New Mexico

A quick update from Roswell, New Mexico. Things in New Mexico haven't been quite as awesome as I imagined. Starting with my snowy morning in Cortez, CO I made a little detour out to the Four Corners. I wasn't really expecting much, but was still completely underwhelmed by the monument. But I did get to run around in four states. Tragically, though, the Four Corners will be remembered as the place where my camera finally succumbed to the battle damage it received at the Great Sand Dunes. As I was lining up a picture of myself lying in all four states the camera made an ugly sound. I tried all the usually tricks (smacking the camera into my thigh, blowing on the lens as if it were an old school Nintendo cartridge), but it was all for not. Which means you don't get to see me sprawled out across four states. It also means my pictures of the Anasazi ruins from Aztec, New Mexico were captured on $3 Walmart disposable camera.

Fortunately Albuquerque was my next destination and I was able to find a replacement for the rest of the trip. While I was in Albuquerque I stopped by some more petroglyphs, which were also not all that impressive. I've come to the conclusion that petroglyphs are, for the most part, just 1000 year old graffiti. I'm sure the Indians had fun doodling in the rock, but they would probably laugh at us if they saw us hunched over the rocks, intently studying the remains.

Aside from having some old graffiti lying around, Albuquerque is pretty much like any other big city. Fortunately I stumbled across the 'historic downtown' section while I was looking for a Radio Shack. It's actually a nice couple blocks of older buildings that are now packed with tourist shops and stuff. My previous stops at Pueblo ruins taught me that the locals were master weavers so I though it'd be nice to get a locally woven plate. The first store had a bunch of them that were the right size and price ($10), but had a big tag that proudly declared "Handcrafted in Pakistan." Nice! I finally found some authentic Indian woven bowls, but they started at about $150. Maybe I should just get a Pakistani one and take the tag off...

Two more things and I'll be off. First, I'm still waiting for a full day of sun. The snow in Colorado actually followed me all the way down to Albuquerque. Listening to the forecast as I pulled out of town included snow flurries over night (and 3 - 5 inches of snow in Santa Fe!). If things don't get sunny by the time I hit Carlsbad I'm gonna get very suspicious of this whole "desert" thing.

And secondly, I know New Mexico is relatively uninhabited, but would it kill the government to add a few more campgrounds? As far as I can tell (by looking at maps) there are essentially no places to camp between Albuquerque and Roswell. Sure I could have climbed up into the mountains and looked for a place, but I wasn't convinced that the roads were drivable. Instead I had to go straight to Roswell yesterday; not the most exciting drive in the world. But I'm here now and it's time to go find some aliens!