Blogs from New Mexico, United States, North America - page 78

Geo: 32.3067, -106.778... read more

October 21, 2009 This morning we left Gallup at about 8:45am. The city is actually in a Navaho reservation…this just means that they own the land…it doesn’t look any different from any other city (I had visions of teepees and Native Americans in full dress but that’s not the case!). Like many of the Native American areas we’ve been in, the city seemed quite impoverished with few resources. When we left in the morning it was 34 degrees and raining. By the time we got to Roswell, about 350 miles away, it was sunny and 67…it is so strange travelling through these areas and starting out huddled in the back seat with sweatshirts and blankets and then removing articles of clothing as we move along until finally we’re wearing nothing at all…just kidding…whew, that is a ... read more

We headed South into New Mexico from Colorado. It has been a welcome treat to be off the Interstates, especially since, where we have been travelling, there isn't that much traffic on the secondary roads. Our route to St. Michael's Skeet in Canones was no exception. The terrain was clearly different from Arizona or Colorado, and not like anywhere I've seen before. The color of the stone is not as flamboyant as in Utah, but lighter than Colorado, and with lots of evident layers. As we approached Canones, we saw a sign that said "Monastery," so naturally we made the turn. As it turned out, it was the wrong monastery, but the road we took to it was worth the detour. It was an unimproved Forest Service road, taking us through nearly 20 miles of the ... read more

New Mexico was enchanted—just like the sign said it would be. The scenery here is just astonishing. It feels and looks like a different planet. Jagged hills and rock formations and barren landscape stretched on forever. All throughout New Mexico it seemed like same barren, dry, unforgiving landscape over and over. The transition from west Texas into New Mexico was very interesting and intense. As we got further west the world felt it like it just kept getting bigger. Every state continued to amaze me. I noticed how parts of the landscape would be covered in small valleys, and canyons that met at random points. There were rocks EVERYWHERE. We stopped several times along the road to get out and run up a big hill or to climb a rock we saw from the road. We ... read more

We were off to the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta with Alki Tours. It is a 10-day celebration of launchings, races, and contests on a plateau the size of 54 football fields. After flying to Albuquerque and spending the night at the Fairfield Marriott Hotel, we drove to the Balloon Park at 5:30 a.m. October 4th. Our early departure gave us a head start on heavy traffic and got us to the Park in time to see three Dawn Patrol balloons test the winds. At 7 a.m., a balloon was launched carrying the United States flag. During the next few days, 550 balloons would fill the skies in the biggest international balloon fest in the world. Wednesday was International Balloon Day. Thursday featured Special Shapes balloons from China and Japan. We would see honey bees, a castle, stagecoach, ... read more