New Mexico - 2

While in Albuquerque, we enjoyed the Salsa Festival sampling over 25 homemade salsa, ranging from hot to very hot.











We visited the 900 years old Aztec Ruins National Monument in Farmington,

 and the even older Chaco Culture National Historic Park about two hours from the middle of no where.








We went to the El Camino Real (The Royal Road)  International Heritage Center which is so far out in the desert that it was holding it's "Dark Sky" weekend where stargazers came to camp out to view the star-lit skies.

 We visited the Fort Craig Historic Site.  The fort was established in 1854 to protect travelers on the El Camino Real.  Our RVer friends who work-camp will appreciate the isolation illustrated in the below photo.  The Fort Craig Visitors Center is staffed by an RV couple who have been there for two years.  The site is five miles from the nearest paved road.











Petroglyph National Monument is located just across the Rio Grande River from Albuquerque.  Hundreds of petroglyphs are found along the several trails in the monument.  Great examples of ancient graffiti.










Rio Grande Del Norte National Monument is north of Santa Fe, following the Rio Grande up towards Taos.  There are several very nice BLM campgrounds along the river, two of which have RV sites with electric and water.




 

 We encountered a herd of big horned sheep along the road.


















And of course, the city of Santa Fe is always a wonderful place to visit, with its historic buildings and churches, 

excellent restaurants,and interesting but expensive shops.