Sept. 25, 2016 Leaving Durango for Albuquerque- stop at Jemez Pueblo on reservation

We are on the way to Albuquerque with a stop at the  Pueblo of Jemez visitor center.
There will be a traditional lunch and then we will depart for Albuquerque which is 50 miles away.

The distance from Durango to the Pueblo is appox. 178 miles which means we will have a rest stop before reaching the Pueblo.

Weather is mild and sunny and we left at 7:30 am because of the long drive and to have time for a walking tour in old Albuquerque before dinner.

Around 9:30 am we stopped at the Apache Nugget Casino and gas station in Cuba, NM.
There is nothing around this business except open land. Where the customers come from is a mystery to me.

We got there too early to go into the casino as it opens at 11 am.

http://www.apachenugget.com/casinos/apache-nugget-casino/

Bathrooms limited in size for men and women so it took a long time for everyone to use them.

We then drove to the Pueblo of Jemez to go to the visitor center.

http://www.jemezpueblo.com/History.aspx

Really nice facility with museum, gift shop and classrooms.

 Half the group toured the museum with the local guide and the other half participated in making a clay basket and 30 mins. later we rotated from classroom to museum.

The local ladies made a spicy tortilla dish and since we were warned we took our bag lunch out to a patio table by the bus and had our lunch there.
When we went back to the visitor center  (1PM) the tour director told us the bus broke down again and it  will be several hours before another bus comes to pick us up and take us to our hotel.

Fortunately right next door to the visitor center was a gas station/mini mart where we bought bottles of water.

3PM the replacement bus arrived and we all got on and by 5pm we arrived at our hotel. The tour director told us to be at the bus by 5:45 so we can go to our farewell dinner in old town.

The restaurant was closed but the tour co. reserved it for our dinner. It was a good meal and we enjoyed visiting with the members of the group.

We have a 9am flight tomorrow and opted to take the 6 am bus to the airport.