Bye-bye Albuquerque, we hardly knew ye (but we're gonna get to know you better)

Joan at Casa Ronderna Winery

If it is any indication of how much we have enjoyed this place, I asked the owner-manager of the Stagecoach RV Park, the place we are staying in Rio Rancho, if it would be possible to reserve our spot now for next year’s Balloon Fiesta in October.

It was too early, but he gave me a date I could call to make sure we were booked in her for a couple weeks next fall.

We have really liked the RV park, we have also enjoyed visiting our friends from the Flint area who now live here and we realized early on that four days was just not enough time to see and experience all there is to do here.

One of the many rattlesnakes at the "Rattlesnake Museum"

The feel of New Mexico is so different from what we are used to that it is hard not to thing we are in a foreign country and completely out of place. But the folks here are very friendly and the weather is terrific.

Sometime during the day Joan asked one of the locals if she ever got tired of seeing the sun every day. Albuquerque apparently sees the sun 340 days out of 365 each year on average. The woman said they don’t really ever get tired of the sun, but on the rare overcast days they actually kind of like it as a change.

With the lack of rain and the preciousness of water here, there are not many of what those of us from Michigan would call a lawn. I mentioned to Joan that I can’t imagine that a lawn tractor dealership or a lawn care company would do very well here.

The fun continued today with a leisurely up-and-at-‘em morning and a trip back downtown to Old Town Albuquerque. We had stopped there Monday night after dinner and Joan found a street vendor who had beautiful turquoise jewelry at very reasonable prices.

Jemez Mountains

After she left, she was sorry she hadn’t purchased more so we went back down this morning in search of the vendor, who we found. Joan made some additional purchases and we also assisted the local economy by buying a few small souvenirs of our time in New Mexico.

While we were downtown we also decided to tour the American International  "Rattlesnake Museum" which has a collection of venomous and non-venomous snakes. I'm not a big fan of snakes, but am not too nervous when they are behind glass.

Joan asked the owner if the snakes were all in containers and his answer wasn't as reassuring as I would have liked: "I certainly hope so," he said.

But the snakes all looked incredibly well cared for and one was in the process of eating his mouse meal.

The red cliffs of Jemez Mountains

We toured an old Roman Catholic Church and I came across a man with a U.S. Navy Fletcher class destroyer shirt from the USS Pritchett, DD-561, which is a sister ship of my destroyer, the USS Cogswell, DD-651. The Pritchett sailors were here for their reunion, which is coincidentally the reason Joan and I are eventually heading to Tucson.

Had a nice visit with a couple of the sailors, swapped a few Navy stories and wished each other well. There is a bond between those of us in the tin can Navy that is hard to explain. Also had a short, but pleasant conversation with a U.S. Air Force veteran of Vietnam who is also a street vendor.

Joan endures my military conversations with great patience. On the other hand, I endure her shopping with great patience as well.

Jim and Joan in a hot springs cave

After the shopping tour of Old Town Albuquerque we had OnStar take us to the Casa Rondena (the second “n” in the name should have one of those little Spanish tildas over it, but I don’t know how to make it on my keyboard) winery.

We learned from the man working there that it was in New Mexico, and not California, in the early 1600s that the Spanish planted their first vineyards in what would later become the United States of America. Joan tasted five wines and we left with three bottles of wine, one for the Family Literacy Center auction in April. Joan is becoming a big fan of New Mexico wines and she should know, she has tasted wines in more than a dozen states – so far.

Joan and Susan by the hot springs in Jemez Mountains

The man at the winery looked at me like I had landed at Roswell when I told him I don’t drink wine or any other alcoholic beverages. But I get that reaction frequently at Joan’s wine tasting adventures.

We headed back to the trailer and then met up with our friend Susan at 3 p.m. for our next, and unfortunately, last adventure in Albuquerque.  Terry, my friend from the Flint Police Department, had to work so we said our farewells and headed off to Jemez Mountains northwest of Albuquerque.

Joan and Susan belly up to the bar at Los Ojos

With Susan as our tour guide we went down some roads that I could have never found on my own. They led us to some incredible vistas, hot springs and rock formations. We marveled again at the natural beauty everywhere around us. We dipped our fingers into naturally heated water at hot springs running right next to a two-lane highway.

We drove through Native American pueblos and very closely followed the speed limits as we have been warned that the Tribal Police are not very forgiving about speeding on the reservation.

Following that, Susan took us to Los Ojos a pub in a place called Jemez Springs.

The tarantula I didn't run over

Sometimes there is nothing quite as tasty as a good, handmade bar burger and fries. That is what we all had at Los Ojos.

On the way home at dusk I nearly ran over a tarantula crossing the street (they really should put up some tarantula crossing signs) swerving just in time to miss squashing him. I had to double back and grab another picture of a tarantula, especially one I nearly killed.

So as the sun set on Rio Rancho, we dropped off Susan at home and made our way home to start the packing and storing necessary for the next leg of our trip tomorrow to Williams, Arizona.