A Trip to Tinkertown

Only one and a half more weeks of radiation therapy and I am done with my cancer treatments. Looking forward to getting out of Albuquerque and heading northwest for the summer in Idaho and Montana before heading to Rapid City for a 55 year class reunion for Ron over Labor Day Week. Can’t believe it has been that long since both of us graduated. Where did the years go.

This past Saturday, we finally got to make our trip to the Tinkertown Museum located in Cedar Crest which is on the east side of the Sandia Mountains which overlook Albuquerque. I had brought my children here many years ago and have wanted to return for some time.

The late Ross Ward started carving miniature wood figures when in junior high continuing this into adulthood. He was captivated by the tiny villages, farms and circuses created by the “spare time carvers.” His first carvings in 1962 were figures for the turn of the century general store which still resides in the museum. In the 1960’s and 70’s, Ward’s figures were originally part of a traveling exhibit going to county fairs and carnivals. In 1983 they became a permanent exhibit around a cabin in the mountains where he built winding walls with discarded bottles, rocks and cement.

Guess Who?

Today the museum is 24 rooms of miniature displays, signs, devices and antiques which Ward incorporated into the museum. For a quarter you can have Grand Mother Esmeralda issue you a fortune promising travel and riches or listen to Otto play the accordion playing music of yesterday. The displays are so numerous that it is hard to take it all in.

 I was captivated by the display of Emmett Kelly, the clown whom I remember so well from my childhood.

I also had vivid recollections of the circus exhibit from our previous visit many years ago.

 Other exhibits include a collection of bride and groom tops for bridal cakes dating back to the 1800’s, dolls from many countries and the U.S., an old sail boat that traveled 80,000 miles over a ten year period, and an elaborate doll house which Ward had been commissioned to build for a collector. It has now been donated to the Museum as a permanent exhibit.

Outside the Museum we wandered around finding an old Medicine Wagon, a harness shop, and an old wagon.

If you are ever in the area, this is definitely a place to stop.

 We stopped at the Burger Boy on Highway 14 in Tijeras on our way home. According to a recent newspaper article, the restaurant has been around for the past 33 years and is locally owned. The article touted it as having won national recognition for the Best Burger in New Mexico. All in all a nice outing and a relaxing day.

A Trip to Las Cruces, NM

Las Cruces, NM

Wednesday, April 6 – Friday, April 8, 2016

After having my weekly blood test at the Cancer Center, Ron and I took off in the car for a trip south to Las Cruces, NM a 235 mile, 3-1/2 hour trip on I-25 through the desert of New Mexico and several interesting stops. 

Though we have traveled this road many, many times over the years we have been residents in New Mexico, there were several places we had never stopped to sightsee so took advantage of the fact that we did not have the RV and could easily get into a couple of places without the earthquake effect of dirt roads on the RV. 

RV friends of ours who were in TorC for the winter, mentioned they had stopped at the El Camino International Heritage Center just north of TorC.  While we had seen the sign for it many times, we usually did not have the time to stop.  We had also seen a sign for Fort Craig.  Having the time now, we first took  the 10 mile trip off I-25, five miles paved along the edge of the freeway on Highway 1 and 5 miles east on a smooth but dry, dusty road to Fort Craig.

Fort Craig’s (1854 -1885) early years before the Civil War were spent conducting campaigns against Native Americans who were a threat to travelers who traveled for 300 years on “The Royal Road” from Mexico City to Santa Fe.  In July of 1861, Fort Craig became the largest fort in the Southwest with over 2,000 soldiers and growing.  Most of the soldiers were Hispanic and served under Colonel Kit Carson. After several battles with the “Rebs” both in the area and in Glorieta, near Santa Fe, the Confederates retreated to Texas ending the push for Confederate military conquest in the west. Today there is little left of the fort but a few ruins, but it is worth the stop to learn more of the history in New Mexico and to understand how valuable the trail (1,600 miles) through the area was to the growth of the state and its culture before the railroad arrived.

 Getting back on the side road (Highway 1) with our now very dusty car, especially the back window which was now completely encased in dirt and unusable for seeing out of, we continued south to the El Camino Real Historic Trail Site.  As you turn off Highway 1 toward the Museum you see this state monument sitting atop a hill.  

The Museum itself sits in the middle of the old Royal Road and is also 4 miles east but this time on a paved road. Continuing from the Monument,  you arrive at this award winning building sitting in the Chihuahuan Desert which houses an exhibit giving the visitor a virtual journey of 3 centuries along the historic trail with remnants of hand hewn carts, tools, leather items and religious objects the accompanied the travelers along the way.  

The Museum is beautifully laid out and worth the stop. 

Leaving the Museum, we continued our trip to Las Cruces arriving late in the afternoon with our first stop at a car wash to get rid of most of the encased reddish brown dirt which was clinging to our car.  After checking in to the hotel, we headed out to the nearby Chili’s for a nice dinner. 

Thursday morning we were lazy and slept in having a late breakfast in town and then driving out into the countryside of Las Cruces taking in some housing areas.  We have considered Las Cruces as a possible place to settle later on as it is a nice college town, very senior citizen friendly, a bit warmer than Albuquerque in the winter and a much smaller community than Albuquerque.  

Driving on I-10 east of town, we came upon this statue of a roadrunner in the rest area.  Following is what we found out about it from the internet.  "a 20-foot roadrunner sculpture made from trash found at  the city dump. The bird was built from a variety of objects, including  sheet metal ,toys, computer and stereo parts, but its belly was made almost entirely from discarded white shoes."

We wandered around Old Mesilla doing a bit of shopping with Ron once again taking pictures of many of the interesting buildings and doorways on houses in this old part of town.  

Basilica of Saint Albino

A funky store

We spent the evening with local RV friends, Carol and Bob catching up, reminiscing as well as talking about mutual friends and our time spent together serving on the New Mexico Good Sam State Staff.  What great friends.  It was wonderful to see you both.   Stay healthy.

Friday morning we enjoyed breakfast in the hotel and left for home amid light rain which later cleared though the mountains ahead and east and west were very clouded.  What a great getaway before starting my radiation on Monday.    

A Day Outing to Santa Fe

Spring has officially arrived and I have completed my chemo treatments.  YEAH!  Now on to the Radiation part and then we will be done here in ABQ; hopefully, until September when we will again come back for our other doctor appointments and to check in with the doctors at the New Mexico Cancer Center. 

Thought I would include a picture of me and my daughter Laurie in November before chemo, one now (thinner hair) and one with my wig that is close to my hair color.  As you will notice, the wig has far more hair than I even had before chemo.  I never did have a real full head of hair.  

Happy 16th Birthday to our granddaughter (Kaylee) in Texas this past Sunday (March 20).  Where have the years gone.  She has her learners permit and will soon be driving the old 70’s Mustang loaned to the family by her Dad’s Uncle Bob.  Have fun, Kaylee. 

Monday (March 21) Ron and I took off early to have breakfast in Santa Fe at one of our favorite funky, colorful and rambling places, Harry’s Road House located on the Old Las Vegas Highway.  Harry and his wife are originally from Philadelphia, PA and fell under the spell of the southwest cuisine on a visit to Santa Fe over a decade ago.  Harry can be  seen wearing a fedora hat and often seats you himself.

The size of the place has increased over the years with numerous rooms each of a different color (part road house, part diner, part bar, and in summer, a garden patio with beautiful flowers).  “One room looks like it was pulled from the set of Diner, with retro-style tables, chrome-accented chairs, swiveling cushioned counter stools, and baked goods taunting from behind the glass of a refrigerated case. In the heart of the building is a warm but wonky room with a wood-beamed ceiling and walls littered with local artwork.  In the bar, locals regularly post up for a pint or one of Harry’s renowned margaritas.  Adjoining is a cozier dining room with a kiva fireplace.”   It is a popular local gathering place where we often bring family and friends from out of town to have breakfast, lunch or dinner here when we come to Santa Fe.   The food is always good, varied and consistently good.

While Ron had hoped to take some new pictures of some of the local churches, etc., it was the wrong time of the day and some construction was taking place in front of the Cathedral so he elected to do it another day later in the spring when more flowers might be out and construction hopefully will be completed.   He did however, catch this shot of the Santa Fe Rail Yard water tower where the local Rail Runner comes in. 

It’s an easy drive from Albuquerque and one we have often taken over the years either to have a meal or just take in the shops and sights.  

A Saturday Drive

Spring is arriving in Albuquerque with leaves starting to sprout out, pink, white and yellow flowers appearing on trees and shrubs and those spring bulbs appearing above the warm soil even if there is still a bit of snow on the ground.  However, weather here is very unpredictable and we could have a major snow storm with snow on the ground before we see the middle of April. 

With the weather so warm, last Saturday we decided to take a trip to the east side of the Sandia Mountains north on Highway 14  to visit Tinkertown but found it closed for the winter season opening again on April 1 so will try again after that date.  What is Tinkertown?  Wait for a later blog and you will find out.

Returning to the Highway 14, we stopped at a local restaurant called Ribs for some lunch.  It is a small place but the food is quite good.  Ron had ribs and fries and I had a half hoagie bun filled with pulled pork covered in sauce and potato salad.  Portions were just right and delicious.  Across the shopping center we found the Watermelon Gallery which houses some lovely paintings by local artists.  While a number of paintings were appealing, the prices and lack of wall space in the RV kept us from making a purchase.   

Following the highway toward I-40, we crossed under the freeway and headed south toward the Manzano (means apple in Spanish) Mountains where there are numerous hiking trails, Cibola Forest picnic grounds, houses and several small communities.  This is a good two lane highway with adequate shoulders which at times wind here and there.  The road does wind but is a great road even for large RV’s with toweds.  The local Elks Lodge has a Refuge Campground in the area which is quite nice though somewhat primitive.  In the summer it is a good place to get away from the heat of the city.

We drove as far as the community of Chilili which does not really amount to much except a very, very small General Store.  On our return trip, we stopped at this old church (Iglesia de San Isidro) in the town of Escobosa (in Spanish it means the grass used for broom making). 

As we drive back toward I-40, we noticed there was a Tijeras Pueblo Archaeological Site behind the Ranger Station  in Tijeras of which we were unaware.

A short 1/3 of a mile trail took us around the many mounds, etc. where we found many signs about the people that lived here in the 1300’s; however,  we were disappointed to find that there is really not much to see other than the signs.

 Between 1971 and 1976, the Dept. of Anthropology at the Univ. of NM excavated the area and many artifacts were found.  However, it was backfilled afterwards to protect the area from the elements.  Too bad as seeing the actual excavated sites are far more interesting.  Below is info found on line about the site and a picture of what they think the site looked like when occupied.

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Pre-Historic Background The Tijeras Pueblo site had two main occupations.  Tree-ring date research places the dates of overall occupation of the site from 1313 to approximately 1425 AD.  There is speculation that these peoples were part of the general migration from the "four corners" area (New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Colorado), but there is no evidence to solidly identify any exact previous location.

The pueblo was initially built up in the first part of the 14th century to include a main structure consisting of 200 rooms, arranged in somewhat of a U-shape.  A large ceremonial kiva constructed in the center of the pueblo area may indicate that it could have been important in the lives of members of nearby communities.  Archaeological evidence indicates that Tijeras Pueblo was at least partially abandoned in the 14th century.  It appears that around 1360, perhaps up to half of the occupants left.  The reasons the population left the site may relate to drought and related land use issues, but this is not proven fact and other factors may have possibly been in play.

A nice day to get out and enjoy the outdoors.  I tend to be what my mother called “a hot house plant” since I spend so much time inside doing my crafts, sewing, reading, etc.  It’s not as if I don’t like the outdoors, it’s just too easy to stay put.  Hopefully, getting on the road again will give us incentive to see what is outdoors along the way. 

A Day with RVillage Friends

This past Saturday we drove to Socorro, NM about 70 miles south of Albuquerque to meet with RVillage friends, Bob and Trish whom we met here in Albuquerque last May before leaving on our travels.  Trish and Bob were from New Jersey and had been on the road for about a year before we met them heading back to the east coast for the summer. 

They also have a Tiffin motorhome so we had much to talk about when we met.  Trish writes an almost daily blog so we have kept up with their travels though had not been close together since last year.  They are currently volunteering at a dog/cat rescue facility in T or C (for those outside New Mexico, that stands for Truth or Consequences.  Yes, named after the once TV program.  Check on the internet for info regarding how the name came about.).  Since it is over 100 miles between the two cities, we agreed to meet half way to show them the sites in the Socorro area before they leave on the southern route into Arizona. 

We met at the Bosque Del Apache Wildlife Refuge which is located about 18 miles south of Socoro and near the Rio Grande River.  Wildlife such as Sandhill Cranes, Snow and Canadian Guess, Egrets, ducks and other birds migrate from the north in Canada to this area and south for the winter each year beginning in about October through December and return starting in about March.  There are also lots of other kinds of wildlife in the refuge such as coyotes, roadrunners, bobcats, rabbits, etc.  On any given day you never know if or where you will see such wildlife and unfortunately, today was one of the days when we saw little.  We did manage to see this eagle sitting on an old dead tree in the middle of the marsh,

some snow geese in a pond,

 an assortment of birds outside the Visitor Center feeding at the feeders, an egret, but no Sandhill Cranes.  While Ron and I see them here in Albuquerque and we did see some prior to arriving at the Bosque, none were in the areas we traveled through the area.

After our visit to the Bosque we travelled 8 miles north to have lunch at the Buckhorn Restaurant in San Antonio, a favorite of Ron and me.  The owner won a throwdown with Bobby Flay back in about 2004 and has been written up in Sunset Magazine as well as others..  The parking lot was busy and we did have to wait a few minutes for a table since it was right at the lunch hour.  We all ordered the Buckhorn Burger consisting of a hamburger, chopped green chili, cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle and mustard (a specialty of the house) as well as fries and a drink.  While the wait is long for the meal, it is worth it.  They advertise that they are not a fast food restaurant and they are right.  The owner visited with us several times and is there overseeing things at all times.  He is quite a character.

With our tummies full, we headed to Socorro (9 miles north) to take in the sites there.  Even though Ron and I have travelled through Socorro many, many times, purchased gas and even stopped at the local McDonald’s, we had never taken in the sites there. 

Socorro got its name in 1598 from explorer Juan de Onate whose tired and hungry men were given food and shelter by the Piros Indians.  He named the Pilabo pueblo “Socorro” which means “help” or “succor” in Spanish.  In the 1600’s Franciscan friars built mission at Socorro and other nearby communities.  It was not until the early 1800’s that the actual settlement of Socorro began.  In 1815, 21 families were given land grants to settle there.    A Civil War battle was fought a short distance south of Socorro on February 21, 1862.  After the Civil War, lead and zince mining as well as silver and the arrival of the railroad made the area a center for diverse mining activity.  In 1889 the government chose Socorro as the site for its new School of Mines (now known as the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology).

Arriving in town, we attempted to find some addresses for places I had seen on line, but to no avail.  In a small town, even the Visitor Center is closed on Saturday so no help there to find the locations.  The one place we did see; however, was the old San Miguel Mission Church (founded in 1598) which recently underwent a renovation.  Much to our delight, the Church is now open and we were able to take a look inside. 

We also came across this very old house with the turret.  You all know by now that Ron and I have a fascination for old homes.

It was getting late in the afternoon, so we returned Bob and Trish to their car in San Antonio and we began our trek back to Albuquerque but not before stopping in the town of Lemitar to take a picture of this old Mission church.  It is called “La Sagrada Familia” which in Spanish means “Holy Family.”

It was a wonderful day full of conversation, catching up and learning more about Bob and Trish while sharing a meal and seeing the sights.  We hope to see them again this year if they pass through this way on their way to San Antonio in June.  Thanks to RVillage for giving us the opportunity to meet more RVers and share experiences with others living the RV lifestyle.

Life In the RV

Happy Valentine’s  Day

Ron and I have done a great deal of traveling since we have been together both here in our home state of New Mexico, but also traveling by car and plane and in our RV to other states mostly in the western part of the US until this past summer when we were able to go to the east coast as many of you have seen in my blogs beginning in May of this past year.  We are not hikers though we enjoy being in the mountains and forests so our travels include short walks at local and national historic sites along the way.   Local small towns offer some interesting sites to see which you would not see if only taking in the well known places.  Some like our visit at the Coon Dog Cemetery in Alabama this summer proved to be quaint and unique. 

That being said, I have not written about sites in New Mexico since we are not visiting them and because, due to recent circumstances, we have not really ventured out much but stayed close to home visiting with friends, shopping, eating out in town and enjoying quiet time in the RV.  We are both home bodies so enjoy the time in the RV in this quiet park watching the neighbors and kids come and go.  There is a park across from our site which is regularly used by the children who live in this mobile home/rv park.  Nice to see a park used so much and children outside playing.  That is not to say that we have not kept busy with other projects.

Ron really enjoys doing photography and taking on line classes to learn more about how he can better post process  his pictures as well as using the internet to find things we may need or more to the point, want.  He also enjoys his game shows, police type TV shows and doing some reading on his Kindle.   He never enjoyed reading until he got the Kindle.   Fortunately, we have gotten most of our RV issues resolved for the moment so he has not needed to contact a service provider or do any repairs himself. 

We did, however, decide to replace our hide a bed sofa with two recliner chairs.  We have only used this sofa for company twice in the past year and do not travel with friends or family for the most part.   We had seen these wall hugger recliner chairs this past summer in some friends RV back east.  The chairs were ordered before Christmas from Amish Workbench Furniture and only just this past week arrived for install.  We found another RVer here in the Park who wanted to upgrade his sofa so were able to have our local RV service people take out the sofa and deliver it to our neighbor.  How much nicer they are for watching TV and for taking those late afternoon siesta’s that us seniors seem to need. 

While Ron does his thing, I keep busy with reading, quilting, crocheting and the usual household chores like house cleaning, meals, dishes and wash. Unfortunately those chores do not go away just because you live in an RV.   Last May I put a full plastic container of books in the basement and to date have not read one book from that box.  That is not to say I have not read any books.  I have quite a stash in the RV and of course being the avid reader that I am, have found a few books at flea markets, etc. which I could not resist buying.  I also read books on my Kindle.  Ron keeps saying get rid of the box of books, but I tell him the books are by my favorite authors that I need to read before giving away.  I give books away at RV Parks so we are not carrying all of the books I have read with us still.

Before going full ltime, I took a quilting class and had pieced three baby receiving blanket size quilts to be quilted this winter.  These have now been completed and will be donated along with the crocheted blankets to our local Project Linus group.

 I crochet while Ron drives the RV and in the evenings.  Since we travel so much I cannot donate my time locally so make these blankets as my community service work.  Two blankets were donated in Virginia this past summer as this is a national organization.  I also made my first wall hanging for the RV and have plans to do more cutting before we leave here in June so I can piece more projects while we travel.

We are both ready to be on the road again and have missed being in a regular RV Park and getting out to sight see in the area.  Oh well, there is always next year.   So much for life in our RV in Albuquerque this winter.  Do I miss the house here in town?  No, not at all.  We really like our life in the RV.

About the Ballards

Fourth chemo treatment is now behind me and I did even better than the last two times.  Hooray for that.  I really feel blessed to have done so well and pray I will continue to do so.  There will be two more treatments before I begin radiation therapy some time in early or mid April.  Will know more when that starts when I meet with the  Radiation Oncologist in early March.    I am thankful to have had several friends come to stay with me during infusion which really helps to pass the two hours I am there quickly. 

When arriving in Albuquerque in late August, we did not intend to be here more than a month to do our annual doctor appointments but circumstances dictated otherwise.  Since this has been home for Ron and me for many, many years, I said I would only write in the blog about once a month unless there was something interesting to write which so far there really has not been. Those reading this blog are mostly close friends and family; however, there may be those who would like to know a little about Ron and me, how we arrived in Albuquerque and what we do with our time when we are not traveling.  So, here goes.

I was born in California but grew up on the east coast in New Jersey and New York before heading back west to go to college in Arizona where I met my former husband.  He and I lived in Arizona, California and Michigan before arriving in Albuquerque in 1973 with our two children who were not of school age as yet.  My son and family now live in Virginia while my daughter and her family live in Texas.  Wish they were closer as we do not see them often enough.

Ron was born in Washington state and  other than his time in the Army in the 60’s spent his youth and young married life in South Dakota before taking a transfer in 1984 to Albuquerque bringing his wife and young son.   Ron’s son and his fiancée remain living and working in Albuquerque.   Ron and his son are close and enjoy getting together for guy breakfasts at local restaurants as schedules allow. 

In the 1980’s both Ron and I were divorced from our former spouses.  We were introduced in 1990 by a mutual friend, got married in 1998 and lived in a number of homes on both sides of town, bought our first used RV in 2006 (an old 1996 Newmar in case we did not like it) and looked out for my Mother here in Albuuqerque until her death at the end of 2014.   Ron’s Mom passed away earlier in 2014 leaving us both as the heads of our families since we are both first borns.   At that point, we decided it was time for us to realize our dream to live in our 2008 Tiffin RV and travel full time around the U.S. seeing all this beautiful country has to offer. 

My blog began in late April and tells about our travels this past year.  

Happy New Year 2016

It's a new year and time to start new traditions, do new things and see new places.  What are your plans?  I can't wait, but unfortunately our travel part will have to wait until at least April when we might be able to be gone for a couple of weeks before I start radiation therapy.

We had a quiet Christmas and New Years Eve here in our RV in Albuquerque.  Our temperatures before Christmas were pleasant and we have now had two snow storms neither of which has given us in our location any significant snow (a dusting with some on the roadway), but did drop up to 8" at friends who live closer to the mountains.  Fine with us as we have no snow removal equipment and since we are retired have to go nowhere on the snowy, icy roads.  Albuquerque seldom has snow on the roads that last more than a day or so since temps during the day tend to melt the snow.  Unfortunately, it does not mean that the roads are not wet and subsequently are black ice at night.  While the roads are now clear, the temps have not risen above 40 degrees for the past week and three more storms are predicted for this next week.  Other parts of the state; however, were really snowed in according to the local weather reports.

The one nice thing about our location and position in the Park is that we face the Sandia Mountains located on the east side of town and part of the Rocky Mountains.  Sandia means "watermelon" in Spanish and the mountains got the name because as the sun sets, the mountains turn a beautiful shade of watermelon pink.
While this picture is not from our RV, it is what we see out our front window when the sun sets without snow on them.

This is the same mountains showing them with snow which is what we are currently seeing.

The highest peak in the Sandia's is almost 11,000 feet and there is a beautiful tram ride up to the ski area from around 6,000 feet near the foot of the mountains here in town.  The view is spectacular no matter the time of year and you might even see big horn sheep clinging to the side of a mountain along the way.   A restaurant and overlook as well as the ski lift await you at the top.  If you would like a leisurely drive to the top you can drive east on I-40 into Tijeras Canyon to a two lane windy road through the CibolaNational Forest to the top.  At this location there is a gift shop and overlook of the city as well.

Come visit sometime and see what the Sandia Mountains have to offer as well as the city of Albuquerque.  We definitely have four seasons here and there are many, many different kinds of activities from hiking and picnicing to visiting Indian ruins, to Old Town and of course, the International Balloon Fiesta in October every year.