updates!

So it has been a while since I've had a chance to update. I'll try to do a day-by-day so I make sure I don't miss anything!

First thing Monday morning Hanna, the other WWOOFer, and I left the farm in Arroyo Seco. On the way out of town we stopped at the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge to take some pictures - New Mexico is even more beautiful with a fresh coat of snow!

Tuesday morning, with no farm to go to and feeling the need to keep moving, I drove to meet Thomas in Gallup, NM. That day we drove to the Continental Divide and then drove through El Malpais National Monument . On the drive from Gallup to Grants we saw three police cars pulled over on the shoulder of the highway and slowed down assuming there had been an accident. As we got closer we saw three policemen throwing rocks to scare down a very large and confused bull that had somehow wandered out of his pasture and onto this hill along the highway and whose horns were way to big for even New Mexico's toughest police men to risk approaching. I really wish I had a picture of this.

Thursday and Friday we spent back at Hanna's father's house cooking big meals, playing music together (Hanna's father, Paul and brother, Cash are quite the musical duo), watching the Bulls demolish the Hawks in Game 3, and tag-sale hunting.

PIB (Pain.In.Butt) the Dog

 Hanna

Saturday morning we left Albuquerque and drove to the Jemez National Recreation Area near Jemez Springs, NM where we were surprised to encounter mountains and dense pine forests. We stayed in a lovely campsite within hiking distance to an incredible waterfall and McCauley Hot Springs, deep in the canyon.

view from the top

looking down the waterfall

Sunday we stayed in Espanola, NM and finally Monday morning we made it to Colorado!! Crossing the border was quite the experience due to 50mph winds which stirred up a massive dust storm that made visibility terrible. We spent last night in Canyon City, CO which is a really cute town and arrived this afternoon at the home of Thomas' cousins Mike & Linda just outside of Denver, CO. The Rockies are gorgeous as ever and we might even get some snow tomorrow! Hooray for mountains. More updates (and pictures) as they come!

(Note : Did you know that if you click on the pictures they will get bigger? They will! And most of them are way more interesting when you can tell what's going on)

Moving On

I can't understate how grateful I am for all of the amazing friends I have who have WWOOFed both in the US and other countries, and the stories they have shared with me about bad experiences with hosts.

The Arroyo Seco farm did not work out.

There were a couple of reasons :

1. As it turns out, this site was not a farm at all but rather a personal garden. The tasks that I and the other volunteer, Hannah, were given involved landscaping (trimming native bushes) and household work and it seemed to us that WWOOFers were being used more for labor than for mutual benefit.

2. Having been there for a week before my arrival Hannah had already experienced a bit of discomfort and frustration. In addition to the general feeling that our presence there was being exploited, Sunday evening we had a very aggressive and uncomfortable encounter with our host. After discussing our feelings about the situation we determined that it would be best for us to leave the following morning and so after just two nights there, Hannah and I left early this morning for Albuquerque where her family is generously letting me stay until I get back on track.

Among things gained from the experience: A couple of days spent in gorgeous Arroyo Seco, NM (despite the 3 inches of snow we received yesterday); the lesson learned to clarify the details of daily life on host farms and work expected from volunteers in advance of arrival; and my new friend Hannah!

I will update as things fall into place!

Love and miss you all!

Grand Ideas

So on Thursday morning bright and early I said a teary goodbye to Skye and got on the highway just in time to belt "here I go again on my ooown!" along with the radio. I arrived in Arizona to stay the night in a cabin at the KOA in Seligman, AZ. 

Friday morning we woke up prepared to get back on the road but quickly realized that we were less than 100 miles from the Grand Canyon and neither of us had ever been. So we did what any two free spirits would do - postponed our trips for a day to go visit one of the wonders of the world!



(Thomas looks kind of mad in this photo, but I swear he wasn't!)

The Grand Canyon was everything we had both imagined it would be: at once beautiful, overwhelming, crowded and expensive. Needless to say it was a fabulous break from the 40mph headwinds Thomas had been biking in and way for me to recharge before my first farm.

I arrived Saturday evening at my first farm in Arroyo Seco, NM (just north of Taos). The drive here from Albuquerque is amazing! Its pretty much uphill the whole way except every time you reach the top of a particular hill the landscape has completely changed on the other side! You drive from wide open desert into rolling hills and suddenly mountains appear out of nowhere rising over the wide, flat plain where Taos is located. The Sangre de Cristo Mountains are really only rivaled in beauty by the Rio Grande gorge which sits just a short distance away.




The landscape here is absolutely gorgeous and as I get farther into the week I will try to update with more information. In the mean time, here is some proof: