It sounded so fantastic, and the rent wasn’t any more than we’re paying now — the find of a lifetime, all right:
This custom 2 bedroom, 1 1/2 bath, passive solar adobe house sits on 16 acres of beautiful valley land in Taos County and features massive vigas, a 600 square foot clerestory loft, radiant heat, a wood burning stove, ample windows with panoramic views, an extremely large deck, and a carport. Surrounded on three sides by the Carson National Forest, his secluded land features fields, large wooded areas, and a pond fed by the cottonwood-lined Rio San Cristobal. This property lies off the beaten path, about 1/2 hour from Taos Plaza.
The owner was coming up from Albuquerque to get the place cleaned up for a new tenant, so this afternoon was a perfect time to drive up to San Cristobal and have a look. There was only one potential problem that I could see, and that was the address, which indicated that the property was way up the valley road. I called the owner again. He told me where it was — confirming that I knew exactly where — and added just one caveat:
“County maintenance only goes up to the last gate before my driveway. After that it’s a forest service road…”
Oh yeah, right. I’d forgotten that essential nugget of information from when we used to live up there, and my heart sank a little. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, though.
Unfortunately, it was. Quite passable, for sure, just a little scary, with spring’s deep ruts now cast in hardened, polished clay as hard as concrete. Rocks the size of gallon jugs lay embedded everywhere just below crankcase level. I went about a hundred yards and lost all my ambition: okay for a sturdy 4WD, but not for a Pontiac Vibe, much less the love of my life. To her everlasting credit, though, she never said a word.
“Okay, this is a deal-breaker,” I declared, in between bounces, taking full responsibility for abandoning the quest so close to the end. I could never ask her to go up and down this road every day. Maybe if we were 25, I’d try it for a year, but there just wasn’t any hope. I had to go quite a ways farther up the trail before I dared to try to turn around, which I managed without leaving any suspension parts behind. We were disappointed but relieved, the way one is when something hard you’re scared of turns out to be impossible after all. Not that the road was all that bad, but on a daily basis, no way.
I had a brilliant idea to reward ourselves for trying, namely buying us dinner in the next village up the road. We had a great time in a certain cafe we’d never visited before, but the enchiladas were downright awful — I was so hungry, I didn’t notice how bad it was until I’d eaten more than half!
We had a fine adventure, though. And the neat thing is that any other place we look at in the country that we can actually reach in a real car at all will automatically be better. (This was a good place to start, in other words.) I’m actually certain that the rental is a knockout, too, despite the rough access. If you’re looking for a place and that doesn’t turn you off, you can find it on Craigslist easily enough. The owner sounded like a perfect landlord, and I’m sorry we didn’t get to meet him.
Finally — and I don’t mean to brag, but this really means a lot to me — when I was gritting my teeth and getting the car turned around , guess who offered to get out and walk the rest of the way, because she knew how much it meant to me?
Did I marry the right one or not?
Hah!
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Yes, you certainly chose exactly the right one to share this adventure (and others!) Your spirit lifts me, again.
It is something of a miracle, isn’t it? And after all this time, she’s still with me…