March 13, 2011

We just finished spending a week in Casa Grande, Arizona, visiting friends. We stayed at the Escapee park this time, and we were glad to find that Bonnie and Ken Woepke were there again. They are the folks who got us interested in full-time RVing. I worked with them at Enterprise several years ago, and when they retired in 2001 they got in an RV and headed for Alaska. Randy and I were fascinated with the opportunities that full-timing offered and decided to become full-timers ourselves. We have met up with them a few times since then, and they offered advice for our Alaskan trip. This time we were able to visit with them for a couple of days, catching up and having fun.

We also visited good friends in Quail Run - Skip and Bev, Marv and Dee, Bob, and others. It was so good to find everyone in good health and good spirits. We were fortunate our schedule put us there at this time - a couple of weeks later and we would have missed everyone, as they headed for their own summer destinations.

Our next stop was Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. For us this town doesn't have much to offer except their hot springs. But Randy had been driving for several hours and a long soak in natural hot springs seemed like an excellent way to relax, so we stopped there for the night. We went to the Riverbend Hot Springs, which look out over the Rio Grande river (which is not very wide at that point). $15 per person for an hour, and well worth it.

Yesterday we drove into Albuquerque, New Mexico to meet up with Clyde and Nancy, also friends from our days at Quail Run. They welcomed us with a steak dinner last night, and today stepped into the role of tour guides. They lived here for several years before they retired, so they know the area well.

The day started with a trip to see the remains of three small volcanos. Although they are long extinct and quite worn down, I was still fascinated by them.

















We hiked up the largest one. A vague, general shape of the crater is all that can be seen now. The volcano had blown out on one side, so the old crater slopes out that side. In the photo below, Randy is on the left, walking around what remains of the crater rim.




















It was surprisingly cold and windy out there!




















Next Clyde drove us out to Rinconada Canyon to see petroglyphs. We had to hike again, but once again, it was totally worth it. All along the trail you can see petroglyphs, although sometimes we had to climb a bit to get a good look. I am always fascinated by very old things, so I loved these.









































Today was the last day of the 23rd Rio Grande Arts and Craft Festival so next we went to see it. This is a really nice event - the quality of the art work was remarkable. If we still had a large house, we would have definitely bought some art here! I hope to exhibit my ivory work here in the future.

Next our tour guides took us to a place where ancient pueblos had been discovered. The community was known as Kuana, which in the ancient Tiwa language means “evergreen”. It has been dated from the early 1500s and contained over 1,500 rooms, build over a period of time. I am not sure if these ruins are from the original people or from reconstructions build later.




















For dinner we went to the Range Cafe, where they serve good Mexican food as well as nice selection of non-Mexican fare.

The last event of our day was a visit to the Sandia Peak Tramway. This is the longest aerial tram in the world, covering 2.7 miles and rising 3,819 feet.




















Our tour guides did such a great job that they not only filled the day with wonderful experiences, they also timed it so that the tram ride coincided with a beautiful sunset.




















We stayed at the top until the sun set almost completely. The tram literature says the view covers 11,000 square miles. In the evening, when Albuquerque is lit up, it’s amazing!