Year 3 Week 43

April 8 to 14, 2007

Albuquerque, New Mexico to Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado

Year 3 week 43

 

Easter Sunday ; Today was sunny and warm.

This morning we headed off for a day at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Centre in Albuquerque. The Indian Pueblo Cultural Centre is a co-operative effort of the 19 Indian Pueblos ( what we would call bands or tribes ). Every weekend they have Native dance performances. We arrived just in time for the 11:00 A.M. dance performance by the Zuni group, the Red Hawk Dancers. The Zuni Pueblo is near Zuni and Gallup, New Mexico, west of Albuquerque. We watched their dance performances of many interpretive dances, like the Red Tail Hawk Dance, the Deer Dance, the Rainbow Dance, and the Harvest Dance. Many of the Zuni dances are tributes to the animals and plants that either sustain them, or are symbols of their "God" spirits.

After the dance performances we wandered around the art galleries and museums in the centre. One of the museums in the centre pays homage to the Navajo Code Talkers of the Second World War. The Navajo Code Talkers story is fascinating. We watched the children's Easter Egg hunt in the courtyard. We went for lunch to the Harvest Cafe, where each dish is a specialty of one of the Pueblos. I had the San Ildefonso ( Pueblo ) specialty, a Portobello mushroom sandwich. Joanne had the Tiwa ( Native language ) specialty, a type of Indian Taco. The waiter dropped off three coloured plastic Easter eggs on our table. Two of the plastic eggs contained little bags of candy. The third one contained a voucher for a corn necklace which I picked up after lunch. I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with a corn necklace, but it's a nice souvenir. We spent quite awhile in the large native jewellery store, searching for a man's watch band for me. Unfortunately, I discovered that only a Rolex watch band will fit a Rolex watch. I bought a silver and turquoise Zuni ring. We saw quite a few pieces of jewellery made by Effie Calavaza, the Zuni artist who made the bracelets Erbon and Lorraine bought in Weslaco, Texas.

I was feeling quite ill after lunch. We watched part of the afternoon dance performance, then left. Back at the trailer, I napped while Joanne did some laundry. I downloaded and processed yesterday's and today's photos, we watched Amazing Race, then had a light, late dinner. I updated my blog, and we watched The Apprentice. "YOU'RE FIRED !" I wonder how many times I said that between 1990 and 2004 ? HA HA HA !

 

Monday ; Albuquerque to Grants, New Mexico

This morning was cool and raining. This afternoon was sunny and mild.

When I walked Bo this morning at 7:00 A.M. I wondered why there as an old man walking from his motorhome to the dumpster, carrying a bag of garbage, wearing a tuxedo and white gloves ? ! We got up early this morning to take the trailer to Camping World for new tires and service. We prepared for departure and hitched up in the rain. < sigh > I hate preparing for departure and hitching up in cold rain. Five minutes later I was back out in the cold rain, at Camping World next door to our campground, unhitching. Five minutes after that, I was back in the cold rain again, having a propane tank refilled. We left the trailer ( with Teddy inside ) at Camping World for the day, for new tires, repack the wheel bearings, and inspect and adjust the brakes. I was expecting that the brakes would probably need to be replaced.

We drove down historic, old Route 66 to downtown Albuquerque. We went to shop at a Native arts, crafts, and jewellery store called Skip Maisel's. We bought more gifts ! We drove to Old Town, and browsed until we were hungry for lunch. When we went into the restaurant, it was cloudy and raining. I wrapped a bit of Joanne's left over lunch in a napkin, as a "doggie bag". Well ... the left over Chicharones ( cheech a row nees ... little cubes of deep fried pork ) were a huge hit with Teddy and Bo this evening. When we came out after lunch, the rain had stopped, the sky had cleared, and it was getting warm. YIKES ... we had left Bo in the truck. We rushed back to where we had parked the truck. Fortunately, the inside of the truck had not yet become too warm. We took Bo for a walk in a park in Old Town. We met and chatted with a couple ( and their Golden Retriever, Buddy ) from Durango, Colorado. After chatting with them, we finally made a decision that we've been wrestling with for the last few days. We decided to return north on the west side of the Rockies, up through Utah into Wyoming, instead of up the east side of the Rockies, through Colorado into Wyoming. Just like in the fall, the weather in the spring is much warmer on the west side of the Rockies than on the east side. We'll explore a bit of Southwest Colorado, but won't explore as much of Colorado as we had originally intended.

We returned to Camping World at 3:00 P.M., hoping the trailer would be ready soon. < sigh > It wasn't ready until shortly after 6:00 P.M., their regular closing time. We waited, and shopped, and waited some more. And ... they proved to me, yet again, that good help is hard to find. I paid the bill, and waited outside for them to bring the trailer out of the service department. The service technician dropped Harvey outside, then ... ZOOOOOM ... was gone, as was everybody else. I found that they had not replaced the valve stems as they were supposed to, and the tire pressures were 10 pounds too low < fume >. The brakes will need replacing soon. I would have replaced them today, but they didn't have the correct parts. So ... I'll replace them next fall when we begin to travel south again, next November in Oregon, where there's no sales tax.

We hitched up and drove to Flying J so that I could adjust the trailer tire pressures. By the time we were "on the road" it was after 7:00 P.M.. And ... we were driving west on I-40, blinded by the setting sun. We drove about 75 miles to Grants, where we stopped for the night at Blue Spruce RV Park. The scenery west of Albuquerque was spectacular ! I think we drove through the area that every “Old Wild West” movie was filmed. WOW ... I was half expecting Billy The Kid ( or at least a young Clint Eastwood ) to shoot at us as we passed each Mesa / flat topped mountain.

It was a long and tiring day.

Joanne wants me to comment in my journal that every day for the past few days, she has eaten Green Chile ... and her taste buds are burnt to a crisp ! HA HA HA !

 

Tuesday ; Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary

Today was sunny, mild, and windy. This part of New Mexico is between 7000 and 8000 feet elevation, so the temperatures are quite cool.

A few days ago, in Albuquerque, Joanne found a brochure about the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary in Candy Kitchen, New Mexico. We were interested in visiting it, and that's where we headed today. We departed Blue Spruce RV Park in Grants, and headed south, then east on Hwy. 53. We drove through an area known as New Mexico's Land Of Fire And Ice. Extinct volcanoes and caves so deep and cold that the lakes at the bottom of the caves are frozen. We turned south on Hwy. BIA 125, then west again on the gravel Hwy. BIA 120. I don't know what the "BIA" means. We found Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary. We were planning to tour the facility, then boondock overnight in their unserviced campground.

We were taken on a guided tour of the wolf pens around the grounds. They have over 60 wolves and "high content" wolf dogs ( "almost" wolves ). Each very large enclosure houses only 2 to 4 animals. We learned quite a bit about wolves ... and dogs ... and their behaviour. We saw the difference between Arctic Wolves and Timber Wolves. The tour guide was an 18 tear old young woman who came to work at the wolf sanctuary for a year between high school and university. She intends to become an animal behaviourist, specializing in dolphin communications. We think her year at the wolf sanctuary will be a great "real life experience" contribution to her education.

We had a late lunch, then decided not to stay in the wolf sanctuary's unserviced campground for the night. We drove back to Grants, and checked into the Bar S RV Park, a different campground than the one we stayed in last night. I spent the evening doing some work on the computer, and we watched TV. The areas around Albuquerque and Santa Fe are expecting bad / winter weather Thursday and Friday, so our plans for the next few days are uncertain.

 

Wednesday ; Acoma Pueblo Sky City

Today was sunny and cool. Our exterior water hose froze overnight.

This morning we prepared for departure and headed west on I-40 back towards Albuquerque. We turned south on Hwy. 30, then south on Hwy. 32 to the Acoma Pueblo. When we turned off I-40, the truck computer's distance to empty" read over 30 miles. We believed that the Acoma Pueblo Sky City was 11 miles off the Interstate. Joanne wanted me to buy diesel as we were leaving the Interstate. I thought that we could travel the 22 mile return trip before refilling with diesel. Another mistake by Dan ! Acoma Pueblo Sky City was 20 miles from the Interstate. I had to use our 2 gallons of emergency fuel to get back to the service station at the Interstate.

Acoma Pueblo Sky City is an Acoma Native village built on the top of a high mesa, about 900 years ago. It is the oldest continually inhabited community in North America. It is still inhabited by about a dozen families / 35 people. There is no electricity or water in the village at the top of the mesa.

We parked and bought our guided tour admission tickets at the Sky City Cultural Centre at the base of the mesa. We wandered around the Cultural Centre, and their gift shop. We were driven to the top of the mesa / Sky City in small tour busses for our tour. The tour guide walked us around the village for about 2 hours, visiting the church, cemetery, and village houses. About a half dozen or so artists had tables set up outside their homes, selling their pottery. I bought a small, hand made and painted ceramic Kokopelli fridge magnet. Our lifestyle and RV home don't allow for much art to be exhibited, unfortunately. Kokopelli is the Anastazi cultural symbol for the "Spirit Of Joy". He is always playing a flute. I also bought some fry bread with cinnamon sugar on top. MMMMM !

At the end of the tour, the guide offered us the choice of being driven back down to the Cultural Centre in one the little busses, or we could hike down the "steep rock ledge trail" to the bottom of the mesa. I wanted to hike down. Joanne was very reluctant, but with some prodding and encouragement from me, she consented. YIKES ... "steep rock ledge trail" is a relative term. It was an almost vertical descent down into and through a crevasse to the bottom of the mesa. A number of times Joanne was convinced she couldn't make it down. I applaud the great courage and determination she has, pushing forward into what seemed like an impossible journey. ( Not the first time she’s done that ! ) I’ve always believed that “a man ( or woman ) needs to know his ( her ) limitations ... then exceed them frequently”. I’m proud of you, my love !

We had lunch in the parking lot, then returned to the Interstate where we refilled with diesel. We continued driving west to and through Albuquerque ... at rush hour, of course. Whenever we have to drive across a large city, we almost always seem to hit it at rush hour. We stopped for the night about 10 miles west of Albuquerque, at Hidden Valley Resort in Tijeras, New Mexico.

I spent the evening processing the photos I took yesterday and today.

 

Thursday ; Albuquerque to Santa Fe via Turquoise Trail & return

Today was mostly sunny and cool with a bit of strong winds and rain in the afternoon.

When we saw the movie Wild Hogs recently in Hondo, Texas, I wanted to see the town of Madrid ( emphasis on first syllable ), New Mexico, the setting for much of the movie. Joanne wanted to drive the Turquoise Trail, old Hwy. 14, from Albuquerque to Santa Fe, and Madrid is on the Turquoise Trail. This morning we unhitched, drove about 3 miles west on Historic Route 66 where our campground is located, then turned north on Hwy. 14, the Turquoise Trail.

We drove through a few of the small towns along the Turquoise Trail, then turned west into Cibola National Forest, to drive up Scandia Mountain to Scandia Crest. Above 8000 feet elevation there was remnants of old snow. Above 9000 feet there was fresh snow. Scandia Crest is at an elevation of 10,678 feet. It was very cold and windy at the summit. The temperature was 28 degrees. Down on the Turquoise Trail the temperature was in the 50's. We drove down Scandia Mountain and continued driving north on the Turquoise Trail.

We passed through a few more small towns before arriving in Madrid. We parked and walked around the little village. What an odd place to choose to shoot a movie. It's a small "Old West" town, with a General Store, a couple of restaurants, a few jewellery and craft stores, and a bunch of mangy looking mongrel dogs wandering around Main Street. We went into the General Store, and realized it was one of the main indoor locales used in the shooting of the movie. It was a large, old home converted into a General Store. The merchandise was located in about half a dozen large rooms located on the main floor. For the movie, they obviously just removed all the merchandise and shelving. We got a recommendation from the clerk in the store on where to have lunch.

We walked down to the Ghost Town Kitchen No Pity Cafe where we had the best lunch I've had in a very long time. It was all superb, fresh, home cooking. I drank Hibiscus Mint Iced Tea. I ate a Cowboy Smoked Brisket Barbecue Sandwich on a freshly baked Ciabatta bun, served with home made multi coloured tortilla chips, freshly made Green Chile Salsa, and a garden salad with home made Ranch dressing. Joanne had an egg salad sandwich, in a huge fresh Pita, served with home made potato chips. The restaurant's restroom was a "Porta-Potti" out back by the llama pen. HA HA HA ! Welcome to Madrid, New Mexico.

After lunch as we wandered around town browsing we met a couple from Winnipeg, travelling with another couple from Niagara On The Lake, Ontario, who were originally from Winnipeg. We chatted with them for awhile. The man who now lives in Niagara On The Lake was a musician in Winnipeg in his younger days, playing with Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings before they were in The Guess Who, and Neil Young before he left his home town of Winnipeg.

We left Madrid and continued driving north on the Turquoise Trail until the outskirts of Santa Fe. We got back onto Interstate 25 and headed south back to Albuquerque. Just before Albuquerque we took a shortcut around the northeast corner of the city on Tramway Road, then east on Historic Route 66 back to Tijeras.

 

Friday ; As we expected, we woke up this morning to heavy snowfall. We had planned to stay here because of the forecast winter storm, and the forecast was correct. By noon there was an accumulation of ankle deep wet snow. I had to get out our little shovel to remove the snow from the trailer steps, and the snow brush to sweep off the truck. I'm a bit perturbed that we have to wait out a winter storm this far south in mid-April !

We needed groceries. The nearest grocery store was 7 miles away. Three miles west on Historic Route 66, then 4 miles north on the Turquoise Trail to the town of Cedar Crest. While Joanne bought groceries I went to the Post Office to post some mail, then went to find a place to refill water jugs. When we returned to Hidden Valley Resort, I went to the laundry room to get online using a dial-up connection < sigh > and send some important e-mails regarding our lot purchase in Keremeos, B.C.. We started working on our personal income taxes, only to discover that we are missing some investment income information slips. I phoned my second cousin, Carey, in Thunder Bay, to ask her to have her father check our recent investment mail to see if the information slips I'm missing are there. To keep our investments in the province where my broker is licensed, our investments "live" at my cousin's home in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

It continued to snow all day. Schools are closed. Phone service is down. Bo refuses to go outside. He stands in the doorway and looks forlornly out. We carry him outside and put him down, then he refuses to eliminate on the "white carpet". Poor little Alabama dog, perplexed by all the "white carpet" that he can't pee on. He has to find a bare spot of ground underneath a tree before he will go < rolling eyes >.

 

Saturday ; Tijeras / Albuquerque, New Mexico to Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado

Today was sunny and mild.

This morning I climbed up on the roof of the trailer, and shovelled about a foot of snow off a section of the roof to allow the TV antenna to be lowered for travel. Then I had to hang precariously over the edge of the snow covered, slippery roof, and shovel about a foot of snow off the slides, with a ( too ) short handled plastic shovel, to allow the slides to retract for travel.

We departed, driving west 10 miles on Interstate 40 back to Albuquerque. We were stunned to find that Albuquerque did not get any snow yesterday, just heavy rain. We had been only 10 miles from Albuquerque, in the Scandia Mountains. What a difference 10 miles, and some rise in elevation makes. We refilled with diesel at Love's, then headed north on Interstate 25. We turned northwest on Hwy. 550.

We stopped for lunch at the Continental Divide marker. As we approached Colorado, we could see the genesis of the Rocky Mountains off in the distance. It was interesting to approach the Rockies from the South, where they begin / end. We crossed into Colorado, and were planning to stop for shopping, and boondocking overnight at Wal-Mart in Durango, Colorado. The Durango Wal-Mart parking lot was full, reminding me of my recent vow never to shop at Wal-Mart on the weekend. And the parking lot was posted "no overnight parking". So, since it was still fairly early, we decided to continue on to Mesa Verde National Park, which was going to be our destination tomorrow.

We stopped to refill with diesel ( again ) at Mancos. We stopped for the night at Mesa Verde RV Resort, just outside the Mesa Verde National Park gate. It's a Passport America park, with lower rates, and better amenities than the campground in the national park. Pull through sites with full hook-ups, free Wi-Fi, indoor hot tub ... ahhhhhhhhhh !

We got set up in our site, and while Joanne cooked supper, I took Bo for an obedience training walk. Gee whiz ... miss his obedience sessions for a few days and he has difficulty remembering what "stay" means ! What an Alpha mentality for such a sweet, little cur ! After supper, I did some work online, then we went to soak in the indoor hot tub. I say again ... ahhhhhhhhhh !

DSK