New Mexico (USA), 1993
Photos © Ruud Leeuw
New Mexico (USA), 1993
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 Watch out.. a predator behind you!! Museums of Natural History are good places to instill some knowledge in an 8 year old. And into oneself! |
Brilliant artwork!  |
 Outside the museum we walked into a car show, classic ones from the 1950s and older. I guess this one has been worked on, must have taken a lot of dedication. |
 I guess these Ol'timers have something to talk about, looking at these cars. |
 A schoolbus is such an integrated part of traffic, but I hardly ever take pictures of them. So here goes. Must be a schoolouting or something. |
 The Rio Grande Zoo is one of the finest I have ever visited, with plenty of space for the animals. If animals breed in a zoo, that is often a good sign. This Zoo had lots of cats too, e.g. Snow leopard, black panthers and puma's, but they were difficult to photograph as it was hot outside and they remained partly hidden in the shade. Can't blame them. |
 We visited some Ice Caves, but were not impressed |
 And we visited a volcano, which was a nice hike. |
 On these open roads you can see forever and you'll see showers long before you get the rain. |
 We drove the 'Turqoise Trail' out of Albuquerque and arrived at Tinkertown museum. Everything is built from scrap and odd stuff, you see the most amazing stuff used as builing material or 'art'. |
 If If I say Madrid is a ghost town, it does have people living there. In fact it draws quite a few tourists and as a result some additional people started moving into Madrid again. It had a nice saloon too. |
| We didn't like Santa Fé much, too 'Disney', but places such as these more than made it up for me, fantastic. On the left is a trading post near Santo Domingo Pueblo and on the right a brilliantly setting sun on our pictoresque motel (expensive and no pool, but most accommodation had filled up). |
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 When we got to Bandelier Nat'l Monument the rain and lightning caught up with us again. We sheltered in the pre-historic caves, which certainly added atmosphere to the hike. Bandelier has a long human history and links to the modern Pueblos. Traditions which began in the distant past are still practiced today. At Bandelier, evidence of the Ancestral Pueblo people can be found in the dwellings, artifacts, and continuing culture of the modern pueblos. Early Spanish settlers, the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC), and the National Park Service also left their mark on the local landscape. |
 Heading for Taos, we started to see Pueblo building-style in places such as Santuaro de Chimayo (photo), Las Trampas, Truchas and Penasco. Spanish-Mexican influences. The drive through the mountains was equally impressive. |
We stayed in a simple motel in Taos. Mother Nature put up a display for us and I took the photo from the doorway.
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Taos Pueblo  It looked great but tourists arrived by the busload. They let you pay for the use of a camera. |
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| Two trading posts we passed, nice for a stop, some browsing, cool drinks or ice cream. |
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 Scenes like this make me brake hard and go out of my skull with the camera! |
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One of the world's great natural wonders - the glistening white sands of New Mexico. Here, great wave-like dunes of gypsum sand have engulfed 275 square miles of desert and created the world's largest gypsum dune field. The Dunes Drive is periodically closed to travel due to missile testing on the adjacent White Sands Missile Range. After a visit here you are certainly in need of a motel with a swimmingpool and plenty of cold drinks! |
We visited the Cliff Dwellings at Pinos Altos, the Gila Cliff DwellingsGila Cliff Dwellings Nat'l Monument offers a glimpse into the homes and lives of the Mogollon people who lived in this area over 700 years ago. And a good reason to get out of the car for a nice hike. |
 A rattlesnake dead on the road. We'd seen plenty of live ones at the Rattlesnake museum in Albuquerque. |
 Our motel in Silver City, 'The Drifter'. |
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