Into the Mystic: The Best of the Rest

We arrived in Gallup, NM yesterday. Leaving for Williams, AZ today
Will be in National Parks in Utah next week

Wanted to note a few other things we did during our visit to Albuquerque. First, we visited the historic area which looked a lot like historic Santa Fe, but not so artsy. We were greeted by this beautiful mosaic.

There is the classic horno (oven) decorating the historic shopping area, and they use the color turquoise so common in Santa Fe and much of New Mexico.

Just like Santa Fe and Taos, there is the Plaza right in the middle of the historic district. There is a plaque on the gazebo describing the founding of Albuquerque by the Spanish in 1706.

And of course in a Spanish town the church has a prominent position. In Albuquerque it is San Felipe also dating back to 1706. There is a lovely garden to honor Mary.

This hacienda was first built in 1706 and was the home of the Armijo family for generations. Later it was used as a fort, a refuge home and in 1930 was restored to its original form and became La Placita restaurant. A garden on the side of the restaurant provides shade on a hot day!

Next up, given our enormous fandom of the Chicago Bears, we couldn't leave Albuquerque without visiting the Alma Mater of the newest HOFer. The University is right in the middle of the city.

We walked behind a closed gate to take a look at the football field and press box that honors #44 (far right).

But this was on the outside of the stadium. So fun for us to see all of this!

How about going to school with gorgeous mountains in the background?

After we stopped at the university, we took a drive down to the Tinkertown Museum. It was recommended by some RV friends so we decided to take a look.

Ross Ward created figurines and collected antiques for close to 50 years. Although he has passed away, his family continues to run Tinkertown in his honor. We were greeted by a house made of concrete and glass bottles.

The dioramas detailing the Old West are the best part of the museum.

But this one from the circus is crazy big!

At the end of the day we had dinner with Johnny's friend from Grayslake, Bob Bird and his wife Celeste. They are full-time RVers too! We had some great discussion about all of the details of our roaming lifestyle.

Finally, the day after we got back from Chicago, we took a ride out to the Ice Cave and Bandera Volcano just an hour past Albuquerque. It was a small logging community beginning in 1880, and an old trading post in the 1930's. The property has been privately owned since 1946. The building below was a saloon and dance hall in its former life.

We hiked the trail to the volcano first. The pine trees made it smell really good.

This spatter cone was formed when vents formed in the molten lava after the volcano erupted.

The Bandera Crater was created after the volcano erupted about 10,000 years ago. Then the lava fell back into the volcano and created this crater. It is huge: 1400 feet wide and 800 feet deep. And the largest volcano in the region.

Next we walked to the ice cave. Check out this lava field.

The property owners promote the fact that this is the oldest Douglas fir tree in New Mexico.

This cave (created by a lava tube) used to have ice at the bottom. It was used as a refrigerator before electricity was available.

We finally made it to the Ice Cave. The temperature here never gets above 31 degrees Fahrenheit. The ice is about 20 feet thick and the oldest parts of it are over 3400 years. I tried to capture how breathtaking the overall cave was, but the photo doesn't do it justice.