Sept 16 - Albuquerque, NM

This morning I woke up in my hotel on a bluff overlooking Albuquerque to see about 10 hot air balloons flying over the city--practice runs for next months Balloon Fiesta.  Of course my camera was in the car and by the time I got downstairs they'd either descended or were too far away to capture.  At some point I'm going to learn to keep my camera with me at all times!

Today was a busy day as far as the travel schedule goes: drive up to Santa Fe, drive over to Las Vegas (New Mexico) to have lunch with a new friend, then drive about 7 hours to Oklahoma City (I only made it to Amarillo, TX).  By my calculations that gave me about an hour in Albuquerque, which ruled out the tourist trolley for all things Breaking Bad.  Luckily the Petroglyph National Monument is on the west side of the city so I hot-footed it over there for one of the smaller trails.

The combination of sun angle and stone color can make the images a little elusive; the Pueblo elders believe the petroglyphs choose when and to whom to reveal themselves to.  I'd timed it just right to see The Flute Player, which a lot of folks miss by showing up later in the day.  No fancy photos, just something to share from the trip.

Click the photo to see some of the petroglyphs and other sites from one of the park's trails:

Sept 15 – Western New Mexico

I crossed over into New Mexico in the late afternoon and here’s the summary of the drive with visual aids:

• Unexpected sights of pecan and walnut orchards, and several vineyards!
• Had to pass by Silver City and the Gila cliff dwellings, which was sad since the cliff dwellings were on my must-see list.  Next time!
• Huge dust devils along the valley and one monster next to the highway at one point—it was like a tornado of dirt spirals a good 50’ wide and a couple hundred feet tall!  Signs were everywhere for "caution: dust storms" and "zero visibility possible" and "do NOT stop in traffic lanes."
• Cone-shaped mountains that looked like pyramids from a distance.  I think they must be volcanic remnants—I’ll have to check into that once I’m home.

• I crossed the Rio Grande twice!
• I passed a sign for a town called “Radium Springs”, which reminded me of “Radiator Springs” from Disney/Pixar’s Cars and I wonder if this is where they got the inspiration for the name.  It also made me wonder (thinking of anthropomorphic vehicles) if I were a car what would I be?  I’ll have to think about it and work up an illustration for fun.  Let’s see  . . . 1970s, something speedy but not glamorous, both practical and fun, a little bit tom-boyish, some funky detailing. . . I have a sinking feeling that if I were a car I’d be a brown El Camino with orange pin stripes.  Ha!
• Other misc pix of New Mexico as seen from the highway:

From cones to buttes.

More lush desert.

More cones.

Catching some evening light against the red rocks.

More cones in the distance.  Is using a camera while driving a distraction if my eyes are still on the road?  Heh.

Sunset lasted almost two hours.

Alburquerque/Santa Fe, NM - A Wave as I Flew Over (sketch)

My only experience in the Southwest was in the Alburquerque airport, and you can't really call that an experience.  That's like going to a shopping mall and hoping to get a sense of local culture.

While perusing one of the gift shops I came across these great art cards inspired by the Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebration--LOVED THEM, bought many, inspired me to create a picture of my own in tribute to my passing through/over.  I might be able to get back to the southwest sooner than I thought, but until it's official I'm keeping mum.

This was a quick practice sketch I threw together mere minutes (literally!) before I boarded my flight--I thought I had about an hour to kill but I skipped a time zone in there somewhere or spent too much time perusing the shops or something, so it was a bit of a surprise when I'd just settled in to start this and heard the boarding announcement.  I haven't had time to work on developing this further as a final, but you should expect to see a finished version (and probably more like it) later in ink or mixed media tissue collage.  Trust me, the final version(s) WILL look a thousand times better, and just like those art cards.