Exploration was the agenda for today. We frequently find the best stuff when we head off without a destination in mind and also find often when we closely plan our routes we end up disappointed with our selection. This speaks volumes about our abilities to plan excursions.
Today we started by going to a fixed destination. We drove just a short distance from our campground towards a place called Travertine Falls. As we approached up the narrow road to the parking lot we noted that there was not a drop of water in the creek below the falls so we gave it a pass. Maybe we will return after it rains which it is supposed to do right as the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta starts on October 3. They also expect lightning and I am sure the fools who ride in hot air balloons will appreciate this form of weather phenomena. Up….up….bzzzzt….thud!
After not seeing where Travertine Falls isn’t, we took off south on NM-337 through Escabosa and Chilili, both authentic, rustic junkyards with some historic condemnable buildings just waiting for some idealistic buyer or idiot to see through the ugly all the way to the even uglier. The countryside along the highway is quite pretty but the hamlets are genuinely hideous. Many non-functional vintage automobiles have come here to die. After some more pretty countryside, we hit NM-55 and continued south through more sad, decrepit towns called Tajique, Torreon and Manzano before turning off into the Quarai segment of Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument.
At Quarai, there is the ruins of an old church and some foundations of Pueblo Indian home structures. The church was built by the local Pueblo women who were enslaved by the Catholic missionaries who brought the benefits of slavery, smallpox, flu and the Inquisition. The Pueblos had gotten along very well for 300+ years until Spanish missionaries and soldiers brought the benefits of Christian religion to the region. The advantages brought by the Europeans were quite effective, annihilating the population in 40 years. The ruins and scenery here are very nice. The history is a bit disgusting.
We continued south on NM-55 to Mountainair, a small town with fragrant air but no mountains, where we turned west on US-60 to the Abo segment of SPMNM. Here there is the ruins of another church, the most recent construction, since shortly after the construction the population was again eradicated by modernization of their lifestyles and beliefs. The tangible benefits of introducing European traditions and cultures to people who had a cooperative, peaceful society are clearly ascertainable through the improved death rates, loss of property and forced labor for outsiders.
We continued west on US-60 to northwest NM-47 to I-25 north to I-40 east back to our camping spot. Right as we got home, the western sky put on another fantastic light and dark show as the sun set. I took way too many pictures.