Albuquerque part 3 - Tinkertown and Madrid

 Albuquerque, NM  (Hi 73  Lo 53)

Sunday, We had breakfast at Cracker Barrel which was lousy. It's been getting bad eating there since Covid but this time it was such a bad breakfast neither of us ate it all. Cold eggs, hard as rock ham, biscuits with no butter had to ask for some. Just overall very bad. We went back to the hotel after eating for awhile, I wanted to be sure my tummy could handle the food before going  to the Cemetery for Ruth's cousin. Then we went  to petroglyph national park. We tried climbing some of the rocks but that didn't work so we just drove around. It's really neat area.

                                                            Lava rock very porous. 

At 5:00 we met up with an RVer friend, Carol and Jeff, that I knew from 2014. We found a great restaurant and stayed about 3 hrs. It's great catching up with people you meet on the road. They travel 6 months a year and made balloon fest their target this year.

They'll catch up with me in St Louis next summer if possible.

They do chunks of the USA every year. They put solar on their motor home to keep camping fees down. The fees are pretty much $40 a night and up, nothing like it was when we were on the road.  A lot of campgrounds are turning to permanent places so that's not helping.

 

We did see the balloons this morning from the hotel. Pretty sight with so many in the air. 

Yep, and we got rain but not much this afternoon.  I wish everyone would think about going to the balloon fiesta, pictures you see doesn't do it justice. They're huge and they're gorgeous. The way they float in the air and how they move them around is amazing. 

Monday morning we took off for Tinkertown and Madrid. I'd heard about Tinkertown but it's another place to add to your list if in New Mexico. It's a husband and wife project, he worked on wood miniatures and he has died and she's continuing to keeping the place going with income for herself. It's worth the stop. There's 25,000 people a year that drop by and you can sit/stand for hours looking at the intricate details of a circus and so many other features.  I'll drop a sample here and you can check out the rest of the photo album here.   (Click on the photos to enlarge).

We stayed a couple hours then moved on toward Santa Fe to Madrid to catch some shopping places. I didn't think it would be worth stopping but was proved wrong. We had a wonderful meal at Mine Shaft Taverns. 

We had the greatest time. There were bus loads of people there and people walking up and down the street stopping in all kinds of shops. There's things we've never heard of, and one was the revolving   water from a rock for a front yard that was unique, at least to us. Water comes out a small water hose in the middle of the rock goes to a platform under the rock and pulls back up. The stones are from the area. (Click to enlarge then scroll to make it larger to see the water)

One lady made jewelry out of watch parts that moved, even in rings. What a talent.  (Click on the photos to enlarge). 

The shops were buildings used in coal mining. They turned them into something profitable after closing down the mines. 

We decided to go to the Sandia Mountain crest. Ruth did a wonderful job with all the twists and turns up and down the road 536. Besides being gorgeous drive with changing colors of the leaves, it was very cold at the top.  The views were breathtaking and the difference in the mountain from one side to the other was like looking at an entirely different set of mountains. Our side by the hotel was dark, with little bushes and nothing green. The other side was lush green grasses and taller trees. Here's what I mean:

Our side of the mountain:  

                                                This has an adobe in the middle of it. They're hard to see. 

This is the other side, (west)

                                                        

But the best part is getting to the 10682 feet of the crest of Sandia mountain. 

This is such a tall array of antennas that you can see them on a clear day from the hotel. 

Ruth went for the evening to her family that lives here and I stayed at the hotel. I was trying to function with the altitude sickness from the day and just didn't feel up to being out. It's been a rough week trying to feel 100%. 

Tuesday was another very early morning. We were headed to the airport by 2am, no traffic is a plus. We dropped off the rental which all we did was pull in, put the keys in the console and walk away. We took the shuttle to the airport did the kiosk for the one bag, waited for the lady to put it on the carrousel  and we took off for the gates. None of the four flights let us through the first time. This time I had to be searched a couple places that has never been searched before if you know what I mean and my arm. I had nothing on me at all. At least I was ok on the top of my head on this trip. The first flight they rubbed the top of my head to prove I didn't have something up there. (ok go ahead and laugh, I did too).  Other people can go thru with no problems, but both Ruth and I had to be hand searched every time. I'm wondering if we went out and came back in if it would be the same areas every time. Once I'm 75 you don't have to take off your shoes. When you hit 12 you do. Go figure. So from 12 years of age to 75, shoes must be removed. 

We had to wait for the plane about two hours, we wanted to be sure we got there on time. A couple of restaurants were open so we had a nice breakfast. The stores don't open till later. We asked why and they don't have enough workers. That includes having someone for the car rental place so they work around what has to be done and not use people. 

The sun was coming up about the time we left Albuquerque. 

I slept most of the way to Houston and then another couple hours wait for the next plane to St. Louis. Ruth's sister in law picked us up and I was home by 2:38, and in bed for a nap 30 seconds later. I didn't go fully asleep but enough to get a second wind and get dinner then doing the blog.  It's good to get back. It wasn't the nine days of joy and see a lot with the balloons, but we did enjoy what we could. The events were 30% less this year because of rain and wind. Now for some sleep and back to normal activity.  Again here's the link for all the photos.