Category: yot2

We have been enjoying Albuquerque so much that we signed on for a second week at our extended stay hotel here. Staying for 2 whole weeks at one location will be a first since leaving Oakton in December!

The fact that it is an abnormally early spring this year has probably helped promote our positive impression of the area. It’s taken a bit of adjustment for me to cope with the chilly morning temperatures, but it doesn’t take long for the sun to warm things up. Only one day since we have been here could be called a cloudy day and those clouds didn’t stay around very long. At times we have had to cope with strong winds, for example, on our Sunday afternoon bike ride.

Our hotel is a block from the Tramway Bike Path and we thought an enjoyable Sunday afternoon activity would be to ride out and back and enjoy the views of the Rio Grande valley to the west and the Sandia Mountains to the east. We are on the south end of the path and the 9 mile ride to the ending point at the north was quite pleasant. But turning around we were in for a surprise. The wind had picked up considerably and it was blowing quite strong from the south. It was a good workout getting back to our hotel.

We learned a lesson from our Tramway Bike Path experience and used the prevailing winds to our advantage the next time we did a bike ride. That ride was on the Paseo del Bosque Bike Trail, which basically parallels the Tramway Bike Path, but is west of the city along the Rio Grande. We started on the north end of that trail so that by the time we turned around in the afternoon to head back north, the south winds were tailwinds, instead of headwinds.On the Paseo del Bosque Bike Trail.

Besides bike riding, we have also taken several walks in surrounding desert areas. We wanted to visit Petroglyph National Monument, but to get the full picture of the history and geology of this area it required making two separate visits. One visit was to the western boundary of the monument to walk through the area known locally as the Albuquerque Volcanoes.

Volcanic formations at Petroglyph National Monument.

These formations are what’s left of the “fissure” volcanoes where the magma that rises up comes from cracks or fissures in the earth rather than through a central vertical vent. The volcanic activity here created the boulder-strewn escarpments that were used by American Indians and Spanish settlers as backgrounds for more than 20,000 petroglyphs.

View from path around 3 volcanoes looking east towards Albuquerque. The basalt escarpments are barely visible from here as the black cliffs in the middle of the photo.

View of cinder cone remnants on side of Vulcan Volcano, the third one on the loop trail.

To see the petroglyphs and walk through the escarpments was another visit to the monument.

On the trail to the escarpments to view petroglyphs

We had to look closely up the piles of boulders to see petroglyphs. I’m sure there were many that we overlooked.

Dancer?

Coyote?

An example of some of the desert blooms. It doesn’t seem possible that anything could bloom in such dry soil.

Today’s adventure was to ride the Sandia Peak Tramway from its start at the northeastern edge of the city to the crest of the Sandia Mountains. On a couple of our other excursions around the foothills we had been able to catch glimpses of the tramline and support towers and once or twice a tiny tram car creeping its way up the incline. So it was fun today to actually be there and find out what it was all about.
A tram car going the opposite direction of our car.

We had been warned to dress warmly as it can be quite cold and windy at the top. We were fortunate that the winds today were not strong, although I was glad to have my jacket and a couple of extra layers of clothes.

Once at the top, there are great views looking westward toward the city, as well as eastward on the other side of the crest where it’s possible to see Santa Fe and other mountains in the distance. Lee’s cousin, who has lived in Albuquerque for many years, acted as our tour guide, pointing out landmarks in the city and valley below.

The other side of the crest has a ski area, which only recently closed for the season. The leftover snow on the slopes and the chair lift for the ski area.

It’s nice to have a 10,000 foot view of the city but I was more than ready after an hour or so in the cool mountain air to ride back down the mountain and enjoy the desert warmth and sun for the rest of the day. I look forward to another week here as we continue to explore the area and soak up the sunshine.

It didn’t look promising Monday morning when we crossed the border of Texas and arrived in New Mexico.

Having lived for 20 years in New Mexico, I had fond memories of the warm weather and 300+ days of sunshine a year. In New Mexico I knew that we wouldn’t experience a solid week of gray, overcast skies like what we had left behind in Austin. But what I hadn’t counted on was that March in New Mexico can bring windstorms with cold and blowing dust and that’s just what awaited us. A late winter snowstorm had moved through Arizona on Sunday and the effects of the cold and wind were evident, even down in the southern part of New Mexico. Fortunately, it didn’t take too long for the weather to warm back up and today was a perfect 70 degrees, no clouds and no wind.

Our first stop Monday in New Mexico was in the city of Las Cruces. We visited the Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park for the opportunity to walk along the Rio Grande River. Sadly, there was very little water in the river.

Rio Grande River at Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park

I don’t remember ever having seen the river that dry. The Rio Grande is the continent’s second largest river and plays a vital role in transforming barren desert into fertile land for farming. The Ganges River of India is the only river in the world that is more heavily used for irrigation.

As we continued our drive northward in New Mexico from Las Cruces the route basically paralleled the river. The further north we went the more I began to understand that all was not lost, as far as what had seemed to be a dried up river. The key is the management of what water there is by regulating how much is allowed to flow from the source in the Colorado mountains to the mouth in the Gulf of Mexico 1,885 miles away. There is snow yet to melt in the mountains and, hopefully, there is enough snowmelt that when the floodgates are opened at Elephant Butte Dam the dried up places we looked at downstream will again have water.

In Albuquerque, where we arrived on Wednesday, we were happy to see that there is a lot more water in the river. We were told that things are more dry than normal, but it did look a lot better when we walked along the river at the Rio Grande Valley State Park. Rio Grande River at Rio Grande Valley State Park in Albuquerque

Bosque Trail at Rio Grande State Park. A bosque is a clump or grove of trees like the ones here.

Spring is only beginning here in Albuquerque. We’ve seen forsythia, redbud and bradford pear trees blossoming, but trees like the cottonwoods here don’t yet show any signs of green.

We are staying in the Albuquerque area for the next two weeks and are excited about the opportunities for activities that we enjoy. We have a bike map of the city and there are a number of good trails to explore. There are also many hiking trails in the Sandia Mountains just east of the city. Today’s perfect weather gave us the opportunity to do a short hike in the foothills of the Sandias and then later in the day a bike ride on one of the city trails.

Hike in Sandia foothills

Our hotel is on Central Avenue, which once was part of the famous cross country highway Route 66. When we are in the mood for some nightlife we need to follow it back down towards the city and check out the historic vintage neon signs that they say still are there along the route.

The journey continues.