2018-10 New Mexico

2018-10

New Mexico, art on an open plain

Bernardo NM
Albuquerque NM

Campground: Kiva Rv Park and Horse Motel. $15.00 30 amp, full hookups. 50 amp available. This is a PPA half price park, 2 day limit. Basic

former owners of this Rv park, on an exit with
no facilities except the Rv park apparently got
tired of "helping" stranded motorists

Campground: Enchanted Trails, Alb. NM. PPA half price park, 2 day limit. 30 amp, full hookups. $18.00. Swimming pool, cheap laundromat. Close to Camping World and a few other Rv sales stores.

Enchanted Trails has a number of vintage campers,
some are available to renting overnight 

the smaller units are for looks only
as they are privately owned

a classic Spartan 

Distance Traveled: 97 miles
Distance Traveled: 54 miles

Kathy, always up for a good adventure

Abo Mission and Pueblo 

Obviously taking my time getting to my next big destination near Santa Fe NM. The winds are really picking up here in Albuquerque (Thursday and Friday) possibly up to 70 miles an hour. Before getting here, I drove over to the Salinas Pueblo Missions east of my first stop, Kiva Rv Park. Kathy came down from Albuquerque for the day trip. The three missions were all built next to existing Pueblo Indian settlements, the Salinas Valley having at one time 10,000+ villagers. The three settlements are called Abo, Gran Quivira and Quarai. We went to the first two. Along the way, the main National Monument Visitor Center is in Mountainair. The little town has an Rv park and would make a great location to spend a couple of days in the area exploring each of the Pueblo’s and Missions.

Gran Quivira, pueblo and mission

one of the pueblo complexes along the top
of a hill

The area is a vast sprawling valley of prairie grasses, cattle ranches with mesa's and buttes boardering the region. A few tired mobile homes are along hwy 60 and I do mean “tired” as some have tires either holding down the metal roofs or being used as boarder fencing around their property. Including one mobile home painted with psychedelic colors, forms and text “truth,light,heals”.

Interesting to get another layer of information on the lifestyle of the Pueblo Indian as farmers and pottery makers, selling their wares along the established trade routes with other tribes in the west as well as the Aztec Indians of Mexico. The difficult transition with the Spanish and Franciscan missionaries. Though the native tribes here did quickly integrate many of the tools, farming techniques and way of life. Even among the various tribes, they moved from brown and red clay pottery to making beautiful black and white designed pottery. To their credit the missionaries did permit at least in the beginning, the use of the Indian Kiva’s along with the construction and instruction in Christianity.

this second mission church was never completed

Many of the pueblo mounds have not been excavated, other partially. What ever the state, it is easy to see that these were large communities even within a fairly harsh environment. Kathy and I even stopped at one of the very few places to get a bit to eat in the town of Mountainair. First for an iced coffee and later for lunch. Overall a fun day of exploring.

Finally onto Albuquerque where I had planned to meet up with some friends who live in the area and as luck would have it, meeting up with Kathy and Randy and Ron and Ronda, both fellow Rv-ers I met a number of years ago in Tucson at Desert Trails Rv park.

Rhonda is so creative, redecorating their (summer)
travel camper

With heavy winds (sustained in the 45-50 mph range) and icy cold, we spent time indoors for the most part catching up on our summer plans, breakfast at the Owl Restaurant and attempted tour of Tinker Town, a favorite museum created by a couple with art, passion and a zest for life.

Distance Traveled: 38 miles

The Owl Restaurant

Tinker Town, something to see around every corner

my Rv friends, braving a very cool day

awesome tourist poster

traveled around the world, 80,000 miles

traveled 80,000 miles around the world,
wife left at one point, never to return.
your dreams might not be the others

clowns, sad or happy?

many miniature hand made circus and western themed displays

Tinker Town, the most unique museum art experiance

Distance Traveled:  38 miles

I then headed on up the road for a lay over at the San Felipe Reservation Casino which will make my next stop at Cochiti Lake (Army Corp campground) just a short hop.  Sure hope I'm able to get back to Albuquerque to visit friends who live in the area...

next to the casino is this race track, abandonded
but still is really good condition

While traveling between all these destinations, I’ve been communicating with future renters of my Rv lot, phone/txt etc, not always an easy task while on the road. But it looks like I’ll have both of my Rv lots rented out for the next year or so. Quite an accomplishment to say the least. Thanks to my sister Dorothy for helping with some of the paperwork, transfer of keys and funds. You’ve been a big help and I really appreciate it.

That’s about it for this week, hoping the weather improves where ever you are, it will surely be a sunny day if not already….

More photos:

Salinas pueblo missions  (173)

Tinker Town, Alb. New Mexico  (152)