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Hi, just got back from a week in NM and I thought I'd share a little bit of our experience.
My wife and I flew in from Atlanta and drove up to Ojo Caliente. We stayed at the mineral hot springs for two days. The hiking around the resort was quite nice, and the numerous pools were great, but crowded. Luckily they reserve some of the pools for just the hotel guests. Not too much to say about that other than it was relaxing.
From there, we headed to Sante Fe with a stop at Bandelier on the way. Bandelier was really impressive with fascinating history. We were lucky that it wasn't very crowded, but my wife and I were both a little under the weather that day and didn't get to enjoy it as fully as we might have. I think by this time the altitude and unrelenting sunshine was taking a toll on us.
In Sante Fe, we stayed at Las Palomas, which is a few blocks from the Plaza. We greatly enjoyed al the architecture of the entire area, as well as the Loretto Chapel/magical stairway and the Basilica. We aren't religious, but we always enjoy the beauty of old church buildings like these when we travel. We were also highly impressed with the food and service we received while there. The only downside to Sante Fe is that it's overrun with tourists (which I am, as well, but I try to be as much like a local as possible when I travel, rather than the typical tourist behavior of being quick to jump in front of people and slow to get out of the way.) I can only imagine how crowded it is in the high season, and how annoying it is for the locals.
Leaving Santa Fe, we headed to Albuquerque, and stayed at the Albuquerque Parq Hotel on Central. Our first day, we tried to take it easy. Had a quick look around Downtown, dinner in Nob Hill, and went to bed early. The next day, we drove out to Tent Rocks, which is one of the most amazing places I've ever seen. What an incredible site. I expected this to be the highlight of our trip, and it far exceeded my expectations. It is baffling to me that none of the locals I spoke to had ever been there, and some hadn't even heard of it. How can this be?
On the way back from Tent Rocks we rode the Sandia Tramway, which was a lot of fun and not as scary as I thought it'd be. Incredible scenery!
After a short rest, we went to see some bands at a little hole in the wall called The Tannex. The Alibi newspaper recommended this show, featuring "Albuquerque's second best punk band" Rudest Priest, who were hilarious and very entertaining. The venue promised the show would end by 9:30, and it did. That was perfect since we had an early flight home the next day.
Anyway, thanks for the hospitality, people of NM. We had a great time and I hope we'll be able to visit again and see many of the things we weren't able to fit into our itinerary on this visit.
we drove out to Tent Rocks, which is one of the most amazing places I've ever seen. What an incredible site. I expected this to be the highlight of our trip, and it far exceeded my expectations. It is baffling to me that none of the locals I spoke to had ever been there, and some hadn't even heard of it. How can this be?
Hehehe... It happens and looking back I was sometimes the same way. But after our moving around a lot, we realized what we missed locally. But I have met some locals that have extensive local knowledge and some who have also traveled a lot.
I am familiar were the The Tannex is at, my granddaughter has a long time friend with someone who played in a band there. Across the street is the popular Barelas Coffee House, if you ever get a chance, try it.
Thanks for your comments, glad you enjoyed, you might come back again?
Thanks for your comments, glad you enjoyed, you might come back again?
I would love to visit again. My wife and I have a goal to visit all 50 states, so our return to NM would most likely be after we've completed that goal. It'll probably take us another five years to do that.
A lot of locals don't know what's here, they take it for granted, or they just don't want to deal with the tourists. They don't think there is anything special about where they live, so don't go out of their way to see the attractions.
Even though I've lived in Albuquerque for over two decades, I only just recently visited a section of Petroglyphs National Monument on the West Side that I hadn't seen before (Rinconada Canyon), and it was awesome. Sometimes we feel more desire to visit far-away places than what's right under our noses.
Tent Rocks is one of my favorite places to go back to time and again. Also, the less-known section of Bandelier called Tsankawi. If you haven't already visited Colorado, Utah, and Arizona on your 50-state tour, you could have done a Four Corners vacation and seen them all in a week (with NM). I don't mean the Four Corners Monument (waste of time) but the many National Parks in the region. If you liked Bandelier and Tent Rocks, you would also like Chaco Canyon (NM), Canyon de Chelly (AZ), several national parks in southern Utah, and Mesa Verde (CO) and the Silverton train.
Even though we are retired the old problem of too many places and too little time is still there.
We spent a few days in Albuquerque last spring. We drove up to the top of the Sandia Crest a couple of times. One was in about 4 inches of fresh snow. I thought it was a bit ironic to fly to the Southwest to get more snow but I like driving in the stuff with a front wheel drive rental with summer tires. Then we took the Tram. Completely different experience.
Any auto racing fans should visit the Unser family museum.
A lot of locals don't know what's here, they take it for granted, or they just don't want to deal with the tourists. They don't think there is anything special about where they live, so don't go out of their way to see the attractions.
This is so true. In my first year in New Mexico (I was a college student with a lot of free time) I had explored a generous portion of the northern half of the state, from Soccoro north, and had a better grasp of the geography and a wider range of experience than most of my native-born fellow students.
And just a couple of weeks ago, I was telling a co-worker who grew up in the South Valley and now works on the West Side that I had, the previous evening, gotten a couple of carne adovada burritos at the Frontier and then gone for a dusk hike in the Sandias. He told me he had never been in the Sandias. In fact he had only been east of San Mateo a couple of times in his life except on I-40 and that was for work. He also only vaguely knows about the Frontier which is an institution for people on the east side of the Rio Grande. He is in his early 30s.
I would love to visit again. My wife and I have a goal to visit all 50 states, so our return to NM would most likely be after we've completed that goal. It'll probably take us another five years to do that.
Whazzup JPD?
Two things about New Mexico that might change your mind about those five years.
New Mexico is the 5th largest state in the U.S.
Though it only has one National Park (Carlsbad Caverns) it has fifteen National Monuments. And they are scattered all over the state from the Aztec Ruins in the northwest corner to Carlsbad Caverns in the southeast corner to Capulin Mountain in the northeast corner and a dozen others in between. Then there are the attractions from American history over 130 years ago, such as the St. James Hotel in Cimarron where many characters from the old west stayed, like Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, Doc Holliday, and many others from time to time.
Oh sure, and I hope to see a lot of that stuff at some point. I'm also interested in visiting Clovis because Buddy Holly recorded a lot of his music there.
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