Aztec, New Mexico: Almost Got Me

 

Aztec, New Mexico

When I wheeled into Aztec last weekend, my first impression was:  "Oh, why didn't I know about this town before?" And I felt a spark of "maybe another year in New Mexico - here."

Although the lust was transient, Aztec does have a seductive charm.

First impressions

Deer grazed in the river bottoms at the edge of town.

You can enter the historic downtown area via an old metal bridge.

Handsome park benches downtown, though I do wonder if they get mighty hot in the summer.

Aztec, New Mexico

Not only is the downtown district photogenic, city planners and business owners have done some good design things to make the area accessible to people of all abilities, including those who are blind (chirping street crossing) or who rely on wheels for mobility (generous curb cuts and many businesses with main-entrance ramps). Parking seems plentiful in front of the stores and there's also a free, public parking lot.

Aztec, New Mexico

I think it's possible to say one could enjoy both the New Mexico and the Colorado vibes in Aztec, as the town is less than an hour from Durango, Colorado.  Nearby Farmington, New Mexico, though it doesn't enjoy the upscale trendiness of Durango, is a not-unattractive town of 45k-ish. Nearby natural attractions include Shiprock, Chaco Canyon, Navajo Dam, Mesa Verde, and other cool places.

Aztec, New Mexico

Damn, though, for a small town, Highways 526/550, which go through, seemed congested to me.



A little music

Aztec, New Mexico

A couple opened up a music venue in town - Crash Music - it happened that I saw an ad for a
performance in the local paper when I was in Farmington waiting to get two new rear tires. Currently, they're in a storefront space - and it's kind of cool - just a very straightforward set-up of folding chairs, with refreshments in the back. A little space for dancing. A corner stage up by the front. The Assortment performed when I was in town. It'd been ages since I heard live music - the wicked harmonica and guitar picking and sliding .... like a long drink of water.

Aztec, New Mexico

Crash has proved so popular that the owners are moving (hoping to move?) to the vacant Aztec Theater down the street. Based on the plans I heard, sounds similar to Ragtag Cinema in Columbia, Missouri, but with music at its core instead of movies.



















Although it appears shut down, Aztec also sports a Route 66ish venue:

Aztec, New Mexico

 
 Spring peak

I was in Aztec the first weekend of April. The flowering trees must have been at their peak for this neck of the woods. Bradford pears, flowering plums, forsythia, and maybe crabapple. There was also a non-flowering tree with a graceful shape and light-green, new leaves that cascaded a bit from their long stems. I have yet to identify these. Stunning. 

Aztec, New Mexico

A slide show:



 

New Mexico: White-Winged Doves

White-winged dove. Credit: Wikicommons

Yes, I know the roadrunner is New Mexico's state bird, but if one were to identify the state bird by population and ubiquitous background sound, it would have to be the white-winged dove.

I love birds and I love to hear them singing. So it has come as a surprise that, like a favorite song that loses its charm after you play it for the 1000th time, and then you begin to feel bored with it, and then irritated, and then take an active dislike to it and never want to hear it again .... well, I'm not at that point with the sound of white-winged doves that are everywhere I go in New Mexico, but let's just say there are moments when I want to say to these doves, "shut. up."

Or play this sound.

Angel Peak Scenic Area, New Mexico

Angel Peak, New Mexico

One of the many lovely things about New Mexico is that you can be in an area that appears flat, but if you just go down this road or that, you will encounter an other-worldly terrain that has you breathing, "wow."

Angel Peak, New Mexico

Angel Peak Scenic Area is like that, and it is only a short distance off of Highway 550, about 30 miles southeast of Farmington, New Mexico. The first 1/2 mile or so of the gravel road is, to be honest, ugly, with mechanical works and trucks and gas paraphernalia about. And this first 1/2 mile of road isn't in the greatest condition. Once you get past that, you're still on a gravel road, but it's in good condition and the rim of the canyon is only about a mile, maybe a mile and a half from the highway.

Angel Peak, New Mexico

It's a perfect place to stop for a picnic on your way north or south along the highway. There are picnic tables with shelters close to the rim. And a pit toilet - although when I visited, the toilet in the first picnic area was in need of a good cleaning. (The pit toilet two picnic areas away, the Cliff picnic area, I believe, was a much cleaner place. There's also a toilet at the campground.)

Angel Peak, New Mexico

I recommend driving or hiking all the way to the campground, as the views vary significantly, and you get much closer to the Angel Peak the closer to the campground you go.

Angel Peak, New Mexico

Someone's loved one is memorialized here.

Angel Peak, New Mexico

Angel Peak, New Mexico

I watched a bird perform flying stunts over the canyon. Whenever it spiraled downward, it emitted a hoarse double-honk. 

Angel Peak, New Mexico

Angel Peak, New Mexico

I liked this thoughtfully-placed bench at one of the picnic areas. And look how tidily the path is maintained.

Angel Peak, New Mexico

Angel Peak, New Mexico

Angel Peak, New Mexico

Cuba, New Mexico: Antlers, "Bunker" Lane, and Pedestrian Chivalry

Friendly fellow travelers in Cuba, New Mexico.

Cuba, New Mexico. A small town with a distinct flavor. On two separate visits - going to and returning from northwestern New Mexico - I spent one night here, ate two meals here, bought some gas and coffee here. I even had my tires balanced here. Hm. As I write this, I can see that I made a not-insignificant contribution to the local economy.

Cuba, New Mexico

Although small, it's got a McDonald's.  It's got a relatively upscale Mexican restaurant. At least two motels.

On Highway 550, Cuba gets a fair amount of traffic from folks visiting Chaco Canyon or making the trek between Albuquerque and Farmington or southern Colorado.

So here are my observations: 

Antlers

You know how New Mexico has a thing about antlers. Lo, there was this truck in a parking lot. The antler buyer welcomed my questions.

Antlers in Cuba, New Mexico

So interesting. Antler sources: Primarily naturally-shed antlers from in the wild and from hunting preserves. Also some from animals killed by hunters. The going rate was $9 per pound for brown antlers and $5 per pound for white antlers. There was at least one other category, but while the buyer and I were talking, some prospective sellers pulled up, so I got out of the way, and I didn't follow up.

Antlers in Cuba, New Mexico

The buyer's company uses the antlers to make chandeliers or dog chews. And maybe furniture; I forget. Antlers unsuitable for these uses are ground and exported to China for traditional medicinal purposes.  

Antlers in Cuba, New Mexico

"Bunker" Lane

As I pulled out of a parking lot, I saw a small sign on the corner, close to the ground, with an arrow pointing down a lane. "See the Mudwasp Sculpture. Viewable from your car." Something like that.  So I made a turn there to check it out, whereupon I entered a sliver of a world with multiple guard dogs, both chained and unchained, No Trespassing signs, Beware of Dog signs, and chain link fences. I did arrive at this artist's studio, and I could see intriguing art displayed in the yard, enclosed by a fence.

Cuba, New Mexico

I got out of my car so I could take photos closer up and, hopefully, where I could get a view unobstructed by the fence. That's when I saw the largish dog trot out from behind the house to the front to see what I was up to. It was the kind of dog that looked like it could jump that medium-high fence if it wanted to, and based on all of the threatening signage I'd seen before I got to the artist's place, and how her corner sign specified that her art was "viewable from your car," I wasn't going to take any chances, and I pivoted, got back into my car and then wheeled up to the yard in my protective metal sheath.

Cuba, New Mexico

I kind of think the dog was probably friendly, if I go by the wagging tail, but nevertheless ....

As I drove back to the main thoroughfare, thereby passing again the warning signs, the chain fences, some miserable-looking curs, I wondered, what the hell happens here that requires such snarly security? And why would I continue to live in such a place if I didn't have to?

The mean-street vibe from this neighborhood in Cuba is particularly at odds with the well-heeled Sunday clientele that patronizes the nearby restaurant, El Bruno's. Curious.

(For the record, I think Presciliano's - another restaurant in Cuba - has better food than El Bruno's. But El Bruno's does have a lovely ambiance.)  


Pedestrian chivalry

I had an experience in Cuba that I've never had anywhere else in the world.

The main drag through town, Highway 550, is pretty darn busy. So when I needed to cross the road, it meant crossing five lanes: two each for driving and one middle "orange lane" for turning, and it was on a curve. No crosswalks, no lights in the area, no stop signs, no really identifiable intersections in the vicinity.

And do you know that oncoming traffic - from both the north and the south - stopped so I could cross? Yeah, I couldn't believe it either. But it's true.

I'm still impressed.


Eating crows

Cuba, New Mexico

One of the restaurants puts out something or another out back for the ravens to eat. At least, I'm assuming it's deliberate. Maybe it's intended for a dog.


A Cuba streetfront church 

Cuba, New Mexico

 

An old building

Cuba, New Mexico

Cuba, New Mexico

Cuba, New Mexico

Cuba, New Mexico

Cuba, New Mexico

Restaurant courtyard

Cuba, New Mexico

Cuba, New Mexico

New Mexico: Aztec Ruins

Aztec Ruins, Aztec, New Mexico

The Aztec Ruins, outside of Aztec, New Mexico, have nothing to do with actual Aztecs other than a mistaken assumption at the time of the ruins' discovery that there was a connection.

Aztec Ruins, Aztec, New Mexico

Aztec Ruins, Aztec, New Mexico

 On the other hand, the Aztec dancers in the U.S. Southwest do have an intentional connection with the Aztecs of Mexico.

Aztec Ruins, Aztec, New Mexico

I'm not much into ruins. Even at Macchu Picchu, I don't recall the ruins so much as the Jurassic quality of the forest below the ruins. Now, that was memorable. From my travel journal:

... the scenery was beyond description. The mountains go on forever, huddled together like so many jostling shoulders. Some of the highest mountains were capped with halos of white clouds and mist. All are covered with greenery, even up to the tops.   Much of the mountains are just plain rock and are covered with a mossy plant. As the day went on, the mist crept lower and lower until it looked like a prehistoric scene; very eerie and beautiful. 

About the Macchu Picchu ruins themselves, I said perfunctorily, "they are very interesting."

Aztec Ruins, Aztec, New Mexico

So when I say the Aztec Ruins impressed me, that's saying something. The ruins themselves ... shrug. But there's a quality about the location that speaks somehow.   

I especially felt taken with the reconstructed community kiva. Not the outside of it. In fact, I just realized I didn't even take a photo of it. It looks a little too new for my taste in archeaological remains. (I like my ancient buildings to look old, thank you very much.)

Aztec Ruins, Aztec, New Mexico

No, the inside, with its circles and rectangles and light and stairs (new) and shadows create a solemn and restful space.

Aztec Ruins, Aztec, New Mexico

I was not even put off by the recorded Navajo prayer-song that you can listen to when you push the appropriate button. The song choice, the quietness of it, both in audability and musicality, was right.

Aztec Ruins, Aztec, New Mexico

Aztec Ruins, Aztec, New Mexico

Aztec Ruins, Aztec, New Mexico

 

Aztec Ruins, Aztec, New Mexico

Nageezi, New Mexico: Why Are Lost Dreams So Picturesque?

Nageezi Trading Post, New Mexico

There's a post office in Nageezi, New Mexico, but that's not what drew me off Highway 550 and up to the remains of ... what? A tattered barn with a mural on its side, a panel blowing in the wind, and the decomposing body of a store and gas station.

Nageezi Trading Post, New Mexico

I think the Chaco Inn at the Post was here, too - behind the post office if I go by other sources - but I saw no evidence of it still being in operation, and the most recent reviews in Tripadvisor are from 2005.

Nageezi Trading Post, New Mexico

These remains are on Highway 550 between Bloomfield and Cuba, New Mexico. Nageezi is about 50 miles northwest of Cuba.

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Alamogordo: Lady of the Mountain

The Lady of the Mountain. Do you see her?

Lady of the Mountain, Alamogordo, New Mexico

Look for her long, flowing hair, her profile, her breasts.

I just learned about her last week.

New Mexico: Shower Moon

Moon through a shower window, Cuba, New Mexico

Is there not something great about being able to shower while looking at the moon?

This is the case at the motel where I stayed in Cuba, New Mexico last night. (Well, in complete disclosure, it was too cloudy last night, but early this morning, the skies had cleared, leaving the new moon.)

It reminded me of another bathroom, this one in Harar, Ethiopia, where during the full moon, on a night after a long and adventurous day at a camel market, I turned off the electric light so I could shower by moonlight.

New Mexico: Albuquerque: Friday Afternoon

Interstates 40 and 25.

Albuquerque.

3:30 p.m., Friday. 

Gridlock.

Travel Blasphemy #5: Sometimes a Postcard is Better Than the Real Thing

Postcard I sent to my parents from Mt. Rushmore, my first solo road trip

Sometimes a postcard is better than the real thing .. or at least just as good.

I remember when I first discovered this unmentionable side of travel. It was my first solo road trip on an Important Birthday.

I drove to the Black Hills in South Dakota from Missouri. I stopped at Mount Rushmore, got out of my car, walked over to my first sighting of this national icon, and felt .... stunned.  Looking at Mount Rushmore face-to-face elicited no different a response from me than when I'd looked at postcards of same. What a revelation this was.

Since that trip, I've occasionally had similar experiences. Istanbul was the most recent, where in fact, watching a virtual tour of such famous sites as the Blue Mosque and the Basilica Cistern was a better experience than my real, live visits. No crowds, no waiting in line, and no annoying muzak intended to enhance one's enjoyment.

The next time I go to a city filled with "must-see" sites, I'll look at the virtual tour first (maybe while I'm kicked back on a sofa in my pajamas and drinking some good coffee) and then decide if it's a place I want to visit in person.

I'm not going to feel guilty about it, either. After all, I've got finite resources in time, money, and hassle-tolerance - every hour and dollar I invest in a "must-see" is time and money I can't apply to another place or activity that isn't a "must-see," but that I might enjoy far more.