I had engaging conversation my friend on many subjects especially finances as he is knowledgeable in those matters and I need assistance in understanding how to make a good income. He is also very knowledgeable in real estate and I learned much about house flipping and what to look for in buying a property. He is in the middle of completely renovating a house he recently bought and I helped him for a few days doing some demolition and chimney repair. It had been awhile since I had re-pointed a chimney but it came back to me like riding a bike.
I found a ride to Taos, New Mexico from a fellow Couchsurfer. I had never been there and decided it would be an interesting place to visit. I learned all about the fine art of dumpster diving from my CS friend as I discovered I was eating a granola bar from good dive at the Odwalla factory. It tasted fine and was completely seal in the wrapper but just a bit out of date. It was amazing to learn just how much stuff gets wasted and thrown out.
Taos has an odd vibe to it that I can't put into words. The scenery is fabulous with lots of open space and majestic mountains in the back ground. There is good eats for reasonable prices in town with some of the best southwestern food around. I spent four days there with a Couchsurfer. The house that he rents was at one time rented by members of the Grateful Dead. It was a duplex adobe house. His side was three rooms. Two down stairs and one upstairs loft that was octagon shaped. There was definitely a magical feel in the room. Perhaps there was still some grateful dead living in the room.
I would to have loved to do some hiking but it was fairly cold when I was there. We attempted to go to some local hots springs but could not make it down the road as there was a cold wind that had froze the road over and a few people were already stuck and in need of rescue!
New years eve had arrived and my host was not up for going out so I went out on the town myself and hooked up with some people at the local Taos Inn at the bar. One women was from a local community called The Lama Foundation a spiritual sustainable community focused on helping those on a spiritual path. We had some engaging conversation on spiritual subjects. The bar was closing and there was a party going on that we all went to after. The party was small but not lacking in spirit. I met some interesting people.
I talked with the party's host and had a discussion on glass blowing. His niche is making marbles but everyone keeps asking him to make pipes! He had a few attempts at making some but was sticking to making the marbles which was his true art. Another guy was from South America somewhere, I don't remember as it was a long night but we talk about DNA and mitochondria as he was studying bio-something, forgive me I don't remember it was a long night. Two bumps and I was ready for the long five mile walk back home. I got home just before dawn. I could here some roosters starting their wake up call but for me it was time to sleep.
My Couchsurfing friend gave me a ride down to Albuquerque the next day where I had a hard time getting a couch last minute. I was walking down to the Rio Grande to go camp when my phone rang and a Couchsurfer came to the rescue! Not that I needed rescuing I was well prepared to sleep out in the cold but a nice warm place to stay was better as I was leaving the next day because I had found a ride to Flagstaff. My host Bob had the hosting part of CS down and has hosted over 80 people! He hopes to do some surfing in the near future.
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