On the road again

Sights, takeaways, building materials

One more post to round out this trip around The Southwest…

I hit Austin¹ for a few days to see my friend Charlie—part of a “Let’s aim to get together three times a year” initiative that I’d proposed after an impactful getaway with a few friends. I reasoned that we should—and absolutely could—do better, even if it meant my mostly traveling to him. (He’s got a family and growing company to tend to.)

Molly flew in on the tail end of that hang, and a day later she and I moseyed off to Big Bend National Park.²

Big Bend. We did all backcountry vehicle camping, some of which was surprisingly rugged and remote for a national park. Pretty stellar experience, other than a sandstorm one night where we had to collapse the GFC tent and hunker down in the bed of the truck.

Marfa³ came after that. Did a couple of Donald Judd tours that I missed out on last time I was in town and noted a remarkable disparity between how much I connect to his approachable furniture design (and a liberal use of 2x12s), and how little I care about his sculptures.

We stayed at El Cosmico. They’re gearing up to move to a larger location and will be 3D printing some of their accommodations. I can’t say whether or not 3D-printed homes make economic or practical sense, but I can say it’s fucking cool.

Both Molly and I appreciated that Marfa doesn’t seem to be trying too hard to be Marfa. Most of Judd’s acquired buildings are lightly modified, if at all, from their original construction and there’s a working-class community. It’s still a little rough around the edges and the gems are not all obvious, so it’s not fully an artsy tourist town.

Quick jaunt at White Sands National Park. All one really needs as it’s kinda one note. The sand is, as promised, pretty damn white.

Visited the New Mexico Museum of Space History. Good not great. But it is the final resting place of Ham, the first astrochimp, and that’s worth something.

In Abiquiu we stayed with our friends Jeff and Colleen in their stone and adobe home. Their commitment to an off-grid and deeply minimal life isn’t a target I could bring myself to aim for, but so many elements of how they exist are aspirational and motivating.

We also got to enjoy their excellent new sauna build.

On a similar note, we toured Georgia O'Keeffe’s home and it really knocked me back. I wasn’t expecting much, but found the stories of her design, construction, and materials choices to be immensely inspirational. I wanted to build stuff. Like, immediately.

Split juniper over pine on the ceiling. The floors are a mixture of dirt, flour paste and ox blood, which required refinishing every couple years. Ox blood… so metal.

Mud plaster walls which necessitate annual maintenance. Just out of frame are the rest of her exterior walls which were converted to cement stucco in the ‘50s. She hated the look of the new material and I also found it notably less appealing. But, while vernacular architecture is cool, there is probably something to be said for a home that’s less erode-y when modern life leaves less space for that sort of upkeep.

We briefly visited Bandelier National Monument⁴ before heading west to tour Monument Valley and Canyon de Chelly in the Navajo/Diné Nation⁵. A lot of natural and spectacular beauty, obviously.

Right?

Probably the most “Wow” evoking of that stretch were the farms in the bottom of Canyon de Chelly⁶. My archeologist/anthropologist buddy, Devlin, told me that these homes have been in the same clan and passed down matrilineally for the past 400 years.

Such a wild place to live. At the very least, romantic and stunning, which stood in contrast to some absolutely abysmal living conditions that we passed through in the reservation backcountry.

Molly and I covered about 400 miles of the Navajo Nation and saw a ton of their hexagonal/octagonal hogans. Some were relics of split pine and juniper. Others modern stud-framed builds clad in plywood siding. Many seemed like general outbuildings and I’m not positive how they were all being used, but their commitment to a every home a hogan reminded us of Finnish sauna culture.

Cold.

We traversed a good bit of the Apache and Gila National Forests and focused mostly on New Mexico. It’s the fourth highest state in terms of average elevation and it showed in the weather variance. We had some 95 degree temps in Texas, but here at 6000-9000 feet we saw snow and hail and our truck literally froze shut.⁷

A hike in Catwalk Recreation area. Most of the “catwalks” were steel, but I noticed deeper in the canyon this bridge was made from reinforced fiberglass. Though they’re certainly less charming than a hand-hewn log bridge, I can see why the forest service would prefer them in some locations. I’ve seen some fiberglass get a little weird with UV exposure over time. Curious how these hold up.

Our route south and eventually west took us through a lot of BLM land, Silver City⁸, Fort Bowie, a return to Chiricahua National Monument, and camping back in saguaro country, wrapping up this leg of the trip.

Setting up for dinner west of Tucson after landing just at sunset.

One of the things Molly and I both appreciated on this long run was the wooden kitchen drawer I built into the back of the truck. It served us well, especially for late arrivals and quick departures, though there are elements of it I’d like a second chance at and tweaks I’d love to make.

Not unlike O’Keeffe’s cement stucco, or the fiberglass footbridge, when mulling over a version 2.0, I’ve considered lighter or more durable materials that may come at the expense of familiarity and warm wooden charm. And like O’Keeffe it’s totally possible I’ll hate them.

But that’s the fun of making stuff and trying things… there’s always the possibility of a 3.0… and of course some requisite time on the road to test it all out.

Next iteration is getting finished in ox blood.

---

DIRECT TO YOUR INBOX

---

NEW TO THE NEWSLETTER? TO BUILDING?

• Start with these posts on Project Planning and Construction Basics.

• Or these posts on Community Building.

• Or browse. Posts wander from friendship, to workshops, to tools, to explosives. Because we contain multitudes.

---

---

elevatedspaces.ca | Instagram | YouTube

1. Highly recommend the lamb chops at KG BBQ and the beef cheeks at LeRoy & Lewis.

2. Hike the Lost Mine and Painted Canyon trails if you can. Get some breakfast at Espresso y Poco Mas in Terlingua.

3. Highly recommend the food at Bordo, Margaret’s, and El Tourista. Did The Block and Chinati Focus tours for Judd and planned our trip around those reservations. Failed to secure reservations at McDonald Observatory which was regrettable. Next time.

4. Much of the impressive construction that existed here is gone now, but many dwellings were built into the voids in cliffs and those are very much still there. If your wall coatings are a bit erode-y it’s pretty smart to lean on geological stability.

5. There’s a surprisingly decent Navajo Code Talkers exhibit in a Burger King. I came across it on Atlas Obscura, which I usually poke around on when roadtripping.

6. It’s pronounced Canyon de Shay, apparently.

7. One night was slated for 17 degree temps, 45mph winds, and snow, so we skipped camping and stayed at Reed’s Lodge. Reed’s was great. But the truck had to be de-iced and pried open.

8. The dream of the ‘90s coffee shop is alive and well at Tranquilbuzz.