A great hike, a great day and a little wine tasting

Hard to believe that a day that included a 3-mile walk up a steep trail with plenty of obstacles could be a perfect day, but that was today. Joan and I found a trail on the Cochiti Reservation that seemed out of the way enough that it might be just the kind of hike that we would enjoy.

So off we set this morning after a quick tour around the RV park to see how many different states were represented here. There are plenty and the park is quickly filling up for next week’s Balloon Fiesta here in Albuquerque. From what we have heard this annual event draws many, many thousands of people from all over.

When I booked out spot, the park manager told me we would have to be out by Friday as he is completely booked for the next week.

Anyway back to the hike.  About half way between Albuquerque and Santa Fe we left I-25 and drove the back highways to the Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument.

We were greeted at the gate by a Native American man who welcomed us to the park and outlined for us the various trails available for the monument.

We chose the Slot Canyon Trail which was 1.5-miles up and 1.5 miles down the same trail. Over that distance we rose from the valley to nearly 800 feet with a panoramic view of New Mexico from the mountains north of Santa Fe to Sandia Mountain next to Albuquerque.

It is difficult to describe the beauty we saw on this walk. The pictures will help, but there were several times that our breath was taken away as we turned a corner and saw new vistas. The park seems not well advertised and going up and down we met only about two dozen people on what was a picture perfect weather day. (After reading this scroll down to the previous item and see several more photos of our hike).

We saw wonderful wild flowers, a few lizards and one very ugly tarantula, which I grabbed a quick snap shot of as it hid under a rock. The large hairy spider was hiding under the same rock I had just climbed over on our way down the mountain.

Joan was a real trooper, especially with her barely functioning knee. She refused all my offers to end the hike and head back down and just enjoy the view from the bottom. We both made it to the top and I extended my hike to a long trail that put me on an overlook of the trail and parking lot where we started the walk.

Some of the trail took us through stone wall canyons hundreds of feet high and some of the spaces so tight only one person could squeeze through at a time. The weather was warm in the sun and reasonably cool in the shade. Unfortunately there was much more sun than shade.

Some of the stone steps required Joan to really stretch and use my helping hand to get up and on the way down a few required her to sit down and edge down slowly. But she made it.

The unusual rock formation was the product of volcanic activity some 6-7 million years ago and the effect of millions of years of water and wind erosion.

In spots the trail was a little slippery due to the loose gravel. But neither of us fell. Looking down from the top it was hard to believe we had made it all the way up in just two hours. It took us a little less time to make our way down.

The high altitude, we were above 6,500 feet at the top of the trail, certainly contributed to the difficulty of the hike. Hope you enjoy the photos.

After the hike we continued on north to the City of Santa Fe where we did a little sightseeing and Joan did a little wine tasting at the Vino Del Corazon Wine Room in old town Santa Fe.

Joan found some very fine New Mexico wines and purchased a couple bottles and joined the wine club.

By 4:30 p.m. both of us were pooped from the hike and walk around Santa Fe and we headed back to Rio Rancho, but not before a fairly major shopping excursion at the local Walmart, which is next to the RV park.

Joan rustled up some bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches, cole slaw and potato salad for dinner. We have spent the rest of the evening yawning and groaning as our muscles tighten and complain.

More photos from our incredible hike on Tent Rocks

The start of the Tent Rocks trail.

A narrow natural stone path.

A not so friendly Tarantula

A wild horse chase, a stunning school, an epicurean delight and $22 to the good

A picture perfect day took us out on a hunt for wild horses on the San Felipe Indian Reservation north of Albuquerque.

Our hosts, Terry and Susan, drove us on an obscure two-track road through the back country near Rio Rancho. While the wild horses were scarce, we believe we finally saw some as we drove away from the area, we did encounter beautiful wildflowers, a couple small lizards, a hawk and a very docile cow hiding in the shade of a tree.

Terry drove us down an arroyo (dry river bed) and we did a little rock hunting. We also found evidence of sea shell fossils from a long, long time ago when this whole area was part of an ocean.
Following the wild horse hunt we drove back to Rio Rancho and visited the most incredible high school we have ever seen.

The Cleveland High School campus, which is just starting its third year, looks more like a college or university campus with a matching sports stadium to boot.

Incredible views and modern technology and architecture left us hoping that the students at this school truly appreciate the wonderful opportunity they have here.

Our young tour guide, Matt, the son of Susan and Terry, also took us to a spot on an outside window where he knew a Black Widow Spider lives. Joan, ever the science teacher, could barely keep in her excitement at seeing a creature she had only previously read about.

She was also pretty much in awe of this very modern school.

After the school tour we headed back to Terry and Susan’s house for the next adventure of the day, a trip to dinner at Tucano’s, a downtown Albuquerque restaurant.

This was a very interesting dining experience, also a very filling one. Tucano’s offers what can best be described as a continuous meat sampling. Servers with skewers of specially prepared steak, pork, chicken, turkey, fish, baked pineapple, Brazilian sausage and a salad bar that, while nothing to me is “to die for” it certainly was good enough that I would risk serious injury.

As soon as you’d finish one course of meat another server would appear at the table ready to carve a taste of the next featured meat. If you really liked something (my favorite was the baked pineapple and fried Whitefish in a Mango sauce) they would bring you more. Joan particularly liked the chicken hearts, but no one was complaining about any of the offerings.

Terry and Susan enjoyed it enough they booked a reservation for a family meal in about a week.

After dinner we headed to “Old Town” Albuquerque" and Joan found a set of turquoise earrings that she apparently could not live without for $5. The old buildings and stores were fun to see.

Then on our way back to the campground we stopped at Sandia Casino where they were offering $25 in free play by signing up for a Player’s Club card. I chose to play only with the free money and between Joan and I we left $22 to the good, so all-in-all a great night.

Once again, we thank our wonderful hosts here in Rio Rancho for showing us such a good time. Clearly we are going to have to make a return trip to take in more of the sights of New Mexico.

Calm winds, smooth sailing, good friends, good day

Sometimes I worry too much. For the past few days I have been dreading the climb into Albuquerque with the trailer. We are under the gross weight rating for the Tahoe, but knowing that we would be going to 7,000 feet had me a little worried.

With the final leg of our journey into Albuquerque a little under 200 miles I wanted to make an early departure from Tucumcari so that we could take advantage of the cooler temperatures and diminished morning winds. Our campground was a cheapie, but that was mostly because it did not have shower facilities.

We do not use the shower in the trailer because it is a pain to clean and it puts a lot of moisture into the air which is not good for the long term prospects for the trailer. Mostly we stay in parks with shower facilities, but not last night. So we got up early, took a quickie sponge bath and headed out.

The air was calm and the steady climb from 4,064 feet to 7,000 feet was much easier than I imagined. The Tahoe never struggled and even up some pretty good grades we hung in at 50 mph or better. It is now obvious that wind is a bigger problem for the truck and trailer than any hill.

Let me just say this: “I love my Chevy Tahoe.” On top of that, even with the major grades, we averaged better than 10 mpg for this leg of the trip. Yesterday, with the wind in our face, we barely averaged 7 mpg.

Enough about the mechanics of the trip, the sights and sounds of New Mexico are awesome. The mountains, the mesas, the desert, the cactus and the wide open spaces are everything I remember about the Southwest from my youth. At one point we crossed the Rio Grande. I could almost see John Wayne in my mind’s eye wading across it on his horse.

One of the towns we passed was named Cuervo, like the Tequila. We figured who ever settled it just picked the name off their supply of booze. Actually Cuervo has an interesting history and is a real 'live' ghost town.

There were road signs advertising a business at Cline’s Corner. Not just one or two signs, but dozens of them.

It brought to mind for Joan and I car trips we made and the road side signs that tried to draw you into stopping. As a boy I remember “Mystery Spots” and “Rattlesnack Ranches” that beckoned you to stop or miss the biggest attraction of your life.

Joan recalled trips she made with her children to the East Coast and there would be a constant succession of signs advertising “South of the Border”  for more than 150 miles. The resort, which included a gas station, motel, small amusement park, shopping and fireworks advertised for many, many miles warning you not to miss your opportunity to see this one-of-a-kind place.
The place had a mascot named “Pedro” which was probably a stereotypical  - and politically incorrect – caricature of a Mexican bandito. Typical sign: “Pedro’s Weather Forecast: Chili today, hot tamale.” Each sign had a mileage countdown to the attraction. Another sign said: “Keep yelling kids! They’ll stop.” (Meaning the parents, of course). (You can read more of the signs here.)

Even after you passed these places there would be signs crying out: “You’ve gone too far,” “Turn Back Now you’ve missed “Mystery Spot” – “Rattlesnake Ranch” – “South of the Border.”  Most of the places were rip offs, but as a child the signs put an eagerness and anticipation in you that was hard to avoid.

We didn’t stop at Cline’s Corner, but kept on going to a gas stop in Moriarity our final stop until we arrived at Stagecoach RV Park, which is already on our top 3 list of all the places we have stayed. Pool, exercise room, wide spaces and an incredible view are just part of the reason.

The more we travel the easier it gets to do the set up work with the trailer and we were leveled up, hooked up and ready for a shower by 1 p.m. We caught a score of the Detroit Lions game and couldn’t believe they were up on the Kansas City Chiefs by double digits.

After lunch and getting cleaned up we headed to the local grocery store, which is within walking distance to pick up a Sunday paper, a bunch of flowers for our dinner hosts and a bottle of wine for Joan.

We headed over to home of Terry and his wife Susan for dinner. I knew Terry from my days of police reporting for the Flint Journal. Terry was a traffic officer, later a sergeant and even later a lieutenant. We have kept in touch and we had always planned to stop and see him when we traveled west.

Barbeque ribs and shrimp and great company and catching up made this a day very worth remembering. Susan pulled out a framed picture of a Flint Journal front page that included a photo of Terry and a story with my byline.

They have a beautiful home in a nice suburb of Albuquerque. Tomorrow we will get a local tour of the area from Terry and Susan and then have dinner in downtown Albuquerque.


Mileage out: 76437
Time out: 8 a.m.

Mileage in: 76633
Time in: 11:55 a.m.

In the Land of Enchantment we're staying in an 'almost' ghost town

As bad as the wind and rain was yesterday, today was worse. No rain but a stiff headwind made the driving a real challenge, but we did make headway and arrived at our planned destination of Tucumcari, New Mexico.

Tucumcari was the place that the old television series, “Rawhide,” was filmed. At least the outdoor segments were. (Following this article there is a set of photos we took from our walk tonight along Route 66.)

We were up and at ‘em early and tried to beat the expect 90-plus degree temperatures in Amarillo, Texas, which was about halfway between where we stayed last night and where we are tonight. The first part of the drive was in the fog and the last part in the bright New Mexico sunshine.

The temperature was 83 when we arrived in Tucumcari, but with the stiff breeze and low humidity made it very pleasant.

The main street of the city is the old Route 66 Route and the Cactus RV Park we are located on is a former motor hotel so common on the route in the 1950s and 1960s. None of the little rooms are still in use and I have included a photo here so you can see what was here.

We arrived in Amarillo about noon and the temperature was 83, so we did pretty well. In addition to today’s stiff headwind (about 20 mph) we were climbing in elevation all day. Where we were at last night was at 1,600-feet and today we are above 4,000-feet. Tomorrow, we’ll be above 5,000-feet.

Outside Amarillo we saw our first real Long Horn cattle and that was pretty cool.

The effects of the drought are pretty obvious in the Texas panhandle and there is little to break the wind along I-40. Once we got close to New Mexico the scenery changed considerably with the appearances of the first mountains and mesas so common to the Southwest.

All of that presents a challenge for gas mileage and where we usually average about 10 mpg, today we were just above 7 mpg for the whole day.

We grinned when we saw the name of the last county in Texas – Deaf Smith County.

Tonight, Joan cleaned out the refrigerator as we will have exhausted all the pre-planned meals for the first part of the trip. Because we don’t unhook the Tahoe and trailer she has to plan to have everything aboard  that we will need until we get to our first unhook destination, which is tomorrow.

Dinner was bratwurst, hamburger, salad, rolls and deviled eggs. We walked to a nearby ice cream store for a little treat.

After dinner we went for a little walk along the old Route 66 and took some photos. Kind of sad to see the decay and vacancies along the strip.

Early tomorrow we will head to Rio Rancho, New Mexico for a few days of sightseeing in the Albuquerque and Santa Fe area and also to check in with an old friend and retired police officer Terry.

We are looking forward to catching up with him and his wife.

Mileage out: 76168
Time out: 8:34 a.m. (Central time)

Mileage in: 76437
Time in: 12:50 p.m. (Mountain time)

Photos from a ghost town - Tucumcari, N.M.

This is the abandoned motel on the property where our RV park is located. Kinda sad to see a town that was likely a real happening place back in the 1950s and 1960s when Route 66 went through the center of town. I stayed in motels like this when I was a kid.

At right is one of those great souvenir shops I remember from our cross country travels with my father and stepmother. Unfortunately it was locked up tonight and we couldn't go in. You could shoot a cannon down the old Route 66 and not hit anything.  Tucumcari is not a ghost town, but there are ghosts of a better past here.

Not much relaxing going on at the Relax Inn. It's pretty well gone, but still advertising its great rates and "Color TV."

Believe it or not, those weeds in the foreground are growing in what was once the motel pool. On the wall at left you can see the list of pool rules still posted.

 How many folks from my generation remember these great old motor lodges?

 Lots of vacant rooms at the Apache Motel, but you'd have a hard time getting into any of them because they are all boarded up.

 Kind of neat to see some of the old service stations semi-restored to their former glory.

The Lasso Motel, like so many of its era, advertised a new perk for visitors "Color TV by RCA" right on their neon sign. Behind this sign is a large open weed field. I don't think the lights on this sign have been lit up for a long, long time.

 This very faded sign was for a cobbler shop. Hard to make out what the sign says, but you can see a man working on a boot.

Someone thought it would be clever to make a cactus out of PVC pipe and blue electric wire. Can't remember ever seeing a blue cactus before.

Oklahoma: The wind was 'sweepin down the plain'

Before we move onto today’s travels just a final word about yesterday’s camping spot. The KOA park was very nice, but we’ve added a new rule for picking a camping spot. From now on we will closely examine a map to see how close our campsite is to the nearest Grand Central Railroad station and the flight path to the local airport.

We hadn’t been parked an hour yesterday and three trains had rumbled by on the tracks adjacent to the park. I tried to relax the worried look in my bride’s face by telling her, “It’s probably just a daytime thing.” Wrong. I know these were freight trains but they were on a commuter train schedule even throughout the night.

About 5:41 a.m. (not that I was watching the clock or anything) we giggled as the umpteenth train of the night passed by. That was immediately followed by a commuter airplane taking off from wherever the Springfield Airport is, but certainly close to our location.

Today’s travel marked the Point of No Return to Williams, Arizona – our ultimate destination. A spot on the west side of Tulsa marked the halfway point – mileage wise – of our trip.

Passing by Oklahoma City reminded me of that awful day in April 1995 when Timothy McVeigh bombed the federal building and the resultant carnage and the local story at the Flint Journal when it turned out his accomplice, Terry Nicols, was from our coverage area.

At that time I was in the middle of a personal upheaval and Julie, who was my editor at the time, pretty much protected me from the long hours and days involved in that coverage. I will be eternally grateful to her for her compassion at that time.

OK, on to Foss, Oklahoma. Unquestionably this was the most difficult travel day by far. There were many construction zones and lots of heavy rain. Despite our personal inconvenience with the rain, it was very welcome to the folks down here.  One can see the evidence of drought especially in middle Oklahoma. 

On top of the rain, which subsided after Joan said a prayer in Oklahoma City, there was a fairly stiff head wind which always plays havoc with gas mileage. On this our sixth major trip with the trailer, I have learned not to stretch the gas stops too far so we don’t get in a situation where we have to sweat bullets to find a gas station that we will fit in.

We also passed through Joplin, Missouri which was the scene of a deadly tornado in May. From I-44 there was little evidence of that tornado.

The terrain changed dramatically from our morning start to our mid-afternoon stop. We are parked in Foss, Oklahoma and just like the song from the “Oklahoma” musical, the wind was “sweepin’ down the plain.”  Unlike the song, there is not much “wavin’ wheat to sure smell sweet.”

Lots of red earth, but as you can see in this picture the corn is a little stunted, likely due to the drought.

I was recalling the great Oklahoma land rush to Joan and how strange a time that must have been.

Once we were set up in our campsite, Joan grilled us a couple steaks, some twiced baked potatoes, home grown Michigan tomatoes in Italian dressing and home baked rolls. Life is good. Tomorrow we head to New Mexico.

I'm in the picture at right because Joan said I take too many photos of her. She's wrong, but who am I to argue.

So far no trains or airplanes, but we are right next to the freeway, but we are used to that noise. I've got Joan working on her prayers for tomorrow's weather.

Special note: I am probably a wanted fugitive in Oklahoma because we came upon a toll road that had no people to take the toll. I had no change and there was no way to pay with bills. I even stopped the trailer about 100 yards ahead off the road and walked back to the shack to see if I could find someone to pay my $2.30 to, but no one was there. So I'll keep you posted and be ready with bail.

Tonight after dinner I went outside and met our "neighbors." When he saw our Lapeer sticker on the trailer he smiled and mentioned he was from Lake Orion. With our children and grandchildren living there we remarked on the incredible coincidence.

Mileage out:  75786

Time out:  8:31 a.m.

Mileage in: 76168

Time in: 3:35 p.m.