Still no photos.  We didn't have time after Joe got the radiator fixed to get back to a Staples to have them figure out what they did to my computer that is blocking the transferring of photos from PhotoShop to the blog.  We are in Santa Fe tonight, so maybe we can get things straight tomorrow.  Hope so!!!

Yesterday Joe took the radiator off and soldered the radiator neck that had come loose.  That took the morning.  He worked while I sat in the shade in the car and
read a book and sipped cool water.  It was hot in Albuquerque but was quite cool under the shade of the tree and the car top.

After he finished up the radiator job, we headed to the Jackalope, the store I was so anxious to visit after so many years.  I had read on the internet that it had changed and, let me tell you, it had CHANGED!!!!!!  It was nothing like I remembered it.  A salesperson asked if they could help me find something, and I was so frustrated that I said, "The place has changed so much that there is nothing here I need or want".  I am sorry I said it, but when you have thought about returning to a place for 20 plus years and it's NOTHING like it was, it was a supreme disappointment.  I just shouldn't have said it out loud. 

To get me out of the doldrums, Joe and I went thrift store hopping.  I was in thrift store number 2 when I heard a gentleman talking to the clerk about someone in the store belonging to the 1912 E-M-F out in the parking lot.  I spoke up and said, "That would be me" (Joe was across the street at an upholstery shop getting a strap made). The gentleman in the thrift store happened to be Bill Scorah, the HCCA member Joe had called In Albuquerque for a recommendation of a good radiator shop.  Bill just happened to be turning down the street with the thrift shop and saw our car in the parking lot.  Albuquerque is a huge city.  Just think of the chances of him turning down a street and by chance, seeing our car.  He was delighted and so were we.  He had Joe went to Starbuck's for something to drink and I went to another thrift store.

This morning we happily moved on from Albuquerque (much too big and busy a city for our tastes).  We followed historic Route 66 out of town until we hit Rt 14, The Turquoise Trail, a National Scenic Byway.  The Turquoise Trail heads north from Albuquerque to Santa Fe for about 50 miles through very scenic countryside with a breathtaking view from the Sandia Crest and goes through the old mining towns of Madrid and Cerrillos.   Madrid is a tiny community that had a population of 204 in 2010, but it is full of artsy shops, galleries and is really worth a stop for lunch.

We headed on to Cerrillos which has been a mining area for 1,500 years as Native Americans mined lead and turquoise in the area.  Gold and silver were later found in the area and for about 6-7 years, there were about 3,000 miners in the area - a real boom town.  The railroad came to town and town prospered for a while and supported 21 saloons!  Now it is a sleepy town of about 200 with dirt streets, small adobe houses, a church and a few old buildings from the 1880's.  It is just exactly what you would think of as a western town in the movies.  It was the sight of films like Young Guns and John Wayne's film, The Cowboys, was shot just north of town.  If you are ever in this part of New Mexico, you HAVE TO GO TO CERRILLOS!!!!!!

As we drove into Santa Fe, we spotted two shops that turned out to be much like the Jackalope in Albuquerque hat I had remembered from the 1990's.  I was in "heaven" again as I poked through pottery, glassware, weavings, paintings, furniture and outdoor garden art from Mexico.  Tomorrow is another day in Santa Fe and then probably on to Taos.  Life doesn't get much better!