Kantuckid, Blood and Thunder is a great book. Read it and then went to Santa Fe, crazy how old the history of that town is.
We were in SF,NM last October on a fall RV trip (I've been there before) and getting a spot at the urban state park there is nigh impossible due to popularity of the town. The area has been taken over by the "art set" & various other toney folks who can afford living there? Walmart has no plastic bags as the towns out to save the world and so on. The in town RV parks are parking lot type affairs so RV'ers can park and spend. sadly, not my kind of place but it looks neat. Albuquerque is also a neat place but heavy with crime too. NM is a very poor state but scenic and fun to visit. When you get off the touristy paths it can resemble "real Mexico" at times.
Santa Fe has been an "art set" city since the early 50s, tourism is a big part of the income. Born and raised in Albuquerque -- and the crime is not "heavy" per say, but like any city there are pockets of problems. As for resembling "real Mexico" that is grossly inaccurate. Having spent time in Mexico from the mid 60s, it's a unique and beautiful country that does not resemble my home state. While there may be some similarities, the culture, food, and people are different.
OK, I was in the bad part of Alb last time around and the Walmart cop warned us to be aware when we "camped" there. Having worked in corrections and Juvy treatment, I have something of a feel for the boogerman when he's around me. As a craftsman (lifelong wood worker) who's had lots of art training(silver smithing, painting, sculpture, etc.) I actually appreciate arts & crafts but some folks sort of take over a place and it becomes unlivable for "regular people" real estate and so on.Same things happened wherever there's a mountain nearby in Colorado. Must be my blue collar background leaking out? As for Mexico- not to boast but my 1st trip was in 1954, 2nd 1956 and many since then including over 21,000 miles in 3 tours on my motorcycle , all over Mexico and lots of fly and drives with my wife. Yes, I know it better than many others. I have had friends from NM, relatives from NM and been there many times. I get it that it's not Mexico but historically it was Mexico until we, the USA decided otherwise. perhaps I was thinking some of that culture, food and people had carried over? We went down a rural hwy last fall and I told my wife-this village has a "Mexico look" about it, which it did and I was thinking about that very couple of hours winding through a river valley full of poverty and beauty in NM. A good friend of one Son lives in SF now and his father works there in SF but lives N of the city on a Spanish land grant/farm dating back before it was called NM. Another Son in Amarillo goes over to NM often as it's fairly close and has more to offer outdoors than pancake land around him. The only part of Mexico I've never been in is the Sierra Madre/ Copper Canyon area. It was always winter & me on a MC when possible. I hope to make it before I age out! The web makes it easy to feel we are selling a subject short or chasing a stereotype.
Norm, Good thing you aren’t in the grasslands tonight. This whole part of the world is on fire. Bad deal.
I have been watching that. Had to get out of the pollen and wind. So up in the high country. Winds were wicked. Then those fires on top of that. glad I didn't chance it this week. It's the "muddy" season here. So everybody leaves for vacation, elsewhere. Its deserted, real nice! But no mud this year. It's just dry.
FWIW: In my part (former) of that world, The Flint Hills, they burn them on purpose to promote the growth of the greater & lesser bluestem native grasses. I suspect people from places like VT & NH & ME would get a laugh out of the CO "mud season" notion? Even in KS the bottom literally falls out of pure dirt section roads. I buried a car once and it took a tractor to get it out. Walking out for the tractor was a knee deep affair. That happens when you have several feet of topsoil that's the color of coal dust.
"Muddy season" is just an excuse to head south for a month. get out of the remnants of winter. But this year there wasn't any winter. We will be in real trouble this summer if we don't get a real wet spring. And even if we do, it will still be bad. I can't remember this dry of a winter.
