9 Free (Or Almost Free) Things to Do in Albuquerque, New Mexico

Susanne is your driver for this post.

Before visiting Albuquerque, my impressions of the city were largely based on a visit my family made when I was in fifth grade (vivid memories of the pool at the Doubletree Hotel and eating french fries at a cafe on Route 66), two weeks of geology labwork at UNM when I was 23 (vivid memories of drilling through rocks, walking through sketchy neighborhoods in the dark, and guzzling coffee at The Village Inn), and Breaking Bad (vivid memories of a scientist driving an RV through the desert... Hmmm...)

My knowledge of the city was limited. 

Now we have a month in Albuquerque under our belts and a strong appreciation for all that the city has to offer. We didn't mean to stay so long. But we enjoyed the weather, the sights, and area activities so much that every time we considered leaving, we realized we weren't ready to go.

As always, we were on a budget - so every outing was carefully selected to take into account our desire to spend little, if any, money. I'm happy to say that for the wallet-conscious traveler, Albuquerque and the surrounding area has plenty to offer. Keeping in mind that this is in no way a comprehensive list of Awesome Stuff To Do in ABQ, here's a rundown of our nine favorite activities (in no particular order):

1. The Paseo del Bosque Trail: The Bosque Trail is a 16-mile multi-use trail that runs north-south along the Rio Grande River. It is paved, though for those who prefer softer substrates, gravel or dirt paths are also available for much of its extent (see photo below for an example). Most of my marathon training while in Albuquerque took place here. Not only is it peaceful and aesthetically pleasing, the numerous other walkers, runners, and bikers making use of the trail on any given day made me feel secure going there alone. Personally, I preferred the more northern extent of the trail - the part closer to the Rio Grande Nature Center. Further south, closer to Rio Bravo Boulevard, trail use seemed more sparse and I wasn't quite as comfortable running solo. 

2. Albuquerque BioPark gardens and BUGarium: The Albuquerque BioPark complex includes an aquarium, a zoo, a train, botanical gardens, a butterfly tent, and a BUGarium (basically, a bug museum). The aquarium, zoo, and train charge admission, but as far as we could tell, the gardens and BUGarium are free of charge. The gardens are lovely: wide green lawns, various hidden gardens, a pond, tall shade trees, and a conservatory. I would have happily returned every single day of our stay in the city.

The BUGarium features an intricate ant exhibit in which ants crawl up a large tree in the middle of the atrium, along lines suspended high above the floor, and then down a wall on the other side of the building. Other highlights include hissing cockroaches, poisonous spiders, mole rats, and other creepy-crawlies indigenous to the area.

3. Sandia Crest: At the top of the most conspicuous mountain in the region, Sandia Crest sits at an elevation of 10,678 feet. To reach it, you have two options. One is to take the Sandia Peak Tramway on the western side of the mountain. We considered doing so, but at $25 per adult and $15 per child, we balked at the price. Instead, we took I-40 east to highway 14, which runs along the eastern side of the mountain, and then followed signs to the summit. Not only was it a lovely drive, it was also mostly free (there's a $3 parking fee once you arrive at the crest). You can see the entire city from here as well as Santa Fe and the mountains to the north and west. 

4. Petroglyph National Monument: The visitor's center for Petroglyph National Monument is situated in the northwestern section of Albuquerque at the corner of Unser Boulevard and Western Trail. We started there to view a few small interpretive exhibits and ask a ranger for directions to the best petroglyph-viewing spot (there are no petroglyphs at the visitor's center itself). He directed us to the Piedras Marcadas Canyon trail, along which at least 300 petroglyphs are featured. The day was hot and the trail was dusty, but the abundance of easy-to-spot petroglyphs made the short hike well worth it. Admission and parking for the visitor's center and the trail were free.

5. Volcanoes Day Use Area: At the western edge of Petroglyph National Monument (and right down the road from our RV park) sit three cinder cones all in a row: JA volcano, Black Volcano, and - the tallest and most volcano-like - Vulcan Volcano. These were produced by relatively small eruptions (similar to modern day fissure eruptions in Iceland) approximately 150,000 years ago. We returned to the volcanoes a couple of times to take advantage of the hiking trails that wend their way around the cones. Although you can't hike to the top of JA or Vulcan, you can get close to the summit of Black Volcano and take in a view of the city and the surrounding lava flows. You'll also enjoy beautiful wildflowers, cacti, and covered rest areas along the route. Parking and hiking at the volcanoes are free.

6. Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument: Kasha-Katuwe is located approximately one hour north of Albuquerque. There, you can view unusual rock formations that look like... wait for it... tents! You can find out how these tents are created here. The park features a couple of hiking trails near the eastern entrance. If you drive approximately 3.5 miles along the park road (part paved, part gravel), you'll eventually find yourself at the Veteran's Memorial Scenic Overlook, which offers sweeping vistas and glimpses of ancient supereruption deposits. Entry is $5 per car... unless you have a fourth grader, in which case entry is totally free during the 2016-2017 school year!

7. Santa Fe: While in Albuquerque, a visit to Santa Fe is a must. It's a little over an hour to the north along I-25. We paid $10 for parking near the town center and then spent a couple of hours walking around, visiting the shops, enjoying the colors and smells, and checking out the plaza. We then took a drive up in to the neighboring southern Sangre de Cristo mountains to Ski Santa Fe, where we enjoyed more breathtaking views. We could have spent several more days here; it just wasn't in the budget (Santa Fe RV parks are expensive in late summer). But even a day trip was well worth our time.

8. Gatos y Galletas Cat Cafe: When I think of cat cafes, I think of Japan... But Albuquerque has its very own cat cafe right in the heart of the city. Initial entry into the cafe leads you to an ordering counter, where you'll need to pay a $3 per person entry fee, sign a waiver, receive a hand stamp, and - optional - purchase some excellent coffee. Then you're ushered through another door into the cat part of the establishment, where you'll need to wash your hands before interacting with the local residents. WiFi here is excellent and seating options are abundant, but good luck getting any work done... The cats are adorable, and they like to play. When we visited, Sam spent the better part of an hour tossing toys to his new feline friends and begging to adopt a buddy for our cat, Biscuit. In fact, the cats are available for adoption, so that's an option, too!

9. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science: If you're into dinosaurs, space, Mars exploration, ancient environments, or the evolution of life on Earth, you'll want to visit this museum. We spent approximately three hours here and, through some outstanding interactive exhibits, learned about the geological history of New Mexico. Entry is relatively inexpensive - $8 per adult, $5 per children - but we were able to get in for free thanks to the ASTC Travel Passport Program (for full-time travelers with kids, we strongly recommend ASTC; almost every city offers free or reduced entry to a local science museum).

For others who have visited or live in/near Albuquerque: what sights, parks, and activities do you recommend?

Does an RV feel like home?

Trent is your driver for this post.

Last Sunday we left Texas for New Mexico.  On the way out of Texas I got a weird feeling that we were somehow leaving home. The next day I told Susanne this and she said she felt the same way. I wasn’t expecting that feeling at all. When we left Indiana I felt like if we broke down on the side of the road we would already be home because we were in the RV. 

The overlook of Ohio River in Hanover, Indiana

However, in western Texas I got the feeling that if we broke down we would somehow not be near home. That doesn’t make a lot of sense because although we are now Fexans (fake Texans), we don’t have a home in Texas - we have a mailbox.  I guess I was starting to feel our home was in Texas State Parks.  It’s also possible San Angelo, Texas felt a little bit like home since I lived there for 9 months in the early 90’s.

However, now that feeling is gone. The RV and our new RV park feel like home. We love our new place again and just signed up to stay almost another week. When we are out and about in Roswell, it feels like we are just a few miles from home. If we at a park and it's starting to get dark we ask Sam, “Are you ready to go home?” and when we walk into the RV it feels like we are home again.

Home

Reflecting on the First Week of Homeschooling

Susanne is the driver for this post.

Sam started fourth grade on Wednesday, August 3. This was entirely his decision: I'd initially planned on beginning somewhere around August 15, though I hadn't nailed down dates or made any definite plans (to say that I'm not the most organized person you'll ever meet is an understatement). But Sam was ready to get started, and so we did.

One of the great things about homeschooling is that I can tailor my teaching approach to his specific needs, interests, and preferences. For example, Sam is someone who loves routines but who also needs some room to let his creativity take charge. When we sat down together to develop a schedule, this is what we came up with:

Every day will include practice in reading, writing, grammar, and math as well as physical education (and by "physical education," I mean running around outside or taking a walk). We'll spend anywhere from 20 to 60 minutes on each of these subjects depending on how we're feeling and how much time Sam needs on a particular topic. 

I feel strongly about the reading/writing/reflection activity that will start each day. This activity will give Sam a chance to ease into his lessons, read about a variety of topics (on Thursday it was cyanobacteria; on Friday it was Harry Potter), use his writing skills, and practice his handwriting. It will give me a chance to get creative with prompts and find ways to help him synthesize information from previous days.

To build some flexibility into the schedule, we divided the days not into Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday/etc., but days where we spend a significant amount of time on history (A days), business (B days), arts and crafts (C days), and science (D days). This past Thursday was a D day: Sam wanted to learn more about bacteria and early life on Earth. On Friday he wanted to study marketing and advertising strategies that he can apply to his online business, so that was a B day. At this point, I'm going to let him pick what he wants to focus on. If that means doing science three days in a row, that's fine with me. I'll just track what we do on a daily basis so that we can balance it out with other topics later on down the road.

Because we're on the road and visiting so many interesting places, field trips will be an important part of the curriculum. We celebrated the first day of school with a field trip to various sites in San Angelo: the playground, the library, a sandwich shop, and the San Angelo Nature Center, where Sam got to meet and pet a snake named Bubbles, an opossum named Marie, and several other animals native to this area.

All in all, the first week (well, half week) went really well, and I'm excited to see what next week will bring. Spending more time with Sam and watching him get excited about what he's learning is definitely a major benefit to becoming a homeschooling (roadschooling) family.

Things We Saw On The Way To The Activity Center

Our current RV campground stretches for about a mile between the entrance gate (where the pool and laundry are located) and the shores of  Lake Medina (close to the campground activity center). Today, Sam and I braved the heat and hiked from our campsite near the pool down to the activity center and the lake. 

Along the way we saw some really big trees...

 

And the lake itself...

 

And lots of deer...

 

And, in the activity center, a Tony Little workout video circa 1991. As seen on TV, of course. 

 

Texas does not disappoint. Obviously.

Ten Ways to Support Your Favorite RVer

Dear Non-RVer,

We write this particular post for you, the sensible person who did not choose to sink tens of thousands of dollars into a box on wheels, who does not have close encounters with poop water on a near-daily basis, and who is probably not living within 10 feet of a cat litter box at all times (but also, your house probably doesn't expand at the touch of a button, so we win on that front).

So you're not an RVer, but you likely know someone who is. You may even know some younger folks - people in their 30s or 40s, or even 20s - who are taking to roads that just a couple of decades ago were dominated by retirees. Perhaps you're wondering, What can I do to support this favorite wanderer of mine?

A few ideas:

1. Limit the number of times you remind us how crazy and weird we are. It's fine to tell us this a few times; after all, we're a little crazy and weird. We get it. We can take the ribbing. Two or three or four times is acceptable, but ten is maybe a bit over the top.

2. Do not assume we're financially irresponsible. Unless you're our accountant and have seen strong supporting evidence, you don't know much about our money situation. Most RVers are in fact responsible, frugal, and creative with their money.

3. But also don't assume we're trust fund babies or that we won the lottery. Maybe that's the case for some people, but that's certainly not the case for us! Like most of you, we work, and like most of you, we're just trying to make enough to pay the bills, travel, and provide our child with some cool opportunities.

4. Offer your recommendations! If we're heading to a place you've visited, let us know what you think we should see and do - and what we should avoid. We had a fantastic time in Austin in large part because friends gave us the inside scoop on what's worthwhile and what's overpriced and/or overhyped.

5. This one's mostly for the relatives: if you're wondering what to get us for birthdays and holidays, gift cards are the way to go. Avoid purchasing physical objects that will take up room in our small space. This goes for kid's gifts, too. Who wouldn't love a cool Lego replica of the Millennium Falcon?... And yet, the Millennium Falcon has no place in Clark. Appropriate gift cards: any camping store, Amazon, Starbucks, KOA, Southwest, Panera... etc.

Alternatively, write us a sincere card/letter and send it to our mail service. That is a perfectly acceptable gift choice. We care about relationships. We don't really care about stuff.

6. If we happen to stop in or near your city/town, come hang out with us! We'd love that.

7. If you know of any easy-to-prepare recipes, share them with us. Cooking in an RV (especially an RV with a small kitchen) can be way different than cooking in a regular house. We're always looking for yummy food that doesn't take a lot of time, space, or ingredients to make. (I guess I can only speak for us on this one... Maybe other RVers prefer more complex recipes.)

8. If your favorite RVers run a business, support it if and when you can. Going back to #3, we do work. But many RVers work on contract or run their own small businesses. Your support means a great deal to us. (Shameless plug: I'm developing a health and wellness coaching business, and Sam has his online store.)

9. If you hear of a remote job we're qualified for, an opportunity to work camp, or a similar  nomad-friendly gig, let us know. (See #3 and #8.)

10. When things get difficult and we get frustrated, remind us of the good times and why we started doing this in the first place. As an RVer, you never know how a day will go. You never know when the A/C will break, or you'll lose your car keys or wallet, or your kid will get sick in the middle of nowhere. It's possible that this will be the day that your tire blows out on a highway with no shoulder. The unpredictability can be a blessing and a curse, and dealing with unexpected surprises is not always fun. Your encouragement when the going gets rough will mean a lot to us.

Views from McKinney Falls State Park

After wrapping up our Austin house sitting gig, we decided to hang out in this city a little longer and set up camp at McKinney Falls State Park. It's located near Austin's airport, but except for the occasional plane overhead, you'd never know that you're close to an urban area unless you looked at a map.

For electric and water, we are paying $20 a night; however, our Texas residency landed us a half-off-the-second-night deal, so for five nights we're paying $90. The sites are all large and private, unlike many of the parking lot-style places we've stayed at so far. We have good Verizon coverage here: Internet access via our JetPack is no problem.

 

The park is fantastic as it features a gorgeous running/biking path, a stream, waterfalls, and two natural pools in which to swim.

 

 

 

 

In other words, two thumbs up for this park. We'd recommend it to anyone traveling through the Austin area.

TRUTH REVEALED: Organization

Sam is your driver for this post.

Truth Revealed is a new series that gives an eye opening experience of what really happens in the Nomadic RV, and features interviews from the members of the nomadic family.

Susanne is being organization captain. {No offense} she really is not doing her job great.

I mean like, if you were to open the cabinets up, [in the kitchen in this case] you would

find that the pantry is not organized, AT ALL! Here is a dialog of words that might be said

when one opens the door.

“bang” {Food falling}

Susanne: “****”

Susanne: “I mean… Great.

Sam: “You said a bad word!

{Trent walks in}

Trent: “Do you want help?”

Susanne: “No! I don’t want help!”

Trent: “Fine, geez."

As you can see, in the picture above, the pantry is not organized. Along with that, the fridge is very disorganized as well. 

In my opinion, if we are to survive any longer, the problem needs to be addressed immediately. But it has not been addressed, which I cannot stand. 

But something else I can’t stand, Trent and disorganization. He has his own little places in the rig where he just stuffs pieces and kiblets. That are referred to has the “junk areas”. It was not too long ago that I caught him stuffing stuff into one of his “Palaces of Junk” areas. I said to him that he should organize it. In reply he said “It doesn’t matter, Mom cannot reach up there.” Sure enough, ten minutes later, I see her reach up there. And a box falls on her head. I tell Trent of the incident. He just ignored me. Hm. Hm. Hm. You would expect him to take care of her. I guess not. It is actually kind of depressing. It's sad. {silence} 

Anyway, I gave an interview including all of the members of the Nomadic family!

Q: What do you have to say in defense?

Sam: Personally, I have nothing to say in defense because I am organized, unlike other members of the family.

Biscuit: I HAVE TO stock up party supplies so when I have a million hot boyfriends, I can throw a giant party!

Susanne: It’s true. Something fell on my head. I blame Trent.

Trent: Susanne unleashed the potential energy of the box turning it into kinetic energy. It was for science.

Q: How do you think we can improve?

Sam: By taking the time to take everything out of the fridge and pantry, and put it back in, but organized!

Biscuit: By cluttering! {Yeah, totally going to work.}

Trent: By getting rid of more stuff.

Susanne: By not stacking things on top of each other.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next post in series is TRUTH REVEALED: Nightly turndown

Coming next Sunday.

Scenes from Texas

We're in Texas now! AND we're Texans! With Texas plates and Texas driver's licenses! (However, a Texan friend tells me - and I believe her, because she seemed very serious about it - that we are  not actually residents until we make our chili without beans and have our photos taken amongst blue bonnets, some sort of flower that Texans apparently really love.) 

Yesterday we established our residency all in one day. It involved a lot of filling out of forms and writing of checks, but it got done and now we're Texans. Or fake Texans. Fexans. That sounds more honest. Trent is going to write a blog post very soon detailing how one obtains Texas residency. You know. Just in case you want to follow in our RV tracks.

As he'll describe, the first step to establishing a Texas residency is obtaining a legit Texas address. You could go whole hog and buy or rent a place, OR you could be cheap like us and get an address through the Escapees RV Club. 

 

That's right: you can get a mailing address that the DMV and tax offices will recognize and honor even though everyone involved knows that you're not a real live Texan. They will even welcome you to the state and do an Oscar-worthy job of acting like they want you here (I don't think that has ever happened to me at the DMV before now).

Escapees also has a campground, and that's where we're currently parked. Despite the heat (shockingly, it's hot), Clark is perfectly comfortable beneath a nice little stand of trees.

 

It's not a swanky RV park, but it's got everything we need and the management is super professional. They've clearly been doing this a while and know what RVers want, like laundry machines and shade.

 

To celebrate our Fexan status, Sam and I drove down to Houston today to visit the children's museum. Can I just say that Houston + heat + lots of children = a really loud museum experience? But that was fine. Sam enjoyed it, clearly:

 

 

 

A coup for us: the museum honored the ASTC reciprocal membership we have through the Kentucky Science Center, so the visit was free! (Parking was not.)