And when we left the story of my vacation we were driving back to Albuquerque from White Sands…
The next day was the trip to Santa Fe. It was punctuated with calls from the craftsman trying to get my mother to find a different way to get him money or a money order, (he had not bank account). We took a side trip in Santa Fe to stop at a Post Office only to find that that wasn’t going to be an option. And then we were off to find the part of Santa Fe that my Dad remembered and wanted to see. First we found a Farmer’s and Arts market that were just closing down. Getting parked to explore it was a challenge, the twists and turns for the underground parking were tight and blind. We were trying to find my Dad a hat and some sunscreen. The sun was really getting to him. We ended up in an REI store to find hats and his sunscreen. It was still tourist as we don’t have them in Florida, at least not Orlando. With hats and sunscreen in hand we headed back to the car. This wasn’t where we wanted to be.
We found a couple that were able to tell us where the downtown area was from where we were and how to find parking, once again, underground. The nice thing about that is it’s a little cooler. So we find it get parked and go hiking to the main square. There we found the peddlers selling their wares, and something going on in the park. It was lunch time so food was on the agenda and we found it at the Cafe. I don’t remember it’s full name. The portabella burger was way better than I expected and as it’s New Mexico, dessert was Sopapillas. You must try these. Open a hole in it, pour in the honey and chow down. Oh yum.
It didn’t take long for us to see all we had the energy to see in Santa Fe and then there was the hike back to the car. There was the adventure with the automated parking machine. It’s one where you put your card in, it calculates and gives you a receipt if you want and you pay it not the attendant. Don’t ditch that card yet, you have to give that to the attendant to get out. And back to Albuquerque we go. But not yet.
We didn’t go directly back to the hotel. We stopped at the San Felipe Pueblo Casino. Ok, I think it was called the Hollywood Casino or something close. I managed to walk away with $10 earned from a Penny slot machine. I like penny slots you can play for a really long time for little money. Noted here was that there were tribal members working in a variety of positions in the casino. It was doing what we thought the casinos on tribal lands should. It was employing people from the tribe. There are problems with this as well and some of the people were open to discussing some of the good and bad that has come with the casinos. And then back to the hotel and finding food.
The next day was our last full day to do anything in New Mexico. We finally settled on a trek back up towards/to Santa Fe and a place in the southern part called El Rancho De Los Golondrinas. It is a 200 acre living history museum. Look them up at: www.golondrinas.org. We got there on the last day of Mexico Days and so there was a Mercado setup with vendors from Mexico. We had a great time wondering around and seeing the buildings that were used for so many centuries. Some a part of the original ranch that was operational into the 1900’s and some that had been brought in. There was a compound that included living areas and cooking and worship and lead to the stables. 
If you wondered further from then entrance and down the hill you found the working mill. They can’t use the grain but it does work. And they demonstrated it. If you took the time to ask questions of the volunteers stationed in the various rooms and facilities you found out not only about the ranch, you also found out about them and that several of them have been volunteering there for years. If you go even farther back you can see the fields where they grow food crops as they would have when the place was functional. Also I found the tanning shed, a second mill, a carriage house, and a second coral or pen. I didn’t go up to the chapel It was a much farther hike and we were getting close to closing the place down as it was. I did get a view of it from a distance. 
It was our last day in New Mexico and it had been the best of the outings. We enjoyed everything we saw and were happy to get to see what we did, revisit some places and see new. In all it was a really nice stay. It gave me the chance to figure out why my memories of summer or my youth do not include very many days of sweltering heat that you just didn’t want to do anything. New Mexico, while in the mid to upper 90’s didn’t feel as hot as Florida at 90. Oh, yes, it is a dry heat and that helps. The other thing that helps is the near constant breeze. It make such the difference.
Our visit to New Mexico and especially to the ranch reminded me of the trips we took when I was a kid. We stopped at Forts and National Parks. We looked at cool historical places and natural wonders. I’ll have to do more of that it was fun.
And finally, on a plane to Oklahoma City.
Yes, Oklahoma City. Ok, wait, they do have the Cowboy Hall of Fame. Oh and there’s the Cherokee Nation. More than that though, there is family. We went to see my Grandfather. It’s always fun to visit with him. He’s in his 80’s and goes dancing several times a week does his silver sneakers exercising, goes golfing with his buddies and I’m not sure what else. We got in around lunch time and he was waiting lunch for us so as soon as we got unloaded we went out for food. Aside from visiting we didn’t do much else with the day and that really was ok. This was the relaxing part of the trip. I rented a Chevy Aveo, it was smaller than what we had in New Mexico. Figured that should be ok as we weren’t planning on doing as much driving. We had to have something though, Grandpa drives a little pickup.
So after food I called my Father. Seems he didn’t know I was coming. He knew my Mother and Dad were. Yes, the family relations sound a little strange and I’m not going to explain them. Anyway, my Father teaches computers at a Tech school and he has suggested before that I should take a trip out and come speak to his class. And my Step Mother had not been doing well but should be better in a day or so. We were planning on going out to Cherokee Nation the next day. Mom was looking for something and we thought the Indian shop there would be good. So the meet up with my Father would take place the day after the trip out east.
The day comes for us to head out to Cherokee Nation. We’ve got Mom’s GPS and it and Grandpa help us get headed in the right direction. I keep being amazed at how disconcerting the freeway system in Oklahoma City can be. Then again, I didn’t spend many driving years there so I still see it through the eyes of a 16 year old new driver. And finally we’re on 40 headed east. And we’re driving, and we’re driving and we’re stopping for a drink, and we’re driving, and we’re driving and we’re stopping for a bathroom and we’re driving. Yes, it was supposed to be 3 hours. I think it was. I didn’t think it had been that far the last time I made that trip. Oh well. We went through several reservations, the Sacs and Fox, the Muscogee (who are either Creek or Seminole) and several others. I saw signs for Creek and Seminole that I didn’t expect. And then the Cherokee. Cherokee Nation is a sovereign nation inside the state of Oklahoma. The issue their own drivers license and license plates. The capital is Tallequah. I have yet to go there.
After the visit to the Indian Store we stopped at the Casino. As in New Mexico, several of the tribes in Oklahoma have casinos. Unlike in New Mexico, in the casino we stopped in, it did not appear that there were many tribal members employed. I don’t know if my Mother asked them about it. We played penny slots again. Mom did well this time. The trip back to the city was longer as we had to stop for some dinner and then the bathroom a few times. And we made a stop at Wal-Mart for Grandpa to get a few things and for us to get him something.
Several years ago my Mom and Dad stopped through and got my Grandpa setup on a computer and we set him up on the Internet. Later my Father stepped in and made repairs and upgrades and now he helps out my Grandpa with the computer. Well we noticed that he still had a 17″ CRT monitor. The big monitors that take up so much space and not a lot of screen space. We decided that a good birthday gift and thank you would be to upgrade his monitor. He now has a 22″ flat panel monitor. Everything is so much bigger and he has more desk space. He’s loving it.
More visiting and stuff the next day and lunch with everyone and my Father and Step Mother who is feeling better. Then Father goes back to teach the night shift and I head over to speak to his class. I had to sign in and get a visitor card. When you sign in you have to put a reason for visit. I hope the read them. I put Shanghaied for my reason. I spoke to his class about real world IT work and they had some questions and I hope I was able to give them some information that will help them be better techs.
The next day was the head home day. We spent extra hours in the Oklahoma City airport, by choice. And we spent 4 extra hours in the Houston airport, not by choice.
What this vacation did for me was remind me of how it used to be no big deal to drive for a long time to get to something you wanted to see. It’s made the idea of going to places on the weekend that may take an hour or better to get to, not so overwhelming. It’s made me at least thing about being more willing to make those types of trips at home on the weekends. I may start to see more of the places near where I live now. There is adventure to be had at home if you look and are willing to take a little longer to get there.
Originally published at: suguayproductions.com/joomla which has been discontinued.
Lots and lots of it. It turns out that there are or were, depends on how you look at it, lava flows in New Mexico. You can be driving along and in the distance you start to see this dark patch that almost looks like a lake. It’s not. It’s solidified lava. Like along the road there. Or like this…
