Albuquerque in 2006!!

[bluecuracao]

Originally Posted by FallenFairy

I thought NM was the "Land of Enchantment"...
"Land of the flea, home of the plague" ???
WTF???

First there was the bubonic plague, and more recently, there's been the junta virus. Just avoid itchy prairie dogs, and you should be OK.

And don't pick up any mud balls you might see laying around--they're scorpion nests!

[Tonchi]

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!

[Tonchi]

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

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

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.

[ferret88]

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.

[bluecuracao]

Originally Posted by ferret88

("but it's a DRY heat")

[ferret88]

[bows to Blue]

[FallenFairy]

Ferret, thanks... I had a nightmare about scorpions and large drunken Navajo's storming my little adobe house... was bad... 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.

[ferret88]

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*

Originally Posted by FallenFairy

Ferret, thanks... I had a nightmare about scorpions and large drunken Navajo's storming my little adobe house... was bad... 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.

No, no, no! I told ya, that I was pulling your tail a little on the vinegaroons. They are NO big deal. I saw them once up north in an usual year for them. Even drunk, Navajo's will not storm your house, and if you go to a Navajo pow wow, practically everyone there will be sober except for the tourists!

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.

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by marichiko

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.

It's probably not as funny as the fact that you get the same fear in DC, even though it snows in DC every gorram year.

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!

[Tonchi]

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 piñon 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.