May 18, 2012 – Can you hear Albuquerque without thinking of Bugs Bunny?

Although we had planned for our last day in the Southwest to be a short and relaxing day, we ending up having a full but excellent day.  We left the Bernalillo Super 8 at 7:30 and went to our 14^th National Park of our vacation, Petroglyph National Monument in Albuquerque.  As we walked the 2.5 mile trail, we were amazed by the 1200 petroglyphs visible to visitors.  These examples of rock are very different that ones we have seen at places like Nine Mile Canyon because they are much later, perhaps only 500 years old.  In addition, rather than being made on the desert varnish of sandstone, the petroglyphs in the Albuquerque area carved into dark basaltic rock.  We were happy that we were at the park in the morning before the day heated up.  A group of students arrived at the park as we were leaving.

As we drove into the city, we stopped at Garcia’s Kitchen which is a large restaurant that has a small town feel.  Mary had a breakfast burrito filled with pork and egg, served with refried beans and home fries then all covered with local green chile.  I had pozole which is a pre-Columbian type stew made with meat, potatoes, vegetables and green chiles.  Our sopapillas came with local honey.  Both of us enjoyed our brunch very much. 

We walked around Albuquerque Old Town for a couple of hours then went to the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center that provided interesting information on the history of the Pueblo cultures of the area.  In addition, each of the 19 existing Pueblos had displays on their current status, traditions and culture.

Since it was only about 2 pm when we left, we detoured to the Albuquerque BioPark (Zoo).  The zoo had some nice displays.  We especially enjoyed the Australia exhibits of koalas and kangaroos.

The dinner choice was Frontier Restaurant which is across the street from the University of New Mexico bookstore.  This restaurant was recommended to us by my friend and former student, Ashley, who was an exchange student here for a year.  In addition, they have been featured on RoadFood and will appear on the Travel Channel’s Man v. Food on June 22, 2012.  We both had the signature meal, green chile cheeseburgers, and fries on the side.  Mary had one of their famous sweet rolls as well.  We were both very impressed with the quality, quantity and value of the meal.  We were happy that we were there between semesters since I suspect that it can be very crowded at times.

After dinner, we drove to the Albuquerque Airport Day’s Inn and unloaded the rental car.  There were no problems returning the car and the airport shuttle was waiting to bring us back to the motel.

We hope to turn in early this evening since we need to be at the Albuquerque International Sunport around 6:30 am tomorrow. 

Once we get settled back at home, we will prepare a reflection on the trip which will be posted.

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