Jemez Springs & Albuquerque Lights

By July 7th, the aliens have been left far behind in Roswell (to entertain other curious tourists). We were invited to stay at the home of my high school friend Gary (& Nancy) in NW Albuquerque (locals abbreviate it ABQ). Gary graduated with me in Calgary, Alberta, and among all my Canadian friends in those years, was my only American high school buddy there with the same “landed immigrant” status that we had, (as our fathers were both American geologists employed in Alberta).

Before settling in for the night at Gary’s home, we explored the classic adobe buildings and a Spanish church structure from the 1620s, at the base of the elaborate deep red sandstone cliffs of Jemez. We wanted to give special attention to Riley, so he wouldn’t get dehydrated. The video above is of that amazing church. There's a little jitter on the lower fifth of the video (we think that's due to the desert heat, and you'll also hear Riley's panting), but as you'll see with a click, it's a magical place.

Later, I insisted on venturing about eight miles further up into the cool forests of Camp Shaver, the YMCA summer camp dating back to my “wonder years” of Roswell, when dad worked for Conoco. We had a great lunch of classic veggie chilly at Jemez Stage Stop, on their colorful, dog-friendly dining deck. The appetizer had been a fresh scoop of guacamole with hot, freshly made tortilla chips to dive into it with.

After lunch, and after returning from a very quiet Camp Shaver, which was not in session due to forest fire activity to its north, we came back through Jemez Springs. There's one point where the music was just perfect, and I had to swing the camera slowly across the dashboard to share with you, what we were seeing. Enjoy the video below:

Later in the afternoon, the range fires of Los Alamos were contuing to produce smoky mushroom clouds to our north, so we flipped the car and retraced our route back out  to ABQ, and Gary (and Nancy’s) home for the evening and an overnight. It was a relaxed time visiting with easy-going Gary, his sweet & smart wife Nancy and their enchanting daughter Sarah, (attending college at Colorado Springs).

 As the evening light changed to dusk after dinner, we drove up to the base of the notable tramway that rises up to the Sandia ridge in NW  “ABQ”. We gazed over the lights of the city, and explored a downhill skiing museum centered on the ski area in Ruidoso, where I learned to ski (and Dad ski patrolled). On display were the ground-breaking black metal Head skis like my father owned, and an original gondola from "Sierra Blanca" (now called "Ski Apache" in Ruidoso.

BELOW: Entering the very enchanting  Jemez area, northeast of Albuquerque.

The café owner’s dog seemed to enjoy looking regal, as he posed with Layli at our Jemez lunch stop.

ABOVE: my friend Gary on our Alberta hike, circa 1972... and BELOW today:

Once graduating high school, we never crossed paths again until now.

I later reminisced back at Gary’s about our high school days of Calgary. I jokingly told Gary that I was sorry that I hadn’t called him in decades, as we hadn’t seen each other once since we both departed Canada (post-graduation) at the tender age of 18 years. But, when a friendship was cemented with hikes, ski trips and countless days walking to high school on below 0 winter days, it’s a friendship cemented with strong stuff. I was overwhelmed how great and unexpected this reunion was. I knew again, why Gary was a trusted friend then, and I am thankful our paths crossed again today.