I decided to drive up the river valley today. The first town is Corrales which dates back to about 1710. It is very traditional looking but I think they work at it It is pretty artsy with galleries and shops. Many of the buildings are old but look like they have been rehabbed or are newer and made to look old. There are a lot of river farms and more wineries. They use an aqueduct system and flood the fields periodically with water from the Rio Grande. Also there are some horse farms and truck farms with produce stands.
The old church of San Ysidro is now the town hall and they use it for special events. Across the calle is one of the old haciendas that has been preserved and is open as a house museum.
The "bosque" is the wooded and well watered area along both sides of the river and
that is where the first settlements were. The bosque has some of the biggest cottonwood trees I've seen. Some must be 300 years old. El Camino Real connected most of these little villages and later it became Route 66 in many places. Now it is I-25.
I went back up to Bernalillo which is also an old settlement in the river bosque. Of all the places I've seen, this looks like it might be a place where I can buy a reasonable piece of land. (Did I say "reasonable"??? I've been here too long.) Bernalillo is a broad mix of old and new. The state wine festival is held here on Labor Day weekend (!). Many of the homes are very old while many new ones are being built. It is on the interstate and has a lot of modern stores....even a Starbucks.
Placitas is a little village that is part-way up the slope of the Sandia Mountains just east of Bernalillo. The village dates back to 1750s
and a Spanish land grant that still exists today. Descendants of the original settlers still live in the village on the land grant. The village church - San Antonio - dates from the 1860s. The village is now almost surroun
ded by million-dollar homes which might eventually force them to sell off the land grant. That is what happened not too long ago closer to Albuquerque. I don't know how they figure the taxes on these old land grants. I'm sure developers would love to get their hands on it. Placitas is on the road up to the national forest but they have the road closed to all but local residents due to fire danger. It is up pretty high and has some spectacular views which is why the California refugees with deep pockets are moving in and buying up land.
Tonight I'm going to walk over to a bar-b-que place I've been smelling all week. I'm packing up tonight since I head for home tomorrow. Gas prices here are about $3.19 but you can find it as low as $3.12 at Smith's grocery stores. Looks like the trip home could be a wet one.
if my attempt at immortality was successful. Most of what I saw a week ago when I stopped by was obliterated an
d covered with new graffiti. They even painted over my name! I hope "Mommy" got well because the "Get Well Mommy" inscription was replaced by "Sonya + Stacey". In fact Stacey had his name recorded several times on several cars...I don't know if he did it or Sonya did it. The whole thing reeks of spray paint. You can smell it 100 feet away. 
e. It was closed when I got to town but it has some nice bronze statues on the outside. I'll try to get in here some future trip. 
The old church of San Ysidro is now the town hall and they use it for special events. Across the calle is one of the old haciendas that has been preserved and is open as a house museum.
that is where the first settlements were. The bosque has some of the biggest cottonwood trees I've seen. Some must be 300 years old. El Camino Real connected most of these little villages and later it became Route 66 in many places. Now it is I-25.
and a Spanish land grant that still exists today. Descendants of the original settlers still live in the village on the land grant. The village church - San Antonio - dates from the 1860s. The village is now almost surroun
ded by million-dollar homes which might eventually force them to sell off the land grant. That is what happened not too long ago closer to Albuquerque. I don't know how they figure the taxes on these old land grants. I'm sure developers would love to get their hands on it. Placitas is on the road up to the national forest but they have the road closed to all but local residents due to fire danger. It is up pretty high and has some spectacular views which is why the California refugees with deep pockets are moving in and buying up land.
things I like. While I was driving around I found two wineries (Yeaa!) but I didn't get to stop.(Booo!) but I KNOW WHERE THEY ARE (!). The houses were built by my contractor and were, of course, three times too big but I got to see one that was being built and I could see how some of it was done. 
property there....so I went there today. It is very pretty and wooded with cedars and Pinon pines. It is also very high. I was out of breath just walking a few hundred feet. I think I need a place with air. I've been reluctant to consider the wooded mountain areas because of 
fire danger and, sure enough, the fire department was up there blocking a road and working up in the hills. I didn't see smoke or a fire but it just reinforced my concern. Humidity was 12% earlier this week. I have learned to carry bottled water in the car when I go out. There is less humidity on the east side of the mountains....the river seems to moderate the humidity on the west side where it looks drier.
Albuquerque Isotopes minor league ball park. Isotopes are a Marlins AAA team. The ballpark has sort of a 1950s retro look about it. I couldn't find a way to sneak in so I had to be content taking pictures from the outside. It was so windy today that I don't think they could have played baseball anyway. This is the windy season here - usually 4 or 5 weeks of windy days...but it hasn't been bad until today. 
I think there are three Indian casino in all and there is a racetrack that also has a casino. "Sandia" means watermelon and refers to the color of the mountain when the sun goes down. I think it looks more purple than red.
e up to see how close I could get to the three volcanoes over on the west mesa. It looks like there are hiking trails that go there but the road doesn't go very close and I think they are bigger than they look from the road. They are on the grounds of Petroglyph National Monument so you probably need a permit. The Rio Grande Valley is a rift valley (like in Africa) but it has largely filled in with sand and some lava from the volcanoes that erupted later. The volcanoes are small stubs of what they once were...reminders of what took place here millions of years ago. 
is way beyond my price range but they assure me that they can do as much or as little as I want and the small size I want isn't a problem if we can find the right lot. I really like their finished product even though it is a 21st century rendition of a prehi
storic mud hut. 
but the Jemez Mountains are jaw-dropping beautif
ul. Each turn reveals an amazing view. The Jemez Creek is a trout stream (Yes!) and there is a lot of stream access. The road goes through the Zia and Jemez pueblos which are interesting. Some of the families live in a more traditional manner and others are more modern. They don't look prosperous by our standards but I'm not sure how they would judge that sort of thing. The high school and some of the other service buildings are modern and look comparable to any other town.
h mission church (San Jose de los Jemez) located in the old pueblo of Giusewa. The friars got to the Jemez area in 1598 and the original church was built in 1601 and a second larger church was built in 1621. The ruins of the second church are very impressive. There were 3,000 Indians living at the mission at one time. The pueblo revolt of 1680 drove the 
Spanish out and some of the buildings were converted to kivas when the population returned, briefly, to the old pueblo religion.
