albuquerque and onward

I wrote some notes on a napkin in a diner while watching the Oscars and waiting for my movie time so I think i can hit the key bits... sorry it took so long for all you avid readers.

this is for last Sunday...

We (Rachel, Nick, and I) all sort of slept in, ate some toast, ran some errands and headed to the Gallup Flea market which is pretty renowned (why doesn't this word have a k like know?) for finds such as native american turquoise jewelry and the opportunity to try some Navajo foods (which is why we only had toast for breakfast... anticipation). I tried underground corn bread which is somehow cooked in a hole in the ground; it was really dense. I tried blue cornbread which was gritty and dry. I tried the corn stew which was stew with mutton and popcorn. (Nori has told me that you make it by throwing corn kernels in boiling water and it pops like popcorn.(i couchsurfed with Nori in Alamagordo.)) And I had frybread with and without honey. I was pretty full. I should have tried the mutton sandwich that Nick tried - it was HUGE, but the lady in the booth told me that corn chowder was a delicacy for the Navajo and it was good. Other than the food, the market was a bit disappointing, but it did snow a few inches the night before and earlier in the week so the market grounds were very muddy and it was a bit cold. Better luck next time.

After the market, I said goodbye for now to Rachel and Nick and headed towards Albuquerque. I stayed on the highway for a while but followed a sign for historic 66 and drove the prettiest stretch of 66 I have ever been on through yellow fields flanked by mountains and blue skies (that were not threatening snow for a change). I think though it may have been the wrong road bc i ended up south of Abq, but it was still nice.

Eventually i did make it to ABQ and to the Turquoise Museum. The man did not want to let me in bc I would have less than an hour to view the museum, but I told him I was a fast reader, that I really wanted to go, and I convinced him to take my four dollars and let me know. This museum is in a shopping mall next to Walgreen's, but it is very thorough and very informative... if you are interested in turquoise. There is this poster that I have seen everywhere showing what different turquoise looks like from different mines, but it really kind of looks the same until you see the vast displays at this museum - now I can tell how different mines produce vastly different looking turquoise. If you are a true collector you seek out certain mines bc they are more rare. There was also a lot of information on how turquoise is made into jewelery and how it is not 'natural' if it has been stabilized or plasticized - which it often is for color and to make it harder. For the average consumer like me, I could care less, but it is nice to know if I ever consider buying some turquoise more than thirty bucks, then I know what questions to ask.

I hopped across the street into Old Town ABQ, preserved buildings of the original part of town, now all shops and restaurants, and the Rattlesnake Museum. This establishment is not so much a museum as a zoo with cages full of all kinds of snakes, not just rattlesnakes. There were probably 50 snakes in an area that 8 cars could park. There were several videos running to watch, newspaper articles, signs, art, etc. An interesting place to spend an hour and squish a penny.

I was starving - it was 5ish and I had last eaten at 11 at the market - so I stopped in at the Doghouse with a Junie-dog as it's logo and had quite possible the best chili-cheese dog ever. It wasn't real chili - more like refried beans but spicier and fabulous. I checked into my hostel and went for a walk downtown. I talked to Rachel about when we were meeting for dinner, walked around some more, and realized that sometime I had lost my phone. I backtracked everywhere - even went and got my flashlight for better viewing. No luck and no idea where it was.

I met Rachel and Nick for dinner at a place they like called Slate's (they had errands to run in ABQ). The food was good and I like their company. When it came time for dessert, they were out of everything we asked for, and then out of the things we asked for instead. And the waitress still brought me the wrong thing bc they were out of that too. I think she realized it when she walked away bc she brought us two more complimentary desserts and we shared all around. I said my final goodbyes to Nick and Rachel, they dropped me off at my hostel, and they headed the long road back to Gallup.

The next morning I awoke bright and early and again walked around downtown on the off-chance I might find my phone. No luck. I drove over to Petroglyph National Monument and ate my leftover mac and cheese for breakfast while I waited for the park office to open. I got my map, heard the recommendations and set off for the trail. I ended up hiking with Mark from Vermont (a part time journalist and bowler and adventurer (there was a big bowling competition in ABQ)) and we chatted while searching for the petroglyphs together. This place was interesting bc the petroglyphs are carved into black volcanic boulders piled up everywhere.

After petroglyphs, I went to the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center for more information on the cultures, pottery, and art styles. I finally learned how they made shiny black pottery. Honestly it was bothering me bc the pots look they are carved from stone and polished, but they are made from the same clay as other pots - they are just polished with smooth stones and then fired in a smoky slow burning fire. I was able to see a dancing display of both modern and traditional dances and costumes as well.

I ate the leftover desserts for lunch and went to the National Atomic Museum. I ended up getting a personal tour from one of the docents, a retired nuclear physicist. Did you know that when a radioactive substance loses the equivalent of one sugar packet of mass that is what makes 20,000 tons of destructive power? I watched an old film reel called 'ten seconds that changed the world' that explained exactly how the atomic bomb came to be developed - why, how, when, and who.

I went to the Balloon Museum which had a lot of information, but it wasn't laid out really well and it didn't take very long. There is a HUGE international balloon festival in ABQ every fall.

I went to Verizon and bought a new phone and it was the least painful trip I have ever had at Verizon. They finally nationalized their bills so it wasn't difficult to look up my NY account, i was eligible for 50% off (bc my new every two would have been in may), and the dude understood that I didn't care, I just wanted to cheap, easy, and right now. So 50% off and $50 rebate = new phone, but no phone numbers. Oh well, if people want to talk, they'll call me. I was out of there in less than twenty minutes. Unbelievable.

For dinner I had another chili-cheese dog at the Doghouse and decided I would spend the evening at the movies bc I love Matthew McConaughey. I had to wait for my movie times so I sat in a diner and watched the Oscar's and wrote these notes.