I forgot to mention that part of the reason we got into Albuquerque even later than anticipated is because we took a wrong turn somewhere (I think we were clouded by hunger pangs) and ended up in the very northwest corner of NM. We were driving down the main street trying to find somewhere to grab food when I heard Greg say, “Si, Senor!” and cut across a couple lanes of traffic. The parking lot was full so that was a good sign and the food was DELICIOUS. They gave you free sopaipillas at the end! That’s fried bread that you eat with honey, omg, I wish I had some right now. Maybe it was delicious because we were SO hungry, like seriously dying. After we realized our mistake, I’m pretty sure we were just drawn to Farmington as it was the nearest “big” town. If we would have continued to drive on the original freeway, there was nothing there until Albuquerque. After dinner I ended up driving and it was HELLA snowy and icy. I was gripping the steering wheel hoping that it wouldn’t run away from me. Drove through a bunch of rez and stopped at this sketchy gas stations with lots of bathroom stalls. The cashier didn’t say one word to me, just took my money and kept talking to her friend. This was in Cuba, New Mexico.
Bright and early, we had to be at the hot air balloon site at 7:15a the next morning. For my Christmas present from my wonderful boyfriend! We arrived a little bit after the scheduled time but our pilot had not yet arrived. We could see a few other hot air balloons go up and as we waited.
After getting a small breakfast and something to drink, more people (including the pilot) had arrived. They began to set up right away.
This is me standing next to the balloon
Going up
To prove we were really there
There were 14 people total in the basket and it was one of the largest hot air balloons in New Mexico! The other people in the basket were characters to say the least. One family had the mom, dad, and this really smart ass middle school aged daughter. Another family who had brought Grandma along. And another couple where the man seems to have hot air ballooned before as he just jumped right in with the crew setting up!
The actual flying was very cool; very similar to paragliding that I did in Switzerland. Different (and better) because you can do it with other people rather than flying tandem. It was cool to just look down and all you could see is the edge of the basket. It’s just you in a basket, thousands of miles up in the air!
We flew about 6 miles from our original place and it lasted about an hour.
With the flames!
We landed in a very classy area of Albuquerque; actually it was this dumpy lot with abandoned tires and shopping carts strewn about. The pilot joked about how embarrassing some of the places they land are. Actually, I don’t think he was joking.
We helped pack away the balloon which was like rolling up a giant sleeping bag.
We then headed over to this separate parking lot where we had the traditional champagne brunch. Apparently, when hot air ballooning first started, it scared the local farmers who tried to shoot down the balloons (they succeeded). In the future, the pilots would hang a symbol of the king on the side then invite everyone to join in a champagne brunch to bring together the community. We received diplomas and pins, it was a great experience, one of the greatest Christmas presents I’ve ever gotten! In fact, it was definitely the most memorable ☺ I feel so lucky to have someone share the experience with me!
We debated sticking around Albuquerque to check out a few sites but they literally had nothing to offer. We weren’t in the mood to shop for Indian jewelry or check out petroglyphs so we decided to just head to Flagstaff where we’d be staying a night before going to the Grand Canyon. Right before we left, we saw a blurb in the travel book about going to the Acoma Pueblo which was right off I-40. We had seen a picture in the Ansel Adams book I gave Boo for Christmas so we decided to check it out before going to Flagstaff.
Acoma is a pueblo community that has been inhabited continuously since the 12th century (supposedly) and it’s on top of a 367 foot sandstone mesa. We had read reviews on Trip Advisor how it was kind of whack because there was a $20 entrance which included the ability to take your camera up to the pueblo / mesa. But it’s how they make their money and you want to support the Native peoples.
It actually ended up being quite a bit away from the freeway but we got to drive the reservation which was very interesting to me. We then pulled into their newly renovated $15 million cultural center. We were excited because there were a ton of out of state license plates, including one from Chihuahua, MX!
We arrived just as the 12:30PM tour was going up to the top. There’s a shuttle that takes you up there that is driven by a very large man. Our tour guide was this lady named Geri and let me tell you, this lady had enough of the tour guide life.
The original school building
The bell at the church
It was really hard to hear the tour guide as she mumbled and spoke in monotone. Even her jokes were in monotone. I think being oppressed by the Spanish conquerors really bummed her out.
The church was cool though with its dirt floors and painted walls. We weren’t allowed to take photos but apparently they still use the mission even though the Spanish had brought much destruction to their people. They’ve been praying for water for hundreds of years and pictures are depicted on the walls of the church. They also have paintings up from the 1600s and crazy stuff like that.
After we left the church, we received a tour through the community. You were absolutely not allowed to walk around apart from the group. They had these various “stations” where the locals were selling pottery. It was kind of strange… part of me wanted to buy the pottery but it felt like they were being exploited; that their entire community and culture were being exploited. After being oppressed by the Spanish, they were now pawning their goods off to tourists. At the same time, they’re making A LOT of money from tourism as well from their casino. Does anyone know how the reservations work? Are they socialist and split their $$ amongst the community?
Local watering hole
There were a ton of cars up at the pueblo; apparently because of the holidays, many had come back to the family homes to participate in traditional celebrations (the public are also allowed to come up and watch the ceremonies). It was a little bit disenchanting as you are told how there is no running water or electricity up at the mesa but you see a ton of cars. Plus we were told they use generators occasionally (“mostly on Mondays for football, Sundays for football, and an occasional episode of the Bachelor”) which is just strange. I mean, I understand wanting the comforts of modern technology but if you’re trying to claim these lands have been inhabited consistently like your ancestors… well I don’t think the ancestors were watching football on Monday night. Just saying.
There are only about 15 families that live up there full time and the property is passed on from mother to youngest daughter (if no daughter, then the youngest son but he is to pass it back to his daughter). Men take care of the running of the community but women are in charge of property. The other houses belong to people who live down on the reservation or elsewhere; those homes are considered their “family homes.” Oh yeah, along with the other modern comforts, there were also a ton of port o potties (no running water… water to drink / eat has be trucked up) and outhouses.
This ladder leads to the ceremonial kivas which only men are allowed to enter. It points that way to try and “pierce” the clouds for rainwater.
Some elders got stuck on the mesa in the back and starved to death so no one from the community are allowed up there
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That is an outdoor adobe oven. Most people use propane or cedar to cook these days but sometimes they will make ceremonial stews
This looks traditional but we were standing right next to a truck and some Ford Tauruses
This was next to some outhouses
A real outhouse.
Some of the buildings have original materials but many have been rebuilt with sandstone
Like climbing to a treehouse
Some people were also selling food. This tamale was delicious and hot (temp). Also had a bit of a kick. Wish we had more of these. We also had cinnamon sugar fry bread, mmmmm.
It felt kind of weird taking photos of these peoples’ lives but they invited us into their homes so… it was interesting to me.
Nice views
We could have either taken the shuttle back but we decided to climb down these hand carved sandstone stairs which used to be the only way up into the pueblo.
A mangy dog started following us on the walk back to the cultural center. He had lots of places to explore and play though.
We wanted to try some “authentic” cuisine so we stopped by the café on the way out. They were out of everything Greg wanted to try so we just split my beef and potato wrap. It was kind of a rip off and wasn’t particularly delicious. Another trap!
All in all, I thought it to be a total tourist trap though some aspects of it was cool. It was neat to see the actual buildings and old school stuff but was disappointing to see how un-authentic it has become. It was fascinating to hear about the culture and the reservation as I’m very interested in people, how they live, and their ability to function as a society (hello, Soc major). I’m not sure I would recommend it to anyone else unless you are just passing through and need to kill some time (and $$). It’s all about the Benjamins here but I suppose it has to be in order to sustain life on the rez. Might be better for ya’ll to visit Mesa Verde National Park instead.
Off to Flagstaff next… we missed the New Mexico sign coming in.
Land of enchanment, eh?
There was quite a bit of traffic on this stretch of the highway so we had to snap this one quick
There was another park on the way to Flagstaff so we wanted to stop.
Turns out they were closing at 5PM and we rolled up around 4:55PM. The guy was going to let us go through as long as we kept moving (I assume) but then we panicked and went the wrong direction out of the park thus ending our short view of the Petrified Forest. That’s ok, it’s just a bunch of dried wood.
That evening we rolled up to the Days Inn. There was a ton of snow and ice on the ground which I was surprised about. Tons of cars from Sonora, MX for some reason. The bed was super comfortable and it was just nice to have a little bit of extra time where we didn’t need to run around. For dinner we splurged a little and ate at a place called Buster’s. We hadn’t really eaten fancy at all the entire trip so we felt OK eating here.
Here is my Yelp! Review:
Wow, what a gem to find in Flagstaff!
We were only in town for one night but chose Buster's because we wanted steak and it had high reviews on Yelp (even if it was only 6).
“Right away I liked the family atmosphere but not cheesy at all. The hostess wasn't particularly warm but she was friendly enough. We sat at our table for awhile but our waiter finally hurried over and was so genuine and friendly right away. He confessed what a busy night it had been and I felt like we'd be friends from, if not awhile ago, at least like a week ago.
I was surprised to see oysters on the half shell on the menu so we got them as well as the pork chops and the prime rib / grilled shrimp. For soup, we went with the French Onion and the Cream of Asparagus.
They brought us bread but not only bread but zucchini nut muffins as well! They were warm and delightful.
The oysters were HUGE (farm raised) and super delicious! They tasted fresh and 6 came in the order. Fantastic! The French Onion was hot and hearty. The Cream of Asparagus had good flavor with big slices of asparagus but it was a little bit on the liquid-y side.
The prime rib was solid but the shrimp was a bit of a disappointment, I have to say. Just on the fishy side and not particularly fresh tasting. But everything else was amazing that I'm willing to look over it.
The real star of the show was the pork chops! Wow! I hardly ever order pork chops because I've afraid they're going to be dry (which they usually are) but these were juicy, juicy, juicy. Plus the chunky apple sauce was amazing, I continued to eat it after I was done with the pork chops. The mash was delicious as well, just as good as the ones I make at home :) They use red potatoes and are just chunky enough to know that they weren't from a box. Even the veggies were good; not limp and with a hint of butter.
I didn't find the prices to be offensive but then again I live in San Francisco, soo...
Ask for Stephen! That guy was a hoot and invited us back anytime we're back in the area.”
Seriously, that food was GOOD, especially for being a college town. I loved everything, except the shrimp. I’m not a huge fan of shrimp already so it’s either got to be really juicy or fried for me to like it. Also, I LOVE RAW OYSTERS! There’s just something satisfying about slurping one down.
That ended our exciting evening and then we were off to the Grand Canyon!
1 comment:
That is so freaking cool. Your balloon was so pretty! I am just in awe of your entire vacation.
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