Working the dream life for 16+ years.
Reviews of off-the-beaten-path, quirky towns and oddball attractions across North America
I must say, I never really thought much of the whole “living history museum” thing. Heck, I didn’t even know what one was until we discovered Shelburne Farms when we stayed at the city campground in Burlington, VT last year. But we didn’t even pay that one a visit.
I have to thank our new friend Roger for opening my eyes to how cool it would be to work as a docent or interpreter at one of these living history museums. Roger volunteers as the 18th century miller at Rancho de las Golandrinas.
When you visit New Mexico, whatever you do, don’t get New Mexican culture confused with Mexican culture. The two are very different, and the locals will let you know it. For starters, the Mexicans I know never eat Sopapillas like this one I had in Albuquerque.
But it goes deeper than the culinary differences. As a California Mexican, I always heard about New Mexicans who insisted they weren’t “Mexican,” they were “Spanish.” Even in my own neighborhood, some fair-skinned kids came from families who preferred this label. I don’t know if their parents came from New Mexico or what, but it didn’t matter; we insisted that by preferring to call themselves “Spanish,” they were in denial about their ethnicity, ashamed to be linked to the Mexican Indian blood that many western Latinos share.
It’s a complicated issue, but ultimately, whatever label we Latinos choose to use, the fact is, we all have our unique ancestral histories, some that we relate to more than others.
El Rancho de las Golondrinas living history museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico hosts Civil War Days.
You might have guessed by now, that I’m not the churchiest person. Spiritual, yes, churchy, no. But, as anyone born into Catholicism can tell you, once you’re in, you’re in for life. You can run away from it, but it never leaves you. Just when you least expect it, you’ll put up a velvet Last Supper painting above the TV, and stick a dashboard Jesus in your SUV.
As a recovering Catholic, I love checking out old churches. Maybe I’m subconsciously facing my fears, but the more realistic Saint statues and lit up candles they have inside, the better.
In Santa Fe, I had no shortage of Catholic churches to choose from, but the Loretto Chapel was first on my list. Briefly, the story about the Chapel’s Miraculous Staircase goes:
2008 Truth or Consequences New Mexico Fiddler’s Festival.
in April, geeks can take a technology tour in New Mexico at the Very Large Array (VLA) and the Trinity Bomb Test Site near Socorro.
When you think of New Mexico, what do you envision? Scorching desert landscapes? Native American pueblos? I did. But since arriving here in March, we’ve learned that this dry, arid place is also a haven for technology geeks from around the world. From observatories, to military technology development, to the world’s first private space port, New Mexico offers something for the geek in all of us.
April is a perfect month for technology buffs to visit. For one day only, propeller heads can walk amongst the low-level radioactive earth on the Trinity Test Site (home of the world’s first atomic bomb test).
It always works out for the best. I keep reminding René (and myself) of that whenever we’ve been driving along time in search of the perfect place to boondock, and the day is getting long.
Recently, while visiting El Morro National Monument, we kept searching for an inconspicuous place to pull over for the night. Good thing we didn’t find one.
On our way to Santa Fe this week, we tried to “make good time” so we opted to take the interstate.
But as New Mexico’s breathtaking scenery began appearing, how could we be in a hurry? Despite our frantic timeline to get to Jerry’s oncology appointment, I wanted us to have some real fun before we dealt with the serious issue at hand. So we hit the back roads.
My Road Trip USA book
While boondocking at Three Rivers Campground at the foot of Sierra Blanca near Tularosa, NM, Jim confirms his love for the mountains. Videos include the road to and the view of camp site.
Enjoy our gallery of photos from Carlsbad Caverns, as we enjoyed the New Mexico attraction with few other tourists in the off season of February.
Let’s go to Luckenbach Texas with Waylon and Willie and the boys
This successful life we’re livin’ got us feuding
Like the Hatfield and McCoys
Between Hank Williams pain songs, Newberry’s train songs
And blue eyes cryin’ in the rain, out in Luckenbach Texas
Ain’t nobody feelin’ no pain …
Perhaps you can help us settle a little debate here in the LiveWorkDreamer.
After traveling for nine months across the entire United States, René believes the most amazing thing we have seen was the Cathedral of Junk in Austin, Texas.
I on the other hand, tend to agree with our friends Randy and Sonja – who René dragged to see this obscurity, in the rain, after they flew all the way from San Francisco to visit us – that it isn’t much more than a big pile of crap!
Jim watches the launch of a United Launch Alliance delta 2 Rocket at Cape Canaveral Air Force Base from the back pasture at White Rabbit Acres.
Let’s get one thing straight; Jim and I are not Gamblers. The few times we’ve found ourselves in Vegas, I would stand there gawking at the Gambling species, dumbfounded as I watched them willingly toss money away.
But last week while waiting for the space shuttle to take off, our fun campground neighbors Carol and John invited us to join them on a “free” four-hour casino cruise. In Florida, where gambling is illegal, Sun Cruz Casinos will take passengers out to blow money at sea, three miles offshore in international waters. They had a free shuttle that would pick us up right at our campground. “You get all of the free food and booze you want!” my neighbor said excitedly.
Now that caught my attention. Whenever I hear “Free” and “Booze” in the same sentence, this cheapskate gets happy. All that, and we’d get a “free” cruise in Florida too. Ah, the things trip memories are made of! I grabbed Jim and said “let’s go!”
Later, neither one of us would realize that we were about to set foot on a third rate, smoky casino from hell, unable to escape!