I love road trips. Planning the route on Roadtrippers with my brother, the stops along the some hundreds of miles, packing allergy-friendly snacks to munch on the way, and listening to Jim Dale’s poetic waxing of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban are just some highlights. The destinations have been always great, but it’s the journeys that are incredible and I have the fondest memories of
My favorite part about road trips is that they take you to amazing, off-the-beaten path places that one would never go to if they flew. Road trips allow for so many magnificent and eye-opening experiences, both cultural and natural,
This holiday break, we traveled to New Mexico. Our final destination was Santa Fe, where we practiced our skiing skills on the slopes of Sangre de Cristo Mountains. But, really, what I remember most vividly is the myriad of unique places we visited on the journey.
We, well- my brother especially- were rather disappointed to learn that the White Sands National Monument, home of sweeping, lofty hills of rare white gypsum sand dunes that you can sled down like snow, was closed due to the recent government shutdown. Living in the Southwest, we wanted to experience activities like sledding that are usually reserved for cold, snowy places. Nevertheless, as we wallowed in our pity and drove along Highway US 70, we noticed that families were not to be deterred by the shutdown. People were parking on the side of the road where the white sand dunes spilled over the Highway from an unfenced part of the Park. We immediately followed them while removing our socks and shoes and ran up the slopes eagerly. Our feet were numb with cold, but it didn’t matter. We raced down the hills and admired the inky purple sunset rising over our heads. That exhilarating feeling was piqued even more when an actual State Trooper came and admonished at all of us to go back into our cars. Giggling furiously, we sprinted back up the sand (not before taking some more pictures!) and returned to our car for the next step of our journey.
Bosque del Apache Wildlife Reserve in San Antonio, NM, was another amazing stop along our route. It is a favorite spot to watch the migration of the Sandhill cranes and Canadian geese during the winter months. I have a big phobia of birds, so I was particularly skeptical of this diversion. However, as I hid behind my hoodie, I happened to peek over out and saw thousands of snow white geese get into an organized formation and flow across the cerulean sky- it was quite magnificent to watch. I ended up actually sitting in a trench and observing the Great Sandhill Cranes which were not ten feet away from me on a corn field. I think that’s progress!
A particularly moving visit on Christmas Day was to the Santo Domingo Pueblo, a Native American reservation, composed of the Kewa people. They performed a Christmas Day ceremony in their native language of Keres. It was really, truly beautiful. They harmonious chanting and the colourful outfits and the little children singing along were really moving. I will never really forget it.
https://www.newmexico.org/places-to-go/native-culture/santo-domingo-pueblo/
Driving back home on a pitch black county road on a freezing Boxing Day, we passed a small Texas town called Rosebud. A quirky name! Was it a connection to Citizen Kane? But on our twenty minute diversion, we soon realized it was not a classic film reference, but rather an homage to their large artificial LED Christmas tree. We laughed but we will always remember that diversion into Rosebud, Texas. This is exactly what makes road trips so special- the memories and moving experiences and halfway conquered phobias and so much more.
5 Tips for Managing a Road Trip with Food Allergies
Stay in Airbnb/place with a kitchen, so you can cook/prep allergy safe food. It has made all the difference for our family.
Pack lots of allergy-friendly snacks and fruits to munch on the road...they are lifesavers! I am fond of tortilla chips and Hippeas- they are egg free, dairy free, and tree nut free, and they are somewhat? healthy! ;)
My mother made lots of frozen pasta and brought along soup cartons, which we heated up at our overnight stays and ate.
We always research and always identify a couple of places to sample the local cuisine- for example, check out my reviews on Spokin- my username is “indrani”.
Always carry extra medications because you are sometimes on the road in the middle of nowhere. Always be safe, and don’t let your food allergies deter you from having an amazing experience.
Steak Tacos from La Malinche
