Thursday
March 12
When
I talked to the owner of Enchanted Trails RV Park, she told me that I
could take Miko out behind the park where she could run off leash. I
just had to be careful to make sure that I closed all gates because
New Mexico is an open range state and if any of the cows got out
through and open gate, Enchanted Trails would be liable. I've always
been a little nervous about letting Miko off leash – I would be
devastated if she took off after a rabbit or deer and disappeared. I
checked out the “range” - there were no cows to be seen. It sort
of looked like eastern Montana – nothing as far as the eye could
see except flat, flat, flat land. I let Miko off leash and started
walking out to the back forty. She stuck pretty close to me until
she smelled something interesting. I kept walking and got quite a
bit of distance away from her. I called her and she came tearing
toward me and then it was like she realized she was free. She zoomed
and she zagged all around me. It was fun to watch her. When she got
worn out, we walked back to the RV, closing all gates again. I don't
think I will do this very often, it still makes me nervous, but there
were no rabbits or deer this time so I lucked out.
In
the afternoon, I went down to see Old Town Albuquerque. I spent
several hours just walking around the shops and the old mission
church.
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| San Felipe de Neri |
I didn't have time to get to any of the museums, I will
either have to go back or catch them next time. I found some really
nice local artist co-ops and an awful lot of mass produced Taiwan
southeastern “art” also. I got a hankering for some fish tacos
and started asking around. One shopkeeper said that I was in
Albuquerque, we don't have fish here. Finally somebody else sent me
to the Quesidilla Grill. Told me to tell them “Connie” sent me.
They did not have fish tacos but they did have shrimp tacos. The
shrimp were the tiny little ones, about the size of fingernail
clippings and they put them in a red chili sauce which really
overpowered the shrimp so much so that you couldn't taste the shrimp.
The chili sauce was really good though. I sat outside and ate and
people watched which was fun.
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| Shrimp Tacos |
Friday
Another
National Monument Day. This time it is the Salinas Pueblo Missions
National Monument. Salinas is actually three different missions, all
in different states of disrepair. It is going to be a long driving
day – just to get to the first mission is an hour and a half drive.
First
up is Abo which was a thriving pueblo when the first Franciscan
showed up to begin converting the heathens into the Christian way of
life in 1622 and in the process enslaving the people to send back
trading goods back to Europe. In 1853, the place was in ruins and
Maj. Carleton, on an expedition to investigate the Salinas district,
came upon Abo at dusk. He wrote “The tall ruins, standing there in
solitude, had an aspect of sadness and gloom....the cold
wind...appeared to roar and howl through the roofless pile like an
angry demon.”
Miko
and I took the half mile loop around the place and read the signs.
One interesting thing was that right in the center of the whole
structure was a kiva, which was used by the natives as an underground
place to do rituals. Speculation is that the Franciscans, in the
early days, allowed the natives to worship in the old ways as they
transitioned into the Christian way.
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| Abo - doesn't look like much, does it? |
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| Kiva - used to have a roof and a ladder to climb down into it |
We
then drove into Mountainaire, NM where the main visitor center for
the monument was. I did not have time to watch the thirty minute
movie which really hurt, cause I love all those visitor center
movies. They are all so earnest and heartfelt and also can give you
a feel for what you are about to see. Miko was waiting in the car
and I didn't want to keep her waiting.
Ranger
Dixie was in charge and we talked about the lifestyle of the Pueblo
people. I asked why they allowed themselves to be enslaved when most
of the time it was only one or two Franciscans who showed up. These
were cities, how did this happen. Ranger Dixie said that in the
early days, the conquistadors came and massacred many of these farmer
Pueblo people. After that, the people were a little hesitant to
resist in any fashion.
Then
Ranger Dixie told me about the Apache. The Apache were a warlike
tribe down in southwest New Mexico and south east Arizona. When they
were finally conquered, they were sent to Florida where half of them
died because they were unused to the heat and the humidity and the
lifestyle. They begged and begged to be able to come back to their
native land and finally they were allowed to come as far as Oklahoma.
The story is that as these Apaches are being transported in wagons
to Oklahoma, they finally were able to hear the coyotes howling. The
Apache women all cried at the sound of their homeland. Ranger Dixie
started crying which set me off so we cried together. Very sad
story.
She
also told me the story about Molly Goodnight
From
Wikipedia:
The
last of the remaining "southern herd" in Texas were
saved before extinction in 1876. Charles
Goodnight's wife Molly encouraged him to save some of the last
relict bison
that had taken refuge in the Texas
Panhandle. Extremely committed to save this herd, she went as
far as to rescue some young orphaned buffaloes and even bottle fed
and cared for them until adulthood. By saving these few plains
bison, she was able to establish an impressive buffalo herd near
the Palo
Duro Canyon. Peaking at 250 in 1933, the last of the southern
buffalo would become known as the Goodnight herd.[15]
The descendants of this southern herd were moved to Caprock
Canyons State Park near Quitaque,
Texas, in 1998.[16]
I
decided not to drive down to the second of the three missions –
Gran Quivira. It was a twenty five mile drive one way and Miko is
not the best car traveler. So we moved nine miles north to Quarai
Mission, the biggest and most complete mission of the three. I
walked into the information center and found the ranger sound asleep,
kicked back in his chair, mouth wide open. Of course, he woke up and
denied he was sleeping when I asked him if he had a good nap. These
missions are way out in the middle of nowhere, so I suppose he
doesn't get all that many visitors.
Quarai
was founded a few years before Abo. It is large but it's distinction
is that it was the New Mexico center for the Inquisition, that
terrible period in time where it was pretty much a witch hunt in all
Spanish areas of influence. I thought the Inquisition was much
earlier, more in the 1200s but I guess there was a revival
Inquisition in the 1600s. After we wandered around the ruins, Miko
and I took a one mile hike around the area.
Oh,
Ranger Leroy, when he was telling me about the hiking trails told me
that I needed a heavier coat and gloves. He was inside the
information center as he is telling me this, wearing a coat and
gloves. I told him I was from Minnesota and this weather was
wonderful and balmy.
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| On the Trail |
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| Quarai |
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| Quarai from the Trail |
We
drove back to Enchanted Trails and came into Albuquerque on the east
side through the Sandia mountains. Beautiful, big round hills.
There are supposed to be a lot of trails on this side of town. I
will have to check them out.
Saturday
First off I want to mention that today is my mother's 90th birthday party. Happy Birthday Mom!!!
I
have four things on my list of things to do
Albuquerque
Alpacas – what is not to love about an alpaca. This farm gives
tours and you get to get up close and personal with the alpacas.
Alas – you have to call ahead for an appointment. My lack of
planning does not allow me to visit the alpacas this trip.
Tinkertown
– this schizophrenic guy dealt with his schizophrenia by creating
this dioramas where you put a quarter or a nickel in and everything
starts moving. It is supposed to be quite amazing but alas – it is
only open April – November.
The
Balloon Museum – Albuquerque is known for it's balloon festival in
October. Balloons are huge. This museum is supposed to tell you the
history and all the news that is the news about balloons. Alas,
today is their St. Patrick Day Festival – 10 bands, multiple
vendors, crowded museum – I guess I'm becoming more and more of a
curmudgeon than I thought. Doesn't sound appealing to me
The
last trail of the Petroglyph National Monument is the Volcano Trail.
Ok, I will do that. It is about four miles away, dogs are allowed.
So, after putzing around all morning (cleaned my black tank – it
had better be sparkly and shiny in there now), Miko and I went over
to the Volcano Trail. There are three collapsed volcanoes that you
can hike around. You should not go to the top because the local
natives believe the top of volcanoes are sacred. It was sort of a
boring hike – not to interesting and you had to watch your step
because of all the little pieces of lava rock on the trail.
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| The collapsing volcano I am going to climb |
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| The mountains east of Albuquerque that I am NOT going to climb |
I
was thinking to myself, with all this “alone” time, I have time
to solve all the cosmic problems in the universe. I can ponder in
great depth all sort of “big” questions. What do I find myself
thinking on – “gee, I wonder what I should have for dinner” or
“I wonder what kind of tennis shoes made those tracks” Ok, maybe
this is a self discovery thing – maybe I'm not a very deep person.
That's ok, we need shallow people in the world too. I'm glad I'm
finding my place.
I
headed for the grocery store. Stopped at Albertson's which is your
regular grocery story and then I stopped at El Mesquite. El Mesquite
is like Trader Joe's of the Hispanic world. Most all of the products
were in Spanish (Lays potato chips – flavors you never see up
north), there was a deli, a food court and hispanic music blaring.
English was not heard anyplace except when somebody wanted to talk to
me. I wonder what half of those foods were. All I bought were some
avocados – I'll have to branch out more food exploration wise.
