Albuquerque and Santa Fe?

ppine wrote:
New Mexico is a very interesting place to visit. I worked for a company with an office there and visited frequently. I once tried to move there.

Alb is a big town now and has some racial issues. Santa Fe is the tourist and art mecca with a lot to see, but it has become an odd town.

NM struggles with clashes between Native Americans, people of Mexican ancestry and people with Spanish ancestry. Then you have the rich urbanites from far away that come for the art. There is the heroin connection up in Espanola. We did not move there because of the racial tension. It is hard to read people when you are out in the boonies.

I mean no offense to native NM people. I love the state and plan on visiting again. It is a place that requires vigilance and high levels of situational awareness. Do not boondock camp up in the NW corner for instance if you are Anglo.

My next trip I will be visiting places like Las Vegas, NM and other historic towns off the tourist trail of SF/Alb.

Need to get this off my chest! Probably won’t last long.

The above post is a racially and culturally insensitive post. It is not as bad as the poster paints it here in New Mexico.

There are problems everywhere if you look hard enough for them!

Keith

ppine wrote:
New Mexico is a very interesting place to visit. I worked for a company with an office there and visited frequently. I once tried to move there.

Alb is a big town now and has some racial issues. Santa Fe is the tourist and art mecca with a lot to see, but it has become an odd town.

NM struggles with clashes between Native Americans, people of Mexican ancestry and people with Spanish ancestry. Then you have the rich urbanites from far away that come for the art. There is the heroin connection up in Espanola. We did not move there because of the racial tension. It is hard to read people when you are out in the boonies.

I mean no offense to native NM people. I love the state and plan on visiting again. It is a place that requires vigilance and high levels of situational awareness. Do not boondock camp up in the NW corner for instance if you are Anglo.

My next trip I will be visiting places like Las Vegas, NM and other historic towns off the tourist trail of SF/Alb.

I went to school at Highlands in the '70's, and I don't believe the ethnic mix has changed all that much since then. Wonderful folks. There are issues, just as there are anywhere else. I think we need good SA wherever we camp.

I think Cochiti Lake is a great COE campground and reasonably located for day trips to either city. Also convenient for day trips to Santa Fe is Rianna Lake COE.

If you really want to stay in the Cochiti area, take a look at the Tetilla Peak COE campground. It has 35 electric sites. At this time of year it is first come first serve. It closes October 16. It is an older park.

Cochiti Lake Corp of Engineers park is very nice. Be sure to go to Kasha-Katuwe Nat'l Monument - very unique. Santa Fe Skies is very pleasant since I read in your other post that you want electric.

This past spring we stayed in Bernalillo, NM at Coronado CG. Used it as our "launching pad" for Chaco Canyon, then again for several nights - 1 day to ABQ and 1 day to Santa Fe. Easy commute to both places - would recommend it!

I've visited Albuquerque numerous times during the summer to escape Yuma's heat. I usually stayed at American RV Park. It's just outside of ABQ's west side and is a well kept park. It's atop 7 mile hill, right off of the interstate. There's another park on the N side of the interstate that is also nice, but I've forgotten the name. A bonus is there's a Camping World very close by. One thing to bear in mind is during the balloon festival prices will increase substantially.


I can't comment on Santa Fe since the only time I visited there I stayed at Walmart. :B

If you live there you are used to it. That is my point.
I was sleeping in a vehicle in a stand of cottonwoods not visible from the road. The Spanish land grants are still a source of aggravation for many people that live in the northwest part of the state.

Strange, have lived in this area for over 40 years and have not experienced any of the problems you described. However, we don’t sleep on the side of the road. Perhaps it’s not too smart to try and sleep by the side of the road most anywhere. Was just recently in Espanola and didn’t see any drug runners with guns.

New Mexico is a wonderful place to visit in spite of what one person wants to spout off about. Sure there are problems in places, but no different than most any other area in the US.

Come on out and enjoy the culture, eat some green chili and have a good time.

Keith

We visit NM virtually every year for the past 12 years. Santa Fe is our favorite because there is so much to see and do in SF as well as places to the West and North. Never get tired of the food and art. I agree with another comment to skip those racial comments. I guess living in a city-San Antonio-where the angelo population is less that 50%--we all get along and have a great time with great people including visitors!