Rene Cizio's Blog, page 22

The Earthships of New Mexico Are Next Level Sustainable Living

I used to think I was an environmentally friendly person. Then I visited the Earthships of New Mexico and realize I’m a total slacker. I’ve long practiced “reduce, reuse, recycle” habits. I try not to use plastic if I can avoid it, conserve water and paper and electricity in dozen of ways. This is nothing compared to what Earthship dwellers are doing. These people and their houses are a showcase to next-level sustainable living enthusiasm. But they’re also probably a little “out there.” What’s an Earthship? In brief, an Earthship is a type of passive sustainable housing. They’re also called “solar earth shelters,” and they’re predominately made of natural and upcycled materials. They’re also creative art projects. Earthships can support life completely off the grid. And that’s probably where it starts to get weird. I learned about Earthships doing random internet searches about New Mexico. Of course, I had to see one for myself and learn more about them. Flying an Earthship Earthships don’t fly, silly. They’re only called ships because you can live in them sustainably for an indefinite amount of time like a ship. Earthships are made entirely out of recycled materials like used car tires, bottles, tin […]

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Driving the Enchanted Circle in Northern New Mexico

There is no time like now to get out of the house, dust off your favorite transportation and go for a Sunday drive. If you’re in the northern New Mexico area, the obvious choice is The Enchanted Circle. Sure, you could take the High Road, or the Low Road, both lovely drives, but those are about going places. The Enchanted Circle National Forest Scenic Byway is about driving for nothing other than the love of the road and beautiful mountain views. What’s The Enchanted Circle The Enchanted Circle is an 84-mile loop circling the highest mountain in northern New Mexico – the Wheeler Peak. At 13,161 feet tall, it’s easier to go around than over. And going around is oh so much fun. The loop can start anywhere in Taos, Red River, Angel Fire, Questa, or Eagle Nest. There are Enchanted Circle signs to help guide your way, but from Taos Plaza, you take Highway 64 north to Highway 522 north to Questa. You can take Highways 38 east to Red River, then south to Eagle Nest and Angel Fire, and Highway 64 west back to Taos. Honestly, once you begin the loop, it’s nearly impossible to get lost; just […]

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Roadtrip: Santa Fe to Taos, New Mexico

Driving into Santa Fe, New Mexico for my first time, I couldn’t help but compare it to Sedona, Arizona – it’s that magical. If you’ve never been to either place Stop. What. You’re. Doing. AND GO NOW. There aren’t that many places on this Earth that have the unique, powerful and pleasant energy vibrations as these places do. I would say it’s in the water, but clearly, it’s the dirt. I approached Santa Fe from the southeast. There were a few businesses and homes lining the side of the highway. Once I passed through the smalls towns of Vaughn and Encino, the landscape began to open up; the Earth turned a deeper shade of red. Santa Fe Santa Fe is known for its Pueblo-style adobe architecture. You’ll notice it as soon as you get close. Because of this, one of the best things to do in downtown Santa Fe is to walk around admiring the history, culture and Pueblo-style architecture, so that’s what I did. For a midwestern girl, the adobe buildings along cobbled streets set to a backdrop of mountains looked like something out of an old western movie. Small restaurants, bookstores, boutiques, and art galleries with hand-crafted goods […]

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Kayaking the Rio River Gorge in New Mexico

I went whitewater kayaking on the Rio River Gorge and it was the most challenging kayaking, not becuase of the rapids, but the wind. I took a rambling early afternoon drive through the mountains along the Rio Grande Gorge. The 50-mile gorge runs from northwest to southeast of Taos, New Mexico. It is about 800 feet deep at this deepest point near the Rio Gorge Bridge. At the bottom of the massive gorge, the Rio Grand River flows. As you pass through this picturesque landscape of mountains and desert sagebrush views, you can’t help but fall into an almost meditative, relaxing mindset. Then you get on that windy river and it all goes out the window. The Rio Grande I kayaked the Rio Grande River in Big Bend National Park a month before, but it’s a different river in New Mexico. In Big Bend, the river was nearly dry. In New Mexico, alongside the Sangre de Cristo Mountains with its melting snow caps, it flows rapidly. I met my guide and two other kayakers a few miles from the boat put-in. We drove together down to the deep gorge, skirting past deer and Big Horn Sheep. Here in the heart […]

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10 Awesome Things to Do in Southwest Texas

Summer is coming and now is the perfect time to start planning how you’ll spend it. Here are 10 ideas for classic Texas fun while supporting areas in need visitors. Wildseed Farms Flower Fields The most well-known Texas Flower Fields are at Wildseed Farms in Fredericksburg, Texas. They have over 200 acres of flower fields that they happily open to visitors and Instagram aficionados. When I visited, it was primarily poppies and daisies, but as the seasons change, so do the plants, so you could return many times to see different flowers. There is no charge for admission and they are open seven days a week, year-round. The flower trails close at about 5:30 p.m. Find it at 100 Legacy Drive – Fredericksburg, TX 78624. Tejas Rodeo Texas rodeo is happening near San Antonio every Saturday night keeping Western heritage rodeo alive and kickin’. It is authentic old-time fun at its finest featuring bull riding, calf wrangling, and plenty of cowboy glitz and events. Find the fun Tejas Rodeo at 401 Obst Road, Bulverde, TX 78163 Guadalupe River State Park Hiking, swimming and floating the Guadalupe River State Park in San Antonio are a must do. With four miles of […]

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10 Things to Explore in Far West Texas

If you’ve ever visited Big Bend or drove through west Texas, you’ll come across Alpine, Texas. I spent a week there hiking and kayaking at Big Bend. While there, I explored a few other things. It’s a good place central to many other locations you’ll want to see while you’re in that part of the country. Alpine, Texas The city is one of a few small frontier towns remaining from the glory day of the western mining and expansive cattle ranching. There is little on the way into town, and there is little to see after you leave the town. Hundreds of miles protect it from any sign of typical consumer American amenities, and in this way, it is perfect. Alpine is a small town with about 5,000 residents at an elevation of 4,475 feet. It has an interesting climate. In the springtime morning, temperatures might hover in the mid-40s before rising into the upper 80s and dropping again in the evening. There is little rain, but instead, a short distance away from downtown, there are stars. This part of west Texas is known as an International Dark Sky Community. Alpine Texas sits just 90 miles north of Big Bend […]

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Exploring Big Bend National Park by Foot, Van and Water

Big Bend National Park stands alone in a nation of parks. Its remote desolation makes it one of the least visited parks in the United States. That also makes it one of the rarest experiences you can have in nature – solitude, you, and the Earth. If you’re lucky, you’ll see a red snake slither by, a roadrunner dash across your path, a coyote prowl the landscape. Wild horses and free-roaming longhorn cattle might amble past. You’ll find cactus blooms of many varieties bursting with color and other plants you’ve never seen before. Hawks circle overhead. What you won’t find are many other people, or amenities, or the bustle of life that we American’s are so accustomed to. No, in Big Bend, life is as it was many years before any of that existed. It will still be what it is many years after we no longer exist. On a Lone Desert Highway The lone desert highway that leads into the park will take you through little except your own mind. Out in the Chihuahuan Desert, the most movement you’ll see is from the dust storms that kick up as you go by. In the distance, within 50 miles of […]

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One Night Alone on a Hill in Roswell, New Mexico

As I drove up the hill in Roswell, New Mexico, its dirt was the color of red velvet cake. After I was done marveling at that I looked up. What I saw in front of me stopped me in my tracks. It had been raining as I drove from Carlsbad to Roswell, an impressive feat for New Mexico, which had been desperate for water. The roof vent in my van ceiling was leaking. Despite more than a month on the road, it was the first rain I’d seen. It was distracting. The leak, obviously, and the rain itself. As a midwestern girl, these desert climates are a relatively new experience for me. Sure, I’d been in various parts of the southwestern desert before. A few days here and there on different vacations, but I’d never lived in it. To me, desert rain meant one thing: spiders. I have heard, but have not yet experienced, that when it rains, it chases the critters out of their holes and brings them into the open. Since I was staying alone in a van in the desert and it was raining, well, I was distracted. The drive through two hours of southeastern New Mexico, […]

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Road trip: Terlingua, the Texas Ghost Town by Big Bend

There are “ghost towns,” and then there is Terlingua ghost town. One is for tourists and the other is an abandoned old mining town filled with ghosts. You’ll notice the difference immediately. See, I’m a city girl, so you’ll understand when I tell you that I expected there to be cafes and gift shops in Terlingua. They call it a “ghost town,” but I’ve been to ghost towns before. They’re usually tourist traps. Tarted up little towns that attract people like me curious about ghost towns. Because Terlingua is outside of Big Bend National Park, I assumed it would have the usual amenities. I was wrong. What it has is enough to sustain life, but not much more. You’re certainly not getting any lettuce wraps. Drive to Terlingua I’ve been staying in Alpine, Texas, about 85 miles outside of Terlingua and 100 from Big Bend. Like many towns out this way, Alpine is made up of just a few hundred structures in the middle of the Chihuahua Desert. It sits in a little valley between the Davis Mountains to the north and the Chisos Mountains to the south. There is one road between and on it there is little more than mountains and Chihuahua […]

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Get Your Hat We’re Hittin’ Up the Texas Rodeo

Texas rodeo is authentic western heritage at its finest and I was glad to experience it for the first time. I drove to a little tucked away spot just north of San Antonio in a corner called Bulverde. There, the Tejas Rodeo Company keeps Western heritage rodeo alive and kickin’. Giddy up. The sun was setting as I pulled into the rodeo grounds and parked on the grass in a field like we used to do when we went to concerts back home in Michigan. For me, this is always a sign that a good time is about to be had. At the rodeo, I immediately love the neon signs on entry and throughout the entire grounds. It was set up like an outdoor festival, with a bandstand, mechanical bull, a country store selling merchandise and a few food and beverage shacks. There was live music and young children wearing cowboy hats and boots running around the floor trying to dance. There were probably a few hundred people at the grounds, but it wasn’t crowded because it was all outdoors and there was plenty of room between sections. Meat Mania I got in line for the food and wasn’t surprised […]

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