18 Sep: We had a day to spend in Albuquerque, and made the most of it. First, we rode on the Paseo del Bosque bike trail, which follows a greenway along the Rio Grande. For much of our ride we biked beside a large, straight irrigation ditch and the river itself was hidden from our view by trees and bushes. We did, however, have one good view of the Sandia mountain crest, which dominates the view east of the city, and where we were camped in a nice private campground. The Rio Grande through Albuquerque has been heavily modified since the turn of the 20th century, straightening the main channel and providing a network of irrigation channels. Recently there have been efforts to allow flood debris such as trees, brush, and soil to accumulate and build more natural and well-vegetated river banks. We turned off the main trail for a while to ride a small unpaved loop close to the river in the very pleasant Aldo Leopold Woods, which had several historical signs explaining Leopold’s career and philosophy. Trained in forestry, he was a pioneering voice in the fields of wildlife management and environmental ethics.
In the early afternoon we went through the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center. Exhibits there told of ancient cultures, historical events, and way of life of the Pueblo Indians of the region, with some very fine examples of Pueblo art on display, including pottery by some of the most talented artists, such as Maria Martinez. She was known for her signature black pottery, created by carefully controlling the conditions and timing of the firing of her pottery.
The highlight of our day in Albuquerque was meeting and spending time with Paul’s third cousin Dennis and his wife Lou, long-time Albuquerque residents. Dennis and Paul had never met before, even though their great grandparents were siblings of the Lowry family raised in the Boston area by parents who had emigrated from County Down in northern Ireland. We met for lunch and later in the afternoon visited them in their home. Dennis is an artist; we were very impressed by several of his large and intricately detailed western landscape paintings hanging in his studio. Lou is a former teacher and both of them are avid readers. We had a most enjoyable time visiting with them, and now feel we have yet another reason to make sure we get back to New Mexico again.
