Socorro, New Mexico

A Three Hour Tour

 The sandhill cranes migrate to this part of New Mexico between November and the end of January. We were too early for the Sandhill Crane Festival but not too early to visit the wildlife refuge. I made reservations for the 8:30 am 3 hour tour (Mike mentioned "Gilligan" when I told him how long it was). The twice a day free, naturalist-led tour of the birds, reptiles, and mammals who call this refuge home only has room for 8 people.

Before starting our tour, we could hear the cranes singing to each other.

 We were ready to get out and walk after two hours but our guides were great teaching us so much about the management of the area and identified so many birds that several "birders" on the tour were able to add new birds to their lists. 

 Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1939 to provide a stopover for migrating cranes, geese, and ducks who winter here each year as they follow the Rio Grande River.

 The refuge staff manages water to create seasonal wetland habitats that year-round and migratory wildlife need to thrive, like before men "tamed" The Rio Grande River.

Cranes

 Snow geese and ducks before eagle.

 After the eagle arrived.

 A javelina sighting.

A smart turkey hanging out on the refuge in November. Not only is he protected, they grow food for him. 

 The Sandhill Cranes can stand 4 feet tall.

A cool mural in downtown Socorro

San Antonio, NM

  When Frank Chavez came home to San Antonio, New Mexico, in 1945 after serving in the US Navy during the “Big War”, he and his wife, Dee opened a little bar in the grocery store operated by Dee’s father since the late 1930’s.

Soon after the Owl Bar opened, it became the hangout of a handful of so-called prospectors who had moved into the tiny community. These “prospectors” were actually atomic scientists who would later activate the famous Trinity Site explosion, the first test of the atom bomb used to end the war with its devastation of two Japanese cities. At the request of the “prospectors” and other patrons, Frank put in a grill behind the bar and began cooking hamburgers.

With a history like that, we had to try it out. Our green chile cheeseburgers came out on small Melmac (a plastic) plates from days gone by. The burgers were so good with just enough zip to make my lips know the chiles were there.

The bar itself, originally from Conrad Hilton’s first rooming house in San Antonio. He would carry suitcases from the train to his father's hotel.

The Box, Socorro, NM

 The 640-acre Box Recreation Area is a scenic, rugged area which is very popular for rock climbing and bouldering with five cliffs on either side of this box canyon.

 There is a 14 mile hiking trail somewhere in the Box but we kept running into fences and starting over on another trail to get in our 5 miles. Nothing was marked but we managed.

 This was as high as we were getting up the wall. The only people making it to the top were carrying ropes.

 We came across this rig with a couple from Germany camping in the Box. Now that is a getup. 

 San Miguel Mission

  In 1598 Spanish explorers, accompanied by two Franciscan priests came to what is now known as Socorro where they found a friendly tribe of Indians who furnished them with a supply of corn,
 (as their provisions were running very low.) The two priests, with the help of the Indians, built a modest little church which they replaced with a larger building in 1626, and which is the present church.

 Heading south.

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Tijeras is Spanish for "scissors"

Albuquerque has been a place we try to get through as quickly as possible in the past. This time we stopped and looked past the Big-I where the interstates meet in the middle of the city and stayed east of the city in the small town of Tijeras.

We made a visit to the Petroglyph National Monument which protects one of the largest petroglyph sites in North America, designs and symbols carved onto volcanic rocks by Native Americans and Spanish settlers 400 to 700 years ago.

The three different sites have hiking trails in lengths from one to four miles roundtrip to see hundreds of petroglyphs. They are very different than those we had seen in the past due to the combination of the Native American and Spanish cultures. 

Hiking in Boca Negra Canyon (a shorter section) up the hill while trying not to stumble on the rocks on the path.

Then we headed over to the Rinconada Canyon with 1200 petroglyphs for a 2.2 mile walking path. The Pueblo elders believe that the petroglyphs choose to whom and when they reveal themselves. We may have missed some but we saw plenty. 

Among the most common Spanish petroglyphs were those of religious beliefs and cultural traditions.

Petroglyphs are rock carvings made by pecking the rock surface using a stone chisel and a hammerstone, chipping off the desert varnish on the surface of the rock, the lighter rock underneath was exposed, creating the petroglyph. Archaeologists have estimated there may be over 25,000 petroglyph images along the 17 miles within the monument boundary.

The arrival of Spanish people in 1540 had a dramatic impact on the lifestyle of the pueblo people. In 1680 the Pueblo tribes rose up in revolt of Spanish rule, and drove the settlers out of the area and back to El Paso, Texas. In 1692 the Spanish resettled in the Albuquerque area. A small percentage of the petroglyphs found within the park pre-date the Puebloan time period, perhaps reaching as far back as B.C. 2000.

Spanish shepherds left symbols that were important to them such as sheep and crosses resembling Latin crosses in the 1700-1800s.

Indian Pueblo Cultural Center

The Indian Pueblo Cultural Center's museum is a place to discover the history, culture, and art of the 19 Pueblos of New Mexico.

 The picture to the right is for sale $4,600 and the middle is $100,000. I had to do a double take and count the zeros.

 Inside the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, Pueblo Harvest is a restaurant known for regional and Native-sourced, Pueblo-inspired cuisine.

We shared the Tewa Fry bread taco once we added the Christmas chile (red and green) on the side. But the spicy green was the best and not too hot.

The Singing Highway

I like to use Atlas Obscura or Roadside America to find interesting things to see and do when we get to a new place. This time Jeff from Ruffin it with Rufus had suggested checking out "The Singing Highway".

On this quarter-mile section of the highway, the rumble strips have been engineered to sound like the song “America the Beautiful.” Drivers have to be going 45 miles per hour to hear the vibrations in action. The “Musical Highway” on the eastbound Route 66 was installed by the New Mexico Department of Transportation and the National Geographic Channel to encourage drivers on this stretch of the historic road to slow down and adhere to the speed limit.

I didn't do a good job of recording the singing highway. But you can right click on this link for the singing highway.

 Bike riding in New Mexico has its hazards such as gusting sidewinds and goatheads (stickers). We managed to avoiding being blown over or a flat tire.

The Turquoise Trail

One rainy day, we took a drive on the Turquoise Trail, a scenic highway linking Albuquerque and Santa Fe through rolling hills with mountain views and historic mining towns.

 The archeological site is the furthest south on the Turquoise Trail in Tijeras.

The self-guided trail meanders over the area where the people of this village lived over 700 years ago.  Interpretive signs give a glimpse into the lives of the Pueblo people who occupied the village. Pieces of turquoise were found embedded in the kiva walls for decoration.

The Periscopes at different heights give a good view of the copper mine above the pueblo which was a good source of Malachite. The green malachite was crushed and bound with resin from the pinon trees to decorate clothing and ceremonial items.

Cerrillos is a lazy rural town with a few shops, art studios, and western scenery. It is known for its Cerrillos Turquoise and as the setting for "Young Guns," filmed in 1988.

Madrid, New Mexico,is a main stop on the Turquoise Trail. Madrid was once a coal mining town and the streets are lined with small miner's homes, which have been
converted into shops and galleries. Disney's "Wild Hogs" was filmed here.

On to Socorro, NM 

Moving On

Friends for the moment, season or lifetime

So the old Norwegian saying goes. Those friends fill us up in different ways as we travel through this life. Each person is unique and gives us new insight, ideas or just joy.

We have spent the past five winters in Mesa. I just wasn't ready to give up a job with that much flexibility and great pay. The trade off was that we often found ourselves leaving places and rushing through others to get back there in the required timeframe. Sometimes you just realize it is time to move on. Bike riding and hiking made those last 3 months pass quickly. In no time and we were packing up to leave.



Our 30 mile ride to Tempe Towne Lake

A favorite place for mountain biking

Lunch after a ride.



Pulling your home around on the back of your truck over bumpy roads can cause damage. Fortunately, Mike keeps an eye out for potential problems. We needed a place to leave our trailer while we returned to Colorado for a ski holiday that we had planned sometime ago. Leaving the trailer at the repair shop for three weeks worked out great for us, even if we have to drive back to Arizona before starting out again. It was also easier than pulling it through snow.

Vail Resorts has been buying up multiple resorts and the pass prices have been going up. Who would pay over $200 for a day of skiing? It is a good way for Vail to promote their season pass, keeping skiers in their network. Our last season pass was $1000 each. This year they offered a pass for veterans and spouses a pass for $500 each, upon verifying their honorable discharge. Mike spent four years in the Air Force so we took them up on it and booked a condo for our stay.



Monument Valley Tribal Park

We left Arizona a day early to avoid the record setting snow storm that was in the forecast. Staying in Kayenta an extra day allowed for us to explore Monument Valley which isn't really near anyplace but only 22 miles from our hotel. There isn't much available for restaurants so we made due with Subway and McDonalds since it is the off season.

Monument Valley Tribal Park

There is a $20 fee to enter the park. But most of the facilities were closed and no one to pay. There are several tour companies and the lady that I had spoken to said we wouldn't need a reservation. The tour guides would be in the parking lot. The prices had doubled when we asked how much at the little shed. As we walked away to "think about it" another man offered to take us on the tour at a cheaper price.

As we took a walk to decide if we wanted to take the drive, the storm rolled in. The tour sounds like a good time with stories about all of the movies that had been filmed in the area. We could have driven the 17 mile route ourselves but the dirt roads looked pretty iffy.

Goulding, Arizona

A couple of miles from the Park in the opposite direction was the town of Goulding.

Goulding, AZ



Goulding has a great museum with a lot of movie memorabilia and stories about the Gouldings that founded the town. John Wayne's cabin below was used for a prop that he walked out of in a movie. The cabin was named John Wayne's because it sounded more interesting than the potato shed that it really was.



Mike found a hiking trail but it got slick pretty quickly.



Arches National Park

It had been several years since our last visit to Arches. The off season was much more pleasant without the crowds. 

The snow crunching under our feet was the only sound we heard as we walked in the falling snow.



My contracts as a traveling nurse were for 13-20 weeks, giving us time to become part of each community and explore it more thoroughly. Using Arizona as a base for six months and traveling the other six, we found ourselves rushed in order to be back in Arizona within my six month return date. We want to spend more time in places rather than being tourists passing though. For the next year, our plans are to volunteer in state parks allowing us to spend at least a month in each location.

We look forward to the places and adventures ahead of us, along with new friends whether they are for the moment, season or lifetime.