In Gallup!
Jun. 5th, 2010 06:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wispfoxSince I really should have split up Albuquerque's photos by day, at the least: petroglyph park, aquarium & botanical garden, my host's pets, Old town, Rattlesnake Museum (which is in Old Town, so there is some overlap after this which is also Old Town, Tinkertown, Sandia Peak & Tram, balloon ride, Indian Pueblo Cultural Museum, alpacas, scenary on the way to Grants.
I left the delightful - but clearly poor - place in Grants that I spent three nights. This was at Route 66 Motel. They were all very friendly and helpful, and clearly not only owned it but lived there, too. They are very inexpensive, at $30/night on the second floor, and $35 on the first. The wireless signal did not really reach into my room well, but they were perfectly happy to have people sitting in their office with their computers. My only complaint - and I'm not sure if a different room would have been better - was that while my room was not smoky, someone nearby tended to smoke in the middle of the night and I would wake up to the smell of cigarette smoke. Not so pleasant, really. This may be because the second floor was also the smoking optional floor, and there were definitely rooms on the first floor with no one above them that might have been better.
Info re route 66 motel, grants. I do strongly suggest them if you are ever in Grants, presuming that you are either not sensitive to cigarette smoke, or are willing to risk the possibility of needing to move. They were perfectly happy to have people pick a different room for any reason, I just didn't want to deal with that.
El Morro National Monument is much more than just signatures from many eras; there is also a 2 mile round-trip hike which brings you up into a lovely area with crazy rocks and some ruins.
If you like wolves at _ALL_, and are ever near Grants or Gallup, you really need to visit Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary. They have a tour in which you are near a fair number of wolves and wolf-dogs, depending on how quiet and calm (and small) your tour party is, and the grounds and the entire concept is just amazing. Were I living in the area, I would totally want to volunteer there!
If you are ever near Zuni, and you like bed and breakfasts, you owe it to yourself to go to the Inn at halona, on Zuni property. If you have a GPS, _don't believe it_, because it'll try to have you drive down a red sand path, and it's not even that way in the first place. Outside of the Inn is a grocer/deli/other things too place, the only grocer in Zuni Pueblo. This is also where you go to check in. Once you are through the gates - which all have signs requesting that they be left closed to avoid dogs coming into their property - it's lovely. There's lots of pretty places to sit, including a semi-secluded water feature. Inside the inn itself, the decorations are just gorgeous. Just lovely. I have pictures. :) The room I was in is probably the cheapest, at around $84, which is amazing for a bed and breakfast! I was in a attic-ish room, with a somewhat low ceiling about which they warned me repeatedly, not a huge room, but more than enough space for me, and with rather steep stairs that I almost feel down the first time I walked down them (if I had not had a firm grip on both handrails, I would have fallen). It's done in many shades of blue. The rugs, the blankets, the paint, everything. It was just gorgeous. They also had breakfast - as you might expect - and their specialty is blue corn pancakes, which I do recommend. It's worth it for the decor alone!
This morning, after breakfast and a lovely call with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
metahacker, I went to the visitor's center. There, I signed up for the middle village and mission tours, which were starting at 1p. Also, while there, I was talking to an artist who did some lovely wood items, and purchased a pretty shelf that I need to figure out how to ship home. He was talking to me and his daughter, and mentioned a place called Turtle Rock. Showed me pictures, too. I indicated interest, as he also mentioned it was a favorite playground of his daughter. So he asked if I would like them to show it to me. Since I had time, and it was him _and_ his daughter (I have had another native from elsewhere offer to show me a place, but it was just him and he was vaguely creepy), I decided that was a good plan. After making room (hey, I don't need to make space for metahacker and galaneia for another few weeks!), we went off.
Turtle Rock is a nearby to Zuni Pueblo place with a rock that, yes, looks like a large turtle with a small tree neck decoration. Lots of interesting places to climb without much difficulty, and a crevice that is _much_ cooler than the rest of the area. The dad was telling me all _sorts_ of stories about the surrounding area, and pointing lots of things out to me both in the car and while at the rock. The girl was mostly suggesting things to do, and I suspect quite amused to have me with them, as well as pleased because they'd not been in a year due to car troubles. I am pleased that they invited me and I went. :) And yes, I do have pictures of them, for once.
When I got back to the visitor's center, it was time for lunch, then the tour. The tour of the middle village was ok, but the tour of the Mission (church/chapel thing) was _VERY_ worthwhile. There are murals on the walls that are astounding. They actually appear 3-D, although - I checked - they are not. I could not take pictures, but even if I had I doubt I would have been able to get their impressiveness across. _Seriously_ worth the trip. After this, I stopped into the two recommended & zuni-owned places for Zuni art. Then, I headed to Gallup. Got a little lost, ended up in Arizona, but made it to my hotel. Now I am here, and uploading pictures, but I am going to go watch tribal dancing tonight at 7, so must leave. I will add another post to point to my recent pictures once they are done. :)
Also, it is difficult to convince myself to camp when I'm desperately wanting a shower every night, and hotels are so cheap!
I left the delightful - but clearly poor - place in Grants that I spent three nights. This was at Route 66 Motel. They were all very friendly and helpful, and clearly not only owned it but lived there, too. They are very inexpensive, at $30/night on the second floor, and $35 on the first. The wireless signal did not really reach into my room well, but they were perfectly happy to have people sitting in their office with their computers. My only complaint - and I'm not sure if a different room would have been better - was that while my room was not smoky, someone nearby tended to smoke in the middle of the night and I would wake up to the smell of cigarette smoke. Not so pleasant, really. This may be because the second floor was also the smoking optional floor, and there were definitely rooms on the first floor with no one above them that might have been better.
Info re route 66 motel, grants. I do strongly suggest them if you are ever in Grants, presuming that you are either not sensitive to cigarette smoke, or are willing to risk the possibility of needing to move. They were perfectly happy to have people pick a different room for any reason, I just didn't want to deal with that.
El Morro National Monument is much more than just signatures from many eras; there is also a 2 mile round-trip hike which brings you up into a lovely area with crazy rocks and some ruins.
If you like wolves at _ALL_, and are ever near Grants or Gallup, you really need to visit Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary. They have a tour in which you are near a fair number of wolves and wolf-dogs, depending on how quiet and calm (and small) your tour party is, and the grounds and the entire concept is just amazing. Were I living in the area, I would totally want to volunteer there!
If you are ever near Zuni, and you like bed and breakfasts, you owe it to yourself to go to the Inn at halona, on Zuni property. If you have a GPS, _don't believe it_, because it'll try to have you drive down a red sand path, and it's not even that way in the first place. Outside of the Inn is a grocer/deli/other things too place, the only grocer in Zuni Pueblo. This is also where you go to check in. Once you are through the gates - which all have signs requesting that they be left closed to avoid dogs coming into their property - it's lovely. There's lots of pretty places to sit, including a semi-secluded water feature. Inside the inn itself, the decorations are just gorgeous. Just lovely. I have pictures. :) The room I was in is probably the cheapest, at around $84, which is amazing for a bed and breakfast! I was in a attic-ish room, with a somewhat low ceiling about which they warned me repeatedly, not a huge room, but more than enough space for me, and with rather steep stairs that I almost feel down the first time I walked down them (if I had not had a firm grip on both handrails, I would have fallen). It's done in many shades of blue. The rugs, the blankets, the paint, everything. It was just gorgeous. They also had breakfast - as you might expect - and their specialty is blue corn pancakes, which I do recommend. It's worth it for the decor alone!
This morning, after breakfast and a lovely call with
metahacker, I went to the visitor's center. There, I signed up for the middle village and mission tours, which were starting at 1p. Also, while there, I was talking to an artist who did some lovely wood items, and purchased a pretty shelf that I need to figure out how to ship home. He was talking to me and his daughter, and mentioned a place called Turtle Rock. Showed me pictures, too. I indicated interest, as he also mentioned it was a favorite playground of his daughter. So he asked if I would like them to show it to me. Since I had time, and it was him _and_ his daughter (I have had another native from elsewhere offer to show me a place, but it was just him and he was vaguely creepy), I decided that was a good plan. After making room (hey, I don't need to make space for metahacker and galaneia for another few weeks!), we went off.Turtle Rock is a nearby to Zuni Pueblo place with a rock that, yes, looks like a large turtle with a small tree neck decoration. Lots of interesting places to climb without much difficulty, and a crevice that is _much_ cooler than the rest of the area. The dad was telling me all _sorts_ of stories about the surrounding area, and pointing lots of things out to me both in the car and while at the rock. The girl was mostly suggesting things to do, and I suspect quite amused to have me with them, as well as pleased because they'd not been in a year due to car troubles. I am pleased that they invited me and I went. :) And yes, I do have pictures of them, for once.
When I got back to the visitor's center, it was time for lunch, then the tour. The tour of the middle village was ok, but the tour of the Mission (church/chapel thing) was _VERY_ worthwhile. There are murals on the walls that are astounding. They actually appear 3-D, although - I checked - they are not. I could not take pictures, but even if I had I doubt I would have been able to get their impressiveness across. _Seriously_ worth the trip. After this, I stopped into the two recommended & zuni-owned places for Zuni art. Then, I headed to Gallup. Got a little lost, ended up in Arizona, but made it to my hotel. Now I am here, and uploading pictures, but I am going to go watch tribal dancing tonight at 7, so must leave. I will add another post to point to my recent pictures once they are done. :)
Also, it is difficult to convince myself to camp when I'm desperately wanting a shower every night, and hotels are so cheap!
