After 4,891 miles, I'm home from Road Trip 2007.
(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET News.com)SAUSALITO, Calif.--At last, I'm home. After 25 days, 4,891 miles and a huge number of motels, Road Trip 2007 is over.
I can barely type at this point, but it has been an amazing run. I was in six states (California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado--even if the latter was only for about 30 seconds at Four Corners), several national parks, some great museums, and I got to look at a heck of a lot of airplanes.
Along the way, I went to three hot springs, ate a whole lot of really bad food, listened to more than 1,000 songs on my iPod, fought hard to find good Internet connectivity, and did so much more.
The very last thing I did before I got home was stop in for a tour of the construction of the new eastern span of the Bay Bridge. This is going to be a truly world-class bridge, the world's largest self-anchoring span and a wonderful addition to the culture of the San Francisco Bay Area. Stay tuned for a full story and gallery on Monday.
In the meantime, I thank all of you for reading my stories, looking at my photos and contacting me via e-mail and talkback on stories. There will be a few follow-up pieces over the next few days, but really, this is it.
The last thing I did on the road trip was visit the construction of the new eastern span of the Bay Bridge. It is going to be amazing.
(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET News.com)
An earthship is an entirely off-the-grid, fully sustainable house that can keep a steady inside temperature regardless of how hot or cold it is outside.
(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET News.com)TAOS, N.M.--I really want one of these.
These are earthships, a form of entirely off-the-grid, fully sustainable houses that are made from natural and recycled materials, and which can provide a family with a steady, comfortable interior temperature regardless of how hot or cold it is outside.
I've come to visit the Earthship Biotecture world headquarters near Taos, and have come ready to be impressed. I'm as into green technology and architecture as the next guy, and what I'd read had me expecting an introduction to a form of housing that is self-sufficient, affordable and attractive, all at the same time.
And that's just what I got. And more. The buildings are really interesting to look at, not least because there are plants everywhere, since including greenhouses in every earthship is a major component of the concept.
I'd come as part of Road Trip 2007, my search for the best science- and technology-related destinations in the Southwest. And this definitely counts. I plan to post a full story and gallery on Tuesday, so stay tuned for that. But in the meantime, I want to make it clear that while earthships aren't the immediate solution for all communities--cities, in particular, are likely to resist this kind of off-the-grid thinking--for many, they are.
I heartily recommend checking out earthships' site and thinking about how one of these buildings could fit into your future.
The infrastructure of an earthship includes walls built of tires packed with dirt. The tires, which can weigh 350 pounds, provide thermal mass, which stores heat.
(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET News.com)
The bridge over the Rio Grande Gorge near Taos, N.M. is truly breath-taking, and is 650 feet above the river below.
(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET News.com)TAOS, N.M.--Wow. That's almost all I had to say after walking across the Rio Grand Gorge Bridge near this popular city.
And why? Well, the bridge is suspended over the river, which is 650 feet below, and what you see from the span is the outrageously beautiful effects of one of America's most powerful waterways having carved its way into walls of the basalt flows from the Taos Plateau volcanic fields over the centuries and millenia.
The rock looks like it was just chipped away, and the view almost trivializes the scale of what you're seeing from the bridge.
And then there's the bridge itself. You can walk across it on both the north and south sides, looking down the whole way. It is a vertiginous experience, especially in the days after the bridge collapse in Minneapolis. Every time a tractor trailer rumbled across, shaking the entire 500-foot bridge, I could only cringe.
But, hey, what's the point of coming to a place like this if not to overcome a fear of heights, or a fear of complete structural failure? After all, that's what I did when I went to visit the Grand Canyon Skywalk earlier on Road Trip 2007, my journey around the Southwest.
Anyway, if you find yourself in the Taos region, I suggest taking a side trip to the bridge. You'll never forget it.
The Rio Grande river may not look that far away, but the fact that it is 650 below the bridge gives a sense of the scale.
(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET News.com)
Under the Las Vegas Strip is a series of storm drainage tunnels that some people live in, and that are a common site for graffitti.
(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET News.com)
There are hundreds of miles of the tunnels under Las Vegas, and hundreds more are planned.
(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET News.com)LAS VEGAS--I just got back from a tour of the storm drainage tunnels under Las Vegas. I was given the tour by Matt O'Brien, whose recent book, Beneath the Neon: Life and Death in the Tunnel of Las Vegas, chronicles his experiences there.
I will put up a full story and photo gallery later, but I thought it would be good to post a little taste now to whet your appetite.
Enjoy, and make sure your shoes are sturdy and dry.
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