Old Albuquerque

 We were here in January 1976. Young hippies traveling from Pasco Washington to middle Virginia.

As soon as I saw the square, I had a strong sense of deja vu. I remembered exactly the store where I had bought a small piece of Hopi pottery.  We spent awhile walking around, remembering … and having lunch!  It seems not to have changed much.

 San Felipe de Neri - oldest church in Albuquerque ...

 New Mexico symbols ...

Crossing the Rio Grande (the last time)

This would be the last time that we crossed the Rio Grande -- on Route 66 in Albuquerque!

Albuquerque - the Center for Contemplation and Action

I never in a millions years thought that I would come here, but here I am.

Before we left for this trip, Roberta called and asked if we would be visiting the CAC - Center for Action and Contemplation. This is Fr. Richard Rohr’s home base, which he started some decades ago. Oh no, I said. I wouldn’t subject John to that. Taking him to the Christ in the Desert monastery will be enough.

I’ve been a big Richard Rohr follower for decades. Since the 1980s I’ve been listening to his cassette tapes. From Richard I learned about the enneagram, how to understand what 12 step programs were all about. He offered me a version of Catholicism that resonated with me and that I could hold on to while what was offered at the local parishes felt so uncomfortable. I met Richard at a Pax Christi retreat in Miami once, and his person confirmed his authenticity to me. He was no charlatan.

Eric and John used to make fun of how much I listened to Richard Rohr. But to this day, I still like being on the road with Richard Rohr, and continue to keep up with what he is preaching.

It’s early afternoon and we’re heading into Albuquerque. Our plane doesn’t leave until early the next day. We were going to turn in our rental car and hang out in an airport hotel. John asks if I want to go over to the Richard Rohr place. I put the address into our GPS system and we’re on our way.

I was very pleased with the neighborhood in which the CAC is located. It was like the Riviera Beach neighborhood in Florida where we live. Ethnic, poor. We were greeted most graciously by Alicia(?), the current administrator of CAC. She essentially gave us the freedom to look around and do whatever we wanted.

Everything is very simple and pleasing.  This is the meditation room.

 St. Julian's Hermitage ...

 John really liked this door ...

 A peace pole on the grounds ...

 Etched over this doorway: "known or unknown … God is".

 A little Marian Grotto ...

Alicia then told us to feel free to check out the "school" that was a couple of blocks away.  It took me awhile to remember that they are establishing a school, grounded in the Christian mystical tradition, that might help people to develop a more contemplative awareness.  

Here are some photos from the school.  The same simple and quiet atmosphere:

 some whimsy ...

 more whimsy ...

 … another peace pole ...

A Franciscan cross ...

 … with rosaries hanging on it! ...

The Turquoise Trail, Madrid

We made our way from Santa Fe back to Albuquerque on the scenic Turquoise Trail, the "high road".  Greg suggested this.

 The trail goes through several old mining towns, the main one being Madrid - pronounced MAD-rid.  John knew this town through the "Wild Hogs" movie, starring John Travolta - a comedy about some middle aged men who take a road trip on their motorcycles.

It turns out that the store used for the Wild Hogs scenes was built just for the film.  It is now a T-shirt, souvenir shop.

The rest of Madrid is a colorful collection of arts and crafts stores / houses.

 We got coffee here ...

 I think that it might be interesting to come to Madrid at night time to see who the locals are and how they intermingle.  Maybe it's a motorcycle town?  Coming through in the morning felt like we weren't seeing the real town.

Actually I sensed a deep and complicated history to this town that was being masked by all the colorful and artistic shops.  Can't quite put my finger on it.  Maybe this is true of most every place (and person).  It was the "art" in this bar that most evoked the sense that there was more going on here than was meeting the eye.

The Wrong Road?

 Sometime we - John and I - make errors of judgement and take the wrong road. We were beginning to wonder if our decision to work our way down New Mexico on the minor roads was one of them. We had to cut through the Santa Fe National Forest and Jemez Mountains, which meant several miles of winding dirt road. John said that it was a logging road, and though the scenery was delightful, it took us much longer than we expected.

The other side of the forest was the Valles Caldera Preserve (an inverted volcano!), a great hunting and grazing spot for Native Americans from prehistoric times.

We had been debating whether or not to stay at Jemez Springs and explore the hot springs of the area, or head more directly back toward Santa Fe. We were running out of time. It was here that we approached Los Alamos.

Like the Four Corners, Los Alamos was one of those places that I crossed off my list while researching our trip. This is where the Los Alamos National Laboratory is located, which was founded for the specific purpose of creating a nuclear bomb. (See The Manhattan Project). I know that there is more to Los Alamos and this Laboratory than the Manhattan Project, which does some high level ant-terrorism work now - but I have a pacifist bias and thought that I’d rather stay away.

But the road was leading us right toward Los Alamos. I didn’t take any photos because I was told not to. As we approached I began seeing the signs for Laboratories - like Labs 4, 8, 11, 17, and 42. Buildings (labs) were hidden back in the trees. Then another road and sign that read: Labs 6,14,72, and 53. Definitely no rhyme or order that I could discern for the numbers of the labs.

Then we come to a road block, like those in Europe when you are entering another country, and a guard who asks for our id’s and my camera! I was a little perturbed. “We’re just following the map, trying to get over to Santa Fe.”   Evidently we were entering the Laboratory area through a little used back road.

“You’re on government property here, Ma'am. No photos allowed. Drive down to the T and turn left. You’ll be followed by surveillance cameras.”

Gee. No government shutdown here.

We did as we were told and actually spent the night in Los Alamos at the Comfort Inn. A big Smith’s grocery store there where we could get artisan bread and a bottle of wine.

The woman at the desk told us that there was a museum downtown telling the history of how the bomb was made. It was open, even though all the national parks and monuments in the area were still closed.