NM day 2

The first full day we were in NM, we made our way over to the Petroglyph National Monument to hike in the Boca Negra Canyon. We had borrowed Dad's GPS unit and it was very useful when you have an exact address. Slightly less useful when you have a less detailed destination. So we drove up and down the road a few times looking for the Visitor's Center (while we had an exact address, the GPS couldn't direct us to it... hmm..). Finally found it!

When we got out to the hiking trail, here's some of what we saw:

Gorgeous purple/blue sage(?) bushes.

Our interpretation of the above petroglyph: Mountain range on the top. The square is a map, with a compass point of three arrows on top. The shape to the right is a mushroom cloud... ancient people must have had atomic weapons we think. The map itself shows some stars, some pueblo buildings, and a lake.

In our interpretation, this one is a bumblebee.

But we also saw some (live) baby jackrabbits!

Then we drove down to Isleta to see the San Agustin De La Isleta Mission and find some of their fresh bread, and view their pottery. Everything was closed, closed, closed. Even the carnival in the plaza was shut down. (Okay, the casino was wide open.)

We decided to drive out to Laguna and Acoma to see if we could find pottery there. On the way to and from Acoma, we saw these sights:

This is a freeway-side pillar that is located at the exit for Old Town Albuquerque.

This is artwork on a freeway overpass.

This is the unique style of lighway sign posts near Albquerque.

The skyline of downtown Albuquerque.

And finally, the patterned sound-wall beside the freeway.

After returning from Laguna and Acoma, we toured the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center. They have a neat display area for each of the 19 tribes represented, showcasing the distinctive arts and crafts of that tribe. They also had a wonderful little film about how Maria Martinez made pottery. We had dinner at their Pueblo Harvest Cafe. Great Fry Bread. Then we walked around Old Town Albuquerque just as everything was closing up for the night (6pm!!). In the gazebo in the Plaza, a huge wedding was taking place.