May 29 - June 4, 2018:
It was one of our longer drives today at 198 miles from Farmington, NM on route 550 south to Bernalilo, NM and then on I-25 north to route 22 north to the Corp of Engineers Cochiti Lake Campground. The lake, actually a reservoir, was formed by the damming of the Rio Grande River in 1973. We picked a non reservable dry camping site because it was a much nicer campsite that the one available with hookups and we are fine without power, especially at $6 a day. We are staying for a week as there is much to see and do in this area and it is also close to Santa Fe.
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| Leaving the miles and miles of oil and gas wells behind |
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| The Big Chief Gas Station Market doesn't care these days |
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| The Corp of Engineers Campground at Cochiti Lake |
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Cochiti Lake view. The Cochiti Dam is a flood control dam opened
in 1973. It is the 23rd largest dam in the world by volume of material |
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| The Rio Grande River exiting the dam |
Our first adventure was the the nearby Kasha-Katuwe (White Cliffs) or Tent Rocks National Monument. It is a 4,645 acre monument known for its light colored cone shaped tent rock formations that are the result of explosive volcanic eruptions that occurred between 6 and 7 million years ago. We had not heard about this National Monument prior to coming here and it sounded interesting so we went. There are two trails, we did the more difficult slot canyon trail that turned out to be one of the most beautiful trails we have done this year. The trail went through a slot canyon, mostly uphill and then climbed steeply for 630 feet to the end and then returned by the same path for 3 miles total.
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| A stunning view from the trail |
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| These rock formation are composed of Peralta Volcanic Tuff |
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| I looks scary, but I was actually far from the edge |
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| A particularly scenic view, every view here is |
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| Another view from a lower vantage point on the trail |
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| Twinkles passing under a low hanging tree |
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| The slot canyon area was fun |
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| I was quite taken with the distinct layers of tuff |
We then took a ride by the adjacent ancient Pueblo de Cochiti. Surveys in this area have recorded many archeological sites reflecting human occupation spanning 4,000 years. During the 14th and 15th centuries, several large ancestral pueblos were established here and their descendants still inhabit Pueblo de Cochiti and the surrounding area. In 1540 Spanish explorer Francisco Vasquez de Coronado made mention of the Pueblo de Cochiti in his diary. There are no photos of the Cochiti reservation as they are very sensitive about being photographed as are most of the ingenuous people.
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The woman of Cochiti have gained attention with their
storyteller clay figurines |
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| Fracking is an issue in New Mexico |
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The Cochiti Golf Club is in a beautiful setting on Cochiti
reservation land |
Afterwards we ride a few miles further south on route 22 to the Santo Domingo Pueblo which is another large ancient community. It is like going to a third world country, very rustic, very poor with a Horno oven behind every house. We were looking for a colorful looking trading post that we had seen in a tour guide, which we eventually found a mile or so outside of town. The building front was freshly painted, but it was closed and appeared to be under restoration. Interestingly, there is a New Mexico Rail Runner Express Train station across the road and the schedule indicated that there about six train stops per day in both directions. I thought it interesting that New Mexico put station stops in this poor native area.
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| The Trading post section on the right appears to have been restored, but not open |
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The section on the left when viewed from the windows has
much work to be done |
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| The Santo Domingo Pueblo who now use the name Kewa is about a mile away |
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Directly across the street is the Kewa New Mexico Rail Runner
Express train station |
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| Near the modern train station is this ancient church |
Another day trip was to the Coronado Historic Site in Bernlillo, NM situated on the Rio Grande River about 20 miles north of Albuquerque. The ruins of the Pueblo of Kuaua are here which were excavated in the 1930’s in an attempt to find the location of Spanish explorer Francisco Vasquez Coronado’s camp where his expedition in 1540 stayed for two years. This was a large expedition consisting of 400 Spaniards, 1,500 native American allies, 4 Franciscan Friars, dozens of African Slaves and 6,500 head of livestock. Coronado’s mission was also large, to search for riches, in particular the reported “Seven Cities of Gold”. Artifacts were found at Kuala, but unfortunately not nearly enough for prove conclusively that this was Coronado’s camp. The Tiwa Indians occupied the village of Kuala consisting of multistoried adobe buildings with more than 1,200 rooms. There were several other villages along this 30 mile stretch of the Rio Grande River. Coronado displaced the rightful owners of an entire village, moved his expedition into it and confiscated much of their food supply, not exactly the way to make friends. Coronado explored as far northeast as Kansas, as far north as Colorado, as far west as Arizona and as far south on the Rio Grande as the Journal del Muerto, but found no cities of gold. He returned to Spain with much new knowledge of North America, but his mission was considered a failure.
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| These ruins were excavated in the 1930's, then back filled for protection and then partially reconstructed on top. The reconstructed areas have eroding considerably. |
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| It can now be told that Coronado's force was mainly Central American Indian warriors |
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When you don't get the silver or silver, you might be charged with mismanagement of the Army,
it's the price you pay for fame and fortune |
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| Very healthy looking yucca's next to an Horno Oven |
After excavation, the Pueblo of Kuaua was backfilled for protection except for a special Kiva that you can go down into. It's special because when excavated it the interior walls were covered in murals which were painstakingly removed and saved. A native artist was then hired to repaint the murals inside the stabilized Kiva. The original murals, 900 years old and very faded are in a special museum room at the Coronado Historic Site. Unfortunately no photos are permitted.
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We took a guided tour and were surprised that we could go inside this Kiva with the
reproduced murals |
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| There is a pleasant short trail on the along the Rio Grande River. This reliable source of water was the drawing card for this pueblo site. In fact the Pueblo people from Mesa Verde, Chaco Canyon, Salmon Ruins, Aztec Ruins and others migrated to this area along the Rio Grande River |
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| Our tour guide recommended the Range Cafe for lunch |
I have three music venues in my sights here, the Cowgirl and the EL Faro Tuesday night jam session, both in Santa Fe and the Mine Shaft in Madrid, New Mexico. The problem is that they are all about 30 miles away, a little out of my comfort range, but what the hell ! I go to the Mine Shaft Tavern in Madrid on Friday evening to see the Julian Dossett Trio who play Delta Blues standards mixed with their own originals. Madrid is an old mining town, in the hills, that has an old hippie vibe to it and plenty of quirky characters. The band was as good as expected, but there wasn’t much of a crowd, I guess the old hippies can't stay out so late these days.
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| The Mine Shaft has much character, but the newspaper machines out front are tacky ? |
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| I approve of the mural |
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| And the band was good |
On Saturday, after going to the trendy Farmers Market at the Railyard in Santa Fe and then wandering the trendy streets and shops around the downtown square, we go to the Cowgirl for lunch. They were having a day long anniversary event in the rear patio area with several bands, food and beverage vendors. We had lunch, then sat on the patio for a while, had some free cake, but it was very hot and we were tired so we didn't stay long . It seems that the Cowgirl is as popular as ever with a big crowd inside and out, still a favorite of mine.
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| The Road Runner Express Train at the Rail Yard |
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| The Railyard has been developed into a popular entertainment area |
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| There was a big crowd around this musical group playing chimes |
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| The Second Street Brewery is another attraction |
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| It's always Happy Trails at the Cowgirl |
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| I still love the sign |
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| The band performing on the outside patio |
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| The Shrine Of Our Last of Guadalupe Church |
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| New Mexico Museum of Art |
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The Museum of Contemporary Indian Arts is a beauty, but not sure about
the painting of the column ? |
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| The Lensic Performing Arts Center is a classic |
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| I like the art work over building 205 |
On Sunday with clouds and rain in the forecast I head to the old mining town of Cerrillos where many westerns were filmed. I tour a few Main Street sights and visit the Mining Museum. It’s all very interesting, but also kind of depressing, as most of the town is just trashy looking. On one hand I would hate to see the town all restored and gentrified, but on the other hand, I don’t care for the present trashy, falling apart look either. Cerrillos is one of the oldest and best turquoise mines in the southwest, first by the Indians, then the Spanish and then the Americans. The Mine museum and rock shop is a must see, filled to the brim with great stuff.
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| I do like old farm equipment and bottles |
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| An archeological study of the Palace Hotel Privy was interesting |
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| Imagine that ! |
Afterwards I continue three miles further on route 14 to Madrid and the Mine Shaft. Madrid is a big tourist center compared to Cerrillos, but it’s sort of trashy as well. It’s one of those old ghostly mining towns resurrected again by the hippie generation. It quickly became a popular artistic mecca but the renaissance days are fading. I must be getting old, I used to think these kinds of places were just so cool ? I went to see a band called The Barbwires Blues at 3 PM and when they didn’t show I went for the door. As I walked outside, I heard music playing, went to investigate and found the barbwires playing next door at the outside patio at the connected Inn at the Mine Shaft Tavern. They were great and It was a far more interesting and enthusiastic crowd on the patio.
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| The Barbwires Blues Band |
The campground became much more crowded on the weekend with the usual noisy weekend warriors, it was hot, all the generators were roaring, the music was blasting, the dogs were barking, I can’t wait for Sunday when most of them go home. Campgrounds at State Parks and Lakes can be like this on weekends.
On our last day, we visited our ex neighbor at Desert Trails RV Park in Tucson, Lilia, who now lives in Santa Fe. It was good to see her and she is doing very well.
Our next stop is White Rock, New Mexico,
Twinkles and Slick
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