and Charles, have been really kind to us, giving us a great discount for the rest of our stay here. The kids love playing in the outdoor space here, as well as the dogs. Hopefully tomorrow we will find out more about the status of the van, I do miss it quite a bit. We are planning to head to Silver City, NM when we can get our house on wheels back. In the mean time, I am hoping we can check out more of the mountains around town and keep getting a feel for this place. There are lots of young people around, some really great restaurants, nice people, and some amazing natural beauty. I am feeling really good about Taos, but we do have some more places to see.....

One more thing. For those who know about James and his luck with phones- today as he was running to save hotel property from destruction by Sorrel, his phone fell out of his pocket and the screen got shattered when it landed on the ground! The solar light that Sorrel was about to smash was saved, but the phone is not so happy looking. So, another phone destroyed (this one lasted a whole 4 months!) but thank goodness for insurance and another is on its way, being sent to our hotel and supposed to arrive tomorrow. He really does have some crazy phone juju!