Albuquerque, New Mexico

April 15 - 24, 2009

American RV Resort
Albuquerque, New Mexico

We've been here for 4 hours...Ken and I sat outside enjoying the sun and warm temperatures and thinking "what a nice park". The trees are beginning to bloom; there is a real nice atmosphere...then...a rig pulls in and this is what we see out our very large windshield...a traveling billboard...

It's all about neighborhood, right? Thank goodness they left the next day.

Anyway, as soon as we got in touch with Roberta (my long-lost friend from 32 years ago), she got in her car and got to our campground. We sat around reminiscing and getting caught up for over three hours (seemed like three minutes) and then she left with plans that could last for years, never mind the week we have planned here.....

Greg and Marilyn joined us for the first couple of days here to prepare themselves for their trek home and to celebrate Greg's ??st birthday. You know you're getting old when you have trouble putting your glasses where they belong so you can find them when you need them; right, Greg?

Other than acting as our full time travel guide, Roberta introduced us to a lot of the members of her family...people I had known all these years through stories, yet had never met. It was easy to see what a great family she has!!! We visited with her Mom and Dad and also attended a St. Patrick's Day Corned Beef and Cabbage Dinner with members of her family and celebrated the birthday of her nephew, Noah...4 years old!!

We spent some time getting around the city and visited Old Town, the serene village that has been the focal point of Albuquerque since 1706. Old Town follows the traditional Spanish pattern of a central plaza and church surrounded by homes and businesses.

Old Town's church is San Felipe De Neri Catholic Church, constructed in 1793; it is the oldest surviving building in the city of Albuquerque.


Shopping in Old Town was quite an experience with unique items from around the world as well as local artisans sitting on the sidewalks selling their creations.

On Christmas Eve thousands of visitors come to Old Town to see the spectacular display of luminarias. Candles are set in a bed of sand inside the bottom of a paper bag. When lit, they create a golden glow. Thousands of luminarias line the Church, Plaza and streets of Old Town.

We spent another day soaking up the atmosphere of Santa Fe. Along with visiting the many shops, we visited The Loretto Chapel, home of the Miraculous Staircase. Two mysteries surround the spiral staircase in the Loretto Chapel: the identity of its builder and the physics of its construction.

The Loretto Chapel was completed in 1878, there was no way to access the choir loft twenty-two feet above. Carpenters were called in, but they all concluded access to the loft would have to be via ladder. Legend says that a man appeared at the Chapel with a donkey and a toolbox looking for work. Months later, the elegant circular staircase was completed, and the carpenter disappeared without pay or thanks. The stairway's carpenter, whoever he was, built a magnificent structure. The design was innovative for the time and some of the design considerations still perplex experts today.

The staircase has two 360 degree turns with no visible means of support. Also, it is said that the staircase was built without nails—only wooden pegs. Questions also surround the number of stairs relative to the height of the choir loft and about the types of wood and other materials used in the stairway's construction, none indigenous to the area... The original staircase was built without the railing which was added at the request of the nuns, ten years after it was constructed.

Was it a miracle???

Ken was having problems with his back, so the next day Roberta and I headed out for a day of exploring. Roberta later figured out we traveled a total of 430 miles that day.

We passed the famous "camel rock". Can you see it?

Next stop...Taos, a town very much like Santa Fe with its plaza, quaint shops and restaurants. I started feeling a bit woozy...no breakfast and I was dealing with an altitude I was not used to. Not something you should fool around with!!!

Then we came to the great Rio Grande River (I always thought you found this river in Texas... you learn something new every day). The Rio Grande travels 1,885 miles from the mountains of southern Colorado to the Gulf of Mexico. In northern New Mexico, the river cuts through the ancient Taos Volcanic plateau to form the 78-mile long Rio Grande Gorge.

We continued on to the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, which is 650 feet above the Rio Grande and is the fifth highest bridge in the United States. We walked out to the center of the bridge...I was so nervous, I couldn't look down. Couldn't even take any pictures...had to hand the camera to Roberta. Needless to say, I was quite anxious to return to the side!!!

We continued a bit further north to visit the La Junta Overlook in the Wild Rivers Recreation Area to see where the Red River meets the Rio Grande.

We traveled around the mountains and all the ski areas...we went up to 9000 feet elevation (I was okay as long as I stayed seated in the car!!)

Our last stop of the day was at the Vietnam National Memorial. On April 24, 1994, Dr. Victor Westphall gathered a handful of the soil from this

spot and on May 2, 1994 scattered it at the ambush site in Vietnam where Lt. Victor David Westphall III lost his life on May 22, 1968.

Dr. Westphall returned with earth from the ambush scene and mixed it here with New

Mexico soil on May 5, 1994.

Dr. and Mrs. Westphall are buried here on the site of the Memorial.

High on a hill, with the wind blowing...this is really a surreal spot of such a Memorial.

Our last excursion in Albuquerque was to the Sandia Peak Tram...Ken had taken the tram back in the 1980's while on a business trip with Digital. He had dinner at the peak and wanted to bring me up to experience the same.

The tramway was built between 1964 and 66 at a cost of $2 million. It is 2.7 miles long and travels at 13.6 miles per hour (20 feet per second). The lower terminal is located at 6,559 elevation and the top terminal is 10,378 feet. I actually didn't have too much trouble breathing up there, but we didn't overexert ourselves either. We had lunch at the High Finance Restaurant where Ken had dinner all those years ago...unfortunately, it wasn't the same chef (wouldn't recommend the food).

We leave Albuquerque to drive 1,240 miles to our long weekend stay in Nashville. That's 1,240 miles closer to home!!