Trod Bogs Sadly – Oddstray's Blog

April 13, 2016.  In our previous post, we were left with an untested shower repair.  But wanting to escape Flagstaff weather, we made our way to Albuquerque.  That night, we discovered that . . .

. . . the repair did NOT stem the leak.  😦  😦  😦

Albuquerque is a city of some size, with several RV repair facilities.  All of whom were solidly booked since this is the time of year when everyone’s getting their RVs in shape for summer travels.  But we did find one RV repair person who was sympathetic enough to agree to investigate, and if possible do a quick fix.

And so they did, and agreed that it was the shower floor that was cracked, and the repair done in Flagstaff simply didn’t cover the crack.  They removed the previous plumber’s epoxy and put on a larger amount.  And again, we needed to wait 24 hours before we could test it.  But by now we were resigned to the fact that we might need to rely on campground showers or in extremis, get a motel room.

A decorated adobe wall, Old Town Albuquerque, NM

Albuquerque was new to us, though, so we took our mind off our troubles and prowled Albuquerque’s Old Town.

San Felipe de Neri church, Old Town Albuquerque, NM

April 15, 2016.  The new shower repair works!  😀  We can be clean people!

We also moved from an RV park west of Albuquerque to Cochiti Lake campground (CoE) north of the city.  RV parks, at base, are parking lots.  Some are better appointed and/or provide nicer amenities.  But, they’re still parking lots.  We greatly prefer to stay at campgrounds. This one was splendid, with a view of the Rio Grande and the lake.

Petroglyphs at Boca Negra Canyon, Petroglyphs National Monument, Albuquerque, NM

View of Cochiti Lake from our campground, outside of Albuquerque, NM

In the US, most of the First Peoples were forced onto reservations.  And they don’t even own the land they’re on – it’s owned by the federal government.  In the case of the Pueblos, it was different.  They had already owned the land they were on before New Mexico (and additional lands) were ceded to the US at the end of the war with Mexico.  And that ownership was acknowledged by first Spain, then Mexico, then the US itself.

But that comes with a down side.  Since the land was owned rather than “reserved”, it was subject to eminent domain.  And Theodore Roosevelt decided he wanted to dam the Rio Grande to create a reservoir right about where the Cochiti Pueblo was located.  And got his way, using eminent domain.

There have been and are several instances where the US is trying to take land, sometimes land that is held sacred by the pueblos.  Sometimes the US gets its way.  Once in a while, the pueblos get to hold on to their land.

Tent rocks, at Tent Rocks National Monument near Albuquerque, NM

Years ago, someone found this cave and lived there!  In Tent Rocks National Monument near Albuquerque, NM

There was a different name, which I don’t remember, for these, without a capstone, but also in Tent Rocks National Monument

A recently (re)discovered pueblo at Coronado State Monument, Bernalillo, NM

April 15, 2016.  Our guidebook said that Tucumcari was one of the better places for exploring Route 66.  Our guidebook is somewhat out-of-date.  There didn’t seem to be much left in Tucumcari – it looks like the recession hit it strongly.  It does have a still-in-business classical Route 66 era motel.