Albuquerque is All About Dogs! by Lark and Cory

Cory:  We have enjoyed our time in Albuquerque because Albuquerque is definitely dog friendly!

Lark:  I said that yesterday.

Cory:  Look, we are not going to talk over each other this time.  I will tell about my favorite place and then, you can tell about yours.  We will take turns.

Lark:  What if you tell about a my favorite place?

Cory:  Lark, just be quiet.  We did a lot of fun things in Albuquerque, but my favorite was hiking on the Paseo del Bosque Trail in the Rio Grande Valley State Park.  The Paseo del Bosque Trail is a 16 mile multi use trail in a Cottonwood Forest along the Rio Grande River.  There are a lot of cultural sites along the trail like the Albuquerque BioPark and Zoo, TIngley Beach Recreation Area, The National Hispanic Cultural Center and the Rio Grande Nature Center, but dogs are not allowed there.  But, I didn’t mind because the trail was so much fun.  We started out on the asphalt trail that is used for bicycles, but soon moved off the pavement to a sandy trail that led through the cottonwoods to…the Rio Grande River!  Where there was a sandy beach and a place for, you guessed it, swimming! Mom let me take off my backpack (Lark and I got a backpack to share so we can carry our own water and Mom doesn’t have to),  I so enjoyed my swim!  There were both deep and shallow areas.  The water was calm and so refreshing!  A little girl gave me her ball and I chased it for her.  She was very kind, but she didn’t want it back when I was done because it was wet and muddy.  When I had to get out of the water, I was too wet so Lark had to carry the back pack!  Even better!  We walked for a long time stopping at the different wildlife ponds where geese and beavers made their home.  We saw a lot of other people walking their dogs or riding their bikes or both.  It was a lovely way to spend the day!  And one of the things that makes Albuquerque a great place for dogs!

Lark:  Is it finally my turn? My favorite place was Petroglyph National Monument.  There are four walking trails and three of them allow dogs!  We went on the Piedras Marcadas Canyon trail.

Cory:  Be sure and tell them that it is a 1.5 mile round trip trail with 300-500 petroglyphs!

Lark:  Cory! You don’t need to coach me!  What she said.  Anyway, This is the trail where Mom decided everyone needed to carry their own water.  And she learned not to wear overalls or a jacket when hiking in New Mexico. It might seem cold when you start out, but it gets hot in the sun.  She was huffing and puffing and we thought she might pass out!

Cory:  Don’t talk badly about Mom!  She was carrying a lot of stuff.

Lark:  A lot of unnecessary stuff if you ask me.  She even brought our boots!

Cory:  Watch out or the next time, she will make you wear those boots!

Lark: Look we are getting off track.  People want to know about the trail.  To get to the petroglyphs, we went down into the canyon.

Cory:  Tell them about the wildflowers and cactus.

Lark:  If you don’t stop talking, I will put a muzzle on you.  Yes, there were flowers and cactus, but we were there to see petroglyphs,  Supposedly, they were done hundreds of years ago by the native peoples who lived in the area, but to me, they looked like the kind of graffiti you see underneath a freeway.  Kind of cartoonish and not at all understandable.  Mom was oohing and aweing over them and taking hundreds of pictures. “Just think about how long they have been here!  Aren’t we lucky that they were preserved,” she said. Well, that was her opinion.  After a long time of standing in the sun while she angled her camera this way and that, we finally turned around to walk back to the truck.  This time, we had to walk uphill and then I was sure we were going to have to call EMS for Mom.  She needs to lay off all that Chik-fil-a!

Cory:  Lark, that’s enough!  Now, I am going to tell them about Old Town Albuquerque.  Old Town Albuquerque is where the original settlers settled Albuquerque in 1706.  The historical district is about ten blocks of historic adobe buildings surrounding a Plaza.  There are a lot of shops and art galleries there, but of course everything was closed.  Dad says it was the best time to visit because Mom wasn’t going off to the shops spending money and leaving him to manage me and Lark.  We got our pictures made in front of some cannons used during the Civil War by Confederate forces who invaded New Mexico and in front of San Felipe de Neri Church.  The church has been a house of worship and prayer for over 300 years! Old Town Albuquerque was a cool place to visit and very dog friendly as we saw a lot of people out walking their dogs even though the shops were closed.

Lark:  Are you done?  Let’s tell them about the snow.  That was more fun than walking around a dumb historic district.  We drove in the truck to the top of the Sandia Crest.  We stopped along the way at some overlooks and there was snow!  I had never seen snow!  I LOVED it.  It was so much fun. Even better than going to the beach.  l even ate some of the snow!  All it needed was some flavoring and it would have been delicious!  When we got to the very top, Mom had trouble breathing again. I think that is going to be a common occurrence for her until she quits eating so much.  It was freezing cold and I didn’t have my coat so I started shivering.  Mom took more pictures and was talking about how pretty it all was.  I just wanted to get back in the truck.

Cory:  Well, I think that pretty much sums up Albuquerque.  We really enjoyed our visit and hope to come back again.  I would like to walk all 16 miles of the Paseo del Bosque Trail and get to swim again.  And play in the snow too.  Albuquerque is lots of fun for dogs.  Tune in the next time for more adventures!