Cross Country Trip 2013

April 29, 30 & May 1,2 2013

Monday - April 29, 2013

Up early this morning to visit the Jack Sisemore's RV Museum before we left Amarillo. This guy has collected old RV's from the 1920's to the 1970's. Some were restored and some left the way he got them. Also, had some old Harley Davidson motorcycles which Dennis loved. What a great place, and the best part was it was a freebee!!

Gotta rent this movie again now!!

1930's !!!!

Pretty cool - but we'll stick with Buttercup!!

Sorry Dennis - not for sale :)).

Don Ober - this one's for you!!

What a neat idea!!

And a real bargain too!!

Left Amarillo about 10:30. Stopped about 10 miles west on I-40 at what they call the "Cadillac Ranch". It's a place right on the side of the highway where 10 Cadillacs are buried in a field half way with only the rear of the cars showing. They have painted the cars different colors over the years and, get this, they encourage graffiti. People bring cans of spray paint to cover the cars. Different, but pretty neat.

West bound on I-40-look in the distance

Here we go!!

Should have brought our spray cans!!

Then it was on to Albuquerque - about 280 miles. After just crossing the border into New Mexico, we stopped at the Russell Travel Center. Dennis saw they had a FREE old car/memorabilia museum, and you know his saying "free is me"!! Unbelievable that this place was out in the middle of nowhere!!

Back on the road!! The landscape seemed to change every few miles. From wide open range in Texas to mountains in New Mexico. Saw many trains on the tracks right beside the highway, lots of cattle & wind farms. Thoroughly enjoyed the trip!!

Wide open spaces!

Big wind farm!

Huge cattle farm!

Got to the American RV Resort Park about 4:00 pm (mountain time).   Nice place up on a plateau overlooking the city.   Fixed dinner and just relaxed this evening.   Nighty, night!!

Robin and Dennis

Tuesday April 30, 2013

Up early to take advantage of the FREE continental breakfast in "the gathering room" by the office.     You know Dennis liked that (free that is)!!   Then it was back to Buttercup to plan our day.   As you may know, Albuquerque is known for its annual Hot Air Balloon Festival.   So we decided to make a reservation for a balloon flight tomorrow morning (yes, we've lost our minds)!!   So, weather permitting, we'll meet the group at 6:00am.

Then we hopped on the motorcycle and made a trial run to the balloon meeting place to make sure we knew where we were going at 5:15am.   After that we decided to ride to Santa Fe - about 50 miles away.   The wind was whipping us all around, but we made it ok.   Went to the visitor center - got a map and started walking around.  Ate a great lunch at a cute little corner place - sat outside as the weather was perfect.

Quaint little town - saw the oldest church in the US, Loretto Chapel with the beautiful staircase, walked around the Plaza in some shops and the state capital - which has 4 floors of very expensive artwork.

Loretto Church staircase, this first pic is a model.

Was beautiful!!

This is a picture of the staircase before the railings were added, the way they were originally.

State Capitol-no security guards!

Then went over to Canyon Road - lots of high dollar art work!! Looked for our friends (Joe Brook's) uncle's artwork. Did not find any -apparently his works are a rare find and you need a big pocketbook!!

So about 3:00 we jumped back on the motorcycle and took a different route back home. It's called The Turquoise Trail, a national scenic byway. A fun drive down Rt. 14 passing by several neat towns. One of which was Cerrillos, an old mining town. With dirt streets, is a picturesque reminder of the Old West!! Famous for it's turquoise. Stopped at the Casa Grande Trading Post, Petting Zoo, & mining museum. What a neat place!! Met the owners, Todd & Patricia Brown. Couldn't have been nicer. My sweet husband let me get a beautiful turquoise pendant for my silver chain. Was made by the owners son, Andy Brown. The turquoise came from a "The Little Blue Bell Mine" located in the Cerrillos Mining District - 25 miles south of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Was actually featured on Antiques Roadshow!! Looked at the animals, snapped some pictures and we were on our way to another town.

Yes, these are dirt roads!

Showing my new turquoise pendant with owner, Patricia Brown

Next town we stopped in was called Madrid. Another mining town that used to supply coal for the Santa Fe Railroad. When coal use declined the town fell silent. It became a ghost town. In the early 1970's, artists and craft people arrived. They converted old company stores and house into shops and galleries. One of the stores, Maggie's Diner, was where the move Wild Hogs was filmed, starring John Travolta.

It was closed by the time we got there, but we did eat at a neat place, The Mine Shaft Tavern.

By then it was pushing 7:00 and we still had a ways to go. So we made a bee line for home before it got dark. Passed by several more towns and even though the wind was still blowing, it was a great ride. Got back home with no problems. Whew!! Long day but a good one!!! Early to bed tonight - need to be up before the crack of dawn for our balloon ride!! Night, night!!

Robin & Dennis

Wednesday May 1, 2013

Can you believe it we are up at 5 am headed for the balloon ride! On the road a block from the campground and the captain calls. Its 5:15 am and he says its too windy, going up would be okay but coming down would not be safe so we had to cancel :((. So Dennis went back to bed and I worked on the blog and pictures.

Dennis finally got up about 8 and we went to breakfast and did a load of clothes. Packed up our gear and went to the Balloon museum. Met a great tour guide who showed us all the neat a cool stuff. Saw where the big balloon festival is located and how 500 or so balloons take off in October. Dennis even got in the simulator and flew a balloon. With the help of our guide, who's name was Mel, was able to obtain a score of 92 out of a 100. Pretty cool.

We were then off to the Sandia Peak, aerial tram. It is the world's longest.

On a side note we are both having nose bleeds, two apiece if anyone is counting. We have been here a couple of days so we thought we would be acclimated but I guess both of our sinuses are not responding. The reason I mention this is because on the way to the tram my nose starts to bleed. But I am a trooper so we proceed on to the tram, to the peak, for lunch at the top at a restaurant called "High Finance". A very reasonable place to eat.

Here are some pictures from the ride up.

After lunch we went for a 3 mile hike to the Kiwanis cabin. Albuquerque (the city) is about 5000 feet above sea level, the peak was 10,000 plus, and the cabin was another 350 feet up. You definitely could tell the difference. We drank plenty of water for lunch but still could feel the tightness in breathing. We could not believe the views. We made it to the top and back. Just breath taking views from all over. Awesome and worth the price of admission.

Pictures on the trail, to the top where the cabin is.

It was getting colder and colder as we went up.

Notice the snow that we had to go over as we continued to the top.

Point of no return, we must go on!!!!!!!!!!

We made it!!!

A couple of pictures on the way down.

Well again what awesome views, we will share more when we get home. Actually took a video which is neat to see. Real windy, breath taking panoramic view.

Made it safely down on the tram.

Off to Walmart for some groceries, a rotisserie chicken, Dennis loves it so we had it for dinner, a little TV and then off to bed. But before bed we put in our slide-outs because it had been windy all day, too windy to fly the balloon, and we were under a wind advisory. Yes they expected 50 mph for the night. Not sure it got that high where the campground is but it felt like it was plenty close. Thought about Red Bay AL and the storm shelters. Well off to bed and some more sightseeing tomorrow. We lucked out and were able to re-schedule our balloon flight for Friday, keep your fingers crossed.

Robin and Dennis

Thursday May 2, 2013

Well its up and at'em. Guess where Dennis is, yep still in bed but finally got up about 8:15. He leads a rough life. We went over to breakfast and paid for another night so we could do the balloon ride in the morning. Off for the daily adventures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dennis wanted to ride on route 66 on the motorcycle but even today he said, to cold and too windy. So we jumped in the car and headed on Route 66 to get our Kicks. Saw what appeared to be some original route 66 buildings but also a lot of commercialization.

We stopped in "Old Town".

What a great little place off of route 66. It used to be a little town of homes but now it is filled with local artist galleries, native jewelry shops, souvenirs, and neat places to eat. I found some silver earrings and Dennis wanted a clay pot. It actually is an Indian wedding pot that has two openings to drink out of it. It was an Indian tradition to unite the man and wife. Pretty cool and a little remembrance of our New Mexico trip.

I just love my earrings, thank you sweetheart!

Dennis found a cat house and had to go in. His mother would approve of this one. She loves anything with cats!!!!

Found a neat little place for lunch, the BeBe cafe.

We went a little further and saw some of the campus of the University of New Mexico. Looked really

nice from what we could tell.

We made a u-turn and headed back to the campground but had to stop at a Route 66 Dinner. It was converted from a gas station from the old days in 1987. What a great place to enjoy a shake. We will be big as a house if we keep eating like this.