The trip to Las Vegas, and then the second trip to Albuquerque was uneventful. There was a little incident in the Las Vegas airport, though. There was some unattended luggage next to where I was sitting in the terminal. Security came and asked if it was my luggage. I said no (but now I wish I had said yes). Security moved the luggage (apparently just a short distance away, but I didn't realize it at the time). A few minutes later, the luggage owner returned. I told him security had taken his luggage, so he went off to find security. A minute later I saw the security guard again and she said the luggage was a short distance away. I kept looking for the luggage owner but he didn't return in time before I boarded the Albuquerque flight.
Don't leave your bags unattended!
Airport parking garage
I was going to be in Albuquerque for 4.125 days, but since I didn’t want to pay for 5 days of car rental. I needed to spend 0.125 days just hanging around the airport.
I spent time in the airport parking garage. The garage is laid out east-west, but there is a notable north-south slot, or trench, that reaches the sky and has a skylight over it.
There are three “Breaking Bad” filming locations on or near the top level of the garage, plus one “Better Call Saul” filming location. All locations are near the axis of the north-south slot. The BCS Waterworks location is EXACTLY on the north-south axis!
Previously, I’ve thought there might be a Surrealist reference in the architecture here, but now I’m thinking there’s a Puebloan reference too.
These four filming locations are arrayed along the north-south axis of the slot, similar to how the Native-American ruins of Aztec, Chaco Canyon, and Paquime in Mexico are arranged. I’m thinking this arrangement isn’t a coincidence.
Archaeologists (particularly Steve Lekson) noticed back in the 90s that these 3 huge Pueblos are less than a thousand feet off a north-south axis, even though they are located hundreds of miles apart. Mesa Verde isn’t that far off the axis either. It’s absolutely deliberate - it can’t be a coincidence. It’s the Pueblo religion in practice. And I think they tried to duplicate that arrangement in the airport parking garage.
I’m so far down the rabbit hole I think I’m the only lay person who’s noticed this. Such a long time for a payoff - more than a decade from first to last - but it’s there! It’s magical to reproduce features of the Southwest using the airport parking structure as a canvas.
Somebody thought of this, and executed it.
Motel
I arrived at the Downtown Days Inn Motel where I've been staying on my visits for the last ten years or so. The parking lot worried me, since there was only one car there, and the people clunking around seemed scary - hairy guy muttering to himself; another fellow with face tattoos. Talking with the landlady I learned there was a possibility we were related. She's from Las Vegas, NM; my father's family came from tecolote, south of Las Vegas. The scary people? They are all familia. So, I played fetch with the motel dog in the parking lot and made myself at home.
Eat at Frontier
Visit Nob Hill - no bars open - Got some OLO Yogurt
Wednesday, Feb. 19th
Visited downtown, particularly First National Bank Galleria.
Wow, there are huge office spaces in the FNB Galleria building!
Tried to visit ABQ Convention Center, Former B of A building
Lunch with Karl and Karen at Cocina Azul
Quick drive to Coronado Historic Site, west of Bernalillo
Rebuilt kiva at Coronado Historic Site
View of the Sandias from the Coronado Historic Site
Cheered on Tesla protesters
Drove from Highway 550 along Unser Blvd.
Tried to visit Wycaro site - turned back because it looked like it was guarded.
Thursday, Feb. 20th
Morning in Four Hills
Lunch at Viet Taste on Menaul with Bruce Warren
I’ve been scouting some Albuquerque-area filming locations from “The Man Who Fell To Earth,” starring David Bowie, filmed in 1975, in anticipation of a more detailed trip later this year. Visited Galloping Horse site (very likely a filming location) and Isleta Chevron (probably not a filming location).
Galloping Horse site.
Isleta Chevron.
Second visit to Nob Hill - some places open - Went to OLO Yogurt again
Friday, Feb. 21st
Lunch with my sisters at Cheesecake Factory in Coronado Center
This photo of the mall entrance got me in trouble with mall security.
I arrived at Coronado Mall early to meet my sisters for lunch at the Cheesecake Factory, but discovered the mall doesn’t open until 11. Really? Wow! Times sure have changed since the 80s. What do the morning mall walkers do? Are they now extinct?
Then, to add to the fresh dystopian hell sense of the place, when I went to sit on a bus bench, I was informed by security that it is against policy to take pictures of the mall. I mean, the place is huge. How do you avoid taking pictures of the place? At least they didn’t wrestle me to the ground and take the camera. But what if shoppers want to take selfies? I dunno….
But apparently it’s not against mall policy to go out into the parking lot and take pictures of this thing. THIS is where Heisenberg sets up his meth lab!
Attended two sessions at SWPACA 2025
Went to the Guild Theater and saw Oscar-nominated Shorts: Part 3 - Action films
Saturday, February 22nd
Checked out from motel
Presentation at SWPACA 2025
Visited my sister Marra and she showed me her gold-panning equipment and her back yard
Flew home
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