Albu-q-q! (to all my "Titanic the Musical" peeps, I made it to Albu-q-q, teehee)

Our next stop was Coronado campground in Bernalillo, NM not far from Albuquerque. 

We just had a couple of days so we spent a day in Old Town Albuquerque and a day exploring Petroglyph National Monument. It just so happened that we chose Oct 31, to go into old Town Albuquerque, having no idea what we were going to experience. Being a white protestant from not only New England, but Vermont, with roots that went back to the Mayflower, who took French for a foreign language in school, believe me when I say that I had no idea when we arrived in Old Town what the significance of “el Dia de los Muertos” was.  It became clear quite quickly that this was not a typical day in Old Town and it was another opportunity for us to immerse ourselves in a different culture. This was not Halloween as we (or, I should say, I) know it, similar, but more. Much, MUCH more. 

The Old Town itself consists of shops, restaurants, galleries, a catholic church and a school, many of which surround a large central green with a bandstand in the middle. On this day, the town was decorated with marigold garlands and had several small altars, ofrendas, paying homage to people (and pets) who had passed. The bandstand was made over into a large ofrenda (perhaps a school project ?), with many smaller family ofrendas incorporated within the large one. And the school, (a k-6 or k-8 ??) had a parade in costume down the street and around the green.  Parents came, school closed early, shops closed early and the kids went from shop to shop trick-or-treating. Adults were in costume, kids were in costume, babies were in costume, DOGS were in costume.  It was an event!  Who knew? 🤷

We also went to Petroglyph National Monument just outside of Albuquerque. It was officially so designated in 1990 and is remarkable in the number and type of petroglyphs present. It is on a basalt escarpment that forms the western side of the city and has nearly 20,000 petroglyphs. Not 20 or 200 or even 2000 but 20,000!!!  They show the history of the indigenous peoples of the area including the influences from the south (Central America) and the Spanish (soldiers and missionaries).                     (I considered including pics of all 20,000 of them ... but even I thought that would be too many pics! Hahaha 🤣) 

On to pics!

Old Town. 

Ristras (hanging dried peppers),    marigold garlands, cactus,                adobe, old wood 

old windows,

old doors.

The costume parade.

a bunch of the older kids dressed as sloths (so, what do you call a group of sloths? well, usually they aren't in groups, but bed, slumber and  snuggle are some suggestions according to the sloth conservation foundation! Haha)

Check out this adorable mom and baby combo, scarecrow and lion. (Did I mention that they go all in here?)

A street corner in the afternoon. If you can, take the time to blow up this pic and see how spectacular these costumes are.

A coffee shop display. Plenty of sugar skulls about.

El Día de los Muertos ofrenda on the bandstand.

Iconography everywhere.

Old tiles

“Mariachi band” atop a building 

Petroglyph National Monument 

petroglyphs and mountains

This is an example of a petroglyph done after the missionaries had traveled through the area, it has the typical Spanish double cross.

This bird is likely a representative of  parrots from Central America. There were remains of parrots found at Chaco as well.

This rock just looked like someone was doodling if you ask me, 😂.

Some wildlife!

A little squirrel eating something yummy. Look at those fat little cheeks.

and this roadrunner was just out for a quick stroll at our campground.

A final pic, I have no words with which to comment on this fine dining establishment just up the street from our campground…🙈😂

Next stop: Durant, Oklahoma. Durant, Oklahoma?? You say? Yes!  We attended an Intertribal Pow Wow hosted by the Choctaw Nation. It was super cool and really interesting.