Braking Bad, the Final episode.

 While waiting for some positive info regarding the last parts for our brakes, we tried to explore areas of Albuquerque that we hadn’t seen yet. On a cool, windy Saturday, we walked a trail alongside I40 that crossed the Rio Grande river.

While the river was a muddy mess, the young lady in the pictures and the cliffhanger homes in the background certainly weren’t!

In old town, we walked some streets that were kinda hidden away. That’s when we came across a shrine commemorating one of the most well written and acted shows of recent memory (in our opinion, of course.)

Set in and around Albuquerque, Breaking Bad caught the attention of millions of viewers. This building is not only a souvenir shop, it is a certified museum, with hundreds of items from the show.

You may remember Salamancas wheelchair and bell!

And, of course, Mike….

And Los Pollos!

On what turned out to be our last Sunday in Albuquerque, we splurged on an early dinner at Pappadeaux’s, a southern, cajun, seafood kind of place. We’ve enjoyed their food at several locations and were pleased to see that they have a restaurant in ABQ.

Donna ordered giant, bacon wrapped shrimp with dirty rice and was only able to put away half of it!

The other dish was one that I had not had and, frankly, was a bit hesitant to get: Redfish Ponchartrain. I have to admit that it was absolutely wonderful! The browned butter and shrimp complimented the mild fish, and I was sad that I got full and had to quit eating!

On monday, the 17th of Aptil, the last of the brake parts arrived and the trailer was repaired. Unfortunately, the brake manufacturer changed their corporate minds and refused to warranty some of the parts, so we now have an investment in the new brakes, ourselves!

Nonetheless, we left town on 4/18/2023 with a functional rv. Good news! 288 miles later, we pulled into Ft Amarillo RV park, located on Route 66, on the west side of Amarillo.

The day was warm, 88 degrees, and the wind was blowing about 40 mph!

We’re pleased to be back on our planned trip, and even though we only have a couple of days here, we’re determined to enjoy it!

Braking Bad, Week 2

 Yes, we’re still waiting for trailer brake parts. We have had some movement on the part of the suspension manufacturer, Lippert, and are confident they will warranty the parts (as they should). In the meantime, we are enjoying Albuquerque.

We’ve been here long enough that Sasha is monitoring the spring leaf growth!

Some leftover Easter candy is helping to pass the time….

Another daytrip, this one to Taos, New Mexico, occupied us for awhile. Taos is 140 plus or minus miles from Albuquerque, so 2 1/2 hours later, we were there.

Taos was a destination for us, in fact we had a week’s reservation at an rv park there that was canceled due to our mechanical issues. Hearing much over the years about the snow activities in the winter and the vibrant downtown scene, we had high expectations. Unfortunately, the town plaza was so small and commercialized that we just drove through, and then found another point of interest.

Unknown to us, Kit Carson was a resident of Taos back in the day, so we visited a park dedicated to him so that Sasha could get some exercise and we could view his gravesite.

On the way out of town, we enjoyed lunch under the orange umbrellas at Jalapeños Tacos.

Donna pronounced the barbacoa quesadilla delicious and I ordered what turned out to be the best chili relleno I’ve ever tasted! Stuffed with cheese and shrimp and topped with a chipotle cream sauce!

Throwing a day into the schedule here and there for laundry and groceries left us with a bit of time to visit one of ABQ’s museums.

This museum explores the path of nuclear research from the days of Marie Curie and X-rays, on through the breathtaking discoveries of German scientists in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, atomic bombs and the horrors of World War II, and the cold war that followed. The current fluid status of nuclear energy is presented without bias. All in all a great museum.

There were a lot of things on display that we had never seen or heard about. Like a picture of a young Albert Einstein.

A full size reproduction of the bomb tested at the Trinity site:

A touching photo of a childs tricycle:

A very good presentation of the nuclear world.

After a nice warm spring day, storm clouds gathered in the west and the wind began to build.

As it turns out, the storm clouds were appropriate for our moods after learning that the parts for the trailer that were overnighted did not include all the necessary items, and even though they can be shipped overnight may not arrive in time to complete the work before the technician leaves for the weekend! We are approaching the last few hours allowed to us in Albuquerque and still don’t have a solution to our problem. 

We are hoping for good news tomorrow.

Braking Bad

Albuquerque was founded over 300 years ago, and it took us almost that long to drive 253 miles from Winslow, AZ, to Enchanted Trails RV Park on the west side of town. A brisk breeze blew us out of Arizona and with a high wind forecast, we wanted to settle down and hide in ABQ. Unfortunately, the rv gods decided to prank us by eliminating the braking system on the trailer. We had to be pretty careful as we drove because towing 15,000 pounds without a good way to slow it down can be exciting!

The day after we arrived we made arrangements to have the brakes diagnosed and determined that on two wheels, vital parts had come loose, rendering the brakes ineffective. We gave the go ahead to fix with the assurance that the repair would be completed within a week. We had reservations for a full week, so life is good, right?

The Service Writer for LaMesa RV kept in touch with us, good news or bad. The bad just prior to Easter was that the parts wouldn’t be available for two weeks! After a couple of deep breaths, I began to practice my persuasive skills, calling the factory (3 times), the selling dealer (twice), LaMesa (again), and another rv dealer in ABQ. So.. we arrived on a Sunday, here it is the following Sunday (Easter), and we still don’t know if the trailer will be fixed! Tomorrow we’re supposed to have a new plan. Here’s hoping!

In the meantime, we’ve been trying to make the best of a situation. Our site, A6, tucks us into a site between a motorhome and a long fifth wheel trailer. The wind blows into the front of the trailer, and for two days it was a 30 to 50 mph wind with gusts to 65! We only ventured out when needed!

The park lies directly on old Route 66, and has some old garage things from that era scattered about. It’s an older park, but well kept and with wonderfully cooperative staff and its handy to LaMesa RV, the shop that’s hoping to do the work on the trailer.

We cruised around Albuquerque one windy day after having breakfast at Weck’s. Their specialty is Papas, a dish with hash browns in a bowl topped with several cheeses, an egg, and served with red or green chili sauce. I added carnitas to mine and it was an inexpensive and filling breakfast!

By midweek the wind had calmed down from 50+ mph and the temp had risen from 40 deg to the 50’s, so we explored some of Albuquerque Old Town. We didn’t have a lot of time due to the wonderful ABQ traffic which held us up a bit.

Every Spanish town of the 1700’s has a plaza or square. The requirement for recognition of the town was that the plaza must have a church dominating one side. Albuquerque has its church, and a convent as well.

Still waiting for trailer brakes.

We decided to take a daytrip to Santa Fe and see what might have changed since we last visited.

Not much.

Santa Fe is an eclectic town, focused on art of any form. The requisite square is bordered by upscale jewelry and art shops, along with high end hotels.

This nice lady directed us to the side of the square reserved for local vendors. Primarily native american crafts, we had a hard time resisting the turquoise, silver, and leather work. However the prices helped out in that department!

One entire side of the plaza displayed handmade jewelry.

Two works or art set up an impromptu car show along the south side of the square. We didn’t know quite how to interpret this, other than to admire the workmanship.

Not all the artwork was done in silver!

And so ends week one in Albuquerque.

We are still waiting for parts for the trailer.

 

Moving North

Camp Verdi is a very attractive locale, and we wish we could spend more time there, but we had another place we wanted to visit, and so we moved north again. Past the turnoff to Sedona and through Katchina Village, we joined Interstate 40, and turned east. Our destination was the Arizona State park just east of Winslow called Homolovi Ruins in deference to the ancient dwellings built along the banks of the Little Colorado river. 

The sites are long and wide, as well as paved, and most will allow a good view of the famous Arizona sunsets!

The weather was clear and warm, so we took a drive within the park to the ruins sites. There are extensive trail systems throughout the park, but we elected to do the shorter (1/3 mile) trails at the ruins because Sasha was with us, and while she loves the outdoors, she can’t handle warm weather exercise.

This excavation near the center of the site called Homolovi II is called a kiva and was used for ceremonies, mostly by men.

The structures were built apartment style, with multiple adjoining rooms and an estimated three stories high.

Of course, being only a few miles from Winslow, we had to go stand on the corner! Winslow has converted an intersection in the middle of town, on the street that is still referred to as Route 66, into a tourist attraction (with the help of The Eagles!). There’s even a flatbed Ford!

Note to self…..

And, of course, standin’ on the corner!

We’ve been having a bit of concern about the trailer and truck electrical systems, so with the thought of predicted high winds on our minds, we decided to leave Winslow a day early and head for Albuquerque. We’ve been through there dozens of times, but never stopped. We expect to stay several days.

…..Take it easy……