A New Place To See Petroglyphs

When I'm on summer vacation I like to do reconnaissance and check out places our East coast visitors might like to see.  I recently read that one of the sites in Petroglyph National Monument, Boca Negra Canyon, is possibly wheelchair accessible, and today I decided to drive over and find out for myself.   I'm always on the lookout for good places to take my bro so message me with more suggestions!

So far, so good.
But then the path got rougher.  We could do it if Stephen was pushing.

This part is really nice!

Um... end of the road for David.

 Unfortunately, you can't see many petroglyphs from the accessible parts of the path.  With binoculars, you could see a few.  But the scenery is other-worldly with the rift volcano, the mesa, the black basalt rocks tumbled around, and the many different green and brown shades in the landscape.  There is a good view of the canyon and you can see the geologic features.  For those who can climb a few steps, there are plenty of petroglyphs at this site.

 The sign below perfectly describes the photograph that follows it.

For David, there is a nice shady spot to sit.  There are restrooms and a drinking fountain, and the sign below to look at while waiting for others to climb the stairs to view the petroglyphs.

 There are two paths that anyone not using a wheelchair could easily walk.  You can see plenty from those two trails and it would be a worthwhile stop.  BUT, for the more adventurous (or those with good knees), there is also this trail:

 Always remember that it's easier to go up than to come back down.

 That's my car way down there on the left.  Of course, I had to go all the way to the top just to see what's up there.  Nothing, as it turns out.  But the view of the mesa and the city is lovely.

I suggest we add Petroglyph National Monument to the next Osterhout tour.  We can stop at the Visitor Center first, talk to the ranger, look at the exhibits, and watch the movie.  Then we can drive the short distance to Boca Negra Canyon and explore the parts that are accessible to us.  Even though we might spend less than an hour there, the park is only about 25 minutes from my house.  Well worth the trip!

Santa Fe

 We went to Santa Fe to see the Lowriders exhibit at the New Mexico History Museum.  First, we had lunch at the Plaza Cafe.  The plaza was crowded with folks setting up for a big pancake festival scheduled for the fourth.  We had to wait 20 minutes for a table, but we took turns walking around, looking into shops and watching the activity in the square. 

 I still want to go to a real outdoor lowrider car show this summer, but this exhibit was a good introduction.

 After the lowrider exhibit, we visited the Palace of the Governors.  The history of New Mexico is interesting, particularly when you are from the East coast, and think of American history as having started with the Pilgrims.

One thing I love about going to Santa Fe is that there is always something going on besides the destination I had in mind.  We wandered through a show by the Santa Fe Artists Society, stopping to browse and talk to various artists.                                                                                                                               

 Then on the way back to the car, we came across this concert by The Wild Marimbas!  Of course, I wanted to know why they appeared to have 9 keys between "octaves."  They were clearly not using chromatic tuning, and some of the keys had one or two dots on them for reference.  I could hear that they were playing I, IV, V, and vi chords, so I knew they were in diatonic tuning, but why the extra key?  I speculated that they had one accidental (F#, if they were tuned in C), and looking it up when I got home, that was in fact the case.  Their songs were extended patterns with 3 against 2 African-style rhythms and the trap player to hold it together.  It was fascinating.

 It was a beautiful day in Santa Fe!

Hiking with Doug and Katie

 Doug and Katie arrived Thursday evening and we met at Cafe da Lat for our traditional arrival celebration.
On Friday we went to the Petroglyphs where we encountered some rain, so we cut our hike short and went to the Visitor Center instead.
Today, Saturday, we drove out to Tijeras to the Tunnel Canyon trail head.  We hiked about 5 miles round-trip and it was beautiful.  Not hot, not buggy, just right.  After the hike we had a late lunch at the Greenside Cafe.  Delicious!