25+ More Things about ABQ (Albuquerque)

1. Remember Bugs Bunny often using this phrase? “I knew I should’ve taken that left turn at Albuquerque.”  

2.  At the time of this writing, there are over 40 breweries in the city!

                                                                                   

3.  The Spanish supposedly planted the first vineyards in the Americas in New Mexico.     

         

4.  The New Mexico flag is yellow and red.  The colors were taken from Spain’s flag.  The red symbol in the middle represents the sun used by the Zia tribe.

           

5.   Colorful murals on the walls of buildings are numerous in all parts of town.  Many big cities have a lot of murals, but Albuquerque may top the cake.        

6.  Take advantage of Taco Tuesday in the city.  There are so many tasty places to eat!    

7.  Chile is the state’s official vegetable.  Chile cheeseburgers are a local favorite (and delicious)!

8.  New Mexico’s nickname is the ‘Land of Enchantment’.

9.  The Candy Lady, a store in Old Town, made the blue crystal meth for Breaking Bad.  She now sells it as rock candy. 

10.  Albuquerque was founded in 1706 and is one of the nation's oldest inland communities. 

11.  Gila National Forest, located in New Mexico, is the largest national forest in the USA.

12. A large part of The Avengers (2012) movie was filmed in Albuquerque.  In fact, a number of popular movies and TV shows are filmed in New Mexico.                 

                                                                                               

13.  Transportation has always been a major part of the economy.  Railroad Avenue  became Route 66.  Now Central Avenue, the street still is still important and runs through the city.      

                                                                                  

14. Albuquerque is the nuclear capital of the United States. Much of the nation's nuclear research program is conducted or supervised here.                                                                                   

15.  Jesse Tyler Ferguson, the star of the popular TV show Modern Family, is from Albuquerque.      

                                                                                                            

16. The city of Santa Fe, about an hour north of Albuquerque, has the oldest capitol building in the United States -- the Palace of the Governors, built in 1610.                                                       

17.  The Tiwa Indians were the first inhabitants in the area of Albuquerque. 

18.  There were several UFO sightings in Albuquerque in the late 1940s.  New Mexico supposedly continues to have the largest number of reported UFO sightings in the United States.

      

19.  Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft in Albuquerque in 1975.  The building where they started the company is now a smoke shop!      
         

                                                                                            

20.  Albuquerque was the home of Ernie Pyle, the famous war correspondent. Pyle wrote, "If we could only have one house, then it has to be in New Mexico, preferably in Albuquerque." Pyle's home is now a memorial library.   

                                                

21. New Mexico’s largest employer is The University of New Mexico, mostly in ABQ.     

                              

22. Albuquerque is the home of the famous racing family, the Unsers, who are multiple winners of the Indianapolis 500 Auto Race: Bobby, Al Jr., and Al Unser.  

                                                                                                                     

23. ABQ has the largest number public parks per capita in the entire United States!           

24. The 2.7-mile aerial tramway located five miles northeast of Albuquerque is the longest in North America. It has the third longest span in the world. The tram whisks visitors from the base of 6600 feet to the top of 10,378 foot Sandia Peak in about twenty minutes.                                                                     

25. The UNM Lobos have never won a national championship in football, but that does not stop fans from supporting them enthusiastically.         

                                                

26.  The famous Pan American Highway, which runs from the top of Alaska to the bottom of South American, runs through ABQ.

                                   

27.  In 1926, Route 66 became a major highway through the USA and went through ABQ.  Even though the highway was decommissioned, the street, now Central Avenue, is the main artery through the city.  You can see old motels, signs, etc. along the historic route.

28. The Sandia Mountains house the world's highest television towers -- those belonging to Albuquerque's three commercial and one educational network.    
                                          

29. Approximately 40% of the uranium reserve in the United States is found in deposits 70 miles west of Albuquerque.                                                                                                              

30. The Sandia National Laboratory was originally the engineering division of Los Alamos Laboratory, the central laboratory of the top-secret Manhattan Project (the atomic bomb) during WWII.                                                                                                                                 

31. ABQ has no professional sports teams, but the Albuquerque Isotopes are a Triple-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies.                                                                                                       

32. Smokey the Bear was created in New Mexico.

25 Things about Albuquerque, New Mexico

Our family has been in Albuquerque, New Mexico, for almost a month. Like many largely populated areas, the city has a lot of issues, but it also has a wealth of history and culture, which make it ripe to write about. Here are some things I’ve learned or noticed so far…

1.      Albuquerque has two nicknames (maybe more):  ABQ and Duke City.

2.      It is called ‘Duke City’ because it was named after a Spanish Duke, Francisco Fernandez de la Cueva.                                                                                                                                                                                

3.      The TV shows Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul were filmed here, two of my favorites!

4.      Los Pollos Hermanos from Breaking Bad is really Twisters, a local restaurant chain that serves burgers and burritos.                                                                                                                                                

5.      The Sandia Mountains border the east of Albuquerque.  The setting sun gives the mountains a reddish tint like watermelon, sandia in Spanish.

6.   The road runner is the state bird.  I’ve seen quite a few running around in the neighborhoods.  Seeing them always reminds me of Loony Tunes!                                                                                                                                                      

7.      It is illegal to give the homeless or anybody else money at street corners.  This doesn’t keep the large number of homeless in Albuquerque from asking all over the city. 

8.      Built more than 300 years ago, the San Felipe De Neri Church is the oldest building in town. 

9.      At 5312 feet, ABQ is the highest metropolitan city in America.

10.  At one point during the Civil War Albuquerque was under control of the Confederate States of America. 

11.  Rather than Christmas lights during the holidays, many people hang luminarias around the city and their homes.  These are brown paper bags with candles in them.

12.  The climate in ABQ is said to be one of the best in the USA.  300+ days of sunshine, dry with warm days and cools nights.  We have been here a month and have seen only one cloudy day!

13.  Speaking of weather, when tuberculosis was a national epidemic in the 1910’s, easterners flocked to Albuquerque because they thought the climate would help.  Sanitoriums were built all around the city.

14.  I have driven in a lot of large cities all over the world, places like Paris and Mexico City.  Albuquerque drivers are some of the rudest I have ever encountered. 

15. Albuquerque is the Hot Air Balloon Capital of the world. 500+ hot air balloons from all over the world compete annually in October.                                                                                                             

16.  Paragliding is another popular sport.  It is common to see paragliders near the Sandia mountains. Remember Wile E. Coyote?      

                                                                                

17.  New Mexico was the second to last state admitted to the contiguous United States.  It was 47^th and Arizona was 48^th.  Statehood was postponed so long for fear of Native Americans and Hispanics not being able to ‘assimilate’.                                                                                                     

18.  Carlsbad Caverns, one of the wonders of the world, is located about 300 miles south of Albuquerque.                                                                                                                                                                   

19.  Kirtland Air Force Base, the sixth largest Air Force installation in the United States, is located in Albuquerque.                                                                                                                                                 

20.  There are so many different types of restaurants, more eclectic than almost anywhere I have been, especially with a Latin American influence.  I’ll never be able to try them all! 

21.  Albuquerque is in the heart of Indian pueblo country -- the oldest farming civilization on the North American continent.                                                                                                                          

22.  The famous river that serves as a natural border between Mexico and the USA, the Rio Grande, runs through Albuquerque.        

                                                                                                           

23.  The cofounder of Etsy, Jared Tarbell, is a native of ABQ.                                                                           

24.  There are five volcanic cones that are easily visible from the city.  They have been extinct for thousands of years.                                                                                                                                                               

25.  The Petroglyph National Monument border the west side of ABQ.  The rocks there contain over 20,000 carved images dating from a few hundred years old to at least a few millennia. 

The Truth About Santa

What age do we tell our children the truth about Santa?  Do we let them find out from friends or some mean kid that wants to ruin everyone else’s Christmas like the Grinch?

Our moment all happened because of Wyatt, our Elf on the Shelf.  For seven or eight years he came to our home the day after Thanksgiving.  For a month or more in between my wife and I had to put on our thinking caps to be creative and make him do something differently every day.  Yeah, we cheated sometimes by ‘borrowing’ ideas from friends, Pinterest, or Facebook.  Sometimes it was fun.  Other times it was a pain in the ass. 

Why do kids believe in some things and not others?  Why do they believe an elf made from plastic can be real and fly back and forth from the North Pole every night, yet there is no such thing as a zombie?  To me, zombies seem a lot more believable!  Do kids (and people in general) believe what they want, what makes them feel good?

 

All parents want to shield their children from uncomfortable situations.  Before my daughter was born, I remember telling my mother that I would never ever tell my child the ‘lies’ about Santa.  It made her sad, but I remembered how deep it cut when she told me the truth.  My mother read a book which explained the ‘magic of Santa’.  Afterwards, I went to my room and cried and vowed never to lie to my own children.

Never say never.  Fast forward to the present.  Somehow, I rationalized the joys of Santa and the several years my daughters believed were wonderful.  Christmas mornings were magical as their faces lit up.  The best part though was the build up to Christmas during the holiday season.  My girls maintained an almost constant level of excitement.  They even seemed to behave better to make sure Santa brought what they wanted!

When we talked about telling our kids the truth our hearts sank.  Is it just that parents don’t want their children to grow up?  The ‘talk’ seemed so difficult and we were so worried about the right way to do it.  We used Santa as an ‘idea’ that had evolved over time.  We talked about the history of St. Nick and how he secretly gave to the poor.  We explained how other cultures do not use Santa but have similar ideas about giving during the holidays.

“It’s about sharing and being selfless.  You all can be Santas too, not just during the holidays, but the entire year.”

In our minds our spiel sounded great as we presented it, but I don’t think my daughters really accepted the truth.  In fact, my youngest flat out did not get what we were trying to say.  She just started sharing amusing stories about the elves her teachers had used in the classroom.

Nevertheless, my oldest, Sofiah, still cried when Wyatt was not there the next morning.  Again, we tried to explain the concept of ‘Santa’, this time being more forward.  She cried hard in momma’s arms for at least ten minutes.  Then she locked herself in her room for another twenty.  Had we screwed up?  Was there a better way to break the news?  Should I have gone with my first instinct and never started the ‘Santa escapade’ in the first place?

Half an hour later Sofiah came out of her room and seemed fine.  Her Christmas spirit had not been vanquished.  In fact, she helped Kaia make an entire bedroom suite for our new elf.  Every day since, the girls have looked for the elf first thing in the morning. They have barely mentioned Wyatt.

And so I realize that discovering ‘truth’ is all part of growing up.  I think we as parents worry too much.  Probably we want our kids to stay innocent forever.  No doubt the world is a crazy place and we want to shield them from the harmful stuff as long as possible.  But there are tougher issues to deal with in life than finding out that the jolly fat man who gives gifts is not a real person. 

Kids deal with the truth in their own way.  Our goal should be to make them resilient and strong enough to deal with the good and bad aspects of reality.  We should also stimulate their imagination. Maybe the years of believing in an old fat man coming down the chimney are over, but what we told our girls still rings true.  Santa is an idea, a time of year to reflect on how we should be year-round; selfless, compassionate, and sharing.  

8 Things We Can ALL Do to Better Enjoy Our National Parks

Most individuals who camp and hike a lot share similar mindsets.  We share an appreciation for nature and a love for adventure.  We make every effort to sustain and even regenerate our environment.  We are friendly and share a mutual respect.

              Probably most outdoor lovers agree that every individual has the right to get outside and appreciate nature.   However, we also realize that a record number of visitors to our National Parks strain the areas.  After visiting so many parks, sometimes I think people just don’t know how or maybe they don’t care.   

But these open spaces are important.  We want them to be around for future generations to enjoy.  Rangers do their best to inform visitors.  Interpretive and informational signs are posted everywhere throughout most parks. 

Still, many visitors pay no mind or do not care which is a shame.  They complain about a lack of bathrooms, water fountains, and transportation inside the park.  They fail to realize that these areas were meant to be kept wild.  Many of them want a ‘Disneyland’ like experience.  Those people should go elsewhere.

But for the rest, the people who really want the natural experience, there are things we can all do to make the parks and the trails a more enjoyable for ourselves and everyone else. Like most aspects of life, a little self-respect and mutual respect go a long way in this world, towards each other and towards our natural world. Here are 8 simple things I think would help:

1.      Always bring your own water

This has to be the most important of all the rules and basically common sense.  The body can live without water for 3 days and most people will not be hiking for that long but why punish yourself?  Use common sense and bring liquids.  Don’t expect there to be water fountains along the trail!

2.      Bring snacks

Ever heard the rule of 3s?  3 minutes without air, 3 days without water, and 3 weeks without food.  But again, if you are taking a hike, especially a longer one, it’s much more enjoyable to take a break in the shade and snack on trail mix, fruit, or even chips. Listen to the sounds around you and watch for wildlife while you enjoy a snack.

3.      Stay on the right side of the trail

Since elementary school I was always told to walk to the right in the hall.  In traffic we stay in the right lane if we are slower.  Even at Disney World we were told to walk to the right so all the people could get through easier!  The same applies on the trail, especially when crowded.

4.      Give older people and children the right of way.

I have tremendous respect for someone who is in their 60s or beyond walking a difficult trail.  It shows willpower and toughness.  I can only hope that I am still doing the same at that age.  And children, well, I think it’s obvious that they are not quite as capable and are not always considerate as adults.  But they learn.  Step aside or go around them.  Have patience.  And finally, let those who are faster (no matter what age) pass you.  Simply step over to the side until they walk past. 

5.      Don’t shit on the trail

I think it’s kind of cool to try and figure out what type of scat I see on the ground.  A horse is usually obvious but deer, elk or even bear are less frequent.   Remember, this is their habitat, their house.  They can go wherever they want.  But human scat?  We all have to go, but the rule is 100 feet from the trail and at least 100 feet from a water source.  Pets should follow the same rules or at least bring something to pick up after them!

6.      Don’t feed the animals

In many parks it is illegal to feed the animals.  Why?  First of all, it can be dangerous.  Those cute little squirrels carry diseases.  Bambi as an adult can jab you with his antlers.  Unlikely, but possible.  But then again, let Darwinism do its work. 

A ranger once told me that the only death he had witnessed from a wild animal was when a couple was trying to take a selfie with their child and a deer.  The deer killed the child.  Our food is unhealthy for them anyway, and when we feed them, they often become dependent on us.   

7.      Get out of the main areas

I listen to rangers.  In fact, I have never met one that isn’t polite.  Another ranger  told me that only 5% of visitors get out of the main areas and onto the real trails. They drive along the main roads and stop at the vistas and such.  If you are one of those 5% who get into the heart of the parks, you know how rewarding hiking the real trails can be.  If you are one of the 95%, get your ass out and explore!

8.      Pack in Pack out

At the Grand Canyon I was amazed at how much trash I saw lying around.  Whatever you take into the backcountry (or anywhere into the park) bring it back out.  Throw it away.  Why trash such a beautiful area?  Sure, accidents happen, but bring a plastic bag or something to put your trash in and carry it out.