Honeymoon-day 11, August 4, 2023

When I was younger, my dad used to take my brothers and me on mini road trips. He had a few simple questions as we hopped in the car.

North route or south route?

A short trip or a long trip?

I have no idea how much he used our answers to plan our outing quickly or if he already had a few ideas. His methods of travel have shaped my trip-planning strategies.

Chris and I began our journey east, finally feeling like our trip was “over” and we needed to head home. We were discussing our possible routes. The GPS took us on the quickest southern way through New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma, along old Route 66. Although this is a fun route, having traveled this path numerous times, I wasn’t incredibly excited to see it again.

Chris mentioned wanting to see the Earthships in Taos, New Mexico. Seeing they weren’t far off the path and would then lead us on a more northern route home, we had decided! North route!

Mike Reynolds started the World Earthship Community. The Earthship Biotecture is a 600-plus-acre sprawling mesa northwest of Taos

The community includes more than 300 acres of shared land and is entirely off the grid, using solar and wind power exclusively.

Our northern route also took us close to the Great Sand Dune National Park in Colorado. We played on the dunes until exhaustion struck. Loading back into the car, we headed east toward St. Louis.

We stopped for a break from the car and another night of Chinese food. Unfortunately, Chinese was take-out only so we were confined to our car as a thunderstorm hit.

The evening’s long desert drive into the sunset produced the most incredible thunderstorm ever. We drove east with the windows, the warm night air blowing, entertained by the distant sky blazing a well-choreographed light show. We turned the radio to a local country-western station with the perfect soundtrack for the night’s display. We followed this storm for almost three hours before finally reaching our hotel for the night. A moment we will both remember from this trip.