by Joni Hauck
(NOTE: Clicking on most photos will show larger view.)

New Mexico

Monday May 17th

El Paso, Texas to Albuquerque, New Mexico

After our continental breakfast at the Comfort Inn, we loaded up the Big Kahuna and headed out on Route 10. Good bye Texas, hello New Mexico. We took Route 70 at Las Cruces which got us off the interstate and onto some back roads. We were surrounded by mountains, much prettier than the ones in north Texas. It would turn out to be a day of contrasts.

We drove through White Sands Missile Range which happens to be the U.S. Governments' testing area for missiles. All along both sides of the road, fences with barbed wire and signs warned the public to stay away. It was kind of creepy, reminiscent of some of the places Scully and Mulder drive in the X-files. The fences protect hundreds of square miles of dessert land. In 1945 the first atomic device was detonated in this area.

All of a sudden, signs on Route 70 directed us to pull over for a border patrol check. Fred joked with the guy asking him if we took a wrong turn. The officer laughed and asked us if we were U.S. citizens and if we were the only two in the car. Thank goodness he didn't decide to search the Big Kahuna. With all the stuff we have, it would have taken all day.

Our next stop, White Sands National Monument Park, is run by the National Park Service. Here lies the world's largest gypsum sand dune covering 275 square miles. The White Sands make Jockey Ridge in North Carolina seem like a child's sandbox.

We drove back an 8 mile paved road that took us into the heart of the dunes. The roads need to be plowed regularly as the wind blows sand across the roads creating a snow storm of a different kind. We parked to climb some of the dunes and the view was fantastic. The waves of sand dunes with the San Andreas Mountains in the background had us awestruck. The sand was so glistening white it looked like snow. On the way back to the car, we spotted a bleached earless lizard. He posed long enough for us to take a picture.

The parking lots within the park are huge, but fortunately there were only a few cars around. We realized how lucky we were to be out there all alone, no other annoying tourists around to get in the way as we took pictures. We like being alone.

Here is an interesting fact: White Sands Missile Range surrounds the park. At least two times per week they close the park while tests are conducted at the Missle Range. Makes you wonder what is in the air.

Our next stop, Three Rivers Petroglyph Site, contained outstanding examples of prehistoric rock art. A mile long dirt trail took us past some of the more prominent petroglyphs. It is astonishing that these drawings were made 1,000 years ago. Supposedly, there are 21,000 petroglyphs at Three Rivers. At one point I could clearly see a big horned sheep carved into the rock which I pointed out to Fred. He stood and stared, shifted to the left, shifted to the right, but could not see it. "Right there, straight ahead", I said and thrust my finger at the image. He still could not see it. "How can you not see that, it is so clear", I exasperated as I took off my sunglasses to get a better view. Incredibly, the sun was shining at such an angle that without my sunglasses I could not see it either. Fred put on my sunglasses and then he could see it. We were amazed that it was so clear with the sunglasses and invisible without them.

We have been using several reference books in our travels. The Most Scenic Drives in America and Travel Guide USA both by Readers Digest have turned out to be a great investment. These books have provided information to help us find wonderful natural and historic sites. The Valley of Fire, our next stop, proved to be fascinating. This natural site was created by a lava flow, not from a volcano, but developed from vents in the earth over 1,000 year ago. The lava flow was 5 miles wide and 44 miles long.

The area was a mixture of large holes, which were collapsed gas bubbles, to lava caves formed by lava tubes. Surprisingly, vegetation was plentiful. There were flowers, trees and brush all growing up out of the harsh beautiful landscape. It was a striking scene which once again reinforced our decision to take the road less traveled. It's incredible that within two hours, we went from seeing white sand dunes to black lava rock.

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Tuesday May 18th

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Today we started our exploration of Albuquerque by visiting the Museum of Art. One painting in particular captivated us. It was a still life painted in 1975 by Jim Rivera for a show in Chicago. The scene was in a bedroom; a man was standing watching his wife. She was seated on the bed reading a letter. The painting was so realistic, the colors so vivid, I felt if I touched the bedspread it would feel like satin. The velvet covered bedside table held a vase of silk roses which cast a shadow on the wall. The wrinkles on the man's hands were so finely detailed, I felt as if he was alive. I have never before in my life been so entranced by a painting.

Our next cultural event was the Pueblo Indian Museum. There are nineteen Indian Pueblos in New Mexico and each Pueblo operates as an individual society with its own government, ceremonies and traditions. "Pueblo" means "village" in Spanish and the Indians in this region were named Pueblos because they lived in permanent villages rather than being nomadic like the tribes of Utes, Comanches and Apaches.

We had lunch at Frybread Mama's, a Navajo owned cafe. Fry bread, a yeast bread lightly fried in peanut oil, is served with honey, powdered sugar and cinnamon. It was delicious.

Old town Albuquerque contained quaint streets with an abundance of little shops. Fred was patient as we browsed the stores. We bought a pretty piece of pottery made by a local Navajo girl as a remembrance of our visit to New Mexico.

Believe it or not, we went to see a minor league baseball game this evening. The Albuquerque Dukes played to a crowd of 2,642 fans. The Dukes are the Triple A team for the Dodgers. The Duke mascot was a bit hokey and the camera guy kept blurring the faces of the people he showed on the jumbo-tron, but no one seemed to care. It was a gorgeous night to watch a baseball game under the lights. Our highlight was watching two 6 year old boys who were decked out in their baseball hats and gloves. A foul ball hit our way was caught by a man who presented it to the boys. They were thrilled and the one boy kept showing his dad how he had been ready to catch the ball. Junior must have shown his Dad 10 times and each time he reenacted how he had been ready to catch the ball he was just as enthusiastic as the first time. Junior was the epitome of the joy and innocence of youth, so happy to be at a baseball game..

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Wednesday May 19th

Santa Fe, New Mexico

On the way to Santa Fe, we spotted a sign for the San Felipe Pueblo so we turned off. We were extremely curious to see a Pueblo, however, we felt like intruders as we drove through the village in the Big Kahuna. The roads were narrow and dirt covered. We couldn't find anywhere to turn around and had to drive to the end of the village. Little Indian children, with papers in their hands, were waiting in front of their houses for the Head Start school bus. The mothers stared at us as we drove past in the Big Kahuna. Fred saw an old Indian women peering out the window of an adobe house. The image looked like a photograph. The San Felipe Pueblo is located between the Black Mesa and the Rio Grande, a very beautiful setting. No photos are allowed and we didn't try to sneak any.

The drive to Santa Fe should have taken an hour. However, somehow we got twisted up and ended up driving out of town and then had to turn around and come back into town. But what a town it was!

We started off at the New Mexico State Capital, the newest in the country. Their legislatures are not paid so they are only in session at the capital sixty days every other year and thirty days the opposite year. They have no staff, no home office, serve a four year term and are paid per diem. They were not in session so an aide took us anywhere we wanted to go.

Next we toured (for a fee, of course) San Miguel Chapel, the oldest chapel in the United States. Parts of the floor date to the 1300's. Historic summations point to it being used by ancestors of one of the modern Pueblo Indian tribes. The chapel roof was burned by the Indians in 1680 as rebellion from being forced into Christianity. It was rebuilt from 1693 to 1710. A bell weighing 750 pounds was on display and inscribed with the date 1356. Fred, doing some quick math in his head, observed that this was over 130 years before Columbus discovered America.

By visiting the Indian Arts Museum of Santa Fe, we continued our exploration of the Indians. Artwork by various Indian Artists was on display. The most interesting part of the museum was a 50 minute movie on the history of the Indian culture. The Indians believe they are people of the land and were created out of the forces of earth and sky.

We walked down the famous Canyon Road of Santa Fe. This road has become the home of artists. sculptors, writers and photographers. It is filled with galleries housed in architecturally interesting buildings. I fell in love with several bronze sculptures by Jane DeDecker. However, since they were way out of our price range, I had to settle for snapping a photo.

It was time to relax so we visited the Dragon Room located at the Pink Adobe. This bar has the distinction of being voted one of the top 20 bars in the country by Newsweek. The Dragon Room is known for its eclectic clientele but it was empty when we were there.

We definitely want to come back to the Southwest and particularly New Mexico. There is so much here we did not get a chance to do: hiking, wineries, museums, galleries, cafes. All beckon for us to return some day.

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Thursday May 20th

Albuquerque, NM to Farmington, NM

The alarm jolted us out of our sleep at 6:30 am. We needed to get an early start to make our tee time at Pinon Hills and still have time to stop and take pictures if the view warranted.

The scenery in New Mexico is ever changing, magnificent and striking. Sometimes the rock formations are an impressive red clay. Other times, sandstone with visible stripes of rock layers appear on both sides of the highway. At higher elevations, a stunning ice blue stripe runs through the rock slabs. It looks as if Mother Nature used a straight edge and blue chalk to carefully paint the rocks. A deep gorge runs through part of the land, possibly at one time filled with water, but dry now.

As we drive along, the BK labors to an elevation of 7,775 feet. It appears that we have climbed so high that we are on top of the mountain. The land is flat now and looks like a huge plain dotted with green.

Again the scene changes. Our eyes take in rolling hills which at first glance look like dirt mounds. However, these hills are actually rock that are contoured soft and smooth. This time Mother Nature has taken modeling clay to shape and mold the hills. The color, a light ashen grey, gives the hills a lustrous sheen. They look as if they would be silky to the touch.

Rock cliffs, rolling grey hills, brown dirt, red clay, and grand mesas: these are all visible as we drive through New Mexico. Together, these scenes create quite a collection of masterpieces to rival even the greatest art gallery.

We arrived at the Farmington New Mexico Comfort Inn and had our first reservation snafu. The confirmation number we had did not match their series and they did not have any reservation for us. They were kind enough to call around to the other hotels in Farmington to see if any of them had our reservation. No one did, so we took a room at the Comfort Inn. Now we only hope that whichever hotel we booked with does not charge our credit card for a no show.

Pinon Hills proved to be everything we had read about and more. There is no where else you can play golf for $12.50 (yes that is for 18 holes) on a top rated course. Incredible! The course is owned by the City of Farmington and the original charter states that the fees can only be raised by 50 cents per year. The scenery was breathtaking, the fairways were in great shape and the greens were lighting fast. Many of the greens were three-tiered and thus extremely challenging. Fortunately we played with a member who gave us hints on most of the holes. Bob's advice was invaluable on several holes where it was imperative to keep your drive left or right to stay out of trouble. Pinon Hills signature hole is #6, a par three, with sand from tee to green on the left, scruff in the middle and rock cliffs on the right. Fred used his driver at Pinion Hills and hit most of the fairways. He was putting great. Fred 93 Joni 102

Farmington is a nice little town, about 35,000 people. We checked out the Applebees and the bartender was just as friendly as the one in El Paso. Applebees obviously does a good job of hiring staff. We talked to two guys there who worked for the local car dealership.They could not say enough great things about living in Farmington.

We also visited the local brewery, Three Rivers Brewing Company, and spent an hour talking to the owner. He just opened last year and is planning on expanding into the building next door. The beer and food were good. This guy has been all over the West Coast and seems to love what he is doing. He and his partner each put in 70 hours per week because they believe no one cares as much as the owners and their presence in the brewery is important. He has found happiness in the little town of Farmington.

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