I Should Have Turned Left…

Since I didn’t go to Florida this January and February, Mark and I decided to go somewhere that I could get some sun. (Good thing, too. This has so far been the worst winter Ohio has seen in several years. I was getting pretty cranky.) It was a toss up between Puerto Rico and New Mexico. Why, you may ask, would we pick NM over PR. I’ve been to Albuquerque twice, but Mark had never been to the state, so it was on his bucket list, and it’s close enough to California that we could convince our friends from San Diego, Kevin and Jeff, to join us.

We arrived around 6 last night (8 p.m. C’bus time), but after a long day of travel, we just wanted to get our rental car and settle in to our VRBO, which is what we did.

This morning, we found a nearby diner—a very local’s kind of spot called Central Grill and Coffee House for a quick breakfast. Chocolate-chip pancakes. Mmmm. We had a few options for today: walk around Old Town, take the Sandia Peak Tram to the top of, you guessed it, Sandia Peak, or visit Petroglyphs National Monument. We opted for the monument. I’d been before, but I wanted to go back, and a hike sounded good.

What’s there to say about Petroglyphs National Monument. I think you either love this landscape or you find it to be desolate. I’m on the love side, though it does require attention. There aren’t big gestures of color and joy; they’re small, and you often stumble on them accidentally. I have also always loved rock and stone. The stuff we have in Ohio is pretty meh, but once you start getting into volcanic rock and rock with hidden beauty inside it and rock that polishes up to a gem-like appearance, well, then you’ve got my interest. The petroglyphs are all carved into volcanic rock. The outer lay of “desert varnish” is scratched away to reveal the lighter-colored stone beneath. I took a lot of pictures, but I’ll only post a few here.

I think that we’re going to rest a bit now—it’s noon here—and then walk Old Town looking for fun art and things. We may try to the tram later today, or perhaps when we get back at the end of the week.

Jeff and Kevin are due in later today and will be visiting an old friend who lives here. We’ll probably have lunch with them tomorrow, then the four of us are off to Santa Fe for a few days.

Oh, and if you are looking for a place to stay in Albuquerque, I can say that Lily’s Old Town Loft Casita (Air B&B or VRBO) is a cute, clean studio near Old Town.