By Leslie Pariseau, Photography by Julien Capmeil

March 4, 2021

Americans are increasingly taking road trips that are about the skies as much as the land

The forecast was not promising. The sweeping New Mexican skies appeared clear, and ribbons of cerulean, violet, and indigo created an ombré horizon as the sun receded behind the West Mesa and the Rio Grande.

But the clouds would soon roll in. Outside the main house at Los Poblanos, a historic farm and inn on the edge of Albuquerque, an orange tabby curled up on a bench, an outdoor firepit was lit, a bottle of wine opened. There would be no stargazing this evening.

It hadn’t occurred to me that my entire quest—to trek across the high desert of the Southwest and into the mountains of Utah—could be thwarted by something as evanescent as the clouds. I flicked around an atmosphere-predicting app on my phone to see what the following evening might bring. Again, it augured obscurity.

Source: A Stargazing Road Trip Across the American Southwest | Condé Nast Traveler