More Sightseeing

Ground Rainbow

Old Town, Albuquerque

Spring Flowers

Wendy's Southwestern Style

It was quite warm but cloudy this morning-54F and it started to sprinkle a bit when I was out for my walk but as the morning progressed the sun came out so we decided to do some sightseeing. Since I didn’t want to leave Bib in the truck again when we stopped to look around, he got to stay home. He’s always happy to do that as long as he gets treats.

We started out heading eastbound on I-40, got off at Wyoming Ave and then came back on Route 66 to Old Town. We parked and again went our separate ways, Gordon to take photos and me to shop and take photos. Old Town is more extensive than I originally thought so I didn’t get to see all of it in the 1 ½ hours that we had decided on. We met up for lunch and walked to Wendy’s. Note the adobe style of the building in keeping with the southwest.

After lunch we walked back and got the truck and continued on to WalMart as Gordon needed some new sneakers and I needed to pick up a few more groceries for our journey toward Ohio on Monday.

On our way back to the RV from WalMart it started to rain and we could see ahead that the sun was shining. Great for a rainbow? We stopped along the side of the road first of all because the sky was so interesting, then looked back toward the Sandia Mountains and there was a beautiful ground rainbow. Neither of us had seen one like that before. It kept getting higher and higher and you could see clearly all the colors. The closest I had come to seeing a rainbow like that was on the water at Cumberland Falls some years ago. I thought the blog warranted a photo of the rainbow.

Just as an update to my breathing problems. It gets better and then worse, usually worse at night. I went to Walgreen’s last night and talked to the pharmacist and he thought it might be due to the elevation here so he suggested Sudafed which I’ve been taking. Doesn’t seem to make a lot of difference. I think we’re going to drive on Monday until we’re out of the mountains and see if I’m any better. Gordon thinks it’s more related to allergies with dust and such blowing around. Hope that’s all it is!

Nothing planned for tonight!

The Last Day of March

Today we didn’t do much just recovering from yesterday’s trip. Also today I got the refrigerator defrosted. It’s always a dreaded job.

Other than that, I updated our expenses for the month as shown below.

Campground Fees, $688.44

Groceries, $471.37

Laundry, $16.25

Wine/Spirits, $0.00

Entertainment, $23.79

Snacks, $28.26

Eating out, $81.19

Fuel Truck, $311.65

Propane, $19.17

Dog Food/Vet etc, $0.00

Repairs RV/Truck, $116.38

Misc, $277.37

Insurance, $140.58

Internet, $198.48

Phone Card, $97.55

Medical/Dental, $0.00

Gifts, $34.33

Totals, $2,504.81

It was a lovely day. After I finished defrosting the fridge, I sat outside and read for a while. The temperature got to 75F which wasn’t a whole lot higher than our hometown of Ottawa where it got to 72F!

No photos for today.

We Take in the Sights of Santa Fe

Sandra sitting on a bench in the Plaza park (photo taken by Gordon with his Canon 20D)

Sandra beside adobe structure (photo taken by Gordon with his Canon 20D)

Downtown Santa Fe Southwestern Architecture

Indian Marketplace at the Plaza

Downtown Santa Fe

Bib on the boardwalk at Pecos National Historical Park

Today we got ourselves together fairly early and were on the road to Santa Fe at about 8:50 a.m. We stopped at Visitor Information and he gave us a route to drive through the mountains however we wound up driving to The Plaza in downtown Santa Fe. We parked the truck leaving poor Bib to fend for himself and then went our separate ways deciding to meet back at the truck in two hours. It was fairly cool, about 48F and we covered the front window of the truck so with his rawhide and water, Bib was okay.

I walked around the downtown area and took some photos and went in a few shops but only bought a Route 66 keychain to hang on my purse. I’ve been looking for something and Route 66 has always fascinated me since I was a kid. It even says “Gettin’ your kicks on Route 66”.

At about 11:50 a.m. I started to get hungry and was eyeing a fajita cart on the corner of the Plaza. Instead I phoned Gordon and he was hungry too so we met up at the Plaza and had lunch at the Plaza Café. It was almost full when we arrived at noon, only one table left after we were seated. We left at about 12:20 p.m. and there were people waiting. The food was good, I wouldn’t say exceptional but my taco soup was very good. I also had a turkey burger. Gordon had the enchiladas and he said they were really good. We got back to the parking lot at about 12:25 p.m. and Bib was very happy to see us.

From there we headed to the Pecos National Historical Park at Pecos, NM, about 20 miles southeast of Santa Fe. Gordon did the hike to see ruins of a pueblo and a mission and Bib and I went for a little walk on one of the trails, his photo above and then just relaxed in the truck waiting for him to come back. It was quite a hike especially with all the wind.

We headed home then arriving back at the RV close to 4:00 p.m.

Santa Fe was quite interesting. I liked the Plaza area, lots of shops to see, but unfortunately not enough time. It didn’t get higher than 50F in Santa Fe but as we got back near Albuquerque it got to about 63F. Tomorrow’s supposed to be warmer so maybe we’ll go to Old Town.

Since we had a big lunch, I don’t have to cook tonight!

Haircut, Groceries, Sightseeing

Photo of Laguna, NM taken from I-40 so we weren't on private property. You can see the Laguna Mission (white building) at the top on the right just beside the tree

Albuquerque Volcano

Today I got off to a slow start. Gordon was out before sunrise to take some photos and back before I even got up which was around 7:20 a.m. At 48F it was a bit breezy for our walks but it was pleasant. After breakfast, shower etc. I thought I’d have a nap but decided we needed a few items from the grocery store so I got out my WalMart locator and found a SuperWalMart quite close to us.

Around 11:00 a.m. I set out to find it. You go through a few miles of absolutely nothing to get there. I was about to turn around thinking I was on the wrong road and my Albuquerque map had done it again (read yesterday’s posting) but I persevered and found the place. While I was there I treated myself to a badly needed haircut. My hair had gotten bleached in the ends which stick out from my cap and was quite dry. It wouldn’t turn under anymore so now it’s just below my ears again and feels much better.

After I returned to the RV with the groceries and got them put away, we decided to head west on I-40. We went about 50 miles and saw some nice red mesas and buttes but they are on Indian reservations and there are signs up saying no photography, sketching, and audio/video taping so we didn’t get very many photos.

We also stopped in a little town called Laguna and photographed the Laguna Mission which was completed in 1699 although we apparently were not supposed to so I won’t post any photos.

When we got back we went to the Albuquerque Volcanoes just north of where we’re staying and I took some photos while Gordon hiked up to one of the volcanoes.

It’s very windy here this afternoon and we’re being buffered about in the RV but the temperature did get to a pleasant 70F.

Tonight’s another favorite TV night – LOST! Too bad Invasion isn’t on any more. There was talk of cancellation but I haven’t been able to find out for sure. Looks like it’s off for a while anyway as they have The Evidence scheduled in its time slot.

Plans are to go to Santa Fe tomorrow.

A Tour of Albuquerque

Note that I changed the name of my blog. I’m not exactly original so when I had to put a title to my blog when I was creating it, my brain went dead so I used something simple – Sandras Blog but I decided I didn’t like it, so changed it today. Not sure I won’t change it again so stay tuned….

Today was cloudy with a forecast of some rain. It was about 48F when I got up but the temperature did get to 63F however no rain as of this posting.

Gordon had indicated that he was going to vacuum the sand from White Sands out of the truck so after breakfast, I went out to the truck to clean it out thinking I was being helpful. However, he told me that he was only going to vacuum the sand so since I had the truck cleaned out I vacuumed the interior and wiped it down from all the dust we’ve been through. That took about 1 ½ hours.

This afternoon we finally got our act together and went out for a bit of a tour around Albuquerque. We drove east on the famed Route 66 (Central Ave) to downtown, drove around downtown and then to Old Town. Old Town is very charming and we want to go back there to spend some time.

Then we drove west again on Route 66 to Coors Blvd heading toward Petroglyph National Monument. A couple of the photos I took of the petroglyphs are above. Also above is a photo of the hill I climbed. I can’t believe I did it! Going up was tough because it was a tough climb but coming down was worse with my fear of heights but I made it! Note in the photo of the hill, Gordon is just behind the girl in the white sweater. I actually climbed higher than that!

Trying to get back to the RV Park was almost a case of you can’t get there from here. Every north/south route west of the Rio Grande is under serious construction and the map in their Visitors and Convention Bureau brochure show streets that don’t go where they are supposed to. We had to backtrack a few miles and finally made it home. I can’t believe the city planners put a lot of thought into this!

With the weather being cloudy, we haven’t made a decision as to what day to go to Santa Fe. Looks like Thursday or Friday at this point.

We've Moved North to Albuquerque

We left our campground in Alamogordo at 8:55 a.m. and traveled north on Hwy 54 and then west on Hwy 380 to reach I-25 to take us to Albuquerque arriving about 1:30 p.m. at the American RV Park. We’ve signed up to be here for a week.

The drive was uneventful until we were very close to the campground on I-40 then they had four lanes of traffic merging into one. PLAN AHEAD! I asked at the campground office and there is another way to get back over to I-25 for our trip later in the week to Santa Fe so we can avoid the confusion and backup.

This park is much nicer than the ones that we’ve stayed in the last couple of times and the price reflects it. The only problem with the park (so far) is that it doesn’t have cable unless you want an executive site and pay about $50 more per week for it. No thanks, we’ll use the aerial. We get about 11 stations anyway.

After we got set up we walked around as usual to see the facilities. The pool isn’t open yet as we’re further north here but the hot tub is enclosed and it is open. We rarely use these amenities but pay through the nose for them.

I read a bit then went and had a shower. The showers here are okay but the rooms are small. I’m always banging my elbows on something but they’re clean and I always think it’s easier than using our own. We also don’t have to dump as often if we use the campground showers. We’ll be using our own all summer as most campgrounds in Canada charge for using their shower facilities and I refuse to pay to shower unless it’s absolutely necessary!

So far my breathing has been better the last couple of days but we’re at a higher altitude this week than we’ve been at lately so we’ll have to see. Still not sure what’s causing it.

Well, the next couple of days are supposed to be cloudy with a chance of rain so we may not being doing a lot of traveling but will probably drive around to get the lay of the land or ‘scouting’ as Gordon calls it.

Preparing to Leave Alamagordo

I slept with the window open last night and it was 67F when I woke up this morning. Temperature reached about 83F.

Since we are leaving tomorrow, probably for Albuquerque, I got the laundry done this morning. There’s a full Laundromat right on the grounds of the RV park. That’s always nice. Too many RV parks have two washers and two dryers and it takes forever to get laundry done. It was also reasonably priced and clean.

After the laundry was done and put away, I had a half hour nap and then decided I would check out the White Sands Mall here in Alamogordo. It has a K-Mart and a downsized version of JC Penney as well as a Bealls and a Burke’s Outlet. There are some small stores including a GNC (with a free massage chair) and a Payless. I had a nice massage for about five minutes. It really felt good. There’s also a theatre and a small food court but lots of empty stores. The Army/Navy have moved in to take up some of the store areas for recruitment. Only bought some stuff at GNC, then on to Dollar General who didn’t have what I wanted so I came home and sat outside and read and made yo-yos for a while but it was a little breezy so came inside and attempted to find a campground to stay at in Albuquerque.

I finally got Gordon involved in making a decision on the campground so we’ve booked a week at the American RV Park, http://www.americanrvpark.com/index.html. Unfortunately we won’t have cable but we’re on the western outskirts of Albuquerque so we should be okay with the aerial. There’s a lot to see in the Albuquerque/Santa Fe area and I expect we’ll see lots more southwestern architecture in this area.

So again my best TV night, a new Desperate Housewives, YEAH! I’m ticked that Gray’s Anatomy was a repeat though.

No photos today, maybe tomorrow!