May 16, 2012 - Albuquerque

As we headed north out of Roswell on route 285 we were surprised to find the road lined with restaurants, motels, Wal-Mart and Target in sharp contrast to the much quieter even quaint downtown area where we had spent yesterday. Soon we were back into a mostly desolate and empty countryside as we followed a ribbon of four-lane highway headed toward I-40. As we passed through the arid landscape we did see two farms that illustrated the greening provided by irrigation. We also observed several trains on the BN&SF railroad that paralleled the...

May 11, 2012 - Albuquerque

Another 320 miles today. We are camped at The Enchanted Trails RV & Trading Post just west of Albuquerque. We stoppedWalmartMart so Penny could get her nails beautified. A woman has to look good even when roughing it. LOL. The pics that we attached are a few of the antique campers the owner of the campground has restored and has set up here. They are really something. It got very wind here today after a big rain storm went through. Off to Arizona tomorrow. Hope everyone is doing well. Gary & Penny

May 7, 2012 - Albuquerque and Santa Fe, New Mexico (Part one - Sandia Peak)

Albuquerque is being broken into three different parts so I can send more pictures. This is our driving trip up the Sandia Peak Mountain. They also have a tram that is the longest in the world and with the wind and cold and my fear of heights, we decided that driving was better. The roads were good - not like Superstition Mountain that we did in Phoenix, cause if it had been, Phyllis was not going. It was worth the drive as the scenery is breathtaking. The air was definitely thin. Any exercise at all and you were winded.

May 1, 2012 - Albuquerque, NM

Tuesday, May 1 Another birthday today…our oldest granddaughter turns 12! Our drive today is a bit windier than the other days we have travelled. This is the first day we have been on the interstate since we left Tucson. We are headed towards Albuquerque, NM and the landscape has turned relatively flat. I-40 parallels and is part of the historic old US Highway 66. Lots of little towns with closed 50s and 60 type motels and restaurants. Jim and I start to wonder if the interstates caused these closings, or the change to fly rather than drive...

Apr 30, 2012 - Albuquerque

Bien arrive a ABQ. Naturellement, 27 Celcius et ensoleille. Notre hotel est tres bien, situe pres de l'aeroport. 1 mai 2012 Ce matin j'ai ete pour mon changement huile et rotations des pneus. Deja 8000 kilometres. Special chez Rich Ford. $39.95 pour cela plus inspection courroies, etc. Ils l'ont l'affaire les "Americans". 2 grosses entrees pouvant contenir 6 autos pour recevoir le monde. Et c'est seulement le "Quick Lube". Le rep vient a ton auto, prends ton nom et ton auto. Ensuite tu attends dans le lounge ou le "Mustang Cafe". 50...

Apr 28, 2012 - The Sandia Peak Tramway

Ok, so we're thinking, "We'll get on this tramway thing, and be out of town in an couple of hours." Boy were we wrong! The Sandia arial tramway was originally built as a means of transporting skiers to Sandia Peak in the winter. As time went by, they began running it year round to bring in extra money from tourism. Built over 2 years in 1964, the tramway was designed in Switzerland, and the parts were shipped to the U.S. The whole thing was done for about 2 million dollars. (Today, replacing a single cable costs 1.8 million dollars!)...

Apr 25, 2012 - Albuquerque, NM

Funny... the word "their", (Or is it, "thier"?), has played havoc with my vocabulary from day one, ('I' before 'E' except after 'C', except in cases where... OH, THE HELL WITH IT!) yet, I'm able to remember how to spell "Albuquerque" after only 2 days of living here... (Al-buh-kwer-kwee, that's how I remember). After only a couple of days, we've become attached to this town, maybe because it reminds us of home. (Only with better landscaping, more trees, and mountains in the distance... all improvements over Good ol' San Antonio.) The...

Apr 18, 2012 - Albuquerque NM

Today was another tourist day in the high desert of NM. We left around 9:00 and after a stop at Home Depot for an RV part and IHOP for grub, we headed north on Hwy 550 from Bernalillo toward San Ysidro where we picked up Hwy 4 towards Los Alamos. 550 and 4 run through a couple Indian “Pueblos”, or reservations, then after Jemez Springs Hwy 4 starts up through the mountains. The scenery today was pretty neat once we got onto Hwy 4. It passes through some red rock canyons then at Hwy 485 we cut off and went about 2-3 miles through the tiny...

Apr 17, 2012 - Albuquerque NM

Today was a long Jeep day – about 270 miles worth. We left the campground at about 9:15 and headed north on I-25 to Santa Fe, then got on Hwy 285 through the north side of town and onto Hwy 68 into Taos. We changed it up a little today because we figured we would do the thing farthest away first, hence the trip to Taos instead of doing Santa Fe. The trip up 25 and 285 were not all that impressive, but once we got onto 68 it got pretty scenic because the road runs next to the Rio Grande River and through the Rio Grande Gorge. Taos did not...

Apr 16, 2012 - Albuquerque NM

Late on the update today; no particular reason other than laziness. And not much to report. Today was a travel day from Amarillo west to Albuquerque – which from this point on will be referred to as ABQ cuz I’m tired of typing !^$*&^%$#@. We left the campground at 9:30 and took the bus to a truck wash to spruce it up a bit. It was a great deal as far as I’m concerned - $47 to wash both vehicles and I didn’t even have to get out of the driver’s seat because my darling navigator went to the office to pay. That got done about 10:30 and we were...

Mar 17, 2012 - Apache Jct, AZ- Albuquerque, NM-Amarillo, TX-Dodge City, KS

Happy St. Patrick's day to all our Irish family & friends. Isn't everyone Irish today? Well, it's been a while since I've updated and by the time you get this we will almost be home. I will try to fill you in on what we have been doing the past few weeks. Last time I updated we were in Laughlin, NV. After we left Laughlin, we went to Lake Havasu City, AZ. We were there from Feb 22 to Mar 6 and had a great time. We stayed at Lake Havasu RV Park. We had access to the desert from our campsite and Colleen and I went out several times collecting...

Mar 8, 2012 - Albuquerque

Mar 8 Indoor museums today because we woke up to snow. Not much but enough not to want to hike around cliff dwellings. I am glad we made changes to our schedule. Our first stop is the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History. Here you learn the story of the Atomic Age, from early conception, the Manhattan Project and the Cold War, to today’s peaceful uses of nuclear technology. This museum was a natural progression after White Sands and Los Alamos. This museum ties all these things together and also brings in the Hanford Research Lab...