The last time I photographed this abandoned house in Golden, NM was about ten years ago. In fact, my profile picture for this blog (the one with the guitar) is from that trip and was shot right there on the front porch.

The house was abandoned then too but didn't look nearly as dangerous as it does now. As you can see, there are cinder blocks piled up on the bottom step and the entrance to the porch is blocked to deter looky-loos like myself from getting too close. The house looks like it could fall down at any moment.

Anyway, while photographing the house the first time, a man named Leroy suddenly materialized. I don't remember if he said that he owned the house but he did say that he was the (likely self proclaimed) Mayor of Golden. He bent my ear for a long time, going on about all kinds of wacky shit - but he never said "You're trespassing" or "get off my porch" so I waited him out and he did eventually leave so I could get my photos.

It didn't occur to me at the time but I guess it's possible that Leroy may have been an apparition and, of course, my apologies if I've offended anyone who knows Leroy, (now the former?) Mayor of Golden. He sure is chatty though, isn't he?

This church was built in 1839 and has been through a few renovations. I have found photos on the internet showing the church in all white and with slightly different exterior styling. That being said, it is once again in dire need of some maintenance. I didn't photograph it, but there is a sizable hole opening up in the exterior adobe wall on the west side of the building.

Unfortunately for me, I arrived about 20 minutes before mass was to begin. So, while I'm trying to go exploring, the parking lot is filling with cars and a steady stream of people are walking through the yard to enter the church. It probably would've been better to show up on a weekday.

For our anniversary, Johnpaul and I went on a haunted date to the infamous Luna Mansion in Los Lunas, New Mexico. It was a Tuesday evening and there was snow on the ground so, needless to say, it was slow night at the Mansion... which is exactly what I was hoping for. To make things even better, the bartender had called in sick so the upstairs bar was not in service but the manager still allowed us to go exploring up there all by ourselves. This is not the kind of thing that I could've orchestrated so apparently the Mansion wanted to give us a look around. 

For more information about the hauntings at the Luna Mansion, check out this article from the Valencia County New-Bullitin.

To check out my previous post about the Luna Mansion, click here.

Most of the ghost stories about the Luna Mansion take place in the upstairs bar & lounge area. I did not witness anything unusual, but while Johnpaul was checking out the rocking chair he said he heard a disembodied voice speaking Spanish that seemed to be coming from the top of the stairs.

Last weekend, Johnpaul and I went on a little photo-adventure to the Rio Puerco Bridge on-the-mother-road-to-rio-puerco-bridge.html which is out on Historic Route 66 west of Albuquerque. From there, we decided to take Hwy 6 back to Los Lunas and, on the way, came across Maybelle's Diner. 

After posting a few photos on Twitter, one of my followers shared some interesting information about this location, namely that there never was any such place as Maybelle's Diner.

Turns out the original name of this place was Wild Horse Mesa Bar. After it closed, Hollywood came in and used it for an on-location set in the 2016 movie Katie Says Goodbye. It was renamed Maybelle's Diner for the movie.

I'm not sure that Meadow Lake ever really had a "prime". It's a weird place that boasts neither a meadow nor a lake. To be fair, there was once a man-made lake that someone must have gone through a lot of trouble to build for the five people who lived there. It is closed now and barricaded behind a razor wire topped chain link fence. I grew up in this area and don't recall it ever being open. 

It's hard to tell what this building used to be, the inside doesn't look like a house. The land is for sale if anyone wants to use it for something else.

Whenever I tell someone that I live out near Meadow Lake, they always ask "is it past the Little White Church?" This building is the iconic landmark of the Meadow Lake area. 

​For the record, it's not abandoned, but I'm sure they get asked that all the time.

This gravel pit was operational when I was a kid. It is located about half way up the big hill (there's only one). There is a derelict mobile home park at the bottom of the hill. The park is inhabited but no one is paying their neighborhood association fees. Anyway, when I was a kid, the mobile home park was in a more respectable condition and then one day a truck loaded with gravel was coming down the hill and lost control at the curve. It tumbled a few times causing one of the axels to fly off and by god if it didn't cut one of those mobile homes clean in two! 

​Since then they put up a guard rail.

Just one of many curious structures that had electricity.

On Thursday (11/08/2018), I went with Johnpaul to a home inspection in Stanley, New Mexico. I came along in hopes of finding some good abandoned houses to photograph and Stanley did not disappoint.

For the most part, there is nothing in Stanley except a bunch of huge ranches. If you're looking for gas, food, or civilization you'll need to go back up the highway to Edgewood.

On the way into town, there is a little cluster of abandoned houses. If you're interested in checking them out, you'll need to be very careful, discreet and quick because, as always the hills have eyes who may show up at any moment to demand an explanation for what you think you're doing.

It should go without saying that you should never take anything other than photographs from an abandoned house as it's a good way to bring home unwanted guests such as angry spirits or Hantavirus, and no one wants that.