We had no fixed agenda today and the result was quite a bit of loafing around.
Peggy generously took all our dirty clothes to the Hidden Valley RV Mountain Resort’s laundry facility where, in addition to washing the clothes, she head-butted the coin mechanism used to power up the dryer leaving her with a nifty bump on her forehead. My Peggy is a dedicated trouper and finished this horrible task, despite the blood.
I performed a task more in accordance with my skills – I dumped the black and gray water tanks without getting any contents on my clean clothes.
Other than these necessary functions, we did nothing worthwhile for the remainder of the day choosing instead to nap, read and loaf. It was difficult but the food from yesterday’s stop at Trader Joe’s made it possible for us to endure the torture of doing whatever we wanted.

Peggy and I normally choose to prepare food and eat in our Barbarian Invader because eating out regularly results in one or both of us getting the shits. However, for no clearly identifiable reason, we elected to try a restaurant for breakfast with the strange name of Murphy’s Mule Barn today and we started out by putting the address coordinates into the Garmin. The Garmin calculated the best or worst route or shortest duration or shortest distance to the breakfast joint and finally arrived at a solution. The place was about 25 miles away but we were committed and we departed Hidden Valley RV Mountain Resort and embarked on today’s explorations.
Murphy’s Mule Barn ended up being a fairly large masonry building with a nice truck stop-type clientele. We went into the place and cozied up to the front desk for a minute until a staff person came over to us and gave us a funny look. When we asked where she wanted us to sit, her eyebrows went up and she replied that we could sit wherever we wanted as long as it wasn’t on some other customer. I had checked out the Barn on the internet and found they served chicken fried steak. That was no idle boast because when they brought my steak, it covered the entire plate such that the rest of the food that comes with it had to be plopped down on another plate. It was definitely large – maybe a square foot.
Peggy went for enchiladas in verde sauce which in New Mexico means green chiles, not tomatillos. She stated that they were very tasty and they must have been because I didn’t even get a bite. I was busy devouring my amply-sized steak and eggs and hash browns and they were all very tasty although the steak could have stood one or more additional passes through the meat tenderizer. I congratulate them on the prodigious portions but they are not in a class with Jake’s in Bend, OR, or Dean’s in Clackamas, OR, where the chicken fried steak, despite it’s mundane origins, is truly joyous in texture and taste. The bill, all in, was less than $20 and we waddled away fat and happy.
We departed the Mule Barn and went looking for a spot to view the upcoming Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta which is scheduled to start this Saturday, October 3. The Balloon Fiesta grounds are located on the east side of the Rio Grande River (which is really not very grande here) and so we scoped out the west side of the river and found some likely candidates for watching the Fiesta without being obliged to commune with the millions of tourists and balloon fans who come to watch whatever it is they watch.
From the west side of the Rio Poquito, we headed for Petroglyphs National Park which was only about 4 miles away. We stopped in at the visitor center, obtained some maps and a T-shirt and then drove off to a section of the park called Boca Negra Canyon. There are some short trails here where folks like us can see the petroglyphs, or carvings on rocks, without having to take extended treks. The short trails were just right because it was about 90 degrees today and the ancient rock carvers had not had enough foresight to build shade structures for contemporary tourists to use. The petroglyphs you can see are pretty neat and we took a lot more time than the brochure indicated we should while looking at the ancient runes and pix.
After Boca Negra Canyon, we drove around to the west side of the park to see some extinct volcanos which were quite extinct volcano-like. From here we went to the New Mexico Museum of Natural History. It is located in a very modern building that is so modern that finding the door to access the place is more difficult than we expected. We ultimately found our way in, parted with $6 a head and took off for a tour of the museum.
This museum is very nice with exhibits about coal, planet creation, volcanism, lots of dinosaur skeletons, a section covering computers and communications, brilliantly colorful salt water tropical fish in tanks, minerals and gems and a thing called an “Evolator Time Machine” which we missed for fear of emerging looking like Arnold Schwartzenegger. This was really a pretty good natural history museum and worth the $6.
We stopped by a Trader Joe’s on the way home and bought more food to augment our already ample stocks of stuff that is probably not good for us but tasty. Only $100 went to this worthy cause but it will probably prevent us from taking another trip to the Mule Barn.

Many cities in the Southwest have sections they call Old Town and Albuquerque is no exception. In San Diego, the Old Town has some historic buildings and structures with shops vending touristy crud but also has some old buildings that have genuine old stuff in them, like stables and hacienda residences. In Santa Fe, the Old Town has some historic buildings that you can find, if you look carefully, but most of the buildings have contemporary construction with brown plaster on them so they match the rest of the buildings in town. The Santa Fe Old Town has upscale boutiques and artsy-fartsy shops selling turquoise jewelry that is less than eagerly scooped up by undiscriminating visitors to this retail hell.
The Old Town here in Albuquerque is very similar to the Old Town in Santa Fe except the stuff is not so upscale, more candy shops are located here and maybe a few of the buildings might be old. Parking here in Albuquerque is much more abundant than in Santa Fe and we were able to get a nice spot at the curb right on the square without having to pay.
We bailed out of Charlotte and decided to take a stroll around the square. It was very square. It was also very shady because there is a grove of mature trees taking care of the air conditioning aspects of visiting here and there are also lots of benches where old geezers like me can relax while suffering through the horrible experience of shopping. There are shops more geared to cheapskates and the middle class here than we found in Santa Fe so I was fairly content to amble along beside my beloved spouse while she scoped out the possibilities for draining the wallet when I wasn’t loafing in the shade. We did find a visitor information center in a mini-mall with clever architecture designed to resemble old Albuquerque mission style buildings where we were able to get a full complement of published poop about the area. I love the visitor info centers because they cut down on our aimless wandering about in cities where activities we may be interested in can sometimes be difficult to find.
The Old Town here looks very oldish and we mutually decided to escape the area after Peggy bought me a very tasty mint truffle fudge chunk about the size of an address label that mysteriously disappeared once in my possession. We also ran into several dogs in this neighborhood and that made us happy since we got to pet them and hobnob with their owners. New Mexico Old Towns we have visited all have very reasonable dog policies and we have met many dogs here, much to our delight.

We had no agenda today and we followed it closely. There was a late wake-up followed by a leisurely breakfast that gradually transitioned into extended loafing. We did fix the shower head support in the shower since the screws securing it into the cardboard-like interior wall material between the living area and the shower enclosure had become loose after failure of the substrate. It was pretty hot outside today so we were forced to hunker up inside our Barbarian while the air conditioning system kept us comfy.
There was a lunar eclipse tonight and we watched the almost dead slow action until the full moon went from white to red. I tried to take pictures but there wasn’t a lot of light so holding the camera still enough to get an exposure that wasn’t fuzzy was problematic. While we were watching the non-action, we noted there are some kind of critters living in the trees near our trailer that must be photoluminescent. It is either that or some person has put little dull lime green LEDs in the trees that require no power to run them. I have doubt about the second theory.
I will check to see if I can ascertain the species of bug or LED in the trees but I think I will be unable to unwind the mystery of the green lights in the trees. Such mysteries are rarely unraveled by idiots so we may be obliged to just enjoy the lights without an explanation.

It was time for Charlotte’s engine to get some TLC so we started the day taking our wonderful vehicle to Rich Ford in Albuquerque for an oil change and an inspection. Our powerful and durable truck has been a trouble-free worker throughout this trip and some preventative maintenance seems to be a good thing. After getting assurances that Charlotte was in tip-top shape and had new oil in her crankcase, we parted with $110 and left the Ford dealership and immediately set course for a local discount liquor store. Running out of either Irish Cream or porter is a cardinal sin for us so we felt compelled to keep our supplies at an ample state for fear we would be condemned to hell or be thirsty. Very bad.
We departed Total Wine and More, a veritable Toys-R-Us for drunks and all-around wonderful place, only $60 poorer and well-stocked for the next few days. We decided to drive to Sandia Crest which is the vividly colorful mountain east of Albuquerque. The road passes through Tijeras on I-40 and then turns north up NM-14 until you reach the turnoff up to Sandia Crest. It is a very steep climb ascending 5000 feet in 14 miles but the views from the top are extraordinary. It was pretty clear today and views from the crest extend to about 100 miles in all directions.
I seem to be a bit wimpier than I used to be because I started to encounter some of the classic signs of altitude sickness once I got out of Charlotte in the parking lot for the itty-bitty hike up the last 100 feet of altitude to the best vantage point on top of this mountain. Peggy said I looked a bit gray or grayer than usual and I noted a distinct lightheadedness and a bit of nausea. I am becoming quite a weakling in my old age. It is disgusting.
In any event, Peggy and Mr. Fifty Shades of Gray wandered up the walkway to the ridge and we were rewarded with absolutely magnificent views across New Mexico. The views are great in all directions. Rocky Mountain National Park, Mount Acadia and lots of other places have spectacular views but only Mount Washington in Mount Acadia NP has unobstructed 360 degree views like this place and it is 8500 feet lower so the horizon is a lot closer. This place is another candidate for possible inclusion in the bucket list.
We put Charlotte in Jake-brake mode and descended back down to our camp site in Tijeras where we soon were treated again to the luxury of naps. This retirement stuff is rugged.

Today was a travel day. We will miss the beauty of the Santa Fe area although we will not miss the businesses since the only place we really liked was Michael’s restaurant and it was in Taos. We got a pretty early start, for us, and headed west on I-25 and then turned south on US-285 through northern New Mexico. It is a very pretty drive but anybody taking this route should make sure their vehicle’s cooling system is hunky-dory because there is quite a bit of up-and-down and most of the road is at elevations over 6000′.
US-285 intersects I-40 where we turned west to Tijeras near Albuquerque, a city with a name requiring considerable spelling acumen. We pulled into our campground, RPI-affiliated Hidden Valley RV Mountain Resort, and set up our beloved Barbarian Invader in space 72. As usual, our timing was impeccable because they closed the pool yesterday. There also does not seem to be any “valley” here because we are perched on the side of a hill. The space is narrow but the scenery is good. No wi-fi or cable TV although we do have phone reception and internet access through our dreadful phone service provider. The campground is about 14 miles east and 1000 feet above Albuquerque, pretty close to I-40 and the views out our ample trailer windows are good.
We must have been pooped from our considerable lack of activity today because we both took long, luscious naps after we set up our traveling home. It was wonderful.

Santa Fe, NM, was the victim of our explorations today. We started by exploring the interweb for the best breakfast in town and found out that the interweb lies. Foolishly taking the advice of many satisfied but stupid contributors, we went to have breakfast at Tecolote. Tecolote means boring breakfast in Spanish. The food was nominal and the prices were okay but nothing to write home about.
After finishing our mundane breakfast we jumped back in Charlotte and headed for the downtown section of Santa Fe referred to as “The Plaza.” The streets of Santa Fe are very narrow and downtown parking near The Plaza is scarce. Driving around in this ‘hood is best performed with a little, fast car because drivers in this area seem to fit into two categories; those that go really slow because they are suffering from road dementia and those who go really fast nicely cutting off their road mates while running lights and stop signs.
We found an underground parking structure downtown and pulled into two nice spots with our enormous F-250. We emerged from the parking structure into what is touted as an authentic reproduction of the old Santa Fe city center plaza. There is a really pretty old church adjacent to the plaza and there are some old buildings but quite a few of the buildings are relatively new unless old buildings had electronic elevators and ADA accessibility features when built.
The Plaza is very pleasant with big shade trees, ample benches so you can relax in the shade and a variety of vendor stands or kiosks selling fajitas, carnitas, painted tiles, jewelry and lots of other crafts. These vendors have pretty good prices for their food and wares but beware if you go into one of the surrounding replicant buildings because you will not find good prices there. Turquoise earrings are $20-$40 in The Plaza but start at about $120 in the stores. Most of the buildings are single-story with Southwest / Pueblo architecture and the area is quite attractive if you like that kind of stuff. Beware of uneven pavement edges, steps up at door thresholds and very low lintels over doors. Head cracking opportunities abound because of the substandard, but authentic, openings for stupid, puny doors associated with this type of architecture. Walls are either made from adobe (a form of mud with straw in it) or modern materials made to look like adobe and walls are very thick because the building material is so flimsy. Adobe dissolves into its constituents if it gets wet.
We strolled through this area and, if you don’t have head wounds, it is quite attractive. We went into the local cathedral where they have magnificent stained glass windows surrounded by gorgeous frescoes. We also cruised through the La Fonda Hotel which has a very nice lobby area with great interior accents. We also went into one of the multiple Native American or politically incorrectly named Indian museums, this one entitled the Institute of American Indian Art Museum. I was looking for art created in the past by local indigenous persons and soon found this was not correct museum for this kind of stuff. The IAIAM was art created by some native folks and some whitey material in the Indian motif but mostly it was modern which wasn’t what I was trying to see.
We met a dog named Stella on the sidewalk who was a miniature bull terrier and she was not only gorgeous but extremely happy to be out in the world where everyone could love her. She stopped us for some time and her owner was nice enough to hang around while we adored her. I was tempted to steal her. I miss my dogs that are back in San Diego.
We left the downtown area crossing over a few one way and some very narrow roads and drove to an area called Museum Hill where there is a Native American Museum with cultural and art exhibits from the recent and distant past. Peggy and I wandered around in this place for a couple hours and had a great time. Unfortunately, the museum does not allow photography so I could only get a few illegal exposures of some of the great exhibits. I am brokenhearted that I am such a dreadful camera criminal and if I was a Catholic, I would go confess my sins. Fortunately, I am not constrained by such silliness so I may continue my behavior as a miscreant.

For many years we have heard reports about how fantastic Taos is and how the area has many creative artists and unique art forms. We decided to devote our day today to visiting the area.
We started by attempting to find cheap diesel in Santa Fe and we were successful. Then the long drive toward Taos began with about 20 miles of driving on non-limited access roads with signals that seem designed to make sure all traffic is required to stop at every light. Progress was slow until the budget for signals was exhausted and we were allowed to continue on highways through rural areas that have citizens bright enough to utilize roads without requiring traffic lights at every intersection.
After leaving Santa Fe, the rest of the route (US-285/84 and NM-68) was very scenic passing through prairie and canyon country unlike anywhere else. There are quite a few grubby little estates with extensive rusty car collections along the sides of the road but every so often there are beautiful houses with classic southwestern architecture of flat roofs, exposed ends of roof joists and earth tone paint. They look like they were deliberately designed to blend in with the surrounding terrain and, in most cases, they were successful.
We crested one ridge near Taos and were rewarded with an absolutely spectacular view of the Rio Grande River Gorge which is a giant, jagged gash through a basically flat high prairie. It is massive. We continued into Taos after agreeing to drive over to the Gorge once we got closer and could find an access road.
Upon entering Taos, we stopped at the visitor info center for town where the staff generously gave us two almost completely worthless maps that could have been useful if they were accurate, to scale or actually had the names and approximate locations of the city streets. Despite the crummy maps, we soon arrived at a restaurant called Michael’s where we had a superb breakfast and also took a cinnamon roll away that was only about the size of a mature desert tortoise. It was very tasty when we finally got down to eating it later in the day.
I am sure that Taos is a very historic area with many interesting attractions but we were not too successful at finding them. First, we didn’t find Kit Carson’s house. Then we went to the Governor Bent (was he?) house and museum which seemed to be one room and a gift shop. Maybe he wasn’t a very interesting guy. Then we took a stroll through the alleged “historic area” that had some dead giveaways about whether it is historic; all the buildings have contemporary construction with artificially spalled and repaired exterior plaster, continuously extruded rain gutters and concrete fountains with modern plumbing and pumps. This section of town must be modern historic. There were many upscale, Beverly Hills-type boutiques and shops with prices that may correlate with the high shop rents.
There are some free and cheap pay parking lots downtown so parking was not a problem for us. We left our paid parking spot and exited Taos going northwest on US-64 through stunning prairie and canyons again until we reached the bridge spanning the Rio Grande River. The bridge is a steel truss unit which crosses over the river at an elevation of about 600 or 700 feet (I’m guessing) and the walls of the gorge are so steep that you need to get right up to the edge to see the river at the bottom unless you could see it through the handrails on the bridge. This is a truly impressive gorge through flat land that you cannot see if you are a half mile away. We stopped in the rest area that NM has astutely placed right where the bridge crosses the gorge and ate some of the Michael’s cinnamon roll.
From the Gorge, we continued on US-64 and came across a large area where it appears there are a bunch of old cheap hippie types that have built solar houses and other sorts of sustainable technologies like buried stacked tires for house walls. The place had a cornball name like Utopia Quest or Biopolygon Acres but the variety of unfettered architectural styles were very interesting even if they did look structurally unsound. These free-thinking souls apparently do not think much of folks getting a close-up view of their creations because all the access roads are posted and gated. We continued northwest on 64 until we hit US-285 where we turned south back toward Santa Fe. The ride down 285 is also gorgeous with amazing rock formations and mountain ranges on both sides of the road. We made one side-trip to look at the Santa Fe Opera facility which is an architectural confection visible from the highway. We only got a look at the exterior because there is reconstruction in progress but the facility was impressive looking.