Thursday, April 20, 2006
Day 16.
We stopped briefly in Carlsbad, then headed north to Roswell - hometown of UFO conspiracy theories. The scenery along the way didn't change, 360 degrees of flat barren landscape. Well I guess if you're going to spot a UFO this is about as much uninterupted sky as you're going to find anywhere. We pulled in late to Roswell and made some idle chat with a couple of blokes at the local bar.
Roswell is famous for the alleged UFO crash in 1947 a short distance from the town. I stopped by the UFO museum, and it has to be said that they did have a lot of compelling evidence to at least back up the claim that "something" happened there. They also have copies of US government papers produced around the time - field guides on how to recover an extra-terrestrial craft or body! That part was interesting. About the only other thing of note in Roswell is the New Mexico Military Institute, a huge castle-like complex.
We headed north on a whim, up to Santa Fe in northern New Mexico and the first 3/4 of the trip was boring as all hell! We were gradually climbing the whole time, but the barren desert country offered nothing to stimulate my mind, and so with nothing better to do I started searching the sky for UFO's. Each time there was a glint in the sky my heart would skip a beat, maybe it's true? But sorry Roswell, all I saw were IFO's (aircraft).
We pulled into Santa Fe, and stopped at a sign that read "Second St Brewery". I met some laid back locals who pointed out some places i should visit while in the area, and Jen the friendly bartender filled my glass with free beer before I had a chance to object (like i would). They told me of some hot springs out west, and so I decided that would be tomorrows destination.
Day 17.
Got the bike off the back and took Forrie for a tour of downtown Santa Fe. This is easily the prettiest city I've seen in the states. The architecture is almost entirely of mexican influence, rounded terracota sun-baked walls, dusty red streets, and the downtown plaza area full of american indians from out of town selling their hand made jewelry and crafts. Spotted a Trader Joe's so went off to replenish the fridge with real food again.
The road north out of town took us into crazy rugged mountainous country controlled by Indian tribes. This is undoubtedly the most amazing landscape I've seen on the trip so far. We wound our way up to the town of Los Alamos, where the top secret "Manhatten project" resulted in the creation of the atomic bomb. We kept driving up into the beautiful Jemez mountains, winding steeply up onto a volcanic plateau where the forest gives way on the top to a huge caldera formed as the result of massive volcanic eruptions. We wound our way down to the village of Jemez Springs and got directions at the local pub back up the mountain and 5 miles down a rugged dirt track to the hot springs.
Perched halfway up the mountain on a steep slope water pours out of pipes to the spring, into man made rock pools. The water cools as it travels down the pools so you can pick your temperature. I was in heaven - not only did i get to wash but i got a hot bath! I stripped off and jumped in, the "no nudity" sign at the bottom of the hill was ignored by most. I met a hippie couple from Colorado and and an unemployed writer from Albuquerque, who kindly offered me a beer. It was after the sun had set and the stars were out that I made my way down to cook some food and catch an early nights sleep.
Day 18.
This place is intoxicating! I went up for an morning bath, and as we were wandering back down the hill I my jelly-like legs started off in the opposite direction up a beautifully serene valley - all i could do was follow them. We meandered a few miles up the valley, watching for trout in the stream, before turning back for the van. Later in the afternoon a cold wind came through the valley - there was still patches of snow and frozen dirt - and so I went up for one last swim. With the bus booked into a mechanics in Albuquerque the next morning i reluctantly left the most relaxing spot on my trip to date. We drove down the mountains and stopped at another spring, and then hightailed it out through indian reservations all the way to Albuquerque.
Day 19.
I was worried that an exhaust leak in the van might cause a valve to burn, so took it in for preventative repairs. Having the bike really paid off as we spent the day cycling around Albuquerque. The old town district is much like Santa Fe, and after some breakfast we headed north up the Rio Grande, and across out to the Petroglyph National Monument (here a monument is the same as a park, only its create by an act of the president rather than congress). We walked in blazing heat up a canyon where the blackened rocks had symbols, animals, and other patterns carved into them many hundreds of years ago by the native indians. Some date back thousands of years. I was amazed to see people running through the hot sandy dunes.. then i stopped to take a look at me, pushing a bike and dragging a dog, and realized who was the stupid one.
Word came from the mechanics that they wouldn't be finished today and so I find myself here, checked into a dog-friendly hotel down near the old town.
We stopped briefly in Carlsbad, then headed north to Roswell - hometown of UFO conspiracy theories. The scenery along the way didn't change, 360 degrees of flat barren landscape. Well I guess if you're going to spot a UFO this is about as much uninterupted sky as you're going to find anywhere. We pulled in late to Roswell and made some idle chat with a couple of blokes at the local bar.
Roswell is famous for the alleged UFO crash in 1947 a short distance from the town. I stopped by the UFO museum, and it has to be said that they did have a lot of compelling evidence to at least back up the claim that "something" happened there. They also have copies of US government papers produced around the time - field guides on how to recover an extra-terrestrial craft or body! That part was interesting. About the only other thing of note in Roswell is the New Mexico Military Institute, a huge castle-like complex.
We headed north on a whim, up to Santa Fe in northern New Mexico and the first 3/4 of the trip was boring as all hell! We were gradually climbing the whole time, but the barren desert country offered nothing to stimulate my mind, and so with nothing better to do I started searching the sky for UFO's. Each time there was a glint in the sky my heart would skip a beat, maybe it's true? But sorry Roswell, all I saw were IFO's (aircraft).
We pulled into Santa Fe, and stopped at a sign that read "Second St Brewery". I met some laid back locals who pointed out some places i should visit while in the area, and Jen the friendly bartender filled my glass with free beer before I had a chance to object (like i would). They told me of some hot springs out west, and so I decided that would be tomorrows destination.
Day 17.
Got the bike off the back and took Forrie for a tour of downtown Santa Fe. This is easily the prettiest city I've seen in the states. The architecture is almost entirely of mexican influence, rounded terracota sun-baked walls, dusty red streets, and the downtown plaza area full of american indians from out of town selling their hand made jewelry and crafts. Spotted a Trader Joe's so went off to replenish the fridge with real food again.
The road north out of town took us into crazy rugged mountainous country controlled by Indian tribes. This is undoubtedly the most amazing landscape I've seen on the trip so far. We wound our way up to the town of Los Alamos, where the top secret "Manhatten project" resulted in the creation of the atomic bomb. We kept driving up into the beautiful Jemez mountains, winding steeply up onto a volcanic plateau where the forest gives way on the top to a huge caldera formed as the result of massive volcanic eruptions. We wound our way down to the village of Jemez Springs and got directions at the local pub back up the mountain and 5 miles down a rugged dirt track to the hot springs.
Perched halfway up the mountain on a steep slope water pours out of pipes to the spring, into man made rock pools. The water cools as it travels down the pools so you can pick your temperature. I was in heaven - not only did i get to wash but i got a hot bath! I stripped off and jumped in, the "no nudity" sign at the bottom of the hill was ignored by most. I met a hippie couple from Colorado and and an unemployed writer from Albuquerque, who kindly offered me a beer. It was after the sun had set and the stars were out that I made my way down to cook some food and catch an early nights sleep.
Day 18.
This place is intoxicating! I went up for an morning bath, and as we were wandering back down the hill I my jelly-like legs started off in the opposite direction up a beautifully serene valley - all i could do was follow them. We meandered a few miles up the valley, watching for trout in the stream, before turning back for the van. Later in the afternoon a cold wind came through the valley - there was still patches of snow and frozen dirt - and so I went up for one last swim. With the bus booked into a mechanics in Albuquerque the next morning i reluctantly left the most relaxing spot on my trip to date. We drove down the mountains and stopped at another spring, and then hightailed it out through indian reservations all the way to Albuquerque.
Day 19.
I was worried that an exhaust leak in the van might cause a valve to burn, so took it in for preventative repairs. Having the bike really paid off as we spent the day cycling around Albuquerque. The old town district is much like Santa Fe, and after some breakfast we headed north up the Rio Grande, and across out to the Petroglyph National Monument (here a monument is the same as a park, only its create by an act of the president rather than congress). We walked in blazing heat up a canyon where the blackened rocks had symbols, animals, and other patterns carved into them many hundreds of years ago by the native indians. Some date back thousands of years. I was amazed to see people running through the hot sandy dunes.. then i stopped to take a look at me, pushing a bike and dragging a dog, and realized who was the stupid one.
Word came from the mechanics that they wouldn't be finished today and so I find myself here, checked into a dog-friendly hotel down near the old town.
