Albuquerque

We found a lot to do in our 5 day stay over Memorial Day weekend. Pueblo Indian Culture Center a very interesting stop. There are 19 Pueblos in New Mexico and this museum highlights thier history up until the present day. Each one unique in location, language, traditional artistic expression and contribution to modern and traditional culture.  These Pueblos are actually villages within reservations that are on historic native land and retain thier own unique heritage. 

We drove out to visit Jemez Springs (another village on Jemez reservation) to see the sights and visited some amazing ruins that have been stabilized and somewhat restored.

This Kiva or sacred spiritual gathering place was the most entacked as I have  ever seen. Unfortunately it was closed because of caution of COVID so can't go inside anymore. Actually right now tourists are not really welcomed in the Pueblos themselves because of lingering COVID concerns. Face masks are a must where tourists are allowed!

We took a soak in this historic bath house from 1876. Hot water flows from a spring at 154 to 186 degrees and must be cooled down before you can enjoy it. They are individual tubs and Will and I enjoyed ajoining tubs ( a room to ourselves). Didn't have to get swimsuits wet!!

This store has an amazing inventory of merchandise and a couple of rooms full of taxidermy. Original owner was a big game hunter

In one of our outings we found the Tinker Town Museum. It is absolutely chocked full of the most bizarre assortment of memorabilia. Started by a guy who had a talent for woodcarving.  And I'd say it got out of hand. . .He hand carved hundreds of characters and made dioramas to tell stories.  And then collected every sort of odd items and antiques to make a collection that is mind boggling. 

Just up the road from Tinkertown is village of Madrid. Mining community turned into artsy town full of galleries, shops, restaurants. 

We found an exhibition in one gallery showcasing works by artist better known as T Banks. For the last 10 years or so he has taken drab paintings off of walls in hotels where he has stayed, added and enhanced the painting with his own style of painting, signed them, put them back up and left. There are supposedly hundreds of his paintings in hotel rooms across the country. Some hotels outraged, some thought it was clever, but most have gone unnoticed. A few in show are ones that he got back when he made restitution to the hotel for "damages!"

Found Jill Shwaiko's private gallery in town. Recognized her work immediately. Have seen her work in Tucson and Tubac galleries. Got to meet her, we had nice conversation. Fun to see all her stuff in one big collection. Her tiny headed goats (or deer??) show up in her paintings and sculptures.

Near Grants NM

We stopped to check out Malpais National Monument, Zuni country, on old Route 66, Continental Divide and surprising town of Grants, NM. Lots and lots of wind, however,  which is just annoying.

  

Hiked to the top of the bluff at El Morro and back down a switchback trail to the "front" of the cliff where there is a historic water source that was important from ancient times to pioneer days.

Ruins of puebloan peoples who lived here on top of bluff and farmed the valleys below.

Oldest inscription on the cliffs around the water source is this one from 1692.  There are petroglyphs, inscriptions from Conquistadors, Spanish missionaries, governors, Mexican settlers and military and then US military, settlers and opportunists up until mid 1900's and is now a National Historic site. 

Natural Arch, it's huge.

From the top of millions year old sandstone bluffs, one looks down on valleys filled with lava flows from only  150,000 years ago.

We hiked a very rocky 1 mile trail through the lava fields. Had to keep in site of markers ( kairns) every step to find safe passage through.  (Reminiscent of Hawaii)

Lia's South Pacific Comes to an End!!

 

Lia's 5 months on tour with a Broadway touring company's "South Pacific"  just came to an end.  She had such an amazing experience to tour the country.  They did 72 shows in 40 different cities from East Coast to West Coast, Iowa to Arizona, Kansas to Florida and in between.  Will went to California and got to see her preform 5 times and then we both saw it three times while they stopped in Phoenix.  What a treat.  Here is a little "undercover" video that was taken during a couple of her recent shows!  She absolutely loved it all, the travel, the performances, the friends she made, the tutors to continue school while on the road, even the bus ride.  Doug was traveling with her for most of the time--Tammy stepped in a few times too, it was a big family commitment but turned out to be the adventure of her young life.

New Mexico, here we come.

Our plan was to spend a few weeks in New Mexico. We made reservations at 5 State Parks in north Central New Mexico plus a week in Albuquerque. Unfortunately for us New Mexico has some serious forest fires burning.  One by one we got notices that 3 out of the 5 State Parks have cancelled our reservations and closing down because of fire danger, or they are in active fire zone.  So we are altering our plans a bit. 

We did make it to Blue Water State Park for 2 days east of Gallup, NM and enjoyed a great hiking trail through a scenic canyon.  Good birding too. 

There are wild horses in this park which was fun to spy. Signs warning you to stay clear of them as they are not tame and can be aggressive. 

Sunday morning and we were able to catch enough signal to watch our St. Andrews church service live. 

We will be moving  to a place near Grants, NM before we go on to our week near Albuquerque. Then we have to change our route a bit.

When life gives you lemons. . .

That is a very flat tire with a very large bolt imbedded in it! 

That is Will fixing that very flat tire. Luckily we got back to camp before it went flat!!  We didn't notice it until we decided to try to go somewhere this morning. So that meant a drive into Payson to find a tire shop to get it fixed. 

Obviously a well used fishing spot. Yep, I added to the collection. We laughed when we saw the decorated tree. . .until I lost my whole rigging.  (I did, however, catch a trout here!)

 Pretty fishing spot!

Since we had to go to Payson to get tire fixed, we did a Walmart run for supplies, Went out for dinner at Mexican place and then took in a local Rodeo in the evening.

Enjoying Wood Canyon Lake recreation area.

It's really a nice spot to be to take in all the area has to offer. We need blankets and furnace on early in the morning but warms up soon as sun gets up. 

The hike around the lake is about 4 miles

Canoeing and fishing. No luck this morning but just being out on the lake was enough. 

Found a Bluebird nest hole right next to our camp.  She's watching us, watch her!!

Some of our summer toys. Now it gets harder and harder for us old folks to get that canoe on and off of the vehicle but we invested in a simple devise that hooks to back bumper and then helps us "lever" it off.  Now next hard part is getting in. . .and more importantly, getting up out of the thing. We laugh a lot. . .so far, we can do it.

The vistas from "the Rim" is stunning--and changes according to time of day