Albuquerque, New Mexico--Wednesday, March 26--Friday, March 28, 2008

Wednesday we left Elephant Butte Lake State Park and headed north to Kirtland AFB, Albuquerque, New Mexico. As we left the park, we purchased gas in the town of Elephant Butte. OUCH!!! It was the first time on this trip we paid more than $3 a gallon for gas for the rv! The price was $3.27 a gallon. We had done an internet search to find the cheapest gas in the area and that was it!

The drive to Kirtland was about 150 miles along Interstate 25. The base is located next to Albuquerque's airport. When we arrived at the Fam-Camp we found it was full so we took an overflow site that had an electric hookup.

We were in overflow for one night then we moved into a full hookup site. After setting up we went to check the commissary, BX and ITT (for discount tickets). The commissary and BX were small considering the size of the base. ITT only had discount tickets for the tramway going up Sandia Peak. We were disappointed considering the great passport ticket book we got at Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson.

As we drove around the base we found that Sandia Labs is also located here as well as other civilian research facilities. Across from the campground there is a solar panel research area. New Mexico Air National Guard has a fighter wing located here. As with all bases, there are old planes on display. Here is a C-47 we saw near the rescue school.

Thursday we went looking for the Albuquerque tourist information center. We saw signs leading to the downtown area, then the signs disappeared. We continued straight after the last sign for 3 or 4 miles and came to Albuquerque's Old Town. It was an interesting area, but definitely for tourists. As we were heading back to the car, we happened across the information center! We found that Albuquerque doesn't mark things very well. You will see a sign for something, then never see another sign to let you know which way to go or how far.The shop Joyce found most interesting was the kaleidoscope store. There were fascinating kaleidoscopes of all sizes and shapes made by a local artist.

Friday morning we did laundry while we waited for the mobile rv repairman. We had a hot water heater problem. It was an easy fix--replacing the emergency brass outlet plug.

Once the laundry was done and the hot water heater fixed, we went to eat lunch at a local restaurant recommended by the lady who runs the campground. Las Cuates was a great Mexican restaurant.

From Las Cuates we went to Palms--an outlet for local Native American goods. The prices were okay, but they didn't have anything we wanted.

Our next stop was Petroglyph National Monument west of Albuquerque.

The monument has several areas for hiking and viewing petroglyphs. There are fewer petroglyphs at this monument than at Three Rivers Petroglyph Site north of Alamogordo. The petroglyphs were done about the same time period. We didn't see as many circles at this monument.

The next two pictures were taken from the same spot just looking in different directions. We are standing halfway to the top of the trail.

This is the view we had from that spot. Albuquerque has moved as close to the monument as it can!

This view is from the top of the trail--elevation over 5280 feet. Our car is the one in the middle.

Another trail was Macaw Trail--named for pictures of macaws. Evidently long ago macaws inhabited the area as skeletons have been found at the excavation sites.

We saw more graffiti at this park than at Three Rivers. It may be due to the proximity of a city with a large population. The site was not protected until the 60s. Many people carved initials and their own pictures near the petroglyphs. The graffiti is easy to discern from the real petroglyphs--shading is the clue.

There is a lot to see in the Albuquerque area so we will be here a few more days.