Before I get into how great Albuquerque was, the word Roadtreking in the title refers to our van Bubbles manufacturer brand Roadtrek. It’s common for people who own this brand to say that they are “Roadtrekking” instead of driving or going on an adventure. On to the good stuff!
We woke up in Santa Rosa, NM a few hours east of Albuquerque ready for a new adventure. The day before in Tucumcari & Santa Rosa had re-energized us. No longer were we worried about tornadoes and torrential rain. Blue skies ahead from here on out!
How high is Albuquerque?
The first time that we had passed through New Mexico the previous winter we were unable to go any further north than Las Cruces in the southern part of the state. Bubbles was not meant for temperatures below 32 degrees Fahrenheit so we were not able to see much overall. Albuquerque is the states largest city and actually sits at a higher altitude than Denver. Denver might be famous for being the “Mile High City” but Albuquerque actually sits a few hundred feet higher. We were prepared for this however. The route that we were coming into the city (I-40) had been slowly rising ever since the Texas border. The last two days we had been at over 4000 feet so we were prepared for the high altitude city!
Coming into Albuquerque from the east is pretty neat. At first there is mile upon mile of flat desert. Then slowly you start to see the southern Rocky Mountains start to show then just a few miles from the city the highway twists and turns through the high mountains before dropping down into the Rio Grande Valley and the city.
Petroglyph National Monument
As we had arrived around lunchtime it wasn’t quite time yet to go check into our city campground. We looked online and to our surprise there was a national monument directly in the city. We were pretty excited as we had renewed our National Parks Pass before leaving Tampa and we had yet to use it. Petroglyph National Monument is located on the west side of town. We drove over, had a quick lunch and popped into the visitor’s center. We found out that this monument was a bit different than the other National Monuments that we were used to. Instead of one big area that you need a pass to enter or pay this park was made up of a few different pieces of land that were free for anyone to go into. There were hiking trails that led to the different petroglyphs. (Just to make sure everyone is on the same page a petroglyph is a drawing carved or drawn on a stone/rock face). After talking to one of the rangers on duty at the visitor’s center we chose our hike and we were off.
It was a lot of fun being back in the desert again. The rocky & sandy soil, the mountains, the cactus; we were loving it. The hike we chose was about 3 miles and features numerous petroglyphs. Even though most of them had signs explaining what they were and who probably drew them (both natives from the area and early Spanish explorers in the 1700’s had a hand in drawing petroglyphs) it was usually a bit hard to actually tell what was what. It was still pretty neat to see drawings done hundreds of years ago and just left for all to see. We finished our hike and set out to see Albuquerque’s Old Town.
Albuquerque’s Old Town
Old Town is as it seems – the oldest section of Albuquerque. It was laid out by the Spanish in 1706 and this 10-block area of the city is a big tourist draw to this day. The area was very cool to say the least. Most of the buildings while not the original structures from the 1700’s are still very old dating back to the late 1800’s. These adobe structures are now filled with gift shops, restaurants and artist galleries. It almost felt like you were stepping back in time walking around this historic district. While in Old Town we stopped at Blackbird Coffee House for an afternoon coffee then stopped by High Noon Restaurant & Saloon for an amazing snack of red chili beef bites.
Red vs. Green Chili
As I said in the last post I would be getting into the red vs. green chili debate….and here it is. When going to a restaurant in the state of New Mexico, any restaurant really, if your dish comes with a sauce you will be asked if you want red or green chili. The “chili” here is not really a chili at all but just more of a sauce made using either red or green chilies. From what we could find out red chilies are more associated with the northern part of the state and green with the southern part. Wherever you are in the state though, you will be asked this question and can answer one of three ways; red, green or Christmas. Christmas is both sauces laid side by side. After our time in New Mexico ended I decided I liked red the best and Julie was a Christmas kind of woman. After we finished our delicious snack it was time to check in to our campground and call it a night.
Nob Hill & The University of New Mexico
The next morning we woke up ready to explore. As we were staying on the east side of the city we ventured over to the Nob Hill neighborhood first. We drove through the neighborhood and found parking. After walking around for a moment we realized we had two things working against us. Even though there were a lot of stores and restaurants it seemed that not much opened before noon and it was 10am. Secondly it was super windy again. Dust was flying around making it hard to see on occasion. We took this as a sign to come back another time and walked down the street and over to the University of New Mexico.
In the two plus years that we have been on this adventure we have found that college towns (or college areas like here in Albuquerque) normally have eclectic fun shops and restaurants. Once we got to the university we wandered around the campus for a while. Julie & I both love the adobe style of architecture and a lot of the campus buildings were done in this style. We wandered around taking pictures of campus and a video at the schools duck pond – (yes ducks did actually live in the pond!). From the University we walked around the small adjacent university district. Where there were not many stores here they did have a ton of different and tasty sounding restaurants. Pretty much any type of food that you wanted and were craving, it was there.
Downtown Albuquerque
From the University area we headed downtown. Here our wind issues got a bit worse as now the wind was being corralled through the streets due to the big buildings that it could not get around. We were literally being blown away! We walked down the main street, which was actually the old Route 66. Just that fact was pretty neat in itself. At this point we had enough of the wind and needed to get out of it. We found a little brewery called Red Door Brewing and headed in. We stayed in for about an hour enjoying a flight of their beer and talking with the bartender and a few other locals and tourists that were in there. I know I’ve said this before but small, local breweries are the best places to get information on where to really go and what to do and see in a town. For the most part we had already been where we were told to go but the tips are always appreciated. With the wind still blowing strong we decided to call it a day at this point and head back to the campground.
Our Return to Nob Hill
The next morning we woke up and luckily the wind had died down. This was a great sign, we could finally walk outdoors again! We decided to head back to Nob Hill as we didn’t get to spend as much time as we wanted to there the day before. Before we walked around the commercial area we took a drive around the residential part of the neighborhood. Within a few seconds of entering the residential part Julie and I both decided if we were ever to move to Albuquerque this is where we would want to be. The houses were small, well maintained and 95% in the adobe style. They were beautiful. We drove street to street oooohing and awwwing at the houses.
After 15 minutes or so of driving around we found parking and were walking down the commercial streets of Nob Hill once again. This time with no wind and business’s open we had a much better time. We stopped in different shops and looked at restaurant menu’s. While we didn’t go into any of the restaurants we did stop into La Montanita Co-op (local grocery store) and did pick up some enchiladas for our lunch later. We then hopped into the van and started to head north towards Santa Fe.
Gruet Winery
Our last stop in Albuquerque was one that Julie had been wanting to go to for quite a while, Gruet Winery. While Gruet does make wine they are more famous for their champagne. If you know Julie you know how much she loves champagne – even going as far as naming our van – Bubbles. So of course we had to stop in. After our delicious enchilada lunch in the van we headed in and got a tasting. Julie was right. This champagne was excellent. We also learned while here that in the USA, New Mexico was one of the first states where wine was made all the way back in 1629. While we didn’t expect a history lesson while at the winery it was pretty neat. After our tasting was complete (and Julie nearly floated out in happiness) we headed north towards the capitol of New Mexico in Santa Fe.
Next up…Santa Fe and the birthplace of the atomic age!
