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!

New Gate

The old gate was rotted out.  The bunnies enjoyed having full access to my garden...

 For those of you wondering what I'd do when I was done with my class, here's the answer.
I used the old gate as a template, and reclaimed the hinges and bolt.
When I was done, I cut up the old gate to put into the trash.

 New gate!

Epic Osterhout Visit

Epic!  When daily life is a challenge, travel is a HUGE challenge.  Stephen and I are so grateful that Mom, Dad, and David are brave, strong, and up for the challenge.  Last fall's planned trip to Albuquerque had to be cancelled when David spent over a month in the hospital and rehab hospital recovering from a bad infection.  Since that time, he and his caretakers have faced additional difficulties.  For instance, he can no longer wheel himself around or help much with transfers.  He still has a feeding tube for liquids, medications, and nutrition, but can have some pureed food by mouth.  These and other issues make it a really big deal to pack up and go somewhere, especially when you have to take two planes to get here!  Mom shipped some supplies ahead of time and I ordered an additional transfer board to keep here since theirs wouldn't fit in a suitcase.  Stephen found a company in Abq that rents wheelchair vans and arranged for one to be available.  Mom found a hotel with an accessible suite with two bedrooms and a kitchen.  I brought my blender to the hotel so we could puree food.  A lot of planning and preparation went into this project!  One of David's caretakers, Deedee, even arrived at the house in Schaghticoke at 3:45 AM on the day of departure to help get David ready to go to the airport.

In spite of a last-minute gate change in Atlanta, (down the elevator, on the shuttle, up the elevator -- GATE CHANGE! -- do it all over again!) and a too-small plane seat that David had to be wedged into, everyone arrived safely.  Stephen picked up the van and took the folks to the hotel where I met them after school for a light supper.

The O's were on their own during the day on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday while Stephen and I were at work.  We had dinner out Tuesday and Thursday after my lessons at the studio, and they came to our house for dinner on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, they went to the Zoo.

 On Wednesday, they went to Los Cerillos.

And on Thursday, they went to the nature center in the bosque.

Stephen and I both took Friday off so we could take a longer trip.  We drove the high road to Taos, through the lovely little village of Truchas which consists of art galleries, studios, and houses perched on a mountainside.  Taos is a funky, artsy place full of interesting characters.  As we drove into town, on Earth Day, there was a march for peace happening with a drummer leading a dozen or so people up the side of the roadway.
Stephen's first priority was lunch.

It was a beautiful day and we were able to eat in this lovely courtyard.  After lunch we walked around the square and did some shopping.

 

Then we drove out to the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge and the Earthship Community.

 The plan for the next day was to go out to Sandia Raceway where Stephen would give David a ride around the track in the Camaro.  With the open track time ending at noon, I would take the folks to Old Town on the way back, then we would all meet supper at my house.

Stephen left early with the truck, trailer, and race car and headed out to the track to get ready.  The Camaro had just had an engine rebuild and hadn't yet been test-driven.  I went to the hotel so I could drive the folks out to the track.  We left on time and I commented that we had less than a quarter tank of gas so we would need to stop at the gas station near the track after our racing time but before going to Old Town.  Sandia Raceway is West of the city, so I got on I-40.  When we got out of the construction zone, I was cruising at about 70 mph when we heard a loud bang, the steering wheel pulled to the right, and the warning light for "low tire pressure" came on.  I was right at an exit, so I pulled slowly off the exit and onto a side street which, unfortunately, had no shoulder at all.  So the van was halfway in the road but I didn't dare drive any farther before checking the tire.  Sure enough, the right rear was fully flat.  Had I driven any more I surely would have damaged the wheel.  Dad got the jack and the space saver out of the back of the van and Mom called the 800 number that came with the rental.  By the time Mom got someone on the phone, Dad and I had the van jacked up a little, but there was no ratchet on the jack and the van rides very low even without a flat, so I had to keep taking off the handle, putting in on, turning it half a turn, taking it off, etc.  It would have taken me quite a while to get the van high enough and I was not at all sure we could get the lug nuts off with this wholly inadequate lever -- what were they thinking? -- when a Good Samaritan in a pick-up truck pulled over and changed the tire for us!  While this was happening, we made an appointment to meet someone from the van rental company at Discount Tire at 3PM, giving us time to go to the track first.  But now we were running pretty late, and we had a deadline because open track time ended at noon, remember?  I didn't want to drive very fast on the space saver.  As you can imagine, the van didn't handle all that well.  I got back on I-40 and puttered along in the right hand lane, and I MISSED MY EXIT.  I was flustered!  It was TEN MILES to the next exit, which was the nearest opportunity to turn around.  This is where I remind you that we were almost out of gas.  What to do?  If I stopped for gas, I might not have time to get David to the track for his ride.  But if we ran out of gas, we'd DEFINITELY miss the ride.  I crossed my fingers and went for it -- no stops.  We made it to the track running on fumes, going too fast on a stupid skinny tire.  Whew!

Stephen had recruited some big strong guys to help get David into the race car, and he had arranged to use a friend's car if the Camaro didn't turn out to be race ready.  As it turned out, the Camaro still had an oil leak, which Stephen may or may not have fixed, but he didn't want to get David into the Camaro then possibly have to get him out again and into the Panoz, so they just used the Panoz.  Here they are getting David into the car.

 And here he is, ready to go!

 And there they are, coming down the front stretch at 100+ mph.  It's a road course with 14 turns, and I can tell you from experience that the turns are very tight and Stephen dives in there at what seems like the absolute last second.

We even had time for Dad to go for a ride!

 Watching from the flag stand area.

 Standing around afterward talking about the run.

Before we left the track Stephen checked the space-saver tire, put some air in it, and put enough racing gas in the van to get us to the nearest station.  I still had time to take the family to Old Town for ice cream and shopping before we had to go meet the van rental guy at the tire store.  We had dinner at my house as planned.  What a wild day!

On Sunday, everyone came to church to hear the praise band play.  I was on keyboard this week and we had the full band.  It was fun!  

After lunch at the Greenside Cafe in Cedar Crest, we drove up to Sandia Peak and enjoyed the views.  David wore the hat he bought in Old Town the day before.  It was only 45 degrees at the peak, and quite windy, so we spent some time enjoying the view from inside.

We made plans for getting the family to the airport today and parted ways.  If all goes well with the return travel, it will have been another excellent adventure!