Living in a small village can be difficult when you need access to goods and services that are only available in a neighborhood or metropolis.
While our trips into Albuquerque from Tijeras were actually long, that was nothing compared to the small village where I was born in northern Michigan.
All of us had to drive three hours just to get into Lansing! This is a part of the state that is heavily wooded and hilly, while having only a smattering of small to medium sized towns. Anything that you would take for granted in a big neighborhood is completely absent when you live in the backwoods. Moving to Tijeras was a similar experience because I found myself constantly needing to drive into Albuquerque on interstate 40. However, the distance is a fraction of what I was dealing with living in northern Michigan as a child. One thing that irritated myself and others about Tijeras—and influenced our decision to finally buy a home in Albuquerque—was the lacking selection of many businesss. When I needed a modern a/c in our little bungalow, I could only find three companies from which to gather price quotes. Now that I have moved to Los Volcanes in Albuquerque, I have three Heating and A/C companies within walking distance of our house. However, our new heating and cooling business is based out of West Mesa just a few more miles east of Los Volcanes. Heating and cooling companies are pressing in the southwest because of the severely hot hot and cold temperatures we experience throughout the Summer season. On top of that, we get Winter time weather that is frigid enough to justify indoor heating as well.