Saturday evening, we went to the 2026 Gathering of Nations Powwow, “The Last Dance”. It is called “The Last Dance” since it is the last Gathering of Nations Powwow planned in Albuquerque; there have been powwows in Albuquerque for forty-two years.
We saw the horse parade and Native American Dancers bedecked in beads, face paintings and feathers.
We ate authentic Native American food (Navajo tacos, Pueblo burgers, and Navajo fried bread.)
And we waited in line for ninety minutes to get into the Tingley Coliseum to see the Grand Entry of Dancers. Even then we didn’t get in.
But they did have several large screens throughout the fairgrounds where they streamed the Grand Entry of Dancers.
This entire arena filled was filled with dancers, singers and drummers by the time they all filed in. What a great experience. Thanks Kathi and Barb. The youtube video below shows the Grand Entry for Friday (the day before.)
Due to weather forecasts for high winds between Albuquerque and Winslow Arizona (our next stop), we postponed travel one day.
Instead of traveling in the RV, we took Kathi’s SUV west into the winds to visit a couple of places. The winds shook the SUV and big trucks around, so we were glad not to be driving the RV.
Our first stop was to Acoma’s cultural center, one of the oldest continually occupied communities in North America. The picture to the left was taken on the road to the cultural center.
We boarded a bus that took us up 365 feet to the top of a mesa where the Acoma tribe had a established a village named Sky City. The picture on the left was from a poster within the cultural center.
The histories told by the guide were interesting and the views were fantastic. The histories included why the Acoma lived on a mesa (defense from other peoples including the Spanish) and what happened when the Spanish finally conquered the Acoma (the Spanish built a huge cathedral). We also saw some (and bought one) of the artwork from the residents of the village. We could see Mt. Taylor from the mesa; the Acoma people had traveled to Mt. Taylor (55 miles away) for food and wood/ lumber.
After Acoma we continued west to the visitor center for El Malpais National Monument.
El Malpais is a park dedicated to lava flows that occurred in that area, the most recent lava flow was observed by pre-historic native Americans. The four of us watched the film about the park and toured the museum.
There weren’t any trails at the visitor center, so we headed further west so Steve could hike to the Continental Divide (along a part of the Zuni-Acoma Trail.)
The road to the trailhead took us through a sandstorm (yes it was still windy). V: another crazy experience driving through the sandstorm.
At the trailhead, Steve took off for a one-mile hike to the Continental Divide.
The Divide itself (or at least the trail) was fairly flat, Steve had expected something with a ridge. And the trail was marked with many cairns and also marked by the lack of vegetation on the trail.
V: no normal trail signs or arrows or markers – just cairns (man-made minirock towers).
Vicki explored some of the lava rocks back at the trailhead. Vicki loves her lava.
After the hiking we were all hungry, so we stopped at “Junkyard on 66 Brewery” in Grant. The exterior of the place was so bad, Kathi almost didn’t go in. But the interior was spotless with many car hoods converted into tables. There were several classic muscle cars around the eating area. The BBQ was great, and Steve even liked their version of a light Mexican lager. V: completely cool motorhead place. Our table was the hood of a Pontiac. A yellow 1971 Corvette Stingray, red 1974 Corvette Stingray, classic model T Ford were just some of the cars in the large garage among the tables and chairs, arcade games, pool table, bar, etc. What a great way to end our exploring day.
