Albuquerque

6/3/2021

I arrived the day before, 6/2, after an 8.5 hour drive. It was long, and felt long. I didn't push the engine most of the way, but toward the end ! applied the gas, hitting 65 consistently. All the time I was climbing in altitude. Now and then, steep inclines dropped the RV to below 50mph. A tail wind helped, but it occasionally turned into a side gust that shoved the RV nearly off the road, and shoved it hard. After three gas stops (around $40 for a fill-up) I got inside the Albuquerque city limits, took the exit the GPS directed me to, and finally eased off the gas pedal.

As I was leisurely cruising along Chiquita’s neighborhood , looking for her address, anxious to dock the RV and stretch my legs, I saw Chiquita walking on the sidewalk in my direction. I pulled over and “picked her up”. First thing we do when I hit town is go to the grocery store, the Lowe’s, and stock up. Smallish neighborhood market, it had every single thing we needed.

Back home, we quickly unpacked, put everything away, and repaired to the living room for - wait for it… Champagne! Chiquita had thoughtfully anticipated the occasion. Midnight and two bottles of the bubbly later, I deemed it a pretty good birthday-eve evening, if not a tad excessive. Tomorrow, July 3rd, I will finally get to directly relate to the classic Beatles tune, “When I’m 64”. Big number. But I’m right in there, still. Like I told my family, I’m still the same 16 year old idiot even at Six-Four, not having really changed when I get down to it (irreverent goofball). Like Clarence the angel, in “It’s A Wonderful Life” I never grew up :)

July 3rd, 2021

Happy Birthday To Me! I used to dread this day. But No Mo! Leisurely wake up, coffee, surf, plenty of text’s. Dropping Chiquita at work, and I’m heading to Starbucks for my FREE birthday coffee:) Evening meal planned, followed by some homemade chocolate cake!

July 5th, 2021

Birthday was swell with lots of good things to eat (cake!), drink (fill in the blank), gifts (2 books) and all the rest. Chiquita wholly responsible - THANK YOU!!!

Before we commenced to celebrate b-day #64 that evening, we took a walk thru Chiquita’s neighborhood, veering off to busy Central Ave. We were looking for a place to slip into for a Marg to kick things off. But before we could get to Garcia’s for some frozen concoction relief, two cars came to a stop in the middle of the street right next to us. It looked like there was some kind of trouble. We inquired. It seemed that the front car had just stopped, the engine had shut down. The rear car had been following her. They were together. There was only one thing to do. Push the car out of the busy street onto a side street. And it took no time. After a good while, we all determined that the car’s electrical system was malfunctioning and no amount of jump starts would keep the car going. It would start, stay on, but only for a very short while. The stalled car’s owner’s knew someone nearby so they went for it. We bid good luck, and resumed the tequila quest.

At Garcia’s Mex restaurant, we were informed that they didn't sell Margs, but did vend ice cold beer so we had a beer and it was really good and really satisfying. Extended chatting and relaxing in the cool, cheery restaurant made for a very good.

My “plan”, as the readers of this blog may know, is to live in cities/towns for extended periods at a time while on this road trip. To “try out” the living conditions, to get a sense of the town’s personality, ethos, the good, the bad and all the rest. I’m presently looking for a place to dock the RV in longish spot, a slightly more permanent area than a city sidewalk that will, importantly, give me access to electricity so's I can plug in.. And then to be a stranger and get down to the business of exploring. Where I can bike, discover. Where I can do a little day to day living: visiting friends and new acquaintances, loitering at coffee shops, buying whatever it is I need (or more likely, don’t need :), to give Albuquerque a go. I got some decent leads. If no longish term parking possibility materializes, no biggie, I will be just fine. I've boondocked many-a-time and feel very comfortable doing that.if I must. (boondocking = parking an RV in a place for free ((Walmart parking lot, e.g.)) w/o electricity) overnight. As always, more later :)

Impressions on Monday, July Five of 21: Judging from my numerous visits to Java Joe’s coffee shop (been going there for a few years now), and as a strictly anecdotal observation, Albuquerque looks and feels like a young person’s town. Lots of handsome, super hip kids with super hip hairstyles, uniforms, regalia, ink, and Spunk. Is it the lure of this New Mexican city that draws the young here (and not Santa Fe)? Is it the art scene, SW culture, climate, affordability, and hipness that’s the draw? Dunno. Maybe. Back home, in Austin, where people of all ages are moving to in droves, we got our own, massive, Hipster kinda quotient to rival any city. But Austin is full of loooong time Austinites, me among them (1978!). In Austin, there's a real visible mix of age groups no matter where you go. Here in Albuquerque, and it’s just one outsider’s eye test, I'm seeing a rather youngish, hip-hop Population of tattoo decorated dudes and dames everywhere I look. Of course, I could be completely wrong. I should really visit a Denny's to observe that crowd.

But for now, it makes me nostalgic for1984 (that's the calendar year 37 years ago - not the novel). Nostalgic. But not necessarily wistful.

And without sounding too old-man-droll: There was once “The Sex Pistols,” “The Talking Heads,” and small rectangular things that contained many pages, commonly known as books. "The Dharma Bums" is a good example of a book. Now, there’s the iPhone and Pinterest. Given the slightest opportunity, everyone seems to be looking down at the portable electronic device held in their hand for I honestly don’t know what.

7/7/21

Still hard docked at Chiquita's, moved to the back parking area. I had been in front of the complex, on the street, in a nice shady spot, but directly in front of the mailboxes (no good!) The back is less conspicuous, but not shaded whatsoever so the RV warms up/heats up fast. I'm also (don't tell anyone,) bootlegging electricity off an electrical socket. I'm hoping no nosey neighbor drops a dime on me, or the landlord, who rarely visits the property, continues to keep his visits rare. So fan, lights, microwave and all the rest going good (btw, I did research, and the avg. electricity use by an RV, the big ones, is $2 a day. I estimate I use about a dollar) . TEMPERATURES, who locals consider hot, is nothing like back home. No humidity to speak of, and heat mild by comparison. Settling in nicely. Biking, visiting fav coffee shops, shopping, dinner time dining with C, planning my next move. Importantly, NOT manufacturing events. Pool literally one block away, will lap swim tomorrow :)

I received a text from my brother Robert to meet later on today. Background on "Bobby". He lives in Santa Fe with his husband Stephen. He commutes to Albuquerque for work. He's the Dean of Architecture and Planning at the University of New Mexico. The family academic, he's had an extremely impressive career in my humble brotherly opinion. We met at the corner of a popular eatery across UNM, crossed the street and got back on campus for a tour. Wow. The school of Architecture is fantastic. Designed by the world renowned architect Antoine Predock, I was deeply impressed (FYI, the UNM school is ranked #22 out of 133 schools of architecture in the country). From the UNM campus we drove a short distance to the Predock Center for Design and Research. It too was fantastic. Previously, it was where Antoine Predock lived and worked for many decades. The building and its archival contents, vacant and neglected, for many a year were showing gradual deterioration. But just in the nick of time everything was preserved and restored. It now elegantly displays nearly all of Antoine Predock's world wide architectural achievements . Robert, with ample expert and capable help, was the catalyst for the restoration. One can only tip one's hat (if you happen to be wearing a hat) and say, "Job extremely well done!"

FAB visit with Bobby. I'll be seeing him and Stephen in about 3 weeks in Santa Fe. And just like I'm doing with Chiquita now, I plan to spending about a month in SF being an RV, parked-on-the-sidewalk pest while I continue to "try out" towns and cities. . I'm toying, and toying hard, with living half the year in another part of the country. So far I'm liking Albuquerque!