New Mexico Part 2 - Albuquerque

As I have already mentioned, New Mexico was a great surprise for us.  It was one of those places we thought we would drive through to get somewhere else and ended up spending almost 2 months there.  We just found so many things to do, so much history and so much to learn about the makeup of this country.  I never had a good head for geology, but now being up close and personal with so many types and colors and sizes of rock formations some of it is starting to make sense to me.  That being said, it still never ceases to amaze me.

The tent rocks

We went to a place called the Tent Rocks – it’s hard to explain what they looked like except this huge area of rocks worn away to look like giant tents.  They were awesome to see from the road, but it was so much fun to get right in and climb up into them.  I have to admit I have a fear of heights and sometimes I just freeze and can’t go any further.  I am trying very hard to get over it…but these were just a little too high and too steep for me to do…so I graciously sat in the shade and waited so Cliff could get to the top.  We also went to a place called the Land of Fire and Ice.  If you take the path to the right you start heading up into the mouth of a volcano.  It’s amazing to see the path that the lava took as it came out and flowed down the hill.  If you turn left on the path it takes you down into a cave where the temperature never rises above 31 degrees.  It was so interesting to see the stark difference between the 2 temperatures in such a short walk. Also an interesting tidbit...there used to be a lodge built nearby and they used the cave as their walk-in cooler.

I have to say one of my favorite places that we went was El Morro National Monument.  It is actually just a giant rock formation coming up out of the ground from nowhere, but when you get up to it the history is amazing.  Before there was gps, or maps or even roads, people traveled across the country and somehow knew how to get from one place to another.  I never really thought about it  before…but on their journeys they needed to find water and shade and safe places to stay.  Since this formation is so big and out there by itself, it was an easy landmark for people to head to on their way out west.  This, along with a natural source of water and trees nearby, made it the perfect “rest area” for weary travelers.  The cool thing is, many of them “autographed” the rock when they stayed there.  There are petroglyphs from Pueblo Indians, inscriptions

The first "rest area"

from Spanish conquistadors dating back to 1605, and messages from pioneers who started arriving in the 1850s.  It is almost surreal to stand there and know that you are not looking at a replica of this in a museum…but that all of these people actually stood there and carved their mark into that actual rock.  We were able to take the trail to the top, where again my fear of heights took over, but with Cliff’s patience and his hand holding mine, I was able to make it the whole way.

One of Cliff's "fun" pics
My hair on a very windy day

 We stayed at a great park in Albuquerque, lots of space, not far from town, but far enough and we met some great people.  Our first night there we went for a walk around the park – it had just started getting dark and it all felt so new and fun.  All of the sudden we heard a noise that I can’t even begin to describe.  It was a howling, screaming, shrill spooky noise.  We decided that somewhere in the park there were a group of teenagers trying their hardest to scare people..until we saw other people coming out of their RV’s and the park manager racing down the road.  They were all of the opinion that it was a pack of coyotes just on the other side of the fence, letting everyone  know they were there and not to be messed with.  I thought I knew what a coyote sounded like, but I will never forget that spine tingling sound, and I guarantee I will never mess with them.

Had to love going to "The Library"

For Breaking Bad fans
"The Laundromat"

Being beer lovers, I would be remiss if I didn’t give credit to Albuquerque for their amazing beer culture.  We were very excited and a little bit nervous when we realized just how many brewpubs there were surrounding us. For those of you who understand.. imagine how excited we were when we went to the chamber of commerce and one of the first things they handed us was the microbrew trail map for the area.   Fortunately we made a plan right from the beginning to spread them out throughout the month we were there so we could safely get to as many as possible.  Of course, it was all for educational purposes, and we came away with a vast knowledge of just what we like, what we don’t like, and what  we think makes a great brewpub.  They take it very seriously and it was fun to see just how many different combinations they can come up with.  For anyone who is a “Breaking Bad” fan, we were certainly in their territory.  We got to see some of the bars where they went, the Laundromat and the carwash.  It’s big business there..they even have a  tour where they drive you around in a “meth-bus”  to see all of the landmarks.  We didn’t go that far…but it was fun to see what we did see.

One of my favorites..
Rock, Paper,Scissors

Sculptures in Santa Fe

We had a beautiful, sunny day the day we took the train up to Santa Fe for the day and it was awesome.  They make it very easy, with several trains going back and forth each day.  Santa Fe is an easy city to walk around so it was nice to have that freedom of not having to ride the motorcycle back on the highway at night and not having to find parking in the city for the truck.  We “accidentally” ended up in the arts district and it ended up being one of our favorite things.  It was like a giant, eclectic outdoor art museum that you could just walk the streets and take in all of the different types of sculpture and artwork.  We are not really "artsy" people, but we were like little kids checking everything out, not to mention the great picture taking opportunity it was for Cliff.

The view "before" the bliizzard

The view on the way back down

Albuquerque was still very dry, but we had a huge weather surprise the day  we took the tramway up to the high point in the city.  We knew it was a cold day so we dressed appropriately.  We wandered around the top a little when suddenly it became a blizzard up there.  I was very grateful that Cliff had checked the weather and we weren't one of the people up there in shorts and flip flops.  It was definitely a strange experience coming back down on the tram..with zero visibility.  It was  a leap of faith to step through that doorway and trust that the cables were going to hold us in the winds.  But then as quickly as the snow started – the tram pulled out of the blizzard and we could see the beautiful, sunny city out ahead of us. 

I know it has been a long time since I last wrote.  Sometimes, although being on the road seems like a "dream", the reality of life never leaves us.  In the time since we left Albuquerque, my younger sister got ill and passed away this last week.  While we continued to see and do as much as possible she was never out of my mind or heart.  Sometimes the things we do seem very trivial in comparison to the reality of other peoples lives.  But then the big picture also reminds us of how fortunate we are to be able to learn so much, and see so much and meet so many great people on the road.  Albuquerque was one of those places that brought us the extremes..hot and cold, old and new, past and present.  A great surprise that we can't wait to go back to someday.