Day Four - Pueblos, Old Town and El Malpais

Day Four started with a tour of Old Town Albuquerque. This city is full of history and religion... Pretty interesting stuff. Justin has a knack for sitting with dead people. First the graveyard at the prison, now this bench picture. Underneath the walkway and halfway under the buildings, lie 3 bodies that cannot be removed. So he's sitting on dead people...again...

After that, we headed West, about 50 miles, to see an Indian Pueblo, Acoma. It's the oldest continually inhabited city in the US. No water or electricity up there, so it's quite peaceful and serene. Most of the people who live there are elderly, and it's considered a type of retirement home, almost. Many of the villagers hand make pottery like bud vases, traditional wedding vases, and seed pots. Really intricate designs. Here's a few pictures of the pueblo and the incredible views from the village.

View from the Pueblo village into the valley.


Our tour group in the Pueblo

To get down, we walked along an old rocky path that's incredibly steep and almost vertical. This is about halfway down.

About to go down a really steep stone stairwell through the rocks.

On our way out, there were some cows on the highway. Ok, it's a 2 lane road, through the middle of nowhere and is hardly considered a highway. But anyway, we stopped to snap a few shots. These are for Kayleigh...don't say I never gave you anything!

Took a little detour to El Malpais -- a valley full of volcanic remains. The volcanos aren't active, and just the core remains, but the valley is covered with lava rocks that can be viewed from a little scenic overlook. Yet again, an amazing view.

That concluded our day...with a stop to Albertsons for sicky food. Ick. Not sure if it's the insane dryness in this part of the country or what, but the moisture has been sucked from our bodies! Not fun. So if this damn thing will finish uploading, we can catch some rest before heading to Santa Fe tomorrow. Goodnight... Justin says, "Santa Fe. Woot. Woot."

And for you Simpson's fans, the Albuquerque sports team is named the Isotopes... hah.