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This part of New Mexico is new for us. Camped outside of Albuquerque, surrounded by mountains, the internet and phone coverage was weak and unpredictable. Our friend Oland called to let us know where the pickleball games were in town. How nice to have friends on the road. But, the winds kept me away from the ballfield. In fact it was so windy that we left 2 of our slides in most of our two weeks in the area.
We did the tourist thing in Albuquerque and also Sante Fe, which was less than an hour's drive North. You really get the flavor of the Southwest in these towns. Especially the old Catholic churches that are still in use today.
Oh, that endangered lizard in Texas that is preventing oil drilling is alive and running all over the trails in this part of New Mexico (see picture.)
On a day trip we traveled to the Salinas Pueblo Missions. The drive was desolate and full of deteriorated homesteads, abandoned over a hundred years ago. The trip was well worth it. We learned of the Anasazi Pueblo Indians who existed in a communal lifestyle dating back 7,000 years ago. In
Endangered Texas Lizard
Alive and well in New Mexicothe 1670's the Spanish came and radically altered Pueblo life. Basically, they enslaved the pueblo Indians and tried converting the people to Christianity.
Even with the protection of their Spanish masters, the Pueblos suffered raids by the Apaches, who captured their children and sold them into slavery for horses and guns. When a drought hit the area the Salinas Pueblos moved South with the Spanish to the El Paso area and were absorbed into Indian communities there. This made them the only linguistic group during the "historic" period to lose their language and their homeland.
We will spend Memorial weekend halfway between here and Colorado Springs, where Tom will see if Pikes Peak is just as he remembers it from his last visit, 59 years ago!
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Joan Marcelli
non-member comment
New Mexico
Hi Karen and Tom, Pictures are beautiful. The picture of the lizard reminded me when I was a kid. Lizards and grasshoppers were what we saw when we went outside to play. The lizards would shed their tails and you would see tails all over the ground. Funny that I haven't thought about that in decades. Enjoy your travels-- I love to see the pictures.