Moving Day -- The arrival of Battlestar Gallactica

Today, Labor Day, was my moving day. Roadway trucking was my moving company and I got a call from Enad, the driver, telling me that the truck be there at 8 AM. I was up at 6 AM and got a few things organized and moved some of the cargo that I was going to haul in my truck out to the garage.

At 8 AM this thing arrived...much larger than what I expected. I have never seen a truck this big. It was like the Titanic or Battlestar Gallactica pulling up in front of the house. It covered the entire front of my house and part of the neighbors. The trailer was 73 feet long and had several households of stuff on it already. The driver had a helper on the truck and then four local guys showed up.

The move started a little after 8 AM and they were finished at the house in two hours and then we went to the storage unit a couple miles away.  Enad had to back the truck into the self storage place. I am amazed with his skill at driving the truck.

They were all finished before 11 AM. Enad gave me the bad news on the cost of the move. It was more than the estimate but less than the highest estimate that I got. It is pricey to hire movers and move 1,000 miles but I'm OK with it. It is better than back surgery...what I got from an earlier move. There were cheaper alternatives but most of them had me doing a lot more work.

Enad said he had to be in Austin Texas at 8 AM Tuesday and then go to Houston before going on to my house in Rio Rancho. He expects to be there Wednesday.  WHAT???  I figured he might get there on Thursday or Friday.  Now I have to sprint out to NM to meet the truck....no leisurely drive out -- this is a race.

I went back to the house and spent an hour cleaning up a little. It is a mess but I can only do so much. I loaded up the pick-up truck with stuff I was moving and secured everything with tarps and a cargo net. I was on my way by 1:30.

The trip to Tulsa, where I'm spending the night, was uneventful. I was sleepy at first but woke up with some coffee. In Joplin I bought a few more bungee straps to keep the tarp from flapping so much. I got to my motel about 8 PM and walked over to an IHOP restaurant.

The rest of the evening I spent in my room watching PBS. I have to get an early start tomorrow and get to Tucumcari.  That will leave just a two hour drive on Wednesday.

Home by Eight - back to Jefferson City

Our trip to Jefferson City was uneventful. We had a pretty good breakfast and were on our way at 9 AM from Weatherford. We decided to drive about fifteen miles on old Route 66. The old highway runs parallel to the interstate for about five miles and then veers off for a short distance. We stopped briefly at Lucille's old roadhouse and then went on toward Sayre. Lucille's is an old gas station that has been rehabbed a little so it is sort of a shrine on Rt. 66. We pulled up to a top sign and were surprised to have a van pull up beside us and the driver ask directions....two British tourists out getting their kicks on Route 66.

We got back on the interstate and headed toward Oklahoma City and made our way to the turnpike and then on to Tulsa.  I managed to get through Tulsa without getting lost. That doesn't happen very often.  We stopped for lunch in Joplin and eventually made it to Jefferson City by 8 PM.

There are a few things that I should mention that I overlooked...

This was a good trip and I was glad to have someone to ride along. Donna was an eager helper and we got to see some new things.

When we would sit outside in the evening we were cold enough that we needed sweaters and jackets and Donna wore a head scarf.  This is August.  We needed blankets when we went to bed.

I got trash collection started and even got my first electric bill, less than $20 for only a few days.

I woke up one night with a 3" centipede in my bed...on my face, actually, but he was dead. These are large and nasty "bugs" that sting or bite and are hard to kill. I only saw one but I kept looking for any of his friends. They can get up to six inches long.

My Quail are Gambel's Quail. They are pretty shy and usually won't come out if I'm outside so I watch them through the windows. They walk single file through the front yard and seldom try to fly.

I Don't Always Follow Old Route 66 but when I do...

We did the morning chores and locked up the house and were on our way back to Missouri by about 10:15. I almost said "back home" but New Mexico is starting to feel "homey" to me. We decided we would try to make it back with only one night in a motel so we targeted Weatherford, Oklahoma, as a good half-way stopping point.  We also wanted to see some of historic Route 66 along the way...if time permitted.

The Mother road didn't have a single route across New Mexico but went a variety of routes over the years, including up to Santa Fe  and south toward Belen and then several paths through Albuquerque. We were going home on I-40 so we focused on what was close at hand.

We saw a few signs and some abandoned or re-purposed motels and roadside businesses along the way. Cline's Corners (you remember from the trip out) was where the old highway took a turn north toward Santa Fe. Santa Rosa has the old highway snaking through the whole town. Tucumcari is trying to make a living off of it's Route 66 history and is experiencing a small revival due to the stock of old motel that are in reasonable shape and worthy of restoration. They have a big monument dedicated to the old highway.



We stopped for lunch at a Denny's in Santa Rosa. I don't have too many restaurant standards but I expect the bathrooms to be reasonably clean.   My advice is to go check out the bathroom before you order food. We didn't and were wondering later if there was an urgent care facility nearby. I haven't seen a bathroom as dirty and disgusting as that one for a long time. There was a sign requiring employees to wash their hands...that made me worry even more.  We didn't get sick...yet...but it was just awful.

Some of the old Rt. 66 runs parallel to the interstate so you can see a few Mother Road relics as you drive the interstate. In Shamrock (TX) there is a nice stretch of the old highway that goes through the town and passes a unique restored gas station.

We stopped at the Cadillac Ranch just west of Amarillo. Donna had never seen it and didn't know what it was about. She had that "Why the hell are we stopping here for??"  look when I pulled off the highway and parked on the side of the road. There were only a few cars there but folks were busily at work painting the old cars.  Donna said that she "got it" once she looked it over for a while and saw people engrossed in spray painting the old cars.  I don't want to paint...I like watching the people. The cows were close by and seemed to be coming closer as we left.

The paint is so thick on the old sheet metal that it tries to flow due to the metal heating up and gravity pulling it down. The paint is almost an inch thick in some places. We watched a guy walk up with a bag of about six paint cans of different colors. We thought he was some kind of artist who would do something different. He started by painting a large silver rectangle on the roof of a car bordered in a different color. He then proceeded to write his name in the rectangle....big deal.

Groom, Texas, is still the same as ever...with the 2nd largest cross in North America.  I keep expecting them to do something to make theirs bigger....like add a huge flag on top or maybe a big lighted star. This is Texas.

It was getting dark when we finally got to Weatherford. We were booked into a Comfort Inn  and saw the sign on the road where we were supposed to get off the highway....we did but couldn't find the motel. it took about 20 minutes to find it. We had the last two rooms.

When I walked in to register the desk clerk greeted me with a cheery "What do you want??". How's that for hospitality?

We ate at the Boomtown Grill...which turned out to be a pretty good restaurant.  This was good because most of the other places were closed or almost closed by 9 PM.

Resistance, Change and Survival

Your Humble Servant

Friday, our last day, was a busy one. I did my fishy chores and then we headed out on a shopping spree. I saw a rug I wanted to buy and picked that up and then picked up a small bedside table and a seating bench. These will go well with what I have.

Replicated walls

Today's adventure started with a trip to see the Coronado State Monument just a few miles north of my house. This was a pueblo village that Coronado took over while he stayed in the area back in 1541-42. He showed up with all of his men plus 4,000 Indian allies and slaves plus livestock and pack animals.  The local residents were sent packing when he showed up and started making various demands. The Indians tolerated him for a while and then tried to drive him out. It was a bloodbath and he stayed on for a while before moving east.

Ruins

This site is the Kuaua Pueblo and it is mostly in ruins except for a few reconstructed walls and some restored kivas. The pueblo is unique because of the murals that were painted on the walls of the large kiva. These murals were preserved and are n display in the small museum.

Eagle Dancer

Or next stop was the Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque. In spite of Coronado and everything that has happened since, the pueblo people have survived and seem to be doing pretty well -- at least compared to the history of the past three hundred years. The cultural center is a "must see" for anyone visiting the area who has an interest in tribal culture. We got there in time to see the local dancers from the Zia Pueblo do an impressive show in the courtyard. This is a family group made up of three generations of one family. They sang several Indian songs and did about five dunces. They ended with a friendship dance which included some of the spectators.

The exhibits are all very interesting. The Zunis have a tradition of painting map images...pictures that are also maps. There was also an exhibit on the various patron saints of the different pueblos and the old churches that were built in the pueblo villages. We were starting to get information overload after a while. We probably should take a whole day to go through the museum exhibits and see the dancers.

Friendship Dance

We stopped off at St. Clair Winery for some wine tasting. They have such a convoluted system of tasting that it was too silly...and costly...to taste their wines. We ended up getting two glasses of wine and an appetizer...and then they let us taste a few wines at no charge....go figure.  Must be trying to discourage serial wine tasters looking for a cheap buzz..

We drove up Central Avenue, which is old Route 66, and looked at some of the vintage motels left over from the 1940s.  Route 66 took so many different paths through this area that you keep running into "Historic Route 66" signs.

We stopped off at Il Vecino for supper and a chance to sit outside and have a couple beers. They have a picnic table seating area outside that is pretty nice. This is another good people-watching place.

We headed back home in time to get rained on for about 5 minutes.  There is a lot of lightening in the area but not much rain.

Tomorrow we head for home.

Turquoise Trail

We got a late start this morning but went on a circle drive up to Santa Fe on Hwy 14 -- The Turquoise Trail. We, of course, didn't go directly but made a stop in Bernalillo at a wild bird food/pet supply store and bought a New Mexico bird book. I'll be able to figure out who is eating all of my birdseed.

Our first stop on the Turquoise Trail was the Tinkertown Museum. This is a crazy place to see.  Imagine never ever throwing anything away an maybe doing that for a couple generations and then going out and collecting other peoples' stuff. Then you build a rambling museum out of beer an wine bottles....thousands of bottles...and then you organize and arrange the stuff and charge admission....AND PEOPLE COME AND PAY TO SEE IT.

Much of the museum is miniature scenes that move but there are dolls and toys and coin operated fortune tellers and coin operated music machines.

Much of the stuff dates to the 1950s but some goes back to the early 1900s.

We decided to drive up to the top of Sandia Mountain....up to about 10,600 feet. The temperature dropped to about the 40s and it was clearly fall weather up there. We took some pictures and walked around a little and then drove part of the way back down and stopped at a picnic area and ate some lunch provisions that we took on the trip.

The top of the mountain has a radio antenna forest that I can see from my house at night due to the red lights on the top of the higher towers.

We drove on to the town of  Madrid...once a coal mining town that became a ghost town. It was rediscovered in the hippy era and now is an artist colony. There are lots of shops and galleries. Lots of people to watch. There are a few  bed and breakfasts and a nice coffee shop. We picked up some coffee and then went on a stroll through some shops.


The next stop is Cerillos...a small Hispanic style village. It was pretty much asleep when we got there and we just drove through. There were several movies made there and it looks like  natural movie set.


We drove on to Santa Fe and picked up some long sought after Monks' Ale which we will sample later.

At home we had a nice spaghetti dinner and relaxed and read for  while.

Tinkertown bottle wall

I Don't Need No Stinkin' Map!!

We started our day at the Flying Star in Bernalillo -- we ran out of coffee at home so it was an emergency. We stopped at the local grocery store -- a nice Albertsons -- on the way home and picked up some provisions.

We had a short list of errands and a few stops we needed to make but our plan was to go to the Old Town Plaza for lunch and walk around and then spend some time at the National Hispanic Cultural Center.

Our first stop, though, was in Corrales because I wanted Donna to see the old San Ysidro church and the restored hacienda across the street. We got there and the hacienda was closed....of course...and there would not be any tours until 1:30. The old church was recently damaged in the huge rain storm that hit the area the night before we got to town. Some of the mud stucco was sloughed off the exterior and laying in a pile on the ground. They will need a mud party of locals to get it re-mudded. We were greeted by two women on horseback who were very chatty and would have talked for a long time if we would have been willing to stay there for a few hours. They are both archaeologists and the one offers free horseback riding lessons to adults. They were very informative about the hacienda and the church and some of the Corrales traditions.

Our next stop was at an antique mall --- I was thinking that I needed a small table for the bedroom. I didn't find one but I did find a rug that I like and think would be great for my house.  I'm still thinking about it and might go back and pick it up.

I had to stop by my builder/agent's office and drop off some paper work. She called me to say she was too sick to meet with me....she sounded really bad...I hope she gets better soon.

We were now free to head to the Old Town plaza. I drove to the general area but kept missing the street. We drove by the same museum three times but couldn't find the right street to get into Old town. Donna was getting "worked up" about my driving and navigation skills when I suddenly found the right place and...ta-da...there we were.

We walked around looking in a few shops. They have some very nice Indian jewelry and some great Mexican rugs if you want to spend the money.   We ate lunch at La Placita Dining Rooms, which was probably a mistake. They are not getting any better and I was hoping for an improvement. We regretted our lunch -- mainly because it was too much food and not that good, anyway. They have a very obvious sewer problem that takes away some of the ambiance of an early 1700s building. (Note to self: find another place to eat in Old Town.)

We walked (more like waddled) over to the oldest church in Albuquerque...San Felipe de Neri, which dates to 1793. It was renovated several times and restored to it's appearance back in the 1800s. This church was not the first one in town. Earlier churches were destroyed and this one was relocated and built from some of the remains of the previous church.  We went into the small gift shop next door and looked at some hand carved saints and retablos. I found a couple saints that might look good in the nichos that I have on my fireplace.

We stopped off at the de Colores Galleria shop just off the plaza and looked at some of the santos and retablos made by Roberto Gonzales. He is a Santero, or a saint maker, and his shop is full of icons and images of various saints. If you are into saints, this is the place to come.  I got a small picture of San Pasquale, the patron saint of the kitchen, offering your choice of red or green chiles.

We finally made it to the Hispanic Cultural Center and toured the art gallery. They had a special exhibit of resistance needlework from Chile that dated to the days of the overthrow of Salvadore Allende and the dictatorship of Pinochet. The needlework (Arpilleras) tell stories of resistance and memorialize the people who were abducted and tortured or who just disappeared.

We got back home and decided to just sit and watch the colors change on the Sandia Mountains. Sandia is Spanish for watermelon and the mountain glows red at sunset. There were a few clouds spilling over the top of the mountain.  There seems to be a show like this every evening.

We were also entertained by the birds at the feeder and the hummingbirds zooming around the yard.  The rabbits were coming around and we had a squirrel and quail earlier in the day.

Two Fools? Oh, That's a Pub.

I don't have Internet service at my house yet so we have to go cruising for wifi every morning... Oh the sacrifices I make only for my adoring blog fans.

On Tuesday the day started as usual....with my neighbor, Rod, yelling some sort of greeting over the fence. He is outside most of the time so we see a lot of each other. After my fish chores...the Koi Pond requires attention twice a day...Donna and I went in to Bernalillo for coffee and wifi. Today was sort of a casual day. We did some unpacking and organizing so that there weren't so many boxes and piles of stuff all around.

I had to go get my bed springs/foundation thingy from the Denver Mattress place and I wanted to buy a couple counter height bar stool. We went into Albuquerque and had lunch at an Irish pup that I like a lot:  Two Fools Pub, on Central Avenue.  They have good food and a good beer selection. They also have a waitress wearing a kilt who is three days short of her due date. Kilts were not meant to be worn by pregnant women but she was doing the best she could. There were two guys (two fools?) sitting next to us having a deep conversation bad-mouthing just about everything from J. Edgar Hoover to the Catholic church. They were talking pretty loud so it was hard to miss some of the conversation. I tried but Donna homed in on it and was getting a little hot but they left before she did anything rash.

We went to the Furniture Row stores and I got two nice counter stools at a good price and then we picked up the bed springs and headed back to the house.

Our friends from Phoenix, Karia and Tom, were vacationing up by Santa Fe and were driving through Albuquerque on their way home. We connected with them and had a wonderful supper at The Range in Bernalillo (I got that trout again!). [Tom and Karia went to Italy with us for Oksana and Damiano's wedding...for those who have been reading this blog for a while.] The food and conversation were great. After leaving they followed us to the house and were my first house-party visitors....OK, not exactly a party but it was nice to relax and talk.

We ended the night sitting out and watching the sky....it is quite busy at night if you don't have too many lights or clouds in the way.

Sorry, no pictures today.