Yesterday was not my favorite day.

We went to work on the trailer again.  It wasn’t raining when we left Portland, so we didn’t think to bring rain gear.  That was fine for Jeff, who is part warm-blooded amphibian.  He stood out in the cold pouring rain, scrubbing algae and dirt off the sides of the trailer.

I sat inside and froze and counted the minutes until we could leave.

The dogs even took refuge in the car, it was that wet.

We did manage to remove the water tank and get the bathroom partially demolished.  We also made a good list of what to bring next time so we were better prepared.

Later we went to Jeff’s mom’s house to celebrate her birthday.  Pizza, wine, chocolate cake, and a borrowed pink sweatshirt…the day ended up pretty good in the end.

“Let’s gut it”

In an earlier blog entry I made mention of the prohibitively high cost of renting a U-Haul to get our stuff to New Mexico this spring.  Well, we came up with a two-pronged solution: 1.  Get rid of most of our stuff and 2.  Get an old trailer to transport the rest.  The bonus is that we will have a place to sleep while we look for tipi poles.

We did some searching on Craig’s List and went to see a couple of trailers that were in our price range.  What we found out was that our price range was not going to get us anything very glamorous.  We learned that if you want to find out if a trailer leaks, go look at it in the middle of a rainstorm.

Coincidentally, while Jeff was on a job site one day he asked a neighbor about a couple of trailers he had parked in his yard.  The neighbor, Jim, said he’d sell one of them.  A little cash and a couple loads of firewood later, we were the proud owners of a 1977 Argosy 24′ by Airstream.

A 1977 Argosy 24′ by Airstream that had been infested by mice and a teenager with a penchant for Maddog 20/20, that had been sitting uncovered in the Oregon rain for quite a few years, that looked and smelled nothing like the old Airstream brochures that show a family enjoying their spacious, shiny, if questionably upholstered, trailer.  Did I mention mice?

We towed the trailer (which, despite all its shortcomings, has great bones) to the place we’re working on it.   The first day we spent discovering that the trailer should just be gutted, and by the end of that session we were pretty sure we should have been wearing face masks and protective clothing.  The second session was demolition day, and the trip to the dump revealed that  our trailer is now 780 pounds lighter.  A little scrubbing, a little paint…

Well, we’ll let you know how the rest goes….

taos_cam

thats not funny

Solstice

Maybe always .. a vacation is too short, especially this one.  We are both a bit anxious to get moved out to NM, the spring move is still 92 days out and counting ..  This trip included some time in Albuquerque, as well as four days at the SnowMansion hostel in Arroyo Seco.  We learned some things about dining out around Taos; a few places we crossed off and never to go back, ask how much drinks are, and always good at Eske’s as the default.

We also learned again that 15 degrees and sunny is warmer than 35 degrees raining, and the dogs love the snow ..  The weather was generally very nice and clear roads for the drive.  Kate played a couple shows with friends E Christina Herr & Wild Frontier, and open mic’s at the Adobe Bar and Santa Fe Brewing.  We got the dogs out for a good run on the property each day, like their own private dog park ..

While we were in the Taos area, we tried to get some of the land details worked out, address, post office, phone, meet the neighbors, etc.  Frankly, we were a little put off by the the attitude of the retailers and ironically found all the government folks very friendly.  In the end a very nice trip, some good green chilies, bright warm sunshine, a long drive, and soon to be a place called home.  The next step will be to get the trailer all fixed up ..

Mona

This is Mona.  She is an 8-month old bullmastiff, and we rescued her from the suburbs a couple weeks ago.  The family who had her before us named her Baby Cakes, but we changed it.  Mona means ‘monkey’ in spanish, and you can see from her face that the name fits.

She weighs 65 pounds, which puts her on the small side for this breed.  She’s enjoying running in the woods, going to parks, and torturing Loki and Jake.  My idea was to wait unitl we got to New Mexico to get another dog.  I also wanted to get a girl, and was thinking a small curly-haired dog would be nice.  Jeff wanted to get a dog sooner, and wanted a great big male dog.  So I guess you could say we met someplace in the middle.  We still have our eyes out for a giant, maybe a wolfhound or an anatolian shepherd.  So let us know if you see one that needs a home.

treading lightly #323

I am up for this adventure, I swear. But I’ve had to get my mind around some things when it comes to this move from my city condo to our primitive mountain retreat. How will I get my stuff from Oregon to New Mexico? Where will I put it all while we build our house of mud and straw? How will I brush my teeth before bed? Where will I pee?

I looked into renting a U-Haul, but the price roughly equals my cost of living for more than two months, and that doesn’t make much sense to me. We talked, threw around ideas, and decided to buy a bus. It would be perfect!!! We could easily fit all the belongings we wanted to bring with us. The dogs and cats would have plenty of room, and maybe we could even fit in a few chickens!!! We could use our own bed, desk, and dresser. Jeff could easily fashion a kitchen space. We could use a solar panel for electricity, and transfer it to the house when the time comes. Efficient, logical, perfect.

We combed Craig’s List for a few weeks, did some research, and found a bus we wanted to look at in Wenatchee. It was an old 1960’s transit bus. The seats were pulled out and a basic kitchen and toilet had been roughed in, but otherwise it was a blank canvas. It sounded perfect for us.

We drove up there on Sunday (6+ hours away), took a look, camped in a state park that night, got a trip permit the next morning, and went for a test drive.

Here are some things we learned about busses: They are big. Really big. They are noisy. There are many things that can break, and they would all be expensive to fix. It would be a logistical nightmare to get it, bring it to Portland, store it, fix it up, and get it to our spot on the mountain.

We aren’t getting a bus.

We talked about it, and we both agree that it would be doing a disservice to this pristine, peaceful, untouched property to drive the automotive equivalent of Godzilla onto it and park it there for an undetermined amount of time. We consulted the I Ching and our instincts were confirmed.

Now we’re looking at tipis. It feels like a much better fit. The one we’re looking at will be plenty big enough for us. You can even have a fire pit in the middle to stay warm during the winter. I still don’t know where I’m going to pee, but I’ll worry about that later.

Mixed Blessings

We are recently returned from our initial visit to the property near Taos, NM (view pics).  The visit was a great success in terms of our learning more about the property, more wonderful than we may have imagined .. though overall the trip was met with mixed blessings.  In our absence, we lost real joy in the passing of our hound dog Claude, due to the utter negligence of the caretaker.  It used to be that I was always in the company of Joy embodied, now I awake each day to discover a cavity of sorrow and heartache.  My only consolation is to have the time together we did – a genuine treat in my life – and that the future development of this Taos property will be a healing space and a place of refuge and retreat. This land around north-central New Mexico is truly magical, mystical, beautiful .. a real blessing for all of us.

Path of the Piñon

The campfire here tonight is something magical. Smoke from the burning piñon gives new meaning to the cone incense Kate buys in the little boxes – maybe we shouldn’t need that anymore .. A few coyotes scream in the distance and the air is cool, the stars are so thick I can’t make out a single constellation. Only Venus, the milky way, a sliver Taos moon, and a shooting star to boot. Not a bad evening. I wish it were snowing .. not really.

for Claude ..

Off to New Mexico

Well, time now is growing short .. this is almost near reality.  We fly out to Albuquerque this morning to go do a preliminary scout of the property, all four acres of it.  A long time coming for both of us.

Given that we’re going to camp out on the property Tuesday night, I guess the weather could be a bit nicer ..  Stay tuned.