Monday 4/30 - AM

Never got the pictures processed yesterday, and there's a good chanc I won't get today's done either. Today is our 30th Anniversary and we'll go out for a real dinner tonight - at Chinle AZ. The agenda today is I-40 to Thoroeau, a state road thru Crown Point (home of the rug auctions), the Bisti Wilderness to Farmington, then across to Ship Rock, south to Navaho Rt 33 to visit the actual Ship Rock, then thru Lukachukai Pass to Lukachukai Trading Post (a small world story last year) where Sandra hopes she'll find me an Anniversary present (I bought hers at Open Doot Thrift in Sedalia back in Feb), and then on to Chinle and Canyon de Chelly. Will there be lots of pictures? You bet. Will I have the time to post any? Ha! Tomorrow even more - we'll take our tour in Canyon de Chelly and thank Spider Woman for her Rock winning ribbons for me.

Oh, the motel. Wifi worked this AM in the room, great comfy beds, shower fine. Big room, lots of space.

Sunday, 4/29 - PM

We're at the HIE in Grants NM, after a very busy day. I'm having some internet access problems, so may not get the pictures posted. This AM, we went to Petroglyphs National Monument just west of Albuquerque. We went there last year and froze our begonias off - it was a lot nicer today.

Next (after a short visit to the Sky City Casino) we took the Acoma Pueblo tour. That's the one on an isolated 370 ft mesa, home of outstanding pottery. Lots of pictures. Finally, we went to a couple of sites in El Malpais National Monument.

Only 165 miles today, but a full day anyway.

Sunday, 4/29 - AM

Getting ready to head out of Albuquerque to Acoma & El Malpais. We're running pretty early so will stop at Petroglyphs National Monument. It was cold last time we were there. This motel is not up to what we consider HIE standards - shower not as good, short on washcloths, inconvenient ice machine. Location was convenient, though.

Tonight in Grants. Hope it's better.

As a reminder, we post a sample of the pictures each day at www.missouridaytrips.com/travel/trip07

Saturday 4/28 - PM

Another great day! We first drove down Old 66 (now Central Ave) to the Albuquerque Museum of Art. We had 20+ minutes of AM sun for picture taking at the sculpture garden, the a tour of the various art - it's OK, the picture I liked best last November is no longer on display. Then it was a walk in the park across the road to the NM Museum of Natural History & Science. Dinosaurs, earthquakes, volcanos and the Chixulub impact. Neat!

Lunch at Tony Hillerman's favorite restaurant, the Frontier. Posole for me, enchilada for Sandra. Back west to the Pueblo Cultural Center, where iterpretation at the museum has been upgraded since our last trip. And more - Apache dancers were there to put on a show (yes, pictures). About 2:30 we left for Coronado State Monument, a pueblo site from 1300-1600. The ranger was from nearby Santa Ana Pueblo and we talked for a while, took some pictures. Then we headed back south to meet Madge & Larry for supper.

Tomorrow, we're off to Acoma.

Saturday 4/28 - AM

Slept very well last night, so should be ready for a full day of museums today. Albuquerque Museum of Art, Museum of Science & Natural History, Pueblo Cultural Center, and maybe the geology museum at UNM if it's open Saturdays. Then maybe we'll do some shopping - we found some thrift shops along various streets. Or maybe we'll run up to a State Monument pueblo ruins in Bernalillo. It's certainly too windy to go to Petroglyphs National Monument (last year it was cold & windy, this year would be warm & windy). Also we're looking for a cheap price on pinon coffee. We'll likely take another drive down Central Ave (old Rt 66).

We were either lucky or smart yesterday - heard on the morning news that some people waited 2-3 hours to get into the All Nations Powwow - Wow! If you're ever considering attending it, plan to order your tickets in advance or get there early.

Friday 4/27 PM

What a day! We started out after that very blah breakfast and headed for the University of New Mexico's Maxwell Museum of Anthropology. It concentrates on the early people of the Southwest, with a reproduction of a dig site at Chaco Canyon, then showed the stages of settlement of the SW.

Then, we headed for The Pit, as UNM's arena is called, for the All Nations Powwow. Saw more color and fancy work than you can imagine. The vendor area was a huge tent, with vndors, mostly Indian, selling about anything you can imagine in dancing gear, music, books, jewelry and more - all Indian, of course. Had an Indian Taco for lunch, then found a seat in the arena for the Grand Entry. Think of the grand entry at a rodeo lasting 45 minutes, with over 3,000 contestants dancing their way in!

We saw a lot of different types of dances in the next 3 hours, very athletic in some cases. I took about 90 pictures, and will post a few after a trip to the hot tub.

BW

Friday 4/27 AM

Not entirely happy with this HIE - cramped room, breakfast with no hot dish, shower not as good. We were spoiled. And we're here for 3 nights.

Now to today's activities - we're going to the All Nations Pow Wow & the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology. Pictures are allowed at both. Dinner will be in Old Town.

Bill

Thursday, 4/26, PM

A long & busy day. Left Raton at 7:10 AM heading for Santa Fe. First stop was Las Vegas (NM, that is - no casinos), where we had a 'small world'moment - turns out that a manager at the C-store where we stopped for a comfort break knows Sandra's uncle!

Got to Santa Fe around 10:15 and emptied our pockets of quarters to pay the parking meter. Toured the Palace of the Governors, the Art Museum and around the Plaza. We ate at The Shed Cafe, where we sat at the same table as last year - blue corn tacos (smothered) with posole - that's where I took the Santa Fe Courtyard picture that won some contests for me last year (available at www.missouridaytrips.com, travel, trip 06). Good thing we didn't need gas - it was $3.19 at some Sanat Fe stations.

Took the Turquoise Trail down toward Albuquerque, stopping at 10,628 ft Sandia Crest - what a view. After checking into the motel, we met Madge & Larry Harrah (whom we met through her book about Blind Boone) for dinner at Garcia's. Scrumptious.

HIE Motel is nice, but it's not what the previous two were.

Thursday, 4/26 AM

It's 29 at Raton this AM. It'll be in the 70s at Albuquerque when we get there this afternoon - it's a good day for the layered look. We'll see Santa Fe, walk around the Plaza, visit some museums, and eat some more good New Mexico cuisine. One stop will be the cafe where I took the prize-winning picture called "Santa Fe Courtyard" last year. Then it's the Turquoise Trail to Albuquerque, have dinner with Madge Harrah, who wrote the childrens' book about Blind Boone (& many other books), and her husband, and prepare for tomorrow (PowWow, museums, food!).

HIE breakfast today included mini-omeletes & sausage.

BW

Wednesday 4/25 - PM

Wednesday evening. It was a cold & windy day. We left Garden City about 7:30 AM and drove into a headwind; mostly on US-160 which takes us to Springfield & near Branson (yes, Colorado has towns of the same names - on the same road!). Drove thru miles and miles without seeing anything human except the scattered ranch and abandoned house. Those few towns after Springfield had no facilities. After Branson, we went thru a pass into the Raton Volcano field and our first pictures.

First stop was Folsom NM, where we hoped to visit the local tiny museum with info about an important find - flint points embedded in 10,000 YO bison bones; previous to this find, most scientific opinion was that humans had only been in the Americas for 3,000 years. The museum was closed, but we did finally find something to eat - the Folsom Village Inn, Rstaurant, Bar & Dance Hall - we split a tasty but expensive BBQ sandwich.

Then it was on to Capulin Volcano. Ever tried to walk the rim of an 8,000 ft volcano in 30 mph winds? We didn't. Just took some pictures (see the website) and on to Raton.

Some comments on the HIE here - TP was pointed and had a gold seal. The desk called to make sure everything was OK. A significant evening snack in the breakfast area. A welcome package (yes, commercial giveaway stuff, but still there in our room). Menu book at the front desk. B&B folks - they are going after us!

Miles driven: 281 plus 15 local. Travel/sightseeing time 7:15

BW

Wednesday 4/25 - AM

Seen along the road on Tuesday:
- Oil well pumps painted in all kinds of colors - green & orange, red & blue, even more.
- Sod house & dugout house interior - dirt floors!
- on KS 68 past Louisburg, a little house on an island in a pond - called Grumpy Al's Place
- On radio station out of Wichita, playing Leroy Van Dyke (Sedalia's own) - 1070 AM
- Lyons has lots of murals and celebrate Coronado searching for Quivara - Pueblo folks sure got him out of the way.
- Great Bend "Kiowa Kitchen Best Mexican Restaurant"

Gas - best place in central KS was Great Bend, $2.68/gal. It's back to $2.79 in Garden City. Must be the oil wells.

Added 2 pictures to the site. Also, I bought my lifetime "geezer pass" to National Parks - $10 for 62 & up, and I'm definitely there.

Breakfast at this HIE was excellent - we had a choice of B&G, bkfst burritos, hash browns, brand name cereals, milk, juices (several types), rolls, bagels, etc. Not B&B quality, but the motels are catching up. Also, each bed had 2 firm pillows & 2 soft pillows. The beds are triple-sheeted with a duvet. Spa & pool were open 24 hours. "Know the competition."

Today we head for Raton via Capulin Volcano.

Day 1 - Warrensburg to Garden City

Got off at 6:00 AM, avoided Kansas City, and headed into Kansas. Gas price when we left was $2.55. Stopped for gas in McPherson KS ($2.81) and lunch at a McDs in Great Bend. At Larned, we stopped at the Santa Fe Trail Center - a neat little museum with trail history, a sod house and more (pictures posted). Then to Ft. Larned NHS where we toured the old fort and took lots of pictures. Then to Garden City, where we arrived at 4:35 PM. Dinner at Cattlemen's Cafe (where we've eaten in Sublette & Liberal on earlier trips), staying in a nice HI Express.

Total road mileage: 427. I'm TIRED! See selected pictures

Heading for the Southwest

Tomorrow AM (official start time of Oh-Dark-Thirty) we hit the road for points southwest. I'll be posting pictures on our website, www.missouridaytrips.com, as well as daily reports here. Keep up as you wish.

Bill

An explosion of cats

A couple of weeks ago, a very pregnant stray cat showed up and quickly worked her way inside. She had kittens in the middle of the cold spell - 4 of them. We'd be happy to deliver them (& her) to any of our guests or other nearby folks in mid-May, after weaning.

Any takers?