2010 USA Tour : March 24th, Albuquerque

stuck in Amarillo awhile

With a mix of strong winds, wear and tear and large unexpected freeway potholes, several items had become loose, broken off, bent and damaged on the RV, to the point of being dangerous.

As there is an RV service center on the camp site we took the plunge to request a sort out. Now wondering if this was a good choice as he is in regular mechanic mode, finding more things and insisting we have them done, but we are saying “no!” a lot.

Here’s hoping we’ll be away by noon to be at Albuquerque on time. Its a 6 to 7 hour journey if nothing more goes wrong.

off to Albuquerque

Well at least weather is better, no longer snowing, wind dropped some, a bit warmer and a lot clearer.

It is a beautiful barren trek west to Albuquerque. The modern I40 mainly follows the old Route 66 which sits to the north of the highway. Much of it has been restored from the almost disappeared trackway it had become. This year, we did not see anyone following the old road like we did last year. Even we did not follow much of it due to time schedule. Looking at the relics of old motels, gas stations and even a drive in movie theater set off imagination of young adventurers following the song to get their kicks. The small towns that were obviously once alive with these travellers are now saddened ghost towns. I think an illustration of this was travelling through downtown Moriarty where it seemed everything was closed down and boarded up including good Al boy dance ballrooms, exotic sounding western restaurants and fascinating stores.

We filled up at the last existing gas station where a man in well worn bib and braces and ripped cap bought four tins of chewing tobacco, returned to his truck with half its body fallen off, had a shout at his dog roped in the back, and the dog returned a good woof back, then squeezed into the tiny cab of his truck, and after a crunching and squealing of gears, axles and anything else that still remained, was quickly off down a side road off towards the desert and his shack ranch among the elk and rattlers.

Fifty miles before Albuquerque we hit a strong snow blizzard and wondered what was to come, but thirty miles before Albuquerque and the sun broke through. Then descending the mountains into Albuquerque it was blue sky, warmth and the beautiful scenery of the vast snow capped mountains that tower over this flat sprawling mysterious city.

Our campsite for the night is west of Albuquerque city, called Enchanted Trails, a mix of wonderful peaceful and beautiful RV campsite with Route 66 antiquities, memorabilia and memories. This was a stopping point of Route 66 revellers and an old Buick towing an old caravan trailer is still here and still pristine.

The ever growing house concert of Albuquerque

Cindy’s living room is so cozy, we immediately knew this was going to work well. It instantly reminded us of Tayria’s wonderful home high in the NC mountains, and it seems so long ago since we were there.

When Claire started up her first song, I think there were 10 or 12 people present, but we did not mind as these were warm and very appreciating people. We were very content.

Then after every song, 2, 3 or 4 more people arrived, and that not only happened during the first set, but also after the break into the second set. By the end of the show the cozy living room was a very busy fun loving house. I have no idea how many were there at the end. Cindy’s living room is small, so I suspect it was around 30, maybe more, people.

Overall, this was a model house concert to show that anyone can put on a nice house concert. People attending was the best cross section of ages, cultures, and genders I have ever seen in our audiences. It was Cindy’s first try at this. It went very, very well and I am sure she will do it again. Cindy is s superb host and loves the people that visit.

We came away from this show in Albuquerque very, very happy.