New Mexico
Kiva RV Park, Tucumcari, New
Mexico –
Owners,
Randy and Theresa (originally from Alaska)
gave us a site that was prime real estate.
We were parked next to a pond and
shady gazebo and somehow we captured the most awesome cool breeze.
Tucumcari has 6 miles of
excellent Route 66 wall murals,
motels and gas stations. Al and I walked
up and down both sides of the street exploring the historic buildings and drooling
over the classic cars.
Las Vegas NM
The
next part of our journey took us through some ghost towns and small cattle
stations. Everywhere looked parched………that
was until we arrived in Las Vegas (New
Mexico).
It
was good to find a thriving town even though it was nothing like the bright
lights of its namesake. The Old Town
Plaza had 900 original
buildings on the National Register. We
got a walking-tour brochure but time and energy gave out.
Las Vegas NM is famous for this Proclamation in 1846.
This is where it was announced that New Mexico was to become a new State of the United States of America.
In 1912 it was officially declared the 47th State of America.
It was also notorious for Wild West legends. "Without exception there was no
town which harbored a more disreputable gang of desperadoes and outlaws
than did Las Vegas." (Historian quote)
Such characters as dentist Doc Holliday and his girlfriend Big Nose Kate, Jesse James, Billy the Kid and Wyatt Earp.
Pendaries RV Resort, Rociada, New
Mexico – 27-29 August
This
Park was perched high in the Sangre de
Cristo Mountains in northern New
Mexico. After miles
of barren desert, the green grass at Rociada was a sight for sore eyes.
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| Turquoise |
One
morning before it got too hot we hiked up
hill and down dale through the
bush. We found a disused turquoise mine
and collected some beautiful blue and green rocks. In a quarter of a million years time these
rocks could be valuable.
The
mines are not as you expect, just a huge hole in the ground. If you fall in, there’s no getting out
without the help of a crane.
Kit Carson National Forest, Taos
This
was a freebie accommodation somewhere close to heaven.
We
parked in the Forest next to a river.
Alpal lit a huge campfire and we sat outside
for most of the night.
The
journey from Kit Carson
Forest to downtown Taos was magic. We passed isolated homesteads and took pics
of some inquisitive four legged locals.
Taos (pronounced Towse), New Mexico
First
things first….a trip to the Visitor’s Centre.
The building was a huge adobe structure. The lady who served us asked Allen if he smoked
a pipe? “No,
why?” She said she could smell
smoke! Well it’s not us!
A
couple of minutes later we returned to the RV and almost choked. The smell of last night’s camp fire was all
through our clothes, bedding, curtains etc. The lady was absolutely right, we both reeked
like smoked kippers. Yuk!
Had
lunch at the very popular Graham’s Grille
in Taos Plaza. The shady courtyard gave it
a lovely ambiance and the food was amazing.
We sat and watched the world go
by and figured there was a definite bohemian influence.
Found
Horse Feathers, a store selling
vintage cowboy hats, leather boots and antique western gear. We thought it was more like a museum than a
shop.
Owner Mark and guard dog Buster sat outside the shop for this photo. Mark, a retired fireman from Chicago, has travelled all around the States but has settled in Taos. (I don't blame him).
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| Mark & Buster |
We
got chatting and told him that we’d camped next to a river at the Carson National
Forest and he said, “Hey I think I saw you guys
last night. Were you camped under the
trees on the eastern side?” “Yes
that was us.” He passed us on the way to
work. What a coincidence!
The
following day we strolled through the trendy shops and then walked two blocks
to the Farmer’s Market.
For lunch we enjoyed
a delicious savoury Aloha Crepe! The
lovely lady was making them to order and people were flocking to her stall.
Taos Pueblo
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| Taos Pueblo - Ancient Indian Village |
The
afternoon was a scorcher and we drove to the native Pueblo Village that dates back to 1459. It is thought to be the country’s oldest
inhabited community. There’s no running
water and no electricity. Water is
carried in buckets from a well or from the Red Willow Creek.
The
buildings are made from a mixture of mud, straw and water (adobe) that is
poured into forms. After the bricks are
sun-dried they are bonded together with the same mixture.
The exterior has to be plastered every year with adobe due to the harsh winters. This is usually done by the women.
The exterior has to be plastered every year with adobe due to the harsh winters. This is usually done by the women.
The
San Geronimo Church was built in
1850 and one of the newest buildings in the village. Unfortunately we weren’t allowed to
photograph inside.
Horno is a Spanish word to describe the dome-shape adobe oven. The Pueblo women light a cedar fire and when the base is hot enough they remove the ash and cook everything from bread/pastries to wild game.
Members of the Pueblo tribe welcome visitors and open their homes to sell traditional art work and jewellery.
We
talked to Sonny Spruce a very
talented jeweller and native dancer.
The back wall of his home was lined with money from visitors from all
over the world.
He doesn’t have to leave
his reservation, the world comes to him!
The
Labour Day long weekend was spent at Sierra
Village RV Park near Angel
Fire. Owner, Ken Green (83) was an
incredible gentlemen who told some very interesting stories about working at Los Alamos from 1951-93.
Of
course Allen could not believe his luck having this mine of information to talk
to. Whenever he went missing I knew I’d
find him at the Office listening to Ken.
(Los Alamos is somewhere I really wanted to visit, so to meet someone like Ken who loved working there for 32 years and had the most amazing stories to tell was invaluable to me.)
(Ken was blind, but you really could not tell! He bought the RV Park in 1993 with his wife who died a few years ago. Gradually his sight deteriorated until he went totally blind.
Three times a day/night he would walk around the park waving to everyone, asking if everything was OK. Ken knew every inch of his RV park and nobody had a clue he was blind.)
Allen
was keen to drive the scenic Enchanted Circle all 82 miles of picturesque mountains,
valleys and rivers. We decided to give it a whirl.
From
Angel Fire we drove to the Vietnam Veterans
Memorial Park. The Chapel was a very emotional
place to walk through. Pinned to the
wall were photographs of soldiers and stories written by family members. An
original Huey Helicopter riddled with bullet holes rests in the Park as a sad
reminder. 
Next
stop, Red River, a mountain holiday destination for
skiers, hikers and bikers. Unfortunately
it was very commercialized with a lot of touristy alpine lodges. Had to laugh at a Japanese visitor trying to
ride a mechanical bull. Yee-ha or Ha-yee!!!
We then made the mistake of trying to find the Rio Grande Gorge. The road sign pointed ‘that-a-way’ but did not indicate how far. It was an extremely long 50 miles just to see a point where two rivers meet. OK very nice, let’s go! (When you try and squeeze a huge amount of sightseeing into one day it all becomes a bit overwhelming. Either that or I was hanging out for a wine!!!)
The
next morning we were back on track. San Francisco de Asis in Rancho de Taos was a famous 18th
century adobe landmark.
The beautiful church has twin bell towers and an arched portal entrance overlooking a courtyard. It is still being used for daily mass.
Monday 3rd September – Los Alamos, New Mexico
In
1943 this sleepy little village was turned upside down when the world’s leading
scientists and nuclear physicists came together to develop the first atomic
bomb. This was referred to as the Manhattan Project all top secret!
Perched
high above the Pajarito Plateau, a boy’s outdoor school called Los Alamos Ranch School, chosen for its
remote location, became the Headquarters
for this project.
Over
770 massive pine logs were personally chosen by the Architect to build Fuller Lodge.
This was originally the School’s dining room
and kitchen. Later it was turned into a hotel for the scientists
and their families.
The two leading men in the Manhattan Project were Robert Oppenheimer and General Groves. A statue of these two great men (hey look, there’s 3) take pride of place in the middle of town.
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| Oppenheimer ? Groves |
The Bradbury Science
Museum
was totally awesome. It was an
ultra-modern museum with 5 galleries and over 40 visual exhibits. All Free.
Los Alamos Historical
Museum was
originally built in 1918 as an Infirmary.
Later it was used as a guest cottage for the Ranch School
and during the Manhattan Project it continued to serve as guest quarters. Today it is an award winning historical
museum.
I
knew the whole Los Alamos account was going to
be 'full
on' so I tried to pace myself but nothing could prepare me for the
amount of information bestowed upon me.
Los Alamos is now bigger than ever. Who knows what goes on there behind closed doors. "Fat Man & Little Boy", the two Atomic bombs dropped on Japan in 1945 were nothing compared to what is being developed now. We can only hope it is never used.
The
Los Alamos Laboratory is obviously
not open to the public but security was very tight just driving past the surrounding
area. We had to get the RV thoroughly searched
by a gun-bearing official who did not have a sense of humour. He was looking for weapons or explosives but
only found rotten onions and dirty washing.
Serves him right!
Bandalier National Monument
Headed
for Bandalier National Monument via a free shuttle bus. Unfortunately the Park flooded earlier this
year and wiped out some of the bridges and walkways. The car park also suffered severe damage so
shuttle buses were employed to transport visitors. Having the shuttle has tripled the attendance
to the Park.
We
both enjoyed a walking tour of the ancient Pueblo caves scattered across the landscape. According to the experts these caves go back
to 1150 AD.
It
was another stinking hot day and I was struggling to climb the steep walled
canyon. Finally got to the top and realized
the only way up to the cave was by climbing a rickety old ladder. “Allen, YOU go – I’ll take the photos!”
We declined the more challenging climb at Alcove House where the Pueblos built their home in a recess in the cliff face. It required a tricky ascent of 140ft by four ladders and a number of stone stairs.
The
Pueblos stayed
for over 400 years and then moved on. Nobody
is really sure why they left but the experts think the water supply could have
been drying up and they felt it was time to search for better irrigation.
Saw
a rather skinny Coyote on the trail although he seemed quite at ease with
people walking around. Then through the
trees we spotted a mother deer and her two babies. 
Loved the Park and enjoyed the rugged walking trail. The heat, flies and my varicose veins were something else!
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| Pueblo Residential Cave |
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| 900 years old |
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| Ancient Wall Paintings |
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| Painting protected by glass |
White Rock Lookout was recommended by our
shuttle bus driver. As the sun was
setting we strolled over to the edge of the canyon to see the stunning view of
Rio Grande Gorge in warm orange tones. Awesome!
Jemez Springs
Spent
one night in the Jemez
Springs Forest. We chose a fairly secluded section of the
camp to park. As evening fell we turned
off all the lights and sat outside and focused on the sky. I am always amazed at how dark it gets away
from the city limits. The sky was ablaze
with millions of stars.
As
we sprawled out in our chairs, blissfully relaxed, we couldn’t help but notice
a couple of people who were camped across the way. It was
pitch black but we could hear them rummaging around obviously looking for
something. This went on for ages. (We
later found out it was Verna (female) & Lynn (male) from Albuquerque)
Suddenly
Verna decided to open the car door and this automatically switched on the headlights. Unfortunately the headlights were aimed straight
at us. Having been in total darkness for
a couple of hours the shock nearly knocked my eyes out of their sockets. The more we ‘squawked’ the more flustered she
became and couldn’t turn them off.
The
next morning they came over to apologise and they were a great couple, lots of
fun. All was forgiven and another little
koala bear went to a good home.
We
hit the road again and drove through plenty of little towns but they were not
worth writing about.
The
town of Bloomfield had a number of grubby RV Parks
but after a search through the camp directory we found Desert Rose Resort – beautiful.
On
the campsite they had their own oil well.
It produced good quality oil that supplied the heating system for the
swimming pool and all the hot water for the facilities. 
That tickled our fancy as none of our friends
in Australia
own their own oil well. Apparently lots
of ordinary folk have a well in their backyard and never pay for heating. How
good is that?
Aztec Ruins National
Monument - we
were able to walk around this Ancient Pueblo settlement dating back to 1100. The
ancestors of the Pueblos
were called Anasazi and they lived in this community.
We stooped down to enter through low doorways and dark rooms inside the West Ruin. Some buildings stand three stories tall and housed 450 rooms. We saw lots of mysterious “T” shaped doorways.
The big round stone kivas were used for ceremonial purposes. The walls had roughly shaped stones held together with mud mortar.
The
Hubbard Site has three concentric
walls encircling a ceremonial kiva. Our
wonderful guide, George Deitreich,
explained some of the native cultural beliefs.
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| George Deitreich |
The reconstructed Great Kiva is almost 50ft in diameter. This was used as a sacred gathering place. Light streamed through the windows and the tribal chanting (audio enhancement) gave it a spiritual atmosphere.
Inside
the kiva there was a fireplace and 2 long rectangular holes of differing dimensions
that looked like sunken baths.
Historians think they were used as foot drums for ceremonial occasions. Various
size flat boards were placed across the openings and the Pueblos Indians would
dance on them to create the sound.
Four round flat stones weighing 600lbs each were found inside and they were thought to have been the foundations of the 4 main columns holding up the roof. Where these stones came from and how they were transported is still a mystery!
By
the late 1200’s the Pueblos
left Aztec and moved south and again nobody knows why.
End of 20th
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