Mile High

 12/7- Albuquerque NM

  We cast off this morning around 7:30 and sailed down the river of I40. We were close hauled as the wind was southwest at 10-15. The scenery was pretty as it was big open vistas of grassy farmland. Then the fog rolled in. I was amazed that there could be fog in New Mexico as you need water for fog. Apparently not I found out as this was a nice thick blanket that enshrouded the land as far as we could see. This turned out to not be very far. Visibility was about a quarter mile and at 70mph that was a bit scary. It turns out it was a huge cloud that just descended on the land. Probably something to do with our elevation which was now 4000 ft. 

    We eventually sailed clear and the sky turned a bluebird shade of blue. The vistas were amazing as we traveled through these arroyos. Vast views of mesquite and cacti to the horizon. Up and down and twisting through these mesas it was just gorgeous. 

   We shot through Albuquerque and took a side trip to the Petroglyphs National Monument. We hiked up among these black boulders and saw the petroglyphs chiseled in the side. They say they have some deep cultural meaning for the Indigenous people. Trouble is anyone that has seen these in the last 3000 years has taken a shot at chipping away at these rocks. It’s hard to tell the really old ones from some Spanish conquistador’s graffiti. It was interesting and I did see a few that I was impressed with. 

   After that it was a short drive to the High Desert RV park. This is another parking lot which is mostly filled with livaboards. Still it’s very nice and neat and clean it’s just not scenic. That’s one thing I can say about marinas is that by definition they are mostly scenic. 

    So we are in the high desert now and are around 7000 ft above sea level. The air is definitely drier and while today was warm (high 50’s) tonight it will get into the 20’s. Hoping Arizona might be a little warmer. 

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