Day 3 (October 2, 2021): Durango to Albuquerque, NM; approximately 215 miles

This tour is really getting exciting, but our fearless leader Marcus keeps reminding us to “GET GAS!”  At times, there are long stretches between gas stations; most of our cars hold only 10 gallons of gas; and you really don’t want to run out of gas in the middle of nowhere!  Below, John Hulstrom documents come of the club members who followed Marcus’ suggestion:

The main stop on today’s visit to New Mexico was the Aztec Ruins National Monument, which consists of preserved structures constructed by the Pueblo Indians.  Archaeological evidence puts the construction of the ruins in the 12th and 13th centuries. The Puebloan-built ruins were dubbed the “Aztec Ruins” by 19th century American settlers who misattributed their construction to the Aztecs.  This site connects people of the past with people and traditions of today.  Many Southwestern Native Americans today maintain deep spiritual ties with this ancestral site through oral tradition, prayer, and ceremony.

We found a cute sign at lunch and met a couple of WWII veterans who autographed Military Maxi.

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Our hotel for the night was near Old Town and we just barely had time to check in before we rushed off to join the Albuquerque “Poco Quatros” Model A Club for dinner at Mr. Powdrell’s BBQ, which occupies a large brick building listed on the historic register.  And Mr. Powdrell proved that he deserves his reputation as “King of BBQ.” 

John Hulstrom and Tim Murdoch documented some of the Model A’s in the parking lot for dinner:

Day 4 (October 3, 2021): Remain in Albuquerque 

Of course, Marcus planned our tour to enable us to experience the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.  We left the hotel at 5 a.m. in order to see the morning “Mass Ascension”  when all 500+ balloons launched from Balloon Fiesta Park. This took approximately 2 hours – which is about how long it took us to make the 27-minute drive to the park:

Miserable traffic and horrendous parking, but it was SOOO worth it!

The middle of the day was spent eating (!), sight-seeing, and performing car maintenance. Rick and Lori Jensen shared the following photos from the Pueblo Cultural Center:

Many club members returned to the Balloon Fiesta to watch the evening Balloon Glow and fireworks show. (Balloon photo credits to Jay & Pat Burbank, John Hulstrom, Tim Murdoch, and Terri Padgett.)

Tomorrow, we return to Colorado…