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.
I've only visited the Southwest a few times, but it was always fun.
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:
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 that says it all - I work in DC right now - and am transferring to a job at Intel in Albuquerque! LOL - what a small world.
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.
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'.
Ferret, it's a hell of a lot better being bored in Albuquerque than to be bored in Fresno. You're the lucky one.
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!
Thanks Bluecuracao!
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.
...
Note to self: Lots of water - check.
Two words:
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??
Ferret - the house I am looking at is off Avenida De La Luna NE... know the area??
Gaah! My piano teacher used to live around there! Nice area, though clear across town from where you're working--I hope DC hasn't burnt you out on waiting in traffic too much.
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.
Gaah! My piano teacher used to live around there! Nice area, though clear across town from where you're working--I hope DC hasn't burnt you out on waiting in traffic too much.
Anything has to be better than commuting 56 miles each way daily. LOL - a few miles here and there will not hurt me! I am QUEEN of Interstate 95!! LMAO
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!!!! :lol:
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.
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ohhh if they give me any grief I will just show those New Mexicans my hard a** East Coast attitude!!!!
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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! ;)
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.;)
OK... Thanks to all for the helpful info...but now I am scared! :worried:
Mari, what the hell is a
vinegaroon???
I thought NM was the "Land of Enchantment"...
"Land of the flea, home of the plague" ???
[SIZE=4]WTF??[/SIZE]? :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.
I thought NM was the "Land of Enchantment"...
"Land of the flea, home of the plague" ???
[SIZE=4]WTF??[/SIZE]? :eek:
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. :guinea:
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.
("but it's a DRY heat")
:lol:
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*
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.
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.
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! :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 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.
And I was doing that in reverse, following Spring up the hill from Albuquerque to the mountains above Denver, where the wildflowers were just beginning to peek out of the snow in July :D
Does Santa Fe even have a ski slope anymore?
Yeah, I skid (sp?) there last year. I don't ski often, so I don't have a lot to compare it to, but I thought it was pretty good.
Mari... who told you I had a tail?? :sniff: lol
You are right on about the Metro in DC - although I will miss the people here I definitely will not miss the idiots on the road (apologies to all Cellarites in the DC area!)
And Happy Monkey is head on about snow here - what insanity!! Starvation, impending doom and the possibility that the wolves will come into the town and carry off the children... all for an inch of snow... what a riot!
I am looking forward to the hiking, skiing and such... prefer the great outdoors... and NM seems to have some exotic allure - (or maybe that's the peyote calling?? :biggrinje LOL)
FF, the drivers in NM are considerably worse than those of DC, so drive forewarned. The problem has always been too few people to rate the kind of Highway Patrol coverage necessary to keep any laws enforced once you get off the Interstates. At best, you can say they are courteous and apologize after hitting you, at worst you would have to say they are oblivious to everything around them. At least since the times I first drove in NM they have fenced a lot of the range along the highways. You used to have to share them with cows and horses, and everybody used to have a story about "the time I hit a cow on Highway 44". In fact, there used to be a bumper sticker that said "Pray For Me, I Drive NM44". As per the Law of The West, you had to pay the owner of the cow and have it hauled away. Inmates at the prisons always ate very well :yum:
Hiking is definitely one of the best things about the state. There really is a lot to do on the "back side" of the Sandias, where there are mountain sheep, wetlands, and several climate zones. The Jemez and the area north of Santa Fe can be very primitive and has lots of Indian ruins and abandoned cabins to check out. Taos area has canyons and hot springs, and the Jicarilla and Cloudcroft reservations have many wilderness areas that they maintain for the tourists and hunters. You can find out anything you need to know by asking around at the University, where you will see as many hiking boots as cowboy boots :)
The difference between AZ drivers and DC drivers is in AZ they have a running start at you. :mg:
When I was going to move to AZ, a friend cautioned me that half the drivers on the road there were drunk and the other half were senile. He called the Caddies and Lincolns "motorized wheelchairs" and warned me that snowbirds in their RVs need all 3 lanes to turn a corner and have no idea where to find the turn signals :D I guess every state has its own brand of road hazzards.
Here in Pennsylvania our most significant road hazard is People from Maryland.
#2 is potholes.
LOL - Wolf - I grew up in the South Hills area outside of Pittsburgh - I swear there is still one pothole on Rt. 51 that's been there since I was a teen! LOL I come back to visit that pothole every so often.
xoB - Obviously you've been here in DC. :D
Tonchi -
Perhaps you are right that I don't know what "Albuquerque is all about." Not sure what you mean by that. I have lived here all my 36 years so maybe the novelty has kinda worn off by now. Of the other places I've visited, only Kauai has a greater interest to me than Albuquerque.
My information about the Sandia ski area is based on what I've heard just about ALL skiiers I know say. I am not a skiier. The only time I went skiing was at Sandia. In April. (Someone ELSE paid for it, so I can't complain much.) I hear it IS indeed great for beginners. But the general concensus is that ANYwhere else in the state has better skiing.
FF -
Tonchi is correct. The drivers here ARE bad. Aggressive driving is the norm. We're almost like Idaho with a "WHAT speedlimit?" attitude.
I'm surprised, since we're on the topic of driving in NM, that no one has brought up the NM state plant, the ORange Barrel. I don't think you can drive more than half a mile without seeing a stand of these things. The government around here feels the need to tear up roads allthedamntime. Same road they fixed/repaved two years ago gets it again now. Currently they're wasting taxpayer dollars on "beautification" projects which lately have included gigantic pots with "Native American" designs on them for the medians of the highways.
FF -I'm surprised, since we're on the topic of driving in NM, that no one has brought up the NM state plant, the Orange Barrel.
LMAO!! :lol:
Once I get there I will suggest that they combine the orange barrels
AND the Indian painted big planters - how sweet is THAT?? Utility AND beautification....think of all the state funds that could be saved!
Albuquerque seems to be growing at an alarming rate. When I drove through there last spring I was deeply impressed by all the orange barrels. I had been camped down in Chaco Canyon which has REALLY changed, by the way, and was driven out by the high winds in advance of a coming spring storm. The sand blowing across and piling up on I-25 in town was a sight to behold. I noticed those Indian design things you mentioned, too, Ferret. The traffic between Santa Fe and Alb was also impressive to me since I hadn't driven that stretch in 10 years or so and was stunned by all the new growth along that corridor of the I.
mari -
Yes, ABQ is growing quite fast. Mostly to the west, but some to the north and south. And now that they cleaned up "The Big I" we seem to have a lot more traffic.
And, YES, I know we don't have traffic compared to LA metro area or DC metro area. It's just more than we've had in the past.
a good friend sez..... rocks + highway traffic in NM = cracked windshields. they claim that NM is the cracked windshield capitol of the US....
I don't mind that ALB is growing... just so it doesn't grow tooooo fast. I am so looking forward to getting there... the house is lovely that I have chosen, a stucco 2 story in a cul-de-sac with a big back yard... I hear the school system is very good...
Ferret! Can I ask what schools you went to??
FF-I think in 20 years of driving I've only been hit once in the widnshield by a rock.
LOL
Well I went to Acoma and Onate elementary schools. But in '79 my parents had a house built in Edgewood (25mi east on the other side of the mountains) so I ended up in Moriarty schools and graduated from there.
I have heard it said that Pennsylvania's state animal is the construction horse.
FF-I think in 20 years of driving I've only been hit once in the widnshield by a rock.
LOL
Yeah. It was that time you were driving through Chimayo or Magdalena, right? ;)
Marichiko -
where? LOL
i think it was in "the canyon" east of the city
Marichiko -
where? LOL
i think it was in "the canyon" east of the city
They throw rocks THERE, too? :mg: LOL!
FF-I think in 20 years of driving I've only been hit once in the widnshield by a rock.
LOL
Well I went to Acoma and Onate elementary schools. But in '79 my parents had a house built in Edgewood (25mi east on the other side of the mountains) so I ended up in Moriarty schools and graduated from there.
Did you knock on wood after you typed about your windshield? :) It happened to me once, too, but I only drove in ABQ, while a resident, for about three years.
In what part of town are Acoma and Onate? I went to Monte Vista Elementary near Nob Hill (was an experimental hippy-curriculum school back in the '70s), Jefferson Middle School near UNM, and Albuquerque High School (the juvie prison-looking building off I-25).
a good friend sez..... rocks + highway traffic in NM = cracked windshields. they claim that NM is the cracked windshield capitol of the US....
They've never been to Alaska. :eyebrow:
I have a good friend in Homer, Alaska- seems the moose are very friendly there.
Moose have been know to crack windshields, too. :lol:
Yeah, there's nothing like having a moose fly thru the windshield and end up sitting in your lap. This happened to a friend of mine over on the Western Slope, not with a moose, but with an elk. It wasn't pretty. Bring back the cougar, sez I.
I once accidently managed to get between Mama Moose and her two babies while hiking in Montana. Mama Moose did NOT send out a friendly vibe!
Fortunately, FF need only worry about antelope, deer, elk, and the occasional coyote. Don't know about lions, but we have lots up north if she wants one. ;)
The only time I ever saw rocks flying across the road in New Mexico was in that canyon above Taos on the way to Angel Fire. The name escapes me right now. But I have arrived on the scene shortly after rockslides in many places in the Jemez Mountains, even going around curves to discover a huge boulder in the middle of the road. But California takes the prize for cracked windshields in my experience, due to the insane speed that pickups and transport rigs pass you on the highway, kicking up a cloud of gravel and other debris that hits your windshield at 80 mph. I was lucky enough not to collide with any of the 4-footed road hazzards, but I remember an office mate losing his truck to a rather large deer one time. Not only that, but he was really pissed off that the Highway Patrol would not let him even claim the head and its spectacular rack because it wasn't in season and the critter wasn't "taken legally".
Ferret, if you got stuck in Moriarity, I now understand why you are so indifferent to living in Albuquerque. Simply put, Albuquerque is about FREEDOM. Sure, the town is not fancy, public services are primitive, and sometimes it appears to lack any "culture" but it's a place where YOU can be anything you want to be. Anything at all, and nobody cares. Everybody lets everybody else alone to go their own way. No crushing pressure from the religious right, no neighbors spying on your every move and gossiping, no pre-determined work that everybody is expected to get into. You can be whatever you want to be and go wherever you want to go and you will have a warm home waiting for you right there in Albuquerque. It's the only place I've been able to sit in a bar with a PhD in Mathmatics or a rocket scientist on one side and a working cowboy or a full-blooded Indian on the other and find both of them equally interesting. Within a day's drive is some of the most beautiful and varied country in the nation, you are a 1/2 hour plane ride from Mexico, a one-hour plane ride from the beaches of the Pacific, and good red-eye connections to anyplace else you would like to get away to. You can ski in the morning and play tennis in a bathing suit that afternoon, you can ride horses or race sports cars and meet experts in either field just walking around in the crowd. Everybody's friendly, because they have nothing to prove and neither do you. If you like to show off, this is not the place for you. But if you want to meet a lot of famous people who got tired of living where they have to be showing off all the time, New Mexico is where they come to be by themselves. I think Albuquerque is about infinite choices, but only if you like yourself enough to find them. Otherwise, you are just another vaguely disgruntled person "stuck" there, like the characters in The Last Picture Show.
That's how I feel about the 4-Corners, Tonchi. Damn, I hate being stuck here on the Front Range with Focus on the Family breathing down my back. I almost managed to escape last fall, but hesistated at the crucial moment. Now, I'm ready to just go down there and camp on the BLM land somewhere along the Dolores River or maybe Hovenweep. I'm so so homesick tonight, I could almost cry. Last night I ran into a young man who knew about skiing Wolf Creek and Purgie when it was still Purgie. He understood about driving the wrong way over Imogene and hopping out of your 4-wheel to put your hands on your hips and make Texans slink their jeeps back down the road to allow you to pass. Oh, I wanna go HOME! :(
In Pennsylvania, if you run it over, it's yours.
Actually, if someone else runs it over and they don't want it, it's yours.
In or out of season, you just report the kill to the Game Warden.
In Colorado, if you run over a cow or sheep on open range, you pay the rancher. If you hit a deer or an elk and survive the experience, you notify the highway patrol to come remove the carcass or you just keep driving after having said the appropriate prayers of gratitude to whichever deity you hold responsible for your sorry existance. I have collided with deer or elk three times now and never reported it. On the Western Slope, if your income is below a certain level, you can sign up to receive all the road kill you can eat, free of charge - if its venison.
What you have to understand about New Mexico is that RANCHERS are the powers who run the state. Just like the developers run the cities of California, the ranch-rich always hold the governor's office in NM. All the contributions to elect said ranchers come from you-know-where = OTHER ranchers. Therefore the laws of the range and land management regulations which originated nearly 200 years ago are frozen in place in NM. If you hit somebody's cow, even if it ran at you and jumped into your truck with you, YOU pay. Plus you have to pay the Highway Patrol to have the carcass removed and have your own vehicle towed home. I was told the prisons got dibs on such "road kill" if the owner was not readily available to claim it, so they definitely ate better than most of the residents of the state or on the rez as far as high-quality protein. NM residents used to get out the checkbook right after they saw the flashing lights coming. So I can hardly blame Mari for leaving the "scene of the crime" so long as her car was still drivable.
I might add that I have never collided with a sheep or a cow. If I had, I would have made an effort to contact the rancher in question and work out payment of some sort. Sheep and cows tend to be slow moving and one encounters them more often on back country jeep trails where one is already only going 20mph if that, so there's plenty of time to stop for them.
The first time I hit an elk, I came to consciousness briefly in the ER and then my heart stopped, and by time I got out of intensive care, the Colorado Wildlife division didn't seem too interested in my "crime."
The second time I hit a deer, it put out one of my front head lamps and bounded off in the darkness. I have no idea what the deer's fate was. Mine was to pull off the road since I was on a stretch of highway where nothing was open until 8:00am the next morning for 70 miles or so. I slept in a farmer's hayfield, and limped my car into Nucla, Colorado to have my right headlamp repaired the next morning. The third time I hit a deer, I did a complete 360 on the pavement from the skid, narrowly evaded death from an on coming coal truck headed for the 4 corners power plant at 80 mph and the deer again bounded off into the hills to meet whatever fate may have awaited it.
The Western slope of Colorado seems to be suffering from a massive over population of deer, and it is pure terror to drive the stretch of road that leads from Telluride through Naturita and on to Grand Junction after 3:00pm in the afternoon. That road is full of sharp curves, and the deer seem to enjoy playing a game of chicken with anybody fool-hardy enough to dare to use the highway. You'll round a curve and there will be three or four of them by the side of the road. They'll wait until you are almost even with them and then one will bound out into the road and front of you and just stand there, apparantly hoping that you will go into a ditch to avoid it.
I don't know who gets to keep any dead cows in Colorado. Since the law is that you have to pay the rancher for his cow, it seems to me that you should be able to keep what you paid for, but I don't know.
What's that? :confused:
I did get a pair of these and the deer do seem to clear out of the way now:
Cowcatcher.
The whistles don't work for long. They easily become misaligned or clogged with goo and stop making the magic noise.
Oh yeah, that reminds me, Bruce. The trains have those things on them for a reason. Fortunately, a cow will not walk across something with slats, like a RR track (cattle gates are designed just that way), but sheep are likely to park themselves anywhere and deer or elk have a habit of jumping right at a moving vehicle. In the Plumas River Canyon in CA that can happen a lot in winter. The "cow catchers" will at least clear the tracks, with a resulting feast for the scavengers. Navajos are very careful of their sheep and would keep them far away from tracks or roads because sheep represent their wealth, but many ranchers just let their stock wander, especially in the high country during the summer. And like Mari says, there seems to be a population explosion of deer every few years. I'm told that Maine has a terrible problem with moose right now, they are everywhere. I'm sure the Game and Fish Department does not avocate culling by auto.
As for the
open range concept, Tonchi is correct.
When it comes to deer, the Colorado Wildlife Division has actually placed a moratorium on cougar hunting in the Uncomphaghre Plateau area because the deer population has gotten so out of hand. They issue tons of hunting permits every fall, and the little towns on the Western Slope actually have as a public service barrels where you can dump your deer hides. When I was living in Nucla a couple of years back, my next door neighbors bagged two stags and shared some of the venison with me. :yum:
Despite all this, there are still too many deer and they browse the grass down to the point that all that's left is the tasty forage growing along side the highways. Everyone thinks of deer as cute little bambi's, but I don't anymore. When I lived in Nucla, in addition to my own deer encounters, a friend was in a very serious car accident that involved a deer coming through her windshield, and a local woman was killed in an accident with a deer.
I like cougars - a lot! Cougars don't congregate in groups by the side of the road and dash out into the way of on-coming cars. Cougars eat deer which have become the vermin of the Western slope. Deer kill far more people than ever cougars have. I camped alone in lion country for three months and had no problems with them. I just used common sense by not running around at dusk or dawn near cougar habitat. They left me alone and I left them alone. Not so the deer!
Now what's not to love about such a wonderful animal? Here, kitty, kitty!
Mari's point about the cougers is valid in the context of this post because it is precisely because the protected species laws in many states are what CAUSE animals to die needlessly. In ALL environments, deer, elk, moose, and buffalo will explode in population the minute you restrict the preditors which feed off them in nature. Remove the wolves, cougers, coyotes, and even hunters and you will be up to your neck in deer or their cousins before you know it. In this country we have actually OVER-protected wildlife, usually at the same time we have encroached too far into their habitats. Deer in your front yard are not cute, they are dangerous. Besides totally destroying rose bushes, young trees, and gardens, a deer can easily kill you with one head butt to the chest, antlers or none. A deer landing on your hood at 50 mph pretty much totals your transportation and maybe your life. Plastic surgery will be the least of your problems if they come throught the windshield. Overcrowded populations of deer or their cousins quickly become diseased too, and with organisms which can harm both you and your livestock. It's easy for people to blame the deer, but it's the humans' lifestyle which is causing the problem.
But humans are softies, and they want to have it both ways. They want to live in areas like the mountains of New Mexico or Colorado which can't support them in the food chain, yet they don't want anybody to shoot or remove the cute little wild things which were there first, other than just sweeping them aside. They don't want their pets to be confined, yet they scream when one of the natural preditors does what comes naturally upon finding one of them. They don't want deer or other varmits to invade their property, yet they refuse to manage trash or secure the homes or yards and remember to close the gate. Too many outsiders get involved in the public sentiment of things, they don't want deer or mustangs or wild burros killed but they have no idea what to do about the fact that they are destroying the land, inbreeding, and dying of diseases because nothing is checking their growth.
Preditors like the couger and the wolves are vital to places like Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico. And yet at this time the suburbs and vacation homes and roads keep spreading out of control. Somebody sees a couger and there is a huge outcry to "protect" the people by getting rid of it. That means that at least 20 more deer will live and breed over the next years when they could have been cleanly recycled back into nature. The people who end up on the wrong side of a deer never see the connection.
I have gotten into huge arguments with Bambi lovers. They'll say stuff like "Well, the deer were here first." Indeed they were, and so were the cougars and wolves. Man has all but eliminated the wolf from the lower 48 except a few places like Michigan's UP.
The deer out there eating your rosebush may look cuter than hell, but do you really want to sacrifice your life for it? I don't know of any Bambi-lover who has sold their home and moved back to Europe or something because "the deer were here first."
We are destroying habitat left and right in the West with our ranchette style subdivisions and the growing populations of Denver, Salt Lake, and Albuquerque. We need to accept the fact that Bambi is going to be a casualty of this or else become a casualty of Bambi.
Again, it all really goes back to the cattlemen's groups. They want to get rid of the predators because a predator will take down the occasional sheep or calf. They don't stop to think how many deer and rabbits the predators take down, as well. Every deer that a courgar eats leaves that much more forage for the rancher's herds. But ranchers want to eliminate all predators, completely. Unfortunately, the number of deer culled by the hunting crowd just isn't enough in the collision between the urban and the wild in today's West.
We've wandered around in this thread, but I think Fallen Fairy will also get a good idea of some of the issues that are important out here in the western states if she is still reading all this. ;)
The whistles don't work for long. They easily become misaligned or clogged with goo and stop making the magic noise.
If you do some research you'll find the whistles don't work at all, according to Consumer's Union (Consumer Reports).
The early ads claimed, "Tested by the Ohio State Police", which they were, and found to be useless.
The theory is by making noise the deer will hear you coming before they can see you. They can already hear you coming.... cars make a lot of noise..... and they still stand there and wait for you to arrive before deciding whether to jump out in the road or not. :rolleyes:
Blue - Acome and Onate are in "The NE Heights"
You needn't got to the Wild West to find a deer problem. Collisions with deer are the #1 cause of accidents in many non-rural parts of Missouri. I don't go a day without seeing several, and I live in a pretty typical suburban area. A couple of years ago, there was a picture in our paper of a young buck stuck in a fence in *downtown* Kansas City.
Local suburban municipalities are starting to open up bowhunting within their city limits around the KC area to try and cull some of the population.
Given what I and my friend have endured personally at the hooves of Bambi, I have absolutely zero sympathy for the deer.
A recent study indicates that from 1991-2003 calculated traffic accidents involving deer in the US kill 150 people annually and cause $1.1 billion in property damage, and injure some 10,000 people.
The cattlemen's groups who want to eradicate the cougar are being incredibly selfish and gaining some imagined well being at the expense of the many when you look at the stats.
In the same time period (1991-2003),
reports show that cougars attacked human beings in the US and Canada BOTH an average of 5.6 times a year and were responsible for .8 fatalities a year.
If you are going to be terrified of a wild animal, Bambi wins hands down.
As for me, I'm putting out catnip. I LOVE kitties! :love:
Involved in those statistics is the massive difference in brain power between deer and couger. You won't find any record of people being hurt or killed by running into cougers with a motor vehicle. They have the sense to avoid us.
I recently I read a report of a person being gored and killed by a moose, in downtown Anchorage. When people can't even walk to work without being cornered and killed by a moose, something has to be done :(
Agreed. I have a biologist friend who calls deer "nature's snack food." That's pretty much what they are - plentiful, tasty treats for other species which have evolved with even an ounce of common sense.
Yesterday afternoon I went out for a walk with my companion in crime, Miz Belle Starr. There is a hiking trail which skirts the boundary of the city and the National Forest about 3 blocks from my home. Starr and I have walked that trail before. Yesterday, I became curious about a ravine that cuts into the trail, so I went up it to explore with my little 4-footed companion. There were some great rock formations and surprisingly old pinon trees. We followed a deer path that had many fresh droppings on it to Starr's delight. At one point I paused to look back over the scenery, bemused by this interface of the wild and the city. I could see the traffic on a major road perhaps 5 miles away across the canyon.
I felt a sudden frisson of terror as I realized that I was out on this game path at dusk, breaking one of my own most steadfast rules. Cougars have been sighted often at the edges of my town and gobbled down wayward poodles and daring domestic cats who strayed a bit too far from home.
Then I shrugged my shoulders philosophically. I have already survived 3 encounters with deer, one of which actually caused me to die for a few moments in an ER. If a cougar got me, at least it would be swift and painless. Cougars lie in wait and go straight for their prey's neck, snapping it and killing them almost instantly. When I go, I wouldn't mind going at the paws of a cougar. It seems a nobler ending then having a collision with that idiot, Bambi, out on the highway. Starr and I resumed our ramble and returned home unharmed for me to write this post the next day.
Isn't that like the fourth time you've renamed the dog?
Isn't that like the fourth time you've renamed the dog?
heh! Well, I'm glad SOMEONE is paying attention. Her kennel name is "Shine". I experimented with calling her "bel" (Welsh for bright one), Star, Starr and Belle Starr. Sometimes it takes a while to find just the right name. I've called her "Star or "Starr" for a while now.
I think the name that will stick is Belle Starr (Shine). Now you know.
Really great names sometimes need time to evolve. Dog breeders have to stick some kind of name on hundreds of puppies every year, but only their new mommy or daddy has the insight and desire to think of the one which really "fits". This is from the mommy of Hazelwood's Krugerrand of Rune, aka "Roo" and Windriver's Ximena Hechicera, aka Shimmy Tail ;)
Belle Starr is the perfect name for my “corgadette”, and it took me a while to decide on it. It incorporates the Welsh word “bel” which I mentioned before and “Star” for the time her arrival into my life (Christmas time), and works well with her kennel name of “Shine” (Ms. Starr Shine or Belle Starr Shine).
Belle Starr was a
legendary woman outlaw of the old West. In her youth she attended the Carthage Female Academy, where she excelled in reading, spelling, grammar, arithmetic, deportment, Greek, Latin, Hebrew, and music - learning to play the piano. (Deportment! Heh! Did she ever fool THEM!)
Her forebears, like my own on my father’s side, were from West Virginia-Kentucky.
She wore buckskins and moccasins or tight black jackets, black velvet skirts, high-topped boots, a man's Stetson hat with an ostrich plume, and twin holstered pistols. She spent much her time in saloons, drinking and gambling at dice, cards, and roulette. At times she would ride her horse through the streets shooting off her pistols. (I LOVE this chick – a woman after my own heart!)
Belle Starr had a Cherokee lover named Jim July (I am part Cherokee – my grandmother was full blood Cherokee).
Her most famous quote is "I am a friend to any brave and gallant outlaw."
What better name for my little friend than Belle Starr? ;)
Given what I and my friend have endured personally at the hooves of Bambi, I have absolutely zero sympathy for the deer.
A recent study indicates that from 1991-2003 calculated traffic accidents involving deer in the US kill 150 people annually and cause $1.1 billion in property damage, and injure some 10,000 people.
The cattlemen's groups who want to eradicate the cougar are being incredibly selfish and gaining some imagined well being at the expense of the many when you look at the stats.
In the same time period (1991-2003), reports show that cougars attacked human beings in the US and Canada BOTH an average of 5.6 times a year and were responsible for .8 fatalities a year.
If you are going to be terrified of a wild animal, Bambi wins hands down.
As for me, I'm putting out catnip. I LOVE kitties! :love:
it is sad that there are deer-car accidents, for both the humans and the deer. i just think it is wrong to blame the deer. cars are 20th century inventions and a hundred years is not a long enough time for a species (the deer) to evolve for themselves a car-evading proficiency.
humans drive too fast. humans make the decision to take the risk of driving fastly and recklessly and they must accept the consequences of their actions.
Bullshit, my speed has no bearing when a deer plants itself square into the side of my car or comes down on the hood/roof in a 20' bound off a banking.:headshake
Considering the stunning increase in their population, I'd say they have done a good job at evading, so good in fact they've lost their fear of cars.
We've wandered around in this thread, but I think Fallen Fairy will also get a good idea of some of the issues that are important out here in the western states if she is still reading all this. ;)
Yes ma'am I am - ever the watchful lurker...and learning along the way.
Thanks to you all!
The deer problems here in VA are plentful - my 19 yr old has had two run ins... one where she totaled my minivan avoiding the damn deer! and one where she remembered what mommy said - and held straight and gunned it. (sorry to all you Bambi lovers!)
Jess - 1 :p
Deer - 1 :sniff:
tied game.
As for Albuquerque... the move is definite June 30th. The house is ready and I even contacted the schools in the District and enrolled my two youngest... we are ready!
The next Albuquerque question is.... can we really see roadrunners right in our neighborhood? A burning question from my 9 yr old. - last night I caught her designing a catch'em alive trap in the backyard - she aims to have her a pet!! LOL
Mari - did you check inot moving your stuff freight?? It's alot cheaper than Uhaul.
Blue - Acome and Onate are in "The NE Heights"
gee Ferret that sounds rather ominous.... PLEASE tell me those are streets...
edit - I actually went back topost #1 - and read all eight pages...I now know what the above mentioned are - thanks Ferret - My kids will be in LaCueva High and Humphrey Elementary
Hey, how 'bout them Chupacabras?? :eek:
little goat sucking bastids.....When I go to Taco Bell, I always order a chupacabra with extra guacamole.
I have seen road runners on the back roads in New Mexico - never encountered one in Alb, itself, though. Ferret could probably tell you more or else Tonchi might. I think her internet was down for a while, but I believe she's back. I think the Chupacabras is more a problem in DC than it is in New Mexico. ;)
Thanks for the tip. I'll check into freight companies. :)
FF - yes, you can see roadrunners in some neighborhoods. there's at least one that runs around the neighborhood in which i live (off tramway.) i dunno if they can necessarily be found all over the city but i have seen them in several parts all around where you'll be living. so it's a good possibility.
unfortunately for your daughter, i think they are protected (being the state bird) and fussing with one in any way would prolly be frowned on.
my wife would love to know that's where your kids will be. she attended both of those schools. say "hi" to Betty (counsellor) at Hubert Humphrey from her daughter's best friend (my wife.) La Cueva is one of the newer highschools in the city.
A couple of summers ago, I was surprised to see a roadrunner near the Journal Center in NE ABQ. He was just kinda hanging out next to a shrub in a parking lot...for a moment. I'd only seen one once before years ago, near Las Cruces.
My wife witnessed and photographed (I think) a roadrunner beating the KRAP out of a sparrow in the parking lot of a WalMart near where FF is moving.
My wife witnessed and photographed (I think) a roadrunner beating the KRAP out of a sparrow in the parking lot of a WalMart near where FF is moving.
My fiance told me about a road runner in his neighborhood that killed a small bird and stood there and ate it!! Possibly my daughter will need some armor before she attempts to charm one. :worried: LOL
I'll be sure to tell all the folks at Hubert Humphrey hello for your wife Ferret!
I had pretty much based the house choice on the schools - and heard so many good things about both Humphrey and La Cueva... so that was the deciding factor for us. My 13 yr old swims league and runs track and the coaches at La Cueva gave me a real warm and fuzzy when I spoke with them.
My fiance told me about a road runner in his neighborhood that killed a small bird and stood there and ate it!! Possibly my daughter will need some armor before she attempts to charm one. :worried: LOL
as long as it's not purchased from ACME, she should be alright.
Exactly!
and i've never heard one make that (or any other) noise