Going West

For more than 100 years there has been a mythology associated with "going west."  Going west is not just simply the act of traveling in a westerly direction, but rather, a mindset and a goal.  It is the search for adventure, a new start, the essence of America, wide open and free.

Over the last several days we have experienced several examples of people who are going west, or have, in fact, gone west.  

South of Alamosa on the New Mexico/Colorado boarder we were stopped by a good old fashioned cattle drive.  While Colorado and New Mexico are both growing and changing, it is reassuring to know that pockets of the real west survive.  While these pictures are vintage 2008, they could be 1968, or even 1948, or even...

These dudes were taking a small heard from one pasture to another and the beef was being a bit unruly.

 

This guy has apparently been doing this kind of thing for a while.  At one point a calf got away and was balking at going through a section of fence.  This guy lassoed the calf with a sort of casual indifference that clearly showed it wasn't his first rodeo.  When we took his picture out the truck widow, he even tipped his hat.

Now not only did we get to experience the true mythology of the west, we also got to experience a sort of new, strange, comedy central type western experience.  Certainly almost everyone has dreamt at one time or another about packing up the car with a buddy and pointing the wheel west.  From Jack Kerouac to William Least Heat Moon, the American road trip is a universal aspiration.

But really, how many of you ever thought about taking that trip in one of these...

That's right.  That is a bona fide Oscar Mayer Wienermobile, which was parked right next to our hotel in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  This baby has seating for 6, surround sound, and wall to wall.  This grand Wiener Ship is currently being piloted around the west by a nice couple who are doing promotional events at Albertson's grocery stores.  What about it?  Travel in style, get paid, and draw a crowd.  What more could the modern day traveler want?

The old and the new are alive and well out here.  A sort of odd juxtaposition that is probably more what the west has always been about.  Miners and wranglers were followed by snake oil salesmen and hustlers.  Today, cowboys are followed by wiener mobiles.