All Things Old

Yesterday after we came home from the Balloon Fiesta and had rested, we decided to visit Petroglyph National Monument just outside of Albuquerque.  It was a neat place.  It contains one of the largest petroglyph concentrations in North America.  There are more than 25,000 petroplyph images on the huge boulders in canyons.

In between two hikes, we saw this roadrunner.  He was hopping from boulder to boulder.

For supper we stopped at Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen.  We decided to take a break from Mexican food.  It was very good.  I thought it was pricey but probably not for a nice restaurant in Albuquerque.  Carol had catfish and I had chicken.

Today we work up to a beautiful sky with puffy white clouds.  The temperature was close to 70 degrees.  It was very pleasant to be outside.  We actually slept until 7:00 a.m. and relaxed until 10:00 when we left for Old Town Albuquerque.  We really did not have any idea what we would find there.  We really enjoyed walking around the narrow streets, window shopping in neat little shops, and having a late lunch/supper.

There must have been an old car show somewhere in the city because we saw several souped up old cars like this old  Chevy.

In the plaza of Old Town was live entertainment.  This was an Indian duo who played drums and sang in their native language.  Later we heard a mariachi  band.

This is the San Felipe de Neri Church which was started in 1706.  For a time during the Civil War, it was occupied by Confederate soldiers.  Union regained control of Albuquerque after the battle of Pecos.  We visited Pecos while we were in Santa Fe.

Interior of the church.

This is a section of the original adobe walls of the church preserved behind glass. 

An Old Buick.

Case de Ruiz Church Street Cafe.  This was originally a house built during the founding of Albuquerque around 1706.  It had been occupied by a member of the Ruiz family until 1991.  Some of the interior walls are two feet thick.  The food was very good.

I don't know anything about this tree except it looked very old.

We visited the Rattlesnake Museum.  Yes, it contained glass enclosures of rattlesnakes.  I did not know there were that many rattlesnakes in the world.  I don't like snakes of any kind but it was interesting to see all the different types of rattlesnakes and read information concerning them.

Route 66 is Central Avenue in Albuquerque.  Central Avenue borders Old Town and comes within a short distance of our KOA so we decided to take it back to camp.

It was fun seeing the remnants of businesses that flourished when Route 66 run through the city.

There were several old motels along the route in the heart of the city.  Route 66 was like the interstate of today and travelers on that route needed overnight accommodations. Now days, some of these motels still operate but look less appealing than they did in the height of Route 66 glory.  Now the motels are built along Interstate 25 and 40.

We got back to camp around 3:30 and spent the rest of this beautiful day relaxing.  We sat outside and enjoyed the view of the mountains  Tomorrow we plan to return to Old Town.  We only saw half of it.  We plan to take Central Avenue (route 66) back into the city.  

Tomorrow will be our last day in Albuquerque.  We have enjoyed them all.  The weather forecast calls for a front to move through Sunday night into Monday.  The temperatures will only reach in the 40's and the mountains areas will receive snow.  I think we are leaving just in time.