|
Albuquerque in 2006!!
In the vey near future (read June 2006) I will be moving to Albuquerque, NM.
Any Cellarites live there? Any visited there?? Any one flown over and seen anything worth mentioning? It's going to be quite different for me... I have never been in the Southwest. Any info would be appreciated~ :) |
Tent Rocks is worth seeing. It's closer to Santa Fe than Albuqerque, though.
http://static.flickr.com/7/9556556_b4eb3b51cb.jpg I've only visited the Southwest a few times, but it was always fun. |
!! :worried:
|
I moved to Albuquerque shortly after I got out of college and it was the happiest time of my life. IBM transferred me there at my request because they needed to cut back in Washington DC, and when I drove over the Tijeras pass in late March and saw all that brown stretched out in front of me it was such a culture shock that I almost wanted to turn back. Within a few months, I never wanted to live anywhere else. The area is desolate by Eastern or Pacific standards, but the sere beauty really grows on you. It's dry, but you will learn to love it because you don't feel as uncomfortable when it's hot. The wind blows a lot during some times of the year, it takes getting used to. Several mountain ranges outside the city are a spectacular view, and a ski resort is only a tram ride away from tennis courts in the valley, so you can sunbathe and ski in the same day. There are thousands of totally unique places to visit within a day's drive, and the roads range from first-class to non-existent so it depends on your sense of adventure how far you will go. Myself, I went everywhere and saw as much as possible, but of course I love Indians and archaeology and horses. Prices are very reasonable, but unfortunately wages are pegged proportionally lower. In fact, the only criticism I would have of Albuquerque and New Mexico in general is that the low average income with the resulting low tax ingress has led to dangerously poor prison facilities and other social services and I doubt they will fix that anytime soon although bringing in large employers like Intel will help. I love the Southwest/modern architecture. Big variety of housing and lots of huge apartment complexes with great ammenities. Excellent restaurants, and two black families who used to compete for the best barbeque in the state. The University of New Mexico is attractive and reputable (in my field anyway, which wasn't Computer Science) and has an excellent basketball team (which may be on suspension right now, however, but isn't everybody?) The bar scene is fantastic and there is plenty of singles social life. There actually is an intelligencia, you will have to dig but it is there, and the folks in the sciences (my boyfriend worked for E.G.& G.) are everywhere to stimulate conversation. All in all, I wish I had never left. I think you will love it there, unless you are transferring from Seattle. Those people never seem to adapt.
|
Cause everywhere else is trading down. :lol:
|
Quote:
I am really loooking forward to it - but I know it will be a challenge at the start. I was in the Pacific NW for so long that Virginia seemed like a forgien land for the first year... (Big V can relate? - nothing beats the Puget Sound). Thanks for the great pics everyone and the wonderful info Tonchi! |
Just one more thing that I forgot: you might want to avoid flying into Albuquerque for a while except in the very early morning. It is, bar none, the most terrifying landing you will ever make this side of a hurricane. Approaching from the west, you will hit spine-snapping turbulence from about 100 miles out until you land, and the airport approach from the east will treat you to the "Continental Turn", introduced by pilots of said Airline in the late '60s. The plane makes a long turn passing the airport, flies directly at the Sandia Mountains, pivots laterally on one wing just before hitting them, and drops like a stone to the runway. And if you must fly, never schedule your arrival at night during the summer. The monsoon thunderstorms begin promptly on the 4th of July and you really don't want to experience one of them from inside a plane ;)
|
Sheesh Tonchi - I figure if I start walking now I can get there with out ever having to be airborne. :eek:
I am looking forward to living there - I have heard such wonderful things about it. |
I will treat you to a bottle of champaign for your first trip up the Sandia Tramway to the observation deck on the top ;)
|
I too live in ABQ. Born and raised. (Or maybe bored and raised.)
I have to disagree with Tonchi on the flying. I shuttled from here to Columbus OH for 8 weeks last spring and the worst flying was actually in Denver. No problems here except one pilot started his decent to late and had to pull up and we cycled around for what seemed like EVER. |
Tonchi - I will take you up on that champagne! I am due to move the last week of June. :)
Ferret - bored? really?? Seems like so very much to do there! I plan on spending the months of July & August tooling around the area and seeing the sights - then back to the grind come September. |
Ferret, the time of day makes all the difference, but of course EVERY single flight into ABQ is not a near disaster or I would have been taking the bus to California all those years. I'll also vote for Denver too, because on a flight between Denver and Colorado Springs once, I watched the wings outside my window flapping up and down just like a bird's :mg:
|
FF - bored in that i am at work at the moment (this one and that one)
|
FF - there are definitely sights to see. after 36 years i've seen a lot of them and it's kinda same ol' same ol'.
btw, in OCT you have the Balloon Fiesta to look forward to. and i hope, for your sake, that you don't choose to live anywhere in the northwest part of the city at that time -- that totally messes up traffic for a good week (not that traffic over there is great to begin with) |
Tonchi - all of my arrivals were almost last-flight-in arrivals and the only issue was the one aborted/retried landing. maybe it's the time of year. *shrug*
|
Best of luck to you on your move, FallenFairy! I grew up in Albuquerque from the 60's to the 80's; I have lots of family there, so I still visit now and then. One of my favorite things to do around there is to take solo drives between ABQ and my family's farm about 30 mi. north on the alternate road--so beautiful and peaceful, especially after a rainstorm. Not at all like driving in Philly or DC, I tell ya.
Since you'll be working at Intel, you will be on the Westside on North Coors, I think? That area's gone through a lot of development since I've lived there, but there's still quite a bit of open space. Corrales is not too far north from there--if you like horses, that's where they are. Don't forget to have your sunscreen and shades on when you get off the plane--June is HOT and the sun is way more brutal out there than it is here on the east coast! |
I know exactly what drive bluecuracao is talking about, ah, what memories. Driving that narrow, winding road from around Belen up toward Corrales at dusk with all the windows open, smell of hay and sunflowers everywhere along the roadside, beautiful quiet. It would be wonderful to know that still survives 30 years later.
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
and yep - North Coors... One thing I noted about the area was that although it seems like a sprawling metro area with alot of growth recently - it looks like once out of the city there is alot of wide open spaces...that's for me!! I am already planning a trip to the Bosque del Apache wildlife refuge, too cool! And oooohhhhhh the food! Next year I will be there for the Fiery Foods show!! :angry: |
Ferret - I am bored in DC....in work and out :sniff:
|
FF - Have you looked into housing yet? Just curious. There are pros and cons to living on either side of the river.
|
Oh God, don't suggest that she live on the West Side, that is too dreary and the wind is awful. It would be great if she can find something near Old Town but that might be too expensive. Fortunately, the choices are endless and if she gets a living expense stipend she can stay in a hotel until she has a chance to check it all out.
|
I wonder if Corrales is too expensive now? If I were ever to move back (not likely), I would want to live there, if I could afford it.
There are some spots around Old Town that are very expensive, but I think for the most part it's a pretty reasonable area. Oh, and besides the harsh sun thing, don't forget to drink plenty of filtered water. New Mexico is going through a drought phase, and the air is very, very dry, in stark contrast to the swamp that is DC. One recent visit, I was too busy running around and didn't drink any water all day, and I nearly passed out from dehydration. |
Actually I am looking into buying a house - In the Heights?? N.E. Heights? (It's hard to know until I get there or where exactly everything is - I am flying there in May to check everything out) I was warned away from the Western side... told to look "uphill" lol - but all my options are open....and yes Old Town looks to be one option- They will house me until I find something - but I want to find something asap... I hate feeling unsettled.
Note to self: Lots of water - check. |
Quote:
Puget Sound. |
Tonchi - I suggest to NO ONE they live on the left side, but it could be convenient for someone who works over there.
|
FF - I live in "The Heights" and much prefer it to most anything west of I25. For the most part, from there you'd be heading against the traffic going to Rio Rancho, so that's not a bad move. Until the geniuses in the trransportaion/traffic department decide to (de-?)reconstruct one of the river crossings. Much of the housing on the left side is newer but many people I know who live over there have had problems with their new houses. And there seems to be a sinkhole in one of the major intersections every other month.
|
bluecuracao - I'm not sure, but the impression I get is that Corrales has gotten kinda "high-end" over the years. Kinda a snobby place to live. That and anything near Paseo east of I25.
|
Blue - I think the word I wanted was, perhaps, "elitist."
|
Big V - yes I know I really do miss the Puget Sound... but alas... for now Albuquerque is my soon to be home...
Ferret - the house I am looking at is off Avenida De La Luna NE... know the area?? |
Quote:
Ferret, I know what you're talking about. There's an odd "snotty" element in ABQ that I've never been able to figure out--sort of a big-fish-in-a-small-pond attitude, except those types of folks are not exactly big fish. I think FallenFairy will be immune and considered "exotic", though, coming from out-of-state. |
Quote:
Quote:
|
FF - i know more or less where that is. should make for a relatively easy commute.
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by bluecuracao I think FallenFairy will be immune and considered "exotic", though, coming from out-of-state. Ferret, I know what you're talking about. There's an odd "snotty" element in ABQ that I've never been able to figure out--sort of a big-fish-in-a-small-pond attitude, except those types of folks are not exactly big fish. I think FallenFairy will be immune and considered "exotic", though, coming from out-of-state. __________________ ohhh if they give me any grief I will just show those New Mexicans my hard a** East Coast attitude!!!! __________________ Blue (and FF) i think the two are related. LOL Though it's worse in Rio Rancho. |
When I lived in Albuquerque, the only "exclusive" and stuck up group was the old, original Spanish families who used to own most of northern New Mexico. They considered the white people to be barbarians beneath their noticing and kept them out of the "good" parts of Santa Fe :D
|
Well, I have very dark Italian looks - and can pass for Spanish... I will move in quietly, infiltrate and conquer!!! :ninja:
<shhh..... :hide: don't tell them I am coming, Ferret!> So who has been to the Fiery foods expo??? I love HOT food! |
I don't know about that one, but at the Convention Center they are always having gourmet events. Oh, and there is a winery outside Santa Fe which actually sells a red wine flavored with chile. I also recommend that you watch the paper for the news that chiles in the Rio Grande Valley are being harvested because you can go down to the growers and buy them directly by the sack. Roasted in your own oven and then frozen, they are super delicious and you can cook with them all year that way :yum:
|
Tonchii - Nowadays it seems a little eliteist on the WestSide (at least in the Rio Rathole area) cuz most of the homes are new and the people there make a BIG DEAL abotu having to drive into Albuquerque (across the river) for ANYTHING. I'm sure they'd love to have their own airport.
|
FF - ok I tell no one of your invasion.
|
FF -
I've not attended the Fiery Foods Show either. But it seems like there's something like that going on every few months. (But that could just be my imagination.) If you're up for a drive, a good place to get chiles is Sichler(sp?) Farms in Los Lunas (south of the city.) My parents get sacks there and roast them by hand. Otherwise you can get quick-roasted stuff by the sack at just about any grocery store when they're in season. You should definitely try eating at Sadie's on 4th St. The general concensus is that they have the best New Mexican Food. |
:yum: Mmmmmmm... I cannot wait to get there...
*note to self - unpack weights and gym equipment first! Someone, I fear will be eating her way through Albuquerque! as for the Fiery Foods convention ~ I buy through this company - not only do they carry some fantastic hot sauces, etc - but the names alone will keep you laughing! (this in NOT a commercial) http://www.chileaddictstore.com I make a habanero pico de gallo that will curl your nose hairs... yes I am addicted to hot. I have a good source in ABQ. who sends me sacks of chiles and I roast them here at home - incredible!~ |
Important note to FF: You do NOT want to mail fresh green chiles to anybody, and expecially not in a plastic bag. Only the dried ristras are moderately safe to enclose. A bunch of green chiles turn into toxic waste during the plane trip. Chiles give off an unbelievable amount of gas and they ferment immediately if enclosed in a warm area. I have this on the best authority, including a hillarious story about what the Swiss customs authorities had to do with the luggage of a friend taking chiles to Switzerland for her family :eek:
|
Agree with Tonchi and splitting my sides laughing at the image of a Swiss customs inspector faced with an explosive bag of green chili's! Your friend must send them overnight delivery, F.F. One of the things I love about fall in the southwest is all the places roasting green chili's in these big metal hoppers over an open flame. The smell of roasting green chili's is incredible! You are FORCED to hit the nearest Mexican restaurant or buy a batch of fresh roasted chili's of your own and go home and make chili relleno's. My info on Alb. is hopelessly out of date, but I did drive thru there last spring in the middle of a giganto wind storm which had kicked up so much dust from all the new construction going on that they had to close I-25 for a while. I didn't recognize the town anymore for more reasons than one.
Back in the day, I'd have advised you to live in Old Town. Anymore, I don't know. I hear Corrales has become VERY upscale. Never flown into Alb., but I used to drive down often from Durango, Colorado. WARNING: Do not drive at night across the Navajo Rez on a weekend unless you would like to leave this life courtesy of a Navajo who has had a few too many. Watch out for vinergaroons in your shoes and be prepared for all the folks who think you have moved to a foreign country. A subscription to New Mexico Magazine might help you figure out what to expect. Oh, and the road always go to hell when you cross over from Colorado to New Mexico, and remember the slogan "Land of the flea, home of the plague," and learn some Espanola jokes and you should fit right in! ;) |
Quote:
Mari, what the hell is a vinegaroon??? I thought NM was the "Land of Enchantment"... "Land of the flea, home of the plague" ??? WTF??? :eek: yes the chilies get sent over night via DHL -it costs but it's definitely worth it... (drool). As for the Rez... (maybe Big V can relate to this one)... lived for 14 yrs in the Puget Sound... in a band that was playing on a Rez... LARGE inebriated native American walks up and says, "I'm from the F***ing Puyallup tribe" my reply... "Good for you, I'm from the f***ing tribe of Sicily!" thank GOD we played behind a wire cage there...... Another Q - what's the music scene like there? |
They have snakes there too. Big ones.
|
Quote:
And don't pick up any mud balls you might see laying around--they're scorpion nests! |
HANTA virus, please LOL
New Mexico is the only place in the country where there are deaths from Bubonic Plague every year. Mostly on the Navajo Reservation, however, not that you would feel any better about that if you discovered welts on your butt after camping in the Four Corners area... As Blue says, mostly it is those ground squirrells and the prairie dogs who have the infected fleas. Few people know that Ampicillin cures the plague neatly. I would be considerably more worried about Rocky Mountain Spotted Tick Fever, which is like Malaria and never leaves your body again. So just keep out of the "hot spots" at certain times of the year and you will not have any problems. You have a better chance of getting hepatitis at a Mexican restaurant than you do of catching any of the more exotic stuff ;) As for the dangers of driving in Indian territory, yep, they are very real but you are more likely to run over one of them passed out in the middle of the road at night than to be hit by one. We used to have a joke: How can you tell who hit you? If it was on the wrong side of the road it was a drunk. If it was in the middle of the road it was an Indian." Drunken Indians also like to lie down on train tracks, which account for at least one death per month in the state. So long as we are talking about Indians, I nominate the Apache tribes as having the hottest and most intelligent men in the state. They are also the only tribe I know of who took charge of educating and developing opportunities for their people more than 40 years ago, utilizing their natural resources for good instead of selling out to exploitment and casinos, which resulted in a stability which is unknown elsewhere. Those are Indians who definitely can beat the whites still :) |
Vinegaroons are like these mini scorpion type critters. We had quite the hatch of them one year up north in Durango. They are more common in NM, but, actually, they aren't a big problem. I was just pulling your tail a little!
NM is one of the few states in the Union where there are reported cases of bubonic plague. One year when there had been a plethora of reported cases (talking 7 or 8, here), some enterprising individual came up with these cool T-shirts with the NM state flag and the words "Home of the flea, land of the plague." As Tonchi says, its really no big deal, and the plague now seems to be making its way north to Colorado. Last year they trapped a squirrel near my town that was found to be carrying fleas that were infested with the plague bug. However, no one here has died - YET! Oh, the Apache! I wanna have an Apache BF before I die! I like the Navajo, too. The tribe in the 4 corners area that seems to be having the worst difficulty are the Southern Utes. You won't encounter too many Utes on the streets of Alb, though. Tonchi, your post reminded me of the time when I was driving through Cortez, Colorado and a Ute was lying passed out right in the middle of the road in broad daylight on Highway 160! Thank God, my brakes were in good condition! My experiences crossing the Rez on weekend nights were kind of like those space invader games where you see objects coming at you from every direction! I didn't bother to ascertain the ethnicity of the driver, I just swerved over into the ditch to avoid the head-ons! FF, there is a certain rivalry that goes on between NM and Colorado if you live in the 4 Corners like I did (and hope to live there again sometime soon). We were always making jokes about the "Land of disenchantment," and the folks in Chimayo never miss a chance to throw a rock at a car with a green (Colorado) licence plate. So, I have a hoard of funny NM stories and tall tales any time you want. Ooooh! And there was the time that the Hispanic farmers outside Chama, New Mexico decided to secede from the union and had these big signs up in Spanish and were patroling the roads with guns. That was interesting! NM, you're gonna love it! Think BROWN! |
I thought they actually DID secede. You mean they DIDN'T? Well, when you come right down to it they can also claim they are really still part of Spain because Northern NM never agreed to be annexed by the US after that little war so far away down south from them.
Speaking of prairie dogs with plague fleas, one of the shopping centers in Boulder used to have a huge prairie dog town in the middle of the parking lot and the Health Department had detected carriers there. They had planned to gas the entire colony but Boulder is/was/will ever be Liberal and the outcry forced them to declare them protected instead. When I heard about that, I could envision people out there on their hands and knees trying to trap prairie dogs to vaccinate them and pick the fleas off :lol2: Mari, she won't have to worry about the Utes, because they are just about the least friendly and outgoing tribe I know of. They don't even try to get along with the other Indians, least of all white people. But they are also the best rodeo cowboys, practically indestructible, so if you spend time in Cortez you will eventually run into one or two of them. Hopefully not with your car :eek: Now, FF, as far as "seeing things" on the big reservation in the night, yes. You are better off not to be out there at night. You will see spirits. I am not kidding. It has happened to me. |
Seeing things on the rez at night... Ah, yes. Remind me to tell you my "State of Grace" story sometime, Tonchi, its too late for me to post that story now.
|
That's some kinda bleak picture taht's being painted of NM.
It's not really THAT bad. Of course, I don't regularly venture more'n about 35 miles from my doorstep so... FF-- The weather's mild mosta the year. A few days over 100 ("but it's a DRY heat") and, if we're lucky, a few days where we might see enough snow on the ground to make a snowball. At least here in the city. The Sandias (Mountains marking the eastern edge of the city) get snow (though sadly very little this "winter") and can be beautimous to look at. As for plague and Janta Virus, you gotta pretty much be "in the sticks" to have to worry about that. But I still wouldn't mess with the prarie dogs. Or rabbits. Or mice. Drunk drivers ARE a problem, but I think that's a problem everywhere. |
Quote:
:lol: |
[bows to Blue]
|
Ferret, thanks... I had a nightmare about scorpions and large drunken Navajo's storming my little adobe house... was bad... :eek: lol - but I am taking in everything I am being told - It's a done deal now so no matter what you sweet people tell me I am on my way - no turning back.
(remember, infiltrate quietly and take over - keep it on the QT!! ;) ) One thing I'll miss is the snow... but I have heard awesome things about the Sandia's...so I won't sell my boots before I come! Am definitely looking forward to hiking and camping there. |
FF - not sure you'll wanna do much skiing in Sandias (assuming that's the kinda boots you refer to). i hear it's better pretty much ANYwhere else in the state.
and if that's not the kinda boots you refer to. sell em. you won't need em. UNLESS you feel the need to trudge thru the snowy mountains. assuming you can drive into them when there is snow. (many roads close in the mountains if/when it snows.) as for camping, most people head north and west to "the Jemez." not sure about camping in Sandias. *shrug* |
Quote:
Yeah, wouldn't recommend the Sandias for much besides riding the tram. Ferret is right, head up north toward Jemez. Go take in the sights over in eastern Utah, as well. Drop dead spectacular out there. And you're only an hour drive from Santa Fe, packed with endless things to see and do. There's great skiing to be had at Angel Fire in the mountains outside of Taos - a what? Maybe two hour drive away? If you happen to be from Colorado and hit Alb during one of its rare snowfalls, you'll laugh yourself to death at the fear the white stuff seems to inspire in the city's drivers. |
Quote:
|
Yeah, I've been in DC when it snowed, too. The drivers THERE are both terrified and terrifying. Give me the metro! In fact, I'll take the metro any day of the week over driving on clear roads in DC! :worried:
|
Having also lived in DC during the great blizzard of 1969, I can testify that you are better off out west where they actually have equipment to get the stuff off the road. And anyway, although Albuquerque has all 4 seasons in all their glory, usually only one major snow storm per year inside town. It will plunge to zero degrees occasionally and you have to keep your gas tank filled so that the fuel lines won't freeze, but other than that you will not see anything you can't handle.
I've come to the conclusion that Ferret has no idea what Albuquerque is all about. Better not pay too much attention to what he has to say, because he is acting like a teenage Goth who hates everything and couldn't care less if the sun comes up tomorrow. I stand by my assertion that he should try getting stuck in Fresno so he can find out the true meaning of the word "sucks" and learn to appreciate what he has in front of him. The Sandia Mountain ski resort is where I learned to ski and it is not that bad for beginners. Or it wasn't 30 years ago, when I did not have the money to go anywhere else for a few years. It was the Santa Fe Ski Basin that was really poor skiing and almost impossible to get to because the road was badly maintained. Probably that has all changed now, hopefully for the better. Taos is the place to move up to, you could ski until June, but now the global warming problem is going to impact a lot of skiing out west. You can't take anything for granted anymore. As Mari knows, it is worth the effort to drive from Albuquerque to Durango for weekends of skiing, you just about couldn't go wrong there. There is always snow somewhere, but you can also fish most of the winter in the Jemez river, which is warmed by hot springs that come up through the snow. The cold air is very dry in New Mexico and the sun is blinding off the snow. You will learn how to enjoy it tremendously, no more being stuck inside because of the awful winter weather in DC. Whether you ski or not, all those towns in the mountains are great places to go in the winter, for social life or gourmet adventures. Nothing in the world is like the smell of a piņon fire on the freezing air. Of course, by the time you actually get to Albuquerque, we'll be giving you advice about always wearing a hat and sunscreen and carrying large amounts of water with you. |
Does Santa Fe even have a ski slope anymore? Yeah, the Sandia slope would be OK for beginners. I was always more of a cross country gal, myself. And true enough, outstanding skiing can be had at Purgie - only 4 hours drive away. Oooh, and the Soccoro National Wildlife Refuge, complete with Whooping Cranes! Not to mention the ever so amazing Very Large Array. LOL! Bandalier National monument which is also to the north of Alb was fun in the old days, too. It may get hammered by tourist now. I dunno. One thing I really liked was that it was like driving a month ahead of the seasons to go down there to Alb in March or April. Everything would be green and starting to come into flower while much of Colorado was still covered in snow.
|
| All times are GMT -5. The time now is 07:35 PM. |
Powered by: vBulletin Version 3.8.1
Copyright ©2000 - 2025, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.