Friday, May 30, 2014

New Mexico, 1975

When I started scanning Dad's vacation slides years ago, I was choosy: looking only for pictures of us and skipping what seemed like only landscapes or duplicates.

This time, I decided the whole collection should be digitized. It takes a nice long time to scan each individual slide at 600dpi and I am currently done with New Mexico trips from 1975, 1976, 1981, and halfway through 1984. With 80 slides per carousel and some trips taking up three carousels, I started out thinking, "I will skip the ones I've already scanned and put them together with the new ones so I can save time." This was completely stupid of me.

By the 1981 trip I'd abandoned that plan altogether. I'd like to present them in the order they were taken, a kind of virtual road trip if you will, from the start to finish, but by the time I was through two trips, I was already losing the thread of which photos I'd skipped and where they belonged.

So 1975 and 1976 may be a bit spotty, since I was just sure I could keep these photos straight and just pop them right into place with the full carousel. Ha.

Oh! And I discovered two carousels in that I was putting my four slides in each time backwards. The first scan is the one on the far right, not the left. So for about 120 slides, each set of four I placed on the scanner 1,2,3,4 were actually taken 4, 3, 2, 1. Not confusing at ALL when you're sorting batches of 80 for a trip and realized you're going backwards, then forwards, then backwards again. Sigh. They're digitized. Ordering perfectly will just have to be trial and error.

Here is our first big trip, driving up to northern New Mexico in the green van, with a few days at the Baptist retreat in Glorietta and the rest just the three of us ranging around the northern part of the state. Mom started keeping travel diaries that Dad has lent me, but the earliest year is 1978, so these first two are going to be with less detail in terms of the places, at least until Dad emails me the locations after he reads this (wink, wink).

Seriously. Get ready to get lost in Northern New Mexico here. It's not a bad spot to get lost in.

This is at a little roadside picnic place early into New Mexico. The adobe is so cold against your skin, and the shade so welcome in the heat of the afternoon. 

Thank you Dad: Coronado State Park, west of Bernalillo NM, on NM 44.



My perch in the back of the first green van we owned, with a day bed sitting over storage space underneath for camping gear. Primo ride for an almost five year old who didn't even think about wearing a seat belt.


Yes, I am a terrible actress.

 My favorite thing in the word, required daily, sometimes more than once.

From Dad: Wink!  Wink! The first feet stream is the Jemez river.


I'm 43 and my mommy still helps me with my shoes when my feet are wet. 


Nogal Campground near Nogal lake, southeast of Carrizozo NM.





What a difference the morning to afternoons make. Above, bundled up near the fire in the early morning. Below, as stripped as they'd let me get, inside the tent, probably during an afternoon rain.

That bunny rabbit has survived and is currently snuggled up in Sam's pet net. The little red haired doll by my knee was not so lucky, but I remember her fondly, with her plastic white shoes and denim vest with groovy striped shirt. 

Sure enough: totally out of order. From Dad: You in panties was at Colorado City TX state park; thunderstorm came up that night; slept in the van. Later learned that tornadoes were in the area.


Rainbow at Glorieta 


So, at some point, we hit Glorietta for a few days. Was this before Santa Fe? It would make sense, as Glorietta is north of there and Dad's route is often through the panhandle of Texas and over into the Eagle's Nest area to start. For now, that's how it's going:







Out of Glorietta, I'm almost sure these are jumbled. Most look like the Jemez Mountains area, including the Puye Cliffs. But then we're back in Taos at the Pueblo, which is further north. Poop.




Nogal Mtn.


The red sandstone is on the Jemez River drive.





Wait, do these go with the stream photos above? Those brown pants say yes.


That's Battleship Rock, this much I know. 
And below are the Soda Springs.
More info here.





Puye Cliffs, long before they required you have a guide or charged $20 (& $20 more for the Mesa Top section, which you'll also see us climbing around on)

See what I mean? Above, we're almost there. Below and we've just started the climb.


Looking back down to the little visitor's center at the time and our green van, very center.








at Bandelier National Park.


another backwards set:


This has to be a different feet-in-the-water set. I was wearing those red and yellow tennis shoes at the earlier stream and I'm in my cowboy boots here. 










Did we go horseback riding up here? These were next to the Pueblo pictures...

Nope, per Dad, horseback riding was at Glorietta


But the brown pants are gone! Where ARE we?


Next wading picture is in the Puye campground.

Horse pictures are at Glorieta.

at Pecos National Monument: 




Oh, wait, wait, I can get this one!
Camel Rock, near Tesuque, long before there was a Camel Rock Casino...

Here's Santa Fe at the Palace of the Governors on the Plaza. 
You can see Mom in the baby blue pants and me blocked by brown shirt dude.



Dagnabit, did mom wear these pants half the trip? I'm all turned around again.
(garden in Glorieta)

Now we're back in Santa Fe / baby blue pants.



More Pecos National Monument.




How are we back in the ruins here? 


Glorieta

I have no clue. (Per Dad: Glorieta)

Is this even the same trip? (Yes, per Dad, Pecos National again)


brown pants!

Great, this looks like Puye again. Maybe this is where 1976 starts... I'm calling it. The rest are getting put in the 1976 post. Mammammy and Grandaddy went with us the following summer, which does help with the people photos in keeping them straight.