Once Were Ghost Towns - MADRID, New Mexico

MADRID

Madrid, pronounced MAdrid, (not MaDRID) has evolved from a Turquoise Trail mining ghost town to a thriving artists’ community, not gentrified like Santa Fe’s Canyon Road, but plenty of eclectic shops and galleries to interest the most discerning devotee of not-made-in-China crafts, not necessarily with a Southwestern flavor!  

Original buildings from Madrid's glory days are gradually being restored, and Santa Fe Railroad box cars have been repurposed to house boutique businesses and the formerly homeless.

Once its tiny, half-mile-long street through town supported two salloons and four hotels.  Now it includes a smattering of watering holes, a B&B, cafes, a museum and lots of biker parking.  Parking for RVs?  Not so much.

Whereas Cerrillos, with its two businesses seems to be more of a "bedroom community," Madrid is a beehive of commercial activity...

...and lovely reminders of bygone techniques and skills.

Little Black Sambo

Some of my friends don't "do" Facebook and didn't see the pictorial ode to my beloved little, fur-kid companion of 14 years.  Here again is that photographic chronicle….with some added "speech bubbles"!

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Why me?  I did not even go NEAR that poison oak.

Well, I thought you'd like it better than a mouse!

I know you can't see me.

Practicing for my kitty porn photo shoot!

Incomparable Baja sand.  Aaaaah!

Finally! ... she got a new brand - 'bout time! 

Yes, I know you adore me!

You like this side?  Good…it's my best stalking stance!

My favorite perch when we're under way and the window's down to let the outside in!

You can hop, but you can't hide -- I SAW you go in there Mr. Cricket!

Be afraid.  Be VERY afraid! 

She TOLD you that food was for the birds, you gluttonous POS

See?  Fourteen, and I can still climb trees like a whippersnapper!

My backyard is my kingdom!

For the LAST TIME Leah, I am NOT going to play with you…just please go bug my human!

I TOLD you there'd be room for me! 

I liked flowers too, and I especially liked walking with you when you went looking for them!

This fan is mine, all mine!

My second most favortist position.  (HEY!  Grammar never was my strong suit, but I could out-purr anything on four feet!)

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Here's lookin' atcha, human.  Just put your sad worry stone away... I'm a studly, bewitching, one-of-a-kind grimalkin 

destined for eight more wonderful lives just as adventuresome, exciting and endearing as the first one!

Once Were Ghost Towns - CERRILLOS, New Mexico

Unique Cerrillos Turquoise, more green than the better-known blue-hued Turquoise, is still mined in the area now known as the Turquoise Trail Scenic Byway in New Mexico.  This history-laden Highway 14 is a shunpike road that connects Albuquerque and Santa Fe and attracts seekers of funky and bygone. 

Built on a utility pole, seems like a strange place for a mini shrine -- but very detailed and sweet.

Besides the Visitor Center for the Cerrillos Hills State Park, the village of Cerrillos has two still-thriving businesses:  Mary’s Bar (cold Coors on tap) ...

...and the Cerrilos Turquoise Mining Museum/Petting Zoo/and Antique Bottle and Rock Shop...$2.00 for entrance to the museum, and $2.00 for a bag of “zoo food.”   No charge to look at the rock collection and Cerrillos Turquoise jewelry.  (Are you daft?  Of *course* I bought a few rock specimens!)

Well, OK, some could also count the Cerrillos Catholic Church as a “thriving business” too.  Interestingly, its bell tower brought to mind the towers of San Jose del Cabo Mission Church in Baja, but sans the mosaic of a roped padre being dragged across the avenue!

Turquoise Trail buildings have been prominent real-life props in many Western movies and the region is considered a prime movie-making location.

Yet some old originals are being artistically transformed and modernized.

Turquoise wasn’t the only mineral mined in the area.  Gold, silver, lead and zinc were pulled out of the hills during the 1880’s “rush.” And now coal is being strip-mined in the region…don't get me started!

Today Cerrillos is a worthwhile stop over for exploring and tasting the historical and cultural diversity that built the area.  I loved poking around its dusty, clay-packed "streets."  Stay tuned for a follow up post of some architectural details.

The Newest "Extreme" Sport?

Paddle Boarding the Rio Grande during monsoon season.

 The West's Big Muddy 

Oops!

Hmmmmm - how we gonna approach those rapids?