Monzano State Park, Monzano, NM
There are two things I was really appreciative of this morning when it was 33 degrees. 1 - my husband figured out how to turn on the heater without us getting out of bed and 2 - the jacket my son bought me for Christmas.
Our big outing of the day was visiting the Land of Fire & Ice. A rather cheesy roadside attraction that nevertheless drew us in.
The Fire portion was taking a hike up to a blown out volcano. The views were great and the hole was about 1400 ft deep and 1000 feet wide. You could see 15 other volcanos in the distance.
The ice portion was hiking down to a collapsed lava tube with ice perpetually captured in it that is 20 ft. thick.
We also stopped by El Moro National Monument. This was the only place within 30 miles that had a water supply. It was located at the base of a sandstone butte. Travelers used this landmark for thousands of years to locate a source of drinking water while on their journey.
Along the way many of them left their mark on the sandstone walls. We saw petroglyphs dating back to 1200 and signatures from the Spanish explorers and the first American pioneers.
What amazed me was the source of water was not from a spring, but rain water running off the mountain. We were not very impressed with the quality of the "oasis" we saw. You'd have to be pretty dang thirsty to want to drink that water!
Man does not live by historic monumnets and schmaltzy tourist attractions alone. We heard about Mary & Tito's Restaurant in Albuquerque. It was given a James Beard Award and noted for their very authentic adovada dish. Sounds like a good reason to stop.
This place is very unassuming. It's located in a semi industrial neighborhood and the decor hasn't changed for decades. Perfect.
I had the traditional adovada dish and Ned had the adovada enchiladas. It blew our heads off. They make this spicy chili sauce from scratch and it's very earthy and hot. It's served over a seasoned roasted pork. It ain't your traditional California-Mexican chili red sauce that's for sure. As I'm typing this, I'm still trying to recover, thus my glass of red wine...
We're really enjoying our campground tonight. There are only about 12 sites (yes, I did book this one ahead of time). It's located in the mountains at an elevation of about 7200ft. We're enjoying the sun knowing that we'll probably have another cold night ahead.
Tonight's plans include taking a hike on the nature trail and a rousing game of Skip-Bo.
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