We had it all thought through and planned out: an almost two-week road trip to and through the southwest, the highlight at the mid-point a wedding for family friends in Santa Fe. We’d explore in our electric car, using our charging breaks to stretch our legs, grab a meal or a picture, and carry on, refreshed.
Well. You know how it is when life inserts its opinion: Dave caught another bout of Covid, just a week prior, JUST after getting his updated shot. Arrggghhh! Back to the drawing board. We managed to salvage the inner part of the trip, by flying to a very available airport, Las Vegas. That meant we had to miss driving down through Oregon & California, and back through Wyoming and Montana, but we kept:
- Flagstaff, AZ, where I was able to meet the founder of the Arizona Collage Collective
- Santa Fe, NM, for the wedding, plus a couple of bonus art stops
- Carbondale, CO, to meet up with a friend of the groom’s dad
- Moab, UT, where said friend gave us amazing side roads for sightseeing
But first: the reality of the range of weather we were up against. There was potential for winter conditions in some of the passes, but Las Vegas was having a heat wave, or, you know, just being a desert. Here I was, wearing boots because you wear the bulky stuff, right? Off they went, exchanged for sandals, because the road ahead of us, into Arizona, had some continuing desert heat! We didn’t stop to enjoy it, so a snap from the car window is what you get, while we monitored the temperature until it finally got below 90F.
Once we rose to Flagstaff’s elevation, the temperature was delightful. We found our hotel and some dinner, then headed into the dark of the evening to find an online friend in person. Suzanne Winkel heads up the Arizona Collage Collective, and had just hosted an art gathering for a crew of us at her home. But: everyone else had places to get back to, and I couldn’t get there until just before the wedding weekend. Ahh, well. Suzanne was a gracious host, showed me her collage fodder stash (jaw-dropping!) and work area, and we gathered an understanding of why she and her husband love the area.
Onward! We had a wedding to get to the next day, and a fair drive to undertake. We made it to our next resting place, and to the lovely welcome reception. But the next day, I had a few more art stops to fit in. Another online-only friend, Sage, shown here, lives in Santa Fe as well, and what better way to while away the morning before changing into dressy wedding clothes? Isn’t her studio a delight? She and her partner gave us the scoop on living in yet another elevated city, with SO many artists.
Our second non-wedding stop was to an art show south of town. Gallerist Jen Tough hosts art residencies there, and was showing work from the artists who’d taken advantage of her gorgeous spot. Amazingly, one of the artists is from Vancouver, part of the community here that I’m starting to meet. So fun to connect the dots!
The wedding itself was touching, thoughtful, and inclusive. Though I’ve always drawn back from big spectacle, I really appreciated the community that the bride & groom drew around them, and who wholeheartedly support them in turn. Worth the trip!
Then, it was time to hit the road again, to find our way back to the flight home, with a few, uhhh definitely scenic stops along the way. First, the mountains started to emerge, as we neared a recommended stop, the Great Sand Dunes National Park NE of Alamosa, CO.
Then, the trees gave us a bit of a last call blast, while we wound our way through mountain passes, to Aspen, and then Carbondale.
Bolstered by these excellent route suggestions, we met up with the tour guide himself for dinner. He travels the area around Carbondale, and far beyond, in a kitted-out Sprinter van, aiming for back roads, rough camping, and photo opportunites. On our path ahead, he suggested a detour to see the Colorado National Monument, near Grand Junction. Sure, sounds quick & easy, will do! Wait, what? A tour around the EDGE of a meandering canyon for 30+ miles? Wow, wow, and wow.
Well, I mean, we’d have been early for our checkin at the hotel in Moab, so: great! My eyeballs were already full, but our guide once again said: do NOT stay on the highway for your next stop. Find the exit for Cisco, and wind your way along the Colorado River — yes, another canyon — instead. More wows came flying out of our mouths: what a way to experience the scale of this landscape! Sights like this around every corner:
With all that sightseeing on the way, we sadly missed a chance to explore Arches National Park. With a very full day of driving to get back to the airport, we left in the early morning light, passing people lined up to get into the park before it opened. But with all the excellend suggestions we’d had, we felt the immensity of the landscape had been revealed, and worth a return trip. And yet, even the remaining road west still amazed, with canyons, towers of rock, and wide skies all the way back. We’re delighted to be back at sea level, in moister air, but as always, with travel, delighting in the new perspectives we’ve taken in.