Albuquerque, NM - Apr 16 - 28, 2009
The Rally
We arrived at Balloon Fiesta Park a bit road weary but looking forward to participating in our very first RV rally and reconnecting with Roy and Marcia, folks we'd met Tucson. The Rally sponsors reported about 3,100 RVs and over 7,000 people attended the event. Most of the RVs parked at the Balloon Fiesta Park, while others stayed in various RV parks in the Albuquerque area.
The Rally spanned four fun-filled, action-packed, information rich days. The seminars and exhibitions started at 7:30 am and the entertainment ended around 9:30 pm. Unfortunately, the exhibits and seminars were at the Albuquerque fairgrounds about 15-miles southeast of Balloon Fiesta Park, which made the event a bit inconvenient.
Due to the weather, our Rally experience had a bit of a rough start. We took the morning shuttle to the fairgrounds - huddling with our newest friends for warmth in the chilly morning breeze. By the time the bus arrived it was snowing. The freezing weather did not encourage exploration of the outdoor exhibits, so the indoor exhibits were jam packed with damp people and wet dogs. Then there was the challenge of getting back to Balloon Fiesta Park.
We were fortunate in that early in the day we met up with Roy and Marcia. When it was time to leave the day's drizzle had turned to serious rain and there was a discouragingly long line of wet, grumpy people awaiting the shuttles. We gave Roy and Marcia a call and begged a ride home. They kindly obliged. That evening the Neil Sedaka concert was delayed because the shuttle busses still had not returned all the attendees. We decided to take control of our fate and drove our car to the exhibits and seminars the remaining days of the festival.
Fortunately, the weather cleared and the rest of the Rally days were very pleasant. We attended several seminars and explored the many exhibits including numerous RVs. Happily, we found no RVs with floor plans as efficient and well conceived as ours - so no new home quandary. But we did stimulate the economy on a smaller scale by getting a new windshield installed and investing in fire safety and suppression apparatus. We also attended a very entertaining cooking demonstration by Bob Blumer, the Surreal Gourmet, and a hilarious trick golf shot presentation by professional golfer Buddy Sheldon.
The Entertainment
The Neil Sedaka concert was surprisingly good and amazingly energetic for a guy who has been in the business for over 50 years. Although he left the concert circuit in the mid 60s he continued to write a remarkable amount of popular music. We were impressed by how he kept his cool when the performance was delayed due to the tardy buses, and when the downpour outside found its way inside flooding part of the stage and several front rows turning the dirt floor into a muddy mess.
Rita Coolidge's concert was rather disappointing, which was too bad since she was one of Susan's favorites in the 70s. We stopped by to see the Osmonds rehearse but, having escaped the Rally crowds with Roy and Marcia for dinner at Scalo's, we didn't see their concert.
The California surf band Papa Doo Run Run provided the last night's entertainment. They were great fun and had the tropical shirt clad fans dancing in the aisles and singing along. They enthusiastically performed songs by the Beach Boys, Jan and Dean, the Animals and the Beatles, among others. And for the Western music fans, they sang Johnny Cash's Folsom Prison Blues to the tune of The Who's Pin Ball Wizard. Well, you had to be there.
On Tuesday morning we were ordered to leave the Balloon Fiesta Park by noon. We figured getting all those RVs out by noon would be bedlam - but no. The wagons 'uncircled' in a very orderly manner and moseyed on down the trail without a hitch. We joined the exodus for about 12-miles, crossing the Rio Grande for a week stay at American RV Park.
Post Rally
After eight days without laundry and five days without utilities we were quite happy to check into a well-maintained RV park with full utilities. On our first evening we experienced one of those 'small world' event. As we were taking a post dinner stroll we heard a woman call out, "Susan Dona, is that you?" It was Gayla and her husband Leroy.
Gayla and Susan worked together at Caltrans in Sacramento for several years. She and Leroy were returning from Oklahoma to Casa Grande, AZ where they now live. We spent the evening catching up and look forward to visiting them when we return to the Southwest in a couple of years.
We were fortunate in that the 26th Annual Gathering of Nations, was held in Albuquerque during our stay. Tribes from throughout Canada and the United States participate in this three-day competitive event making it the largest powwow in North America. We attended the event on Saturday and were very impressed with the highly varied costumes and pageantry.
There were about a dozen drum circles comprised of five or six drummers each. After about four hours of fairly constant drumming our heads were throbbing and we decided to go find a nice quiet place for lunch. After a couple of Excedrin and a margarita we were feeling much better.
On our last day in Albuquerque we visited the Acoma Pueblo known as Sky City and the adjacent Cultural Center. Acoma Pueblo is built atop a sheer-walled, 370-foot sandstone bluff in a valley studded with sacred, towering monoliths. First built around 1150 A.D., Acoma Pueblo is considered the oldest continuously inhabited community in North America.
The mesa-top settlement, known for its unique art and rich culture, today has about 3,600 inhabitants. The mesa has no electricity, land-line phone service or running water. However, since we saw a television antenna there must be at least one generator in the community.
We toured the village with an Acoma guide and about a dozen Zuni and Navajo school children. The children were a little unruly, but not too much worse than many we have seen in our travels. At the end of the tour the pleasant and informative guide calmly chastised the children for their bad behavior and the disrespect shown to their teachers, elders and culture. He also apologized to us for the children's conduct. When we were out for dinner that evening we agreed it would be handy to have the guide along to shame into shape some undisciplined, noisome, little monsters at the restaurant.
On Wednesday, April 29, we moved about 75 miles north to Santa Fe Skies RV Park. We are scheduled to begin our Habitat for Humanity build on May 18th and are looking forward to two weeks of gallery and museums hopping before beginning work.
