 |
| Hoodoo in Jemez |
Alaska was definitely lacking in warmth and towards the end of the summer, sunshine, so I headed to the Southwest for a bit of both. Little did I know that it would be in the negatives in wintertime in Albuquerque. After an excellent road trip, Cpt dropped me off and headed to Tanzania. La Mami went on several excursions with me, and some of the times were a little too exciting for La Mami's taste.
We started off easy, heading to Jemez, where hot springs flow like wine and hoodoos and fantastically red canyons surround the passerby. We stopped to get some sopaipilla at the local farmer's market and checked out the Jemez pueblo museum. It was filled with beautiful pottery and other artifacts and recounted the events of the locals versus the missionaries et al. Heading through the little canyon, we explored the scenic trails that wind through the red rock of the canyon, admiring the smooth walls and gentle shrines, espying a few lizard buddies.
 |
| Lizard buddy! |
After the delightful hike through the red canyon walls with blue skies and puffy white clouds, we checked out the Soda Dam. It's a buildup of sodium carbonate that is easily accessible to the casual driver. You can crawl into the tiny cave and see the ripples of mineral-laden water. It's a great, easy and tiny rock wall for all you wannabe climbers out there.
 |
| Outside of Soda Dam |
 |
| Inside Soda Dam |
We headed towards the free public hot spring, terrified of meeting those native New Mexicans who like to show all! But as we climbed up the steep path, a thunderstorm of epic proportions cracked down on us. We had to run back to the car in order to avoid the buckets of rain that came as soon as we reached it. Running up a slippery slope in flippy-floppies is quite an ordeal! We decided to continue up the road a bit. Then the hail began, balls as big as golf balls trying to break through our rental's windshield. We had to pull over for a half an hour because they were coming down so hard and fast. Finally, the hail relented and we headed back to ABQ.
Now, in October in ABQ is a very special event - the Balloon Festival. Hot air enthusiasts come from all over the world to witness or participate in one of the largest gatherings of hot air balloons. So every morning, I would wake up to Darth Vader or Smokey Bear peering through my window. One morning, La Madre and I headed to Petroglyph National Monument near ABQ and saw hundred of balloons all over the city. The Petroglyph National Monument is really cool, the locals drew thousands of stick pictures into the volcanic rock, drawing some very artistic designs. Here are a few. We saw a big ole' hare, a couple of roadrunners, a bunch of birds, and the trail of a snake. Neat place to go for an early morning hike!
 |
| I think the Petroglyph is scared of the balloon! |
 |
 |
| In Petroglyph National Monument |
 | ||||||||||||
| See the Heart? |
No comments:
Post a Comment