Colorado and New Mexico: Day 10 Santa Fe to Albuquerque, New Mexico, July 14, 2023

 My husband K woke up at 6:50, but I managed to sleep until 7:24. We went to the lobby for breakfast at 8. This time, I just had cereal.

We were packed and checked out by 8:50. We headed south with 25690 on the odometer and the temperature at 76°.

The scenery on I-25 was really rather dry.

Coming into Albuquerque, we saw that they were one of those communities that decorated their overpasses. I like that kind of effort.

At 10:01 (25729), we reached our first destination- Petroglyph National Monument. On the way to the Visitor Center, we saw that they were already educating visitors. For instance, these three plants are four-wing saltbush, snakeweed, and little leaf sumac, which are really interesting names. There was a really nice petroglyph and a sign telling you to keep your hands off. Oh, and tree cholla, which surprised me, because I remember our girls learning to identify teddy-bear cholla.

We went through the shop and bought things, of course. I got my national parks passport stamped. We also watched the video they had. Outside of the Visitor Center, the trails were tougher than we'd like. So, we were going to have to drive to the "easy" one. There were no restrooms over there and here they were on the order of camping outhouses.

It was 10:58, when we started the drive to Piedras Marcadas Canyon. It only took 14 minutes (25735) to get there. The parking lot is really in a lot of civilization.

It was 93°, when we arrived. Of course, we were doing this at the stupidest time of day. However, it really was the first thing we hit on our way south. We had on sunscreen and hats. We each grabbed a water bottle and headed out.

The first thing we noticed was the entrance, which was built to keep bikes and motorcycles out.

I used the NPS app as a guide and looked for numbered spots. 

The canyon wall was just so dry! Below our feet was sand and not the hard kind. No, this is the soft stuff that makes a beach a slog. You had to watch where you walking, because of sudden rock outcroppings.

It wasn't long before we saw the basalt boulders and rocks created by volcanic eruptions thousands and thousands of years ago.

Native Americans left behind petroglyphs on some of the rocks. It is thought that at least some of these are a sort of guidepost for leading folks through the rocks. You really had to look for them sometimes, and even then, some were faded.

I've found that I often have to darken the photos to make clear the petroglyphs that were usually pretty to see from the trail.

The phone was pretty good at capturing the signs that were close. However, when it came to the ridge and getting a photo of a drawing that was really far away, the camera had a much better zoom

The signage was really pretty good, not least because it told us how far we'd walked.

Sometimes, you'd get lucky and several were gathered in one place.

At one point, the trail curved and I got a look at Albuquerque in the distance. The land was so dry and desert-like that it really made me wonder why people settled here in the first place.

Doesn't this rock look like a gator or maybe a shark?

We found some petroglyphs on a rock near the trail. One of them was of a hand. So, I got K to put his hand next to it as a size comparison.

I was impressed with the steady hand it took to carve this bird.

The ridge made such a bowl shape that it made me think that perhaps there had been a glacier here at some point,

I like information signs, but I was always surprised that we didn't seem to have gotten as far as I thought.

 

 

Sometimes, the rocks looked like there had been a conversation going on.

I looked up the ridge at all of the basalt rocks and wondered how many of them had petroglyphs.

It was not long after this sign, that K decided we'd seen enough and should take the shortcut to head back. In spite of the breeze, it was scorching hot. The water was not cooling us.

You could look at the trail and just imagine people back in the day, who died of thirst out here.

By the time we reached the car at 12:10, my ears were ringing and I was breathing heavily. K got the air conditioning going and we drank more water. We were still dying and thought that getting to our next destination might help. We were on the road at 12:13.

We parked in the large parking lot of the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center at 12:35 (25744). I wanted to know how hot it was and this is what I found.

We quickly headed inside. The entrance fee came to a rather low total of $17. We went to the restaurant to put our names in for lunch and decided we could hear at least some of the 1:00 Mural Tour.  The guide had been a volunteer for years.

Look at these beautiful murals! The big blue one is upstairs above the lobby, restaurant, and shop. Look at how much detail they got into them.

There was also a great map of the languages of the native peoples of New Mexico.

Unfortunately, we were called to lunch at 1:18 and thus missed the rest of the tour.

I ordered a Coke Zero for $2.25 and K got iced tea for $2.75. Of course, we both asked for cold water, as well. K ordered the Blue Corn Enchilada, which had rolled blue corn enchiladas with choice of red or green chile, melted cheese, onion and corn, Pueblo beans and squash (The Three Sisters), and your choice of vegetarian, chicken, ground beef or ground lamb. He chose ground Beef and red chile.

I picked Indian Taco, which was Ground Native American beef or lamb, Pueblo beans, house-made fry bread, choice of red or green chile, melted cheese, lettuce, tomato and onion. I chose lamb and  Christmas chile, which is both red and green, but in separate cups.. We hoped to determine which chile was best. I was glad we were splitting so them so we could try more things. Honestly, both were delicious.

As we waited for our food, I checked the weather. It was 100° at 1:48!

I felt we couldn't pass up the $8 Pueblo Style Bread Pudding with Pueblo oven bread, charred and topped with currants and cheddar. Yum!

At 2:56, when we finished eating, it was 104°.

We then went off to explore the center. There was a courtyard that you went through to get to get to the exhibits. In the courtyard, were 5 giant paintings. In spite of the heat, we had to check them out.

I thought they were all beautiful. I was grateful that there was a large sign with info about each one and the artists. It was rather sad to note that they are all deceased.

There were two murals. Each was affected by the slats above it and how that affected the light on it. That was cool.

We went inside, where the main exhibit was "We Are of This Place: The Pueblo Story". Here, we read about their origin story and how they came to what is now New Mexico. They even mentioned Petroglyph National Monument.

There was a display of beautiful fetishes, as well as a helpful sign about their meanings.

One sign explained how they sought to maintain balance in the universe and between Mother Earth and Father Sky. I think how they farm the desert exemplifies this. I don't believe that this is the first time I'd heard about the Three Sisters on this trip.

Since they are in the desert, water is terribly important to them and not taken for granted the way we might.

Interestingly, they can grow cotton here. It is difficult to get it to a point where it is usable, so it is used for important clothing. 

There were several exhibits about pottery and beautiful examples thereof. I just love the white with the black lines, which actually looks blue here.

Up in Taos, we'd been amazed to hear how cool the center room of the pueblo could be. Here, we could see how the adobe works.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Based on the exhibit space alone, I'd say that drums are important to them.

There was a nice summary of how they feel connected to the others in their pueblo. Would that we all felt such belonging to our people.

Hard to talk about a society without talking about their food. So, of course, they did and I was sorry for what they have lost.

We know how much I love miniatures. It was so cool seeing models of their homes. First was a Multi-Storied Model from the Zuni Pueblo. Then, there was an Early Pit House, which was followed by a Single Unit Model from the Acoma Pueblo.

Then, they dealt with the difficult things, things that the governor of my state feels we should be protected from, because we shouldn't feel guilty about the past that we had no part in. That's ridiculous. We need to know these things, feel the feelings they cause and vow that our generation will do better.

They really didn't pull punches. You know, as a kid in Catholic school, the proselytizing of the Franciscans was lauded as bringing the Native Americans to Jesus. Fine. But, what they didn't say was how often it was a forced conversion. It is why, when I first learned of the full actions of Fr. Junipero Serra in California, I was pretty appalled that he was canonized.

Enough of my thoughts. Here are some of the things they presented.

Of course, they covered the Pueblo uprising and their continuing efforts for self-determination.

I like their attitude toward saying good-bye. It is similar to the German "Auf Wiedersehen", which means literally "until [we] see again".

When we finished the museum, we headed- of course- for the gift shop. I texted our daughters to see if they wanted various mixes. Indian fry bread was a must on everyone's list and pancakes were popular, too.

At 4:10, we pulled out of the parking lot. It only took us 8 minutes to drive to the Home2Suites by Hilton (25746). I liked the use of rocks outside rather than grass that needed watering.

The room was the usually huge room with a small kitchen. They are really quite comfortable places to stay.

Neither of us was in the mood for a big meal or going out, for that matter. So, K went to the shop in the lobby and picked up two Hot Pockets, ice tea for me, Coke for himself, and free apples. We added to it the blueberry and apple/peach pie we picked up at the cultural center. A nice meal.

We settled into the room and spent the evening still trying to cool off from our day.

My phone reported 6100 steps for 2 miles today.