“Why don’t we take a drive to Bode’s Store in Abiquiu this afternoon?”
That sounded fine to me. I jumped at the chance to take a drive in the Vibe and spend some time with my wife. To get there, we’d have to drive through the canyon of the Rio Grande, cross an Indian reservation, and follow the Chama River north. Woo-hoo! Besides, at Bode’s, we could get a snack, and I was hungry. It couldn’t be more than 70 miles away. (Actually, it may have been, but that’s close.)
What was really shocking, however, was heading south and discovering spring had really arrived. Once we’d descended into the canyon, we saw blooming wild plum trees and brilliant green willows. it was all so sudden. There’s nothing but bare trees here, although we do have hummingbirds already, which means the blossoms are about to pop. At any rate, we were stunned. The temperature rose, too. Soon we were flying along with the outside air just under 70 degrees. It was like summer vacation.
Heading east toward Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo
And God, was it beautiful! There’s something very special about gazing at snow-covered mountains while you’re basking in the sun. It breaks the default perceptual mode, I guess. So we had that going for us as well as the water: the Rio Grande and the Chama were roaring, and I’d never seen them higher. That shakes you up too, to have so much water coursing through a semi-arid landscape. Some days I just can’t get a handle on it, like it’s all too much: too big, too beautiful, too powerful. And we hardly saw another car once we left the main road, this on a Sunday afternoon.
Thirty-four miles per gallon on the fill-up at Bode’s, BTW, the worst we’ve gotten so far…
UPDATE: I just thought I’d share this personal note, passed on by a friend who lived here for a few years. Driving essentially the same route depicted in the photo above, he took a bullet in the windshield. Ouch! Now, you can get upset about that if you want, but I remember not long ago at all, when driving through parts of Baltimore could get you popped for no good reason. The difference is, in most places, people pretend such things don’t happen, and then life bites them in the ass.
(Here it’s all out in the open, but that makes it easier to choose…)
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