Albuquerque National Atomic and Science Museum and Wineries

Today was yet another inside day here in the Albuquerque area.  There is so much to do outside but the winds and blowing dust have been relentless and it is really miserable to be outside right now.  We are hoping to go on a hike tomorrow as the winds are supposed to calm down to 20mph.

So we drove into town to check out the Atomic and Science Museum which was very interesting and then on to Casa Rondeña and Gruet wineries!

hmmmmmm

Heather and Pat on the left are best friends who get together every year from CA and PA and have been doing so since they were in college!  Gruet offers mostly sparkling wines, yummy

Piedra Lisa Trl

I am loving the Sandia Mountains!  Very scenic as you can see from our hike today.  Very enjoyable trail.  In mountains like these everything is up so you always get a good workout!  The trail is a 7 mile out and back and we hiked up to the saddle and decided to explore the area on the saddle and return instead of completing the trail which would have taken us down the other side and then we would have had to climb back up, of course, to return.  It was a 1500 ft elevation gain without going down the other side and we were happy with that.  Lovely trail.

We stopped at the Bosque Brewery on the way back to Paradise for a nice brew.  They have only been around 1 1/2 years and seem to be doing fine.   Loving these new breweries!!

just starting out on the trail we see Albuquerque in the distance

Bernalillo, Albuquerque, NM

We are all settled in for a month at a KOA in Bernalillo, NM.  Located just north of Albuquerque and south of Santa Fe, we thought it would be a good place to explore both cities and surrounding area.

To the east of us are the Sandia Mountains and they are chock full of hiking trails!  We did one today though that will not be repeated for sure!  This 7 mile round trip started out with 3 miles of steep uphill with a 2500 ft elevation gain and ended with a long down canyon stretch of steep loose rock.  It was beautiful but one time was enough!

Roswell and Artesia

From Roswell we drove down south  about 30 miles to the village of Artesia.  A big oil and gas area, it was interesting to see a refinery right near downtown and we enjoyed a nice walk around checking out several beautiful bronze sculptures which helped depict the areas colorful history:

Back in Roswell we visited Roswell Museum and Art Center, well worth seeing!

 On a walk about town, we came across the following interesting bit of history:

note the iron cross in the canal wall and read about it below

the Chavez county courthouse, pretty building