2016 Wild West Adventure - New Mexico and the Journey Home

This summer, we took a 2-week family vacation out to the wild, wild west. To read about our 1,500 mile, 4-day trek from Tennessee to Arizona, check out this post: 2016 Wild West Adventure - The Journey West. To read about our 5-day Arizona adventure, check out this post: 2016 Wild West Adventure - Arizona.

After 5 fun-filled days packed full of Arizona adventure, it was time to start heading home.

Day 10

Monday, June 27th arrived with an early start. We got our camper road-ready, and after a quick breakfast, we hitched it up to the truck and headed East.

After a non-eventful 6-hour drive, we descended into the Rio Grande valley and arrived in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Our home away from home for the next few days was the RV Park at Isleta Lakes, part of the Isleta Resort and Casino.

The Isleta Resort grounds are located just inside the Isleta Pueblo and are owned and run by the Isleta Native American Tribe Council. The RV park is right on the Rio Grande Bosque. A bosque is an oasis-like ribbon of vegetation located along rivers and streams in the arid American Southwest.

The campground is actually quite nice. It has free and unlimited cable and wi-fi, and a well-stocked camp store. The grounds are extremely secure with a guard station and guard checking everyone entering and leaving the grounds.

The main reason for staying at Isleta Lakes instead of the Albuquerque KOA, was its proximity to the Albuquerque Airport and the towns of Los Lunas and Belen. While in the Albuquerque area, we planned to meet up with family from Belen, plus Haley had to leave us early to get back to her job at Starbucks. Isleta Lakes is only about 10 minutes from the Albuquerque Airport, about 10 minutes from Los Lunas, and 20-25 minutes from Belen.

Some of the family we were planning to meet up with were Lea's sister and niece. They, along with their good friend and house-mate M.K. were spending some time in Santa Fe. We all decided to meet up while in New Mexico to visit and do some upkeep on the family cemetery plot in Belen.

After we got settled into our campsite, Dana (center), Jillian (far left), and M.K. (not pictured) drove up from their hotel in Los Lunas to visit with us and see Haley before she left the next morning. 

We tried to enjoy the cooler evening air, until the Rio Grande mosquitos drove us inside. After several hours of catching up, Dana and crew headed back to their hotel, and we turned in for the night.

Haley's vlog - Day 10

Day 11

The next morning, I got up early enough to get in some quiet time before dropping Haley off at the airport for her flight back home. After dropping her off, I headed back to the campground for some breakfast. After breakfast, we all headed down to Belen to meet up with Dana and crew at the Our Lady of Belen Cemetery.

Belen, New Mexico is an old railroad town with a lot of history. It was originally founded in 1740 by a group of Spanish colonists. It lies along the Rio Grande River with a Mesa to the West and the Manzano Mountains to the East.

Several generations of Cordovas (Lea's maiden name) are buried at the Lady of Belen Cemetery. With the strong New Mexico heat, wind and dust, cemetery plots can quickly fall under disrepair if they aren't regularly maintained. Lea's father is buried in a family plot located in the old section of the cemetery, where maintenance is left to the family. While we were in the area, we wanted to take the time to clean up the family plot and pay our respects.

After measuring the size of the plot and making a quick trip to Lowe's to get supplies, we spent an hour or so straightening up the brick border, installing weed barrier, and filling in the area with temporary mulch. We really wanted to fill in the area with gravel, but we didn't have enough time to order the material and have it trucked in. That will be a project for another time.

Ruben's (Lea's dad) headstone

After we finished, we grabbed a quick lunch and stopped by to visit Lea's Auntie Rosie and Uncle Henry. They now live in the house that her dad lived in. We then headed back to camp to get cleaned up for our "family reunion" dinner.

Lea and Dana had contacted all of the family still living in the Albuquerque area and planned a reunion dinner at Teofilo's Restaurante in Los Lunas.

The family: Starting from the right and going around the table: Lea's cousin Cindy with her grandson, Lea's Uncle Joe, Dana, Jillian, M.K., Aaron, Lea, Lea's Uncle Toby, Lea's Auntie Rosie, Lea's Uncle Henry, cousin Jason (Toby's son), and Cindy's husband Eric. Henry and Joe are Montoya brothers that married Cordova sisters.

Another picture of the crew after dinner.

After a great dinner of incredible food and wonderful fellowship, we headed back to camp and turned in for the night.

Day 12

The next morning, after some quiet time and a quick breakfast, I headed down to Los Lunas to pick up Dana, Jillian, and M.K. and drop them off at the Albuquerque airport for their flight back to Boise, ID.

Once I got back to camp from dropping everyone off at the airport, we decided to explore a little of the Albuquerque area. First stop was Sandia Peak.

The top of Sandia Peak sits at 10,378 feet above sea level, and the only way to get up there (besides hiking) is to ride the tramway. The tramway has been operating since May of 1966 (50 years) and takes passengers up 4,000 feet in a distance of 2.7 miles. At some points during the journey, the tram cars are dangling almost 1,000 feet above the jagged and rocky ground.

Personally, I am not a fan of heights - especially standing in a big box, dangling from a cable hundreds of feet above the ground. Needless to say, I was a little nervous on the ride up to the peak and didn't take any pictures. However, once we reached the summit, the views were definitely worth the nerve-wracking journey to the top.

Looking South from Sandia Peak toward Los Lunas and Belen. You can see the green ribbon of the Rio Grande Bosque in the distance.

Looking West over Albuquerque

Panorama from the top of Sandia Peak.

One of the tramway cars making its ascent up the mountain.

Ski lift on the Eastern side of the mountain with Monte Largo in the distance and South Mountain on the horizon.

Some of the wildflowers on top of the mountain.

Sandia Peak is located within the Cibola National Forest. In the 1930's, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) completed numerous projects on Sandia Peak, one of which was a storm shelter for the Kiwanis Club. We decided to hike a short trail along the crest of the mountain that leads to the Kiwanis Cabin.

Stopping along the crest trail to soak in the view.

A pasture along the trail. It's amazing how different the climate is atop the mountain. You would never find this much green down below.

Aaron and Lea at the Kiwanis Cabin.

After spending a few minutes at the cabin, we hiked back to the tram port and caught the next tram car down the mountain.

For some reason, I wasn't as nervous going down as I was going up - so I took a few pictures along the way. The car going down and the car going up meet half-way along the trip. The descending car actually helps "pull" the ascending car up the mountain. 

Our guide easing our minds as he explained that the car swings as we pass over the tower.

Once we got to the bottom of the mountain, we headed to Old Town Albuquerque to look around and hopefully find some traditional New Mexican food to eat.

At the entrance to Old Town is a statue of Don Francisco Cuervo y Valdés, the founder of Albuquerque. Believe it or not, Albuquerque was founded in 1706 as a Spanish colonial outpost.

Once we parked the truck, we were able to find Hacienda de Rio Restaurant with authentic New Mexican cuisine, right on the old town plaza. The food was great, with some awesome chili. After we ate, we walked around old town to burn off some calories and see what "old" New Mexico was like.

On the North side of the town plaza is the San Felipe de Neri Church. This church was originally established in 1706. The original building collapsed in 1792. The current building was built in 1793, with other additions added throughout the years.

The 2 towers were constructed in 1861. On the West side (left) is a 2-story convent that was built in 1881.

New Mexican courtyard and well.

Chilis drying in the sun.

Decorative fountain in the middle of a cafe.

After our leisurely walk around Old Town, we headed back to the campsite to get ready for our journey back home.

Day 13, 14, and 15

The next morning, I got up early to finish packing up all our gear and hook the trailer up to the truck. Before I headed outside, there was a brief rain shower. When I went outside to begin hooking up the trailer, I was greeted with this:

Thank you New Mexico, for the beautiful send-off!

Once everything was hooked up and packed away, we hit the road for our 3-day trip back home.

After several hours of driving, and some nasty Texas thunderstorms, we arrived back at the Elk City / Clinton KOA. We even landed in the exact same campsite we were in two weeks before.

The next morning, we headed out early and arrived at the North Little Rock KOA in Little Rock, Arkansas in time for dinner.

After our last morning on the road, we hopped on I-40 and headed East for one more long push home. Late that afternoon, we pulled into our driveway - safe and sound - and thankful for a wonderful 2 weeks on our Wild, Wild West Adventure. Until next time...