A New Place for Christmas
We arrived in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Saturday, December 16, 2023. It was a beautiful drive in and relatively flat on I-40. We did see some snow, which was great because it wasn’t on the road, and it just added to the beauty of the bluffs and hills. ❄️
Our first stop was Target to replenish our supplies. We honestly hadn’t used that much stuff since we left MN, but I thought we should probably get some fruits and veggies and some actual food for meals. But, seriously, look at this view from the Target parking lot.
That’s the Sandia Mountains from the Target parking lot. What a view. You can see these mountains from most places in Albuquerque, but it never ceased to amaze.
After Target, we headed over to where we’d be camped out for the next month – Coronado Village. I picked this location because it seemed like it was pretty close to a lot of different things and would be easy to get deliveries. It also had a good reviews, bathrooms and showers, a staffed clubhouse, and was a mix of RV and modular homes.
We were assigned spot 7, which was a short walk to the showers and laundry as well as kinda tucked back in a mini cul de sac, which meant that no one drove directly by us. We also backed up to a tall wall, so it was pretty private. The spots were really good sized and were a mix of gravel and concrete. Our neighbor was a traveling nurse and her husband and seemed very nice even though I didn’t get to know them that well.
Estella – seen here looking like her lovely, radiant self in ABQ.
Time to Think Differently
Arthur really started to settle in pretty quickly. I did tell him that we were going to be here for a month, and I think he understood. 😹 Or at least as much as cats understand about these things. I knew I didn’t want to move him any more than I needed to, so I thought I’d rent a car.
I had toyed with a lot of ideas for alternative transportation while we were on the road (ie. maybe a scooter would work or an e-bike or a used manual transmission car that I could tow), but none of those ideas seemed to fit the bill for every location I was hoping to stay. I hadn’t really thought of renting a car until one day at work, it just came to me.
I found a good deal, and I rented a car for two weeks. It was perfect. I could come and go as I pleased, and Arthur and Estella could just chill at the RV park without the stress of moving and re-parking whenever I wanted to go on an adventure. With access to wheels, I could really start planning what I wanted to see and do when I was in Albuquerque.
My First Adventures in ABQ
I picked up the rental right before Christmas weekend, so I could drive to see the Christmas lights, a favorite pastime, and run some errands. On Saturday, December 23, I crossed the Rio Grande River and stopped at the Open Space Visitor Center off Coors Blvd. There were several exhibits with local history and artifacts and a great outlook and view of the Sandia Mountains.
After the visitor center, I went down the road to an independent bookstore called Books on the Bosque, which was a warm, local bookstore with new and used books. I found some new books to read and left with some chocolate chip cookies for later.
I went out to REI to get some different gear and spend a gift card that was burning a hole in my pocket, and I decided to go see Wonka at a movie theatre. The best surprise was how cheap the popcorn was; the matinee ticket was $12, but the popcorn was only $5 for a large – what a bargain! The movie was delightful and touching, which I wasn’t expecting but thoroughly enjoyed.
On the way back to Estella and Arthur, I stopped for a bowl of bulgogi at a Korean fast food spot. It was delicious, and they gave me free Korean pancakes. Another bargain! NM was starting out in the most amazing way.
On Sunday, Christmas Eve, I got up early to head to Old Town Albuquerque. My first stop was the Albuquerque Museum where they had a Georgia O’Keefe exhibit, which is free on Sundays. The exhibit was outstanding. They were contrasting her work with the work of Henry Moore, a sculptor who was creating at the same time she was. I had known about O’Keefe’s close-up floral work, but her landscapes were so vivid and outshined the floral work they had on display.
In addition to the O’Keefe / Moore exhibit, there was an Albuquerque-centric permanent exhibit that displayed a variety of Albuquerque’s industry and its people. I also enjoyed the journalism section they had, which detailed, from multiple perspectives, different events in ABQ history. There was smaller gallery that housed some beautiful nighttime pieces paired with poetry. So good. This was an outstanding experience and for free. What a gift to the public.
After the museum, I walked over to Old Town and got lost – literally. I popped into a few stores and bought an ornament at the Christmas shop before I found my way back to the car.
That evening, I found a small Lutheran church and attended their Christmas Eve service. There was a brass band, a kids choir, and all the readings were done by the kids. It was very sweet, and everyone was very welcoming and kind. I had Google where the best light displays were and drove through a few of those neighborhoods with roads lined with luminarias and houses festively lit up.
I have running water again.
This is its own section because I cannot tell you how wonderful it was to de-winterize the RV and have running water again. I hooked up my heated hose with my Freeze Miser, and I crossed my fingers that I wouldn’t run into any frozen pipes because there were nights that could get and stay below freezing and winds that could keep things quite cold.
I’m sure I’ve forgotten some things about that first full weekend in ABQ, but it definitely kicked off the start to a great stay.
The Adventures of Ms Haps & Arthur 