To Marfa: A Southwest Road Trip

To Marfa: A Southwest Road Trip

Los Angeles, California to Marfa, Texas

Words and photography by Jules Davies, in Partnership with Subaru

We talked about everything on those long desert drives – three of us road tripping from Los Angeles to Marfa, Texas.

We talked about our creative projects, our lovers and friends, our anxieties and the kind of hopes and dreams that were so fresh and still-forming they hadn’t been spoken out-loud yet.

 

My travel mates were Gale Straub and Laura Hughes, creators of podcasts and photo essays about women travelers, adventurers, and road warriors. They’re the only two podcast hosts I’ve ever met, but from my experience, it’s a thoughtful and inquisitive cohort of humans. They’re supremely good at digging in and asking the good questions.

We listened to podcasts, talked about podcasts, and captured field recordings for our very own Women on the Road episode. (Stay tuned!)

We climbed on the granite boulders of Indian Cove at sunset.

We stayed in a desert bungalow adorned with colorful woven textiles and paintings.

We popped into a radical vintage shop called The End, in Yucca Valley.

We sipped coffee in a private hot springs tub.

We made friends with the 200 year old Saguaro cacti and soaked up some much-needed mid-winter sunshine.

We got dusty and happy and then ate tacos.

We covered 1,000 miles across California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas in our orange 2018 Subaru Crosstrek we endearingly called Clementine.

Occasionally on the road, we’d come to a point in the conversation when questions would arise and we needed to tap into the great wisdom of the World Wide Web. We’d hit a road block in our meandering path of curiosities that could only be remedied by a quick Wiki search:

One evening we pulled into a small town called Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. That’s really the name of it – we all giggled when the GPS said it out loud. It’s so absurd, we had to get to the bottom of it.

The town’s name used to be Hot Springs, matter-of-factly, with its abundance of geothermal activity being the major touristic draw.

There was a popular NBC radio program in the 40’s and 50’s called Truth or Consequences, a game show. Ralph Edwards, the host of the radio quiz show, announced that he would air the program on its 10th anniversary from the first town that renamed itself after the show. Hot Springs, NM decided to go big or go home and they won the honor, officially changing the name to Truth and Consequences on March 31, 1950. And now you can buy a cool t-shirt with wolves on it that says Truth or Consequences, so that alone makes it worth a stop.

Other items in our search query: Nearest Gas Station, The 5 Love Languages, Marfa Lights Phenomenon

 

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Jules Davies is an outdoor lifestyle, fashion and travel photographer based in Portland, Oregon. You can view more of her work at julesville.com and find her on Instagram.

Editor’s note: While this piece was published in partnership with Subaru, the opinions of the author are  all her own. Meet other Subaru owners at Meetanowner.com and follow along on Subaru’s Instagram.