earthship

7 miles outside of taos, new mexico is a settlement of houses "off the grid" called "earthship". they are self sustaining and made with biomass walls of used tires, beer cans, and wine bottles and electrified with solar panels. collected water is kept in large cisterns for daily use and reuse. their shape is innovative and functional at the same time. it is said that the utilities on the average "earthship" dwelling is under $100/year. sounds good to an iowan with too much hot and cold weather.

route 66

i always wondered what really happened to James Dean. i found him encased in bronze and standing outside a gallery in santa fe, nm. he was joined by a cast of thousands, including this young lady tubing in front of someone's shop.

beginnings

the beginning of the rio grande river is quite different than the middle. where's a play boat when you need it? guess i'm supposed to run the old man's rivers... like next week when JC leads me to keokuk, on the mississippi. i hope he doesn't lose me in the first 20 miles!

rivers run through it

the rio grande river outside of truth or consequences, nm was running full with winter meltoff. rapids are not a favorite of bluewater seakayakers, but we managed to make it through the drops.

flying away

it's time to fly away again... this time to the rio grande river and turtleback mountain (well actually driving but that didn't fit the picture - courtesy of katie spotz's atlantic rowing conquest). new mexico (it's not new or mexico) is one of the last states i've not seen so a great time to add to the collection.

old man on the river

saturday i paddled from red rock to eddyville on the des moines river to try out my rusty river water wings and found that the 160 mile trip next month will probably be my drowning pool. i paddled ten miles this am on the competine arm off whitebreast creek, but the four pound weight loss was quickly found.

keep moving!

the backwaters hold all kinds of warnings for an Easter morning paddler - guess you have to keep moving ... or grow old.

end of the road

with flood waters close to maximum pool the bike path comes to an abrupt halt at the end of marina cove. who was the architect who designed a pathway that is under water every other year? sounds a lot like life in general... you have to look at all the variables before making a decision. it looks like these two found a way to keep on going... it only takes creativity i guess.