We weren’t very far past Winslow when I-40 was closed because of an accident, and we were directed north on what became a 100-mile detour across more of the Colorado Plateau and the Defiance Plateau. Being retired has taught us to not be in any hurry and to take what comes along in stress-free stride. So, we settled back and enjoyed our country-road route. The scenery was new and interesting to us, and we surprisingly encountered the season’s first snow and a flash flood.
As you can see from the pictures, the weather along our route was all over the map. We stopped for gas and a body-stretch in Paraje, NM. Caught Sid and Arthur looking smart beneath the Dancing Eagle Casino marquee. The sky cleared again as we left Arizona and entered New Mexico. More pictures of scenery over our final hour of driving.
We had three extra days to kill in order to arrive in Carrollton, TX at the start of our 1 November reservation. So, we camped at the Kirtland Air Force Base FamCamp for 6 days. This extended stay gave us time to accomplish a few things we needed and wanted to do. First on our list was going to the Base Pass & ID Office to replace our soon-to-expire military IDs. They’ve changed significantly, as compared to our previous ones, by adding improved security and increased scannable data. I thought I took a good, serious picture this time.
The second thing we wanted to check out was the process for taking the New Mexico Rail Runner Express on the 100-mile roundtrip to Santa Fe and back. We are still intending to settle in Santa Fe once our RV wanderlust has ended or our bodies give out physically, whichever occurs first. That said, folks who hopefully visit us there in the future most likely would fly into ABQ, rent a car, and drive up. As an alternative to this, we wanted to figure out the train option. I went on line for the schedule and cost and was pleasantly surprised. The trains typically operated three to eight times a day. One-way pass for adults was $10 (purchased by app or online); children under 10, seniors 60+, and veterans with military ID were free; and there were reduced fares for children 10-17, Medicare card holders, and the disabled. Future visitors will be advised to fly into ABQ and hop on the Rail Runner Express. We tried it out.
The train ride north was extremely enjoyable and passed through some beautiful countryside. We found the coach to be very clean and loved it when the conductor nodded in recognition of our free tickets after we flashed our new military ID cards.
While in Santa Fe, MFI wanted to visit the city’s Building and Permits Division to discuss the types of home construction allowed. She had a successful discussion with the woman who greeted us, walked away with some related material, and was generally satisfied with the answers she got to her questions. I wandered outside during her engagement and saw this interesting sculpture on the building grounds.
In our search for the City Offices, we stopped for lunch at Saveur Bistro near the State Capital Plaza complex of buildings. We thoroughly loved the fare and vibe and were subsequently saddened to hear that owners, Dee and Bernie Rusanowski, retired after 22 years as restauranteurs and closed the bistro. We’ve witnessed these types of changes more often than we’d have liked or thought possible when we started RVing 5 years ago. Like it or not, life moves on and on and on!
We saw more of Santa Fe as we walked back to the train station for our return to Albuquerque. Hated to miss the “Day of the Dead” celebration but fully expect to participate in the future. We still find the architecture fascinating and look forward to having a cup of joe at this uniquely named coffee shop.
The late afternoon sun colored the landscape copper on our train return south.
The mountains east of Albuquerque contained a huge number of hiking trails. I took advantage of our time there and great weather to hike two great scenic trails along the foothills of the Manzano Mountains. The first was Manzano four Hills Open Space Loop just south of I-10 east of town.
The second was Foothills 365 South to North just north of I-10 across from the first trailhead. Just before I finished, a group of deer crossed in front of me, and I lost them in the vegetation…for a moment.
Always on the lookout for a new and different coffee experience, I found a place called Bike-in Coffee in the vicinity of nowhere southeast of town. Someone had capitalized on their property and buildings being near well-used biking trails and turned it into a side business. We can attest to its popularity. In addition to coffee, they served a variety of breakfast, sweet, and bakery items. We sat outside and enjoyed our order in the middle of someone’s farm. This video tells their story better than my words.
We were knocking around downtown on our last evening and by chance ran across what looked like an impromptu gathering of auto enthusiasts. Locals had customized all manner of vehicles and were showing them off by parking and driving along Central Avenue. At one end of the spectrum, classic cars and trucks had been beautifully restored, while on the other, some custom vehicles displayed the latest pneumatic lift capabilities. Impressive! This assembly of vehicles could have been a periodic event, but we never confirmed this.
On the way back to our campsite, we were treated to another gorgeous sunset. We had a fruitful and fun stay in Albuquerque, but the next morning we packed up and continued our trek east.
