August Trip to New Mexico - 2010 - day 13

Thursday - Dilly-dallied in Salina and finally got on the road. Nothing exciting to report except we got home about 2:30. I had forgotten how confusing it is coming through Kansas City on I-70....they need to make that easier. There was construction on the by-pass routes.

The total trip mileage was 2,894 miles and it seems like I've been gone for a month. I picked up Watson at the Vet...he was being treated for a urinary tract infection that came on after I left. His bill was over $500 so his vacation was pretty expensive.

Hotels along the way seem to be suffering from the poor economy and making cut-backs. I was trying to keep the cost down so I was staying in less expensive places but they were still costing more than they should have. They are providing less and upkeep has gone downhill. The Blue Swallow was a high point and the place in Salina was good but the Rodeway in Pueblo should be bulldozed and started over.

August Trip to New Mexico - 2010 - day 12

Wednesday -- Not much to report because we spent most of the day driving through Kansas (Kaaaannnnssssaaaassss - it's a long state). The traffic was light and there wasn't much road work being done so it was an easy drive.....just boring.

I've been surprised by how green everything is during the middle of August. Kansas seemed very green. This seems to be a wet year everywhere, not just at home. It's funny how we used to blame the weather oddities on El Nino or La Nina and now it is all chalked up to Global Warming.

Since the last time I crossed Kansas, about 8 years ago, there has been an explosion of wind turbines west of Salina....hundreds of them. That's good because they give you something to look at.

We got to our motel in Salina KS around 5:30 and ate at a local IHOP. That's about it.

August Trip to New Mexico - 2010 - day 11

Tuesday - We got up early and checked out of the motel at 8:30 and were on our way to drop Jeanne off at the airport. Jill & I headed north on I-25 toward Santa Fe. It was a pretty day to be on the highway and traffic was fairly light. We went through Santa Fe but didn't stop. I am not big fan of what Santa Fe has turned in to...it's choking to death on it's own popularity. We did drive past the plaza so Jill could see it but she wasn't much impressed.

We headed north through the series of Indian pueblos that stretch along the highway...most have casinos and some look like they are doing OK. At Espanola we began following the Rio Grande through it's gorge past Embudo and on toward Taos.

We stopped at Ranchos de Taos at the San Francisco de Asis church and took some pictures and walked around a while. The church looks nice....last time I saw it 2 years ago they were putting on a new layer of adobe mud and there were workers on scaffolds slapping on the wet mud. We went on to Taos and ate lunch at a roadside restaurant that turned out to be very popular with the locals and had good food. I had a Navajo Taco with beef and green chile sauce and Jill had chicken strips -- both were good.

We drove around Taos a while and then headed north to Questa and into Colorado. This is a beautiful route to travel. The scenery keeps changing every few miles and became very sparsely populated and mountainous north of Taos. There are places where you can see open country for miles with no houses or ranches in sight. The Sangre de Cristo mountains were on our east side all the way up.

We crossed over into Colorado and continued to San Luis and then to Ft. Garland. San Luis is the oldest city in Colorado. We turned west and headed past Blanco Peak (14,345 ft) through Blanco and then on to Great Sand Dunes National Park.

What can you say about Great Sand Dunes NP other than "Wow, that's a lot of sand"? It is really a cool spot. The sand dunes are piled 750 feet high and create a special environment. We walked out on the dunes for a short distance...it isn't easy walking in the loose sand...and took a bunch of pictures. The cloud shadows made the dunes change colors and made it really interesting. There were several groups of people on the dunes. We watched some slide down the slope on snow boards. Some others seemed to be intent on climbing up to the very top of the highest dunes. We circled around back to the car as the wind began to pick up.

We retraced our route back to Ft. Garland and got some gas and something to drink. Trudging over hot sand dunes makes you thirsty. We followed Highway 160 east to Walsensburg and caught I-25 and headed north to Pueblo and our motel. We had supper at an adjacent restaurant.

August Trip to New Mexico - 2010 - day 10

Monday - After my walk we went back to The Range for breakfast - the food was not as good as we remembered but was OK. Seemed like they didn't get enough sleep last night and couldn't quite get things right.

We had no heavy plans for today. Jill wanted to go to the vintage clothing store over by the university on Central Ave. We had a little delay while trying to find it but eventually got there. The place had some amazing stuff. When you think of buying used clothes from the 1950s or earlier you would expect to see some pretty grungy and somewhat worn out stuff but this place had nothing that wasn't almost in brand-new condition. You could tell it was all used but none that I saw was worn, stained, frayed or abused in any way. Some of it looked like it could be costumes (waitress uniforms)and some were vintage formal wear - tux with tails. They had top hats and some spiffy neck ties. I expected to find a zoot suit but there weren't any that I could see.

We drove up to see the Sandia Tram -- we didn't want to take the tram up to the mountain top but just see it in operation. they let you in for $1.00 per car to access the property. They have a deli that serves light meals and drinks and there are some trails around the area. The elevation is over 6,300 ft. and the tram takes you up to over 10,000 ft. in only a few minutes. We watched a couple cars come down and head back up and they move at a very fast pace. The weather was unsettled again and cooler than the last couple days. The top of the mountain was in the clouds so I'm not sure it was a good day to go up anyway. We took a few pictures and then drove back down.

Jeanne wanted to find the big cowboy statue that she had heard about...supposed to be in front of a motel on Central Ave. We had covered all of that and never saw the cowboy so I did some research and discovered a tall lumberjack at a Vietnamese restaurant and a concrete bust of a cowboy over on the Pan American highway. We found the lumberjack but he wasn't what we wanted so we eventually found the cowboy...or his top half..and Jeanne got some pictures. We all had our picture taken with the cowboy.

We went to the St. Clair Winery Bistro for some wine tasting but none of their win measured up to what we had at the Ponderosa yesterday. It was OK and I bought some to take home but it was not really as good as we hoped.

We went up to Luigi's Italian Restaurant (on 4th street at Solar) and had a late lunch/early supper. I had the gnocchi with pesto while Jill and Jeanne had some huge sandwiches. The food was just as good as the last time I ate there with Paul.

We were pretty well exhausted and had to get packed and ready to leave tomorrow so we called it a day and stayed in our rooms and rested up.

August Trip to New Mexico - 2010 - day 9

Sunday - Had breakfast at the Flying Star in Bernalillo and then headed up toward the Jemez Mountains for the day. This was a good day to get out of town for a while. We drove past the Zia Indian pueblo and turned north at San Ysidro. The scenery and views are beautiful. We stopped at the Jemez pueblo - Walatowa - and spent some time at the visitor's center. Jeanne bought several magnets -- this seems to be our main purchase item on this trip. They have some nice Indian-made things but also have stuff that looks Indian but is from Pakistan or India. The pueblos look very poor but the Jemez seem to have a lot of services and a good looking school. We couldn't get close enough to the Zia pueblo but from the distance it looked like it could use some help.

We continued up the highway through Jemez Springs and stopped at the Jemez Mission...a state monument. The mission dates from about 1621 and is a huge ruin of a church and associated monastic and support buildings. The mission predates the Pueblo Uprising and was eventually abandoned. The Indians moved down the valley away from the mission and established the current Walatowa pueblo village. We were at 6,300 ft. and she didn't want to push her luck so Jeanne stayed at the museum. Jill and I walked around the ruins taking pictures but Jill got a little spooked about the rattlesnake warning signs and went back to sit with Jeanne.

We headed back down the valley (Jemez Creek is a trout stream!!) and it was beginning to threaten rain. We stopped in a cafe called the Laughing Lizard in Jemez Springs and had some pretty good pizza. The place was family-run and pretty slow and we again we had to realize we were on New Mexico time. We went a few blocks and stopped at a shop called Weekends and looked at all kinds of 'alternative' stuff (prayer flags, smudge sticks, bumper stickers, etc.) and picked out a few things but the owner was involved in a long-winded discussion with another customer that went on about 20 minutes....so we had plenty of time to shop.

We had wanted to stop at the Ponderosa Valley Winery but it closes at 5 PM and we were running out of time. On a whim we decided to make the short detour to the winery and they were open and still doing tasting. This turned out to be the best wine we had on the trip. We figured we were stragglers and would get a quick visit but people kept coming in -- about four groups after us. Again, New Mexico time. The winery owners seemed happy to have the visits and everyone got the best treatment. Jill walked around taking pictures of the five dogs and the hundred or so hummingbirds. The storm caught us and things were a little wet as we headed back to Albuquerque but we could see three or four storms in the distance that looked impressive. We finally got a pretty good rain as we came into Bernalillo.

We ended the evening playing Uno and having a "happy hour" in our room.

August Trip to New Mexico - 2010 - day 8

Saturday - Started out with a nice breakfast at The Range...we need to get used to New Mexico time -- everything seems to move in slow motion. We went to the Aquarium and Botanical Garden. The aquarium is small but interesting and has a focus on protecting the oceans. It is always fun watching the human visitors watching and reacting to the fish.

The botanical garden is nice and shows the desert and dry mountain plants. We found a roadrunner living in the glassed-in desert house...must have come in by a window or the door. He tried to follow me out the door. There are a lot of plants I recognize from home that can grow in a dry climate. We didn't stay long -- the sun gets very hot even though the temperature isn't so bad or the humidity and it is fairly pleasant in the shade.

Our next stop was the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center where we toured the museum and watched some Navajo dancers. The museum is well done and provides a good overview of the various pueblos. The dancers were very good but they looked hot

in the intense sun. We had lunch in the restaurant. The food was good - I had mutton stew and a slab of peach pie - both were prepared as pueblo cooking and were little different -- especially the pie.

Finished the day watching flat-track roller derby -- very interesting and a rough sport. Every time we thought we had it figured out they seemed to change the rules. The team we were pulling for won. After the game we had a late supper at O'Neill's on Central.

August Trip to New Mexico - 2010 - day 7

Friday - the 13th - I did my walking thing in the morning again and got back around 8. We all went to the Flying Star in Corrales for breakfast and then looked through some shops and explored Corrales a little.

We went on up to Bernalillo and then up the hill a ways to my building lot. It met with some mixed reviews at first but nothing too negative. It is a little far away from the action but it is pretty accessible too. We had lunch at Abuelitos in Bernalillo and everyone got a taste of New Mexican cooking.

We went on to visit Old Town to see the Plaza area because it would be so crowded on Saturday during the salsa fiesta.

Had a great evening listening to a band performing at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center -- mostly classic blues with a great singer.

Went out hoping to see the tail end of the meteor shower but got to see a bazillion stars instead along with Mars rising over Sandia Mountain -- pretty cool. Also saw a jack rabbit that was about 30 inches tall -- looked bigger that some dogs I know.

August Trip to New Mexico - 2010 - day 6

Thursday - Happy Birthday to me! Got up and did my walk - ended up back at the coffee shop and read the local free newspaper and had a nice cinnamon roll. Had to move out of my motel room and into another one with 2 beds. Jill and Jeanne are arriving today to spend my birthday and some vacation time with me.

Picked up Jeanne at the airport around noon. She got VIP service from Southwest Airlines and enjoyed the ride. We had a nice lunch at O'Neill's Pub then got her checked in at the motel.

Jill came in on the train about 4:30 and we picked her up and went to Kelly's for something to eat since she hadn't eaten on the train. She had a good train trip bu it was long. The scenery was nice after Kansas.

We went back to the motel with a threat of rain. The sky was dark and we had a rain shower earlier in the day. Since it was clouding up pretty much our plans to see the meteor shower were postponed.

We had a quiet evening. I opened my presents. Everyone was tired so we called it a day. I had a good birthday.

August Trip to New Mexico - 2010 - day 5

Wednesday - Took my walk up the street (Carlisle) to Candelaria and stopped off at a Wal-Mart on the way back to get some dish soap. the motel doesn't provide it anymore but they still expect you to wash dishes. I'm not as happy with them as I was on other trips.

Leaving Wal-Mart I went to a coffee shop and got coffee and a chocolate chip scone and had that for my breakfast. The place seems to be a gathering site for retired engineers where they meet in the morning. One guy is apparently the leader of the group and seems to dominate the conversations ("what are you going to do today", "what's your daughter up to" etc.) He apparently doesn't have enough to do and is trying to get an invitation to be included in the other guys' plans....but they don't offer the invitation. Finally one of them gets up and goes outside and quizzes the landscape maintenance guy about his backpack blower that he is using to blow dust and debris away form the coffee shop door. He finally comes back in and reports. Another guy has a house repair project and the leader gives him advice on what he should do. Apparently the espresso coffee machine broke down a few days ago so they were all involved in that but a repair guy came and fixed it....with parts from Italy (!). I enjoyed my stay -- they were very curious about what and who I was but no one was brave enough to ask.

I met with my builder at 11 AM and just visited for a while -- brought her up to date a little and she talked about her contractor business and how slow things were. We didn't actually have much to talk about but since I was in town I wanted to visit with her.

Had lunch at Kelly's microbrewery on Central Avenue. Beer and a Greek salad. Drove around near old town and the zoo and found the train station. Jill and Jeanne come to town tomorrow.

Ate supper at the motel and then went to an Isotopes baseball game. It was a good game but the 'topes lost. They have a really nice ballpark and there was a good crowd there in spite of the temperature of 98 degrees as the game was getting started. It cooled off after about an hour once the sun went down.

August Trip to New Mexico - 2010 - day 4

Tuesday - I've started walking again in the morning. Left the motel and went down Menaul all the way to University St. and back which is a pretty good walk...surprised at the light traffic in the morning.

Decided to go pay a visit to the City of Rio Rancho's public works and building regulation departments just to see what they were like and what they had to tell me. The building dept. gets a D+ or maybe a C- if I cut them some slack. They have several set answers to questions..."that's not our department", "I'm just getting to that", "it's in the packet of information". The packet is the same stuff on the web page. First impressions are important and they didn't do very well. On the other hand, the Public Works department was very helpful with questions and putting me in touch with Eddie who will let me know about the water availability. I'd give them a B+. I expected to talk to some engineer types who would not be able to communicate but was surprised.

I spent the rest of the day in Bernalillo. I had lunch at Abuelita's and had some authentic New Mexican food -- a Navajo Taco which is a sopapilla laid flat and then covered with refried beans, shredded beef, lettuce, tomatoes and green chile sauce (sauce on the side). This was like a Tostada Compuesta if you know what that is.

Today is the Feast of San Lorenzo, the patron saint of Bernalillo so they have a 3-day fiesta that started Monday afternoon. They had already carried the Saint from the church earlier in the day and took him to the festival area where the observance was presided over by a Mayordomo - head of the family that "owned" the saint for the past year. Each year the saint is passed over to another family who take responsibility for it and also host the Fiesta. They provide food and take care of details for the fiesta and the Matachines dance.

The fiesta dance grounds were sort of behind the grocery store. My waitress at Abuelita's filled me in on how to get there. I was able to follow local people carrying lawn chairs once I got close to the place. It was pretty full and kind of a tight squeeze. I was a little concerned with the guys carrying the whips but they were dancers and that was one of the things they used in the dance.

Luckily I got an ear full from one of the concession guys who explained all about San Lorenzo. Once it got started I was struck by the religious atmosphere that it all took on. I asked if it was OK to take pictures and they said 'yes' but there were not many cameras so I only took a few.

They have been doing this dance in Bernalillo since 1693. I tells a story of Christianity coming to the Aztecs and how Montezuma struggled before finally accepting Christianity. There are some key figures...Montezuma, Malinche (aka Marina), Aztec warriors, the devil/evil one, and protectors who guard against the devil (guys with the whip). The dance went on in the hot sun for almost two hours. One of the final parts of the dance involves the town's people joining in with the dancers to reaffirm their commitment to San Lorenzo and the church. Then, after a break, they took the statues of San Lorenzo and paraded through the streets around town. He goes back to the sanctuary church tomorrow after being handed over to the new Mayordomo family. This was really fascinating to watch. I have heard about this dance -- mostly in Mexico or South America -- but never have seen it.

I was hot after several hours in the sun (not as hot as the dancers) so I tried to cool off. I went back up to my lot and re-confirmed some of the information I talked about at the city hall. The manhole cover I saw that I thought was sewer or water was Qwest's underground wire access. I suspect that I'm going to need a well after all...even though I can see a huge water tank about 1000 feet away.

I cooled off in the Santa Ana Star Casino for about an hour -- spent $20 but had a good time. It was getting dark when I got started back to my motel and, of course, I managed to get lost.

Watson is sick and Jill took him to the animal hospital. He has lost about 5 lbs from his high od 22 lbs and is too weak to go eat. He will stay with the vet until I get home. They ran some blood tests but everything was normal. He has a fever so maybe an infection of some kind. Poor guy.

August Trip to New Mexico - 2010 - day 3

Monday - Not much to report. Got up very early -- partly due to the time change but I wanted that free breakfast. I got the breakfast sandwich (apparently "sangwish" in Albuquerque talk) Most of the people at the Pow Wow were from the motel.

It was a cool morning and no rain clouds. Not much traffic. This is pretty much of an uphill climb except for heading into Santa Rosa and crossing the Pecos River. The roadside scenery is nice but there was one area that was nearly covered with billboards advertising a tourist trap shop...the Flying C Ranch. I drank too much coffee so I had to stop anyway -- what a rip off place. I had previously stopped at Cline's Corners on another trip and it is an authentic tourist trap from long ago which gives it a little character -- you can still buy wax teeth and rubber tomahawks -- but this place had no redeeming value except the bathrooms. Cline's Corners, a little farther west, is looking pretty run down.

The road keeps going up gradually until you hit Moriarty and then it is pretty much all downhill to Albuquerque...maybe 30 miles of steady drop in elevation.

I got to the motel way too early to check in so ended up going north to Bernalillo and visiting my building lot and then eating at Wendys. The lot is fine...I was afraid that it had burned in some brush fires last year but they must not have gotten close.

I drifted through Bernalillo and then down through the Sandia reservation and finally went over to Corrales and stopped at the Flying Star (think Panera Bread Co.) and got some coffee and sat outside and enjoyed the day. There are some interesting shops close by. I've noticed a lot of bugs flying around....flies and mosquitoes seem to be out in force. They were very pesky while I was looking at the lot and then later at the Flying Star. I stopped and got some repellent.

Bernalillo is having it's fiesta but not much was happening today when I was there. I'll check it out tomorrow. I got checked in after 2 PM and chilled out for a while. Went and picked up a few groceries. The motel seems pretty much the same.

August trip to New Mexico - 2010 - Day 2

Sunday - Left Oklahoma City around 8 AM and headed west on I-40. There seems to be a lot of road work going on -- maybe due to the stimulus money? I took a side trip to follow Route 66 for a few miles and then went off looking for the wind farms near Weatherford OK. I'm fascinated by the huge wind turbines. My GPS lady was yelling at me trying to get me to go back to I-40...she is such a nag.

I also stopped at a roadside Cherokee Trading Post -- a tourist trap but a pretty high class one. They sell lots of Indian jewelry and pots, rugs, etc. and most of it looks pretty good -- not like it came from China. They advertised that they had live buffalo but he was busy elsewhere so I got a picture of the fiberglass one and a huge Indian.

I crossed into Texas and stopped to see the 2nd biggest cross in the western hemisphere at Groom TX....not much else happening there (except for the leaning water tower). I think the biggest cross is in Greenland or Illinois or somewhere.

Went on and saw the VW version of Cadillac Ranch in Conway, TX, just off the interstate. It is pretty run down...VWs don't hold up to the elements like Caddies. It doesn't get many visits....no tour busses.

In Amarillo I tried to stop at the quarter horse museum but it was closed...again. Always closed on Sunday. Instead I grabbed lunch at a McCafe and used the McToilet. I also made my obligatory stop at Cadillac Ranch. Each time I stop I seem to have a different favorite one. A bus load of German tourists were there and I met a family that drove up from Lubbock just to see it...(better than the Alamo?)

New Mexico now has a tall welcoming gate spanning the highway as you enter the state....must be more stimulus money. It looks nice and is a welcome sight as you leave Texas.

Tucumcari is where I'm staying at the Blue Swallow Motel - built in 1939 back when Route 66 was the biggest deal in the area (it still is, apparently). My room is nice and the couple that run the place are very nice. This is almost a ghost town...no industry and it only serves the local ranchers and tourists. Most of the old motels are closed or torn down. The few that are left seem to be barely hanging on but the Blue Swallow is the exception -- they have a full house. There are painted murals on some exterior walls and in the garages. My garage has a scene from Easy Rider and, as fate would have it, my next door neighbors are two guys from Denmark who are crossing the country on rented motorcycles.

Went to the Pow Wow Restaurant for supper and had a huge beer (Shiner Bock) and a stuffed sopaipilla covered with cheese and green chile sauce (stuffed with beef and refried beans) --- ahhh New Mexico.

Interesting...I get a free breakfast at the Pow Wow paid by my motel owner if I get up and check out by 7 AM. He explained that it is taking him and his wife longer to clean the rooms and if people leave early he can get an early start. He and his wife were very nice and were not trying to get rid of people...really. But that makes the experience more like 1950 vacations when you had to get up in your jammies before dawn and hit the road.

August trip to New Mexico - 2010 - Day 1

Saturday: How many times have I gone this way?

I got on the road fairly early for a change and was past the Lake traffic before it was too busy. Stopped in a Waffle House in Springfield for an early lunch and then headed on to Oklahoma. The weather was nice and cool enough that I didn't need the car AC until I got to Tulsa. Highway 65 is re-done as a divided highway all the way to Springfield now so that made it easier. Unfortunately the interstate and turnpike are messed up in Tulsa and a good part of the way to Oklahoma City....cars were backed up for miles in the eastbound lanes. They are working on a Saturday so they are trying to get it finished but still have a lot to do. Westbound wasn't nearly as bad. I might try to come home a different way...maybe through Wichita.

I got into Oklahoma City a little before 4 PM and checked in at the motel. It is an EconoLodge that I've stayed at before - cheap and nothing special. It was pretty hot and steamy so I needed to cool off for a while.

Went to Bricktown for supper and found the Tap Werks pub on Sheridan Ave. It has over 100 beers on tap and about the same variety in bottles. I had a couple Fuller's Pride pale ales that were on special for $3.00 a pint and a very good Reuben sandwich. There was live music scheduled there for tonight and also at a number of other places close by.

No baseball game so the ballpark was quiet. I walked around a little and listened to a band playing outdoors at one of the bars but it was too hot to stay very long. They have a little river walk but the water seems to make things that much more humid. They also have a Banjo Museum.

Headed back to the motel and watched part of a John Wayne movie marathon.