Cowboys, Donuts, Petroglyphs, Fajitas in New Mexico

Today I heading back north from Roswell, New Mexico towards Albuquerque, I came upon these two cowboys having a squabble across Highway 285.  Now, if I pulled over for everything that piqued my interest on the road, I would never get anywhere!  Colors, textures, abandoned and decaying buildings, old neon signs, the way the sky looks next a any variety of different things, the list goes on and on.  To me, being on the road is like being within a moving museum.  But these two bickering cowboys? These guys I had to stop for.  Turns out they are a fairly recent installation by a California artist John Cerney known for his large ‘cut-out’ art.  And he is the same artist who made the Roswell abduction scene I posed by yesterday!  Before looking into the artist, I was sure they were made by a woman. Maybe because as a woman I interpreted them as a social commentary on machismo.

These cowboys, their scuffle, stayed with me as I traveled north.  They made me think of How to Talk to a Hunter by Pam Houston.  Then that made me think about how society will address the fact that, in general, man’s instinctive behaviors are becoming out of sync with evolving social norms.  And why do we always forget that we are animals trying to function within the parameters of a bunch of social constructs?  Anyway… “roadthoughts.”  Roadthoughts are similar to thoughts you have under the influence; they’re a churned amalgam from all corners of your mind with the time and space to surface. Travel is discovery on so many levels.

Have you noticed I haven’t posted about much food? I ate terribly in south New Mexico. Lara Bar after Lara Bar. Red Delicious apples I had to scrub in the motel bathroom sink to remove the shellac from. Cashews. Nothing worth taking pictures of unfortunately. But now that I am spending the rest of my time in Albuquerque and Santa Fe, that’ll change.  Oh, it already did with these vegan donuts from Rebel Donut.

The glazed and caramel apple with the “v”s on them.  I dove into the glazed in the parking lot like a fiending addict. It was pretty darn good.  The caramel apple is for breakfast tomorrow.

And like 20 minutes from my donut stop, I arrive at the Petroglyph National Monument visitor center to talk to some of my favorite types of people: Park Rangers.  First, it seems so odd that petroglyphs would be about in an area now converted into exurb box-store chain of car convenience. But yes, it’s true.  There was life before our lives. 

The ranger let me know what was the best trail for my time, then I had to drive 5 miles or so to where the trail actually began, adjacent to a Walgreens and Sonic and right behind residential homes. Crazy! I did the short but petroglyph-packed Piedras Marcadas Canyon trail and saw a ton of petroglyphs. My goodness this state is knocking my socks off with beauty and enchantment.  There is the trail boundary and a lay of the land.

I was so excited to see petroglyphs immediately!  But it took me some hiking to realize I was able to scale the rocks to find even more.  This was a self-guided tour of the these ancient communications from Ancestral Pueblo peoples and early Spanish settlers dating back to 1300.  Though some images are recognizable, there is no real way of knowing what the effort of carving them into the rock’s desert varnish was meant to convey.  Like the arguing cowboys, they are open to interpretation.

This guy is ready to party.

Petroglyph selfies / early Put a Bird On It

This persistent communicator turned the corner with his petroglyph

Talk to the hands

This guy, I dubbed him my petroglyph boyfriend.  

Bunch of chatterboxes

Swipe right

This is their favorite rockAll my silly captions aside, how crazy to see these petroglyphs.  I’m kind of obsessed now. I may have to throw another petroglyph hot spot on my itinerary.

After some pretty cruddy motels the last few days, I booked a nice hotel right in downtown Santa Fe for this evening.  It’s pretty and has better anemities, but I feel like I am in a Viagra commercial.  Like the cowboys and petroglyphs, you can interpret that as you may.

And finally a warm meal and a nice pint of local beer.  Portobello mushroom fajitas from Blue Corn Cafe, which does not denote vegan options as the menu on the website does.  Nor was there any mention of tofu on the actual menu… or knowledge of any vegan options besides a steak salad without the steak.  If I wasn’t so famished and cozy with my beer, I would have gone somewhere else. Goodnight from Santa Fe.