The last week of May, 2012, my good friends, Linda and Angela, visited me in Albuquerque. It was soooo very good to hear and see someone from "home"!!! We had an absolute blast. They arrived late Saturday night - tired from running to catch planes - to a smoky, windy city. There was a major fire in the Gila National area south of ABQ that was sending smoke up to cover the city. Fortunately the weather here changes almost hourly. So by the next day, while still a little windy, it was sunny and clear.
The first full day of their visit, we went on a 6 hour Jeep tour! You can check out my previous blog on that event. It was a great time! Plus, we made it to the Sandia Resort & Casino - for their gambling pleasure and my first experience at a Casino.
The second day, we spent in Old Town Albuquerque shopping and enjoying the sights. We drove down through Nob Hill, passed the University of New Mexico and had breakfast at The Flying Star cafe. I showed them where I work at The New Mexico Heart Institute. Once in Old Town, I took them to my favorite stores, Gowan Arts and Indian Treasures jewelry shop, as well as several other wonderful shops. We had quite the time in another shop that I've been in several times. As Linda put it, they had more stuff packed in per square inch than any other place she's ever been! We had lots of laughs and made jokes about how dry it is here. That evening we went to a great restaurant recommended by Roch, our tour guide from the Jeep tour - Vernon's Hidden Valley Steak house. What fun! When you make a reservation they give you a password. It's based on the old speakeasy style places - so you have to find the restaurant based on the directions they give you (there's no sign, only a black door with a red light over it) and knock on the door. When the slot in the door opens they ask you for the password so you can enter - they also ask you if you're a copper and whether you're wearing a wire! I was hoping for a frisking myself!! LOL! ;) Anyway, it's pricey, but well worth it! What a fun place!
On the Tuesday, after sighting some prairie dogs near my apartment, we headed up the Turqoise Trail, to Madrid. More fun shopping and gorgeous scenery driving through the Sandia Mountains on the way to Santa Fe. In Santa Fe, our first stop was at the Georgia O'Keefe museum. It was great to see her work displayed, but we were all a bit disappointed that it wasn't bigger - more paintings, more about her life, etc. But it was still great to visit. On the whole, Santa Fe was more of a disappointment. It's been on my bucket list for a long time. But we all agreed that we had more fun in Albuquerque.
On Wednesday, instead of making the long drive to Taos, we decided to hike the Tent Rocks National Monument. And that turned out to be a fantastic decsion! What a gorgeous, incredible place! And thanks to Borock personal training (shout out to Jeff!), Linda made it almost the whole way! You should have seen her climbing over boulders! And Angela as well! It was awesome!! (See Tent Rocks blog for photos) After Tent Rocks, we visited the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center for a Tewa Taco on Indian Frybread, finished up some shopping at the Palms Trading Post and Old Town, then finished up the evening with a visit to the Route 66 Casino.
All in all, it was an excellent adventure and I was sorry to see them go!
The first full day of their visit, we went on a 6 hour Jeep tour! You can check out my previous blog on that event. It was a great time! Plus, we made it to the Sandia Resort & Casino - for their gambling pleasure and my first experience at a Casino.
The second day, we spent in Old Town Albuquerque shopping and enjoying the sights. We drove down through Nob Hill, passed the University of New Mexico and had breakfast at The Flying Star cafe. I showed them where I work at The New Mexico Heart Institute. Once in Old Town, I took them to my favorite stores, Gowan Arts and Indian Treasures jewelry shop, as well as several other wonderful shops. We had quite the time in another shop that I've been in several times. As Linda put it, they had more stuff packed in per square inch than any other place she's ever been! We had lots of laughs and made jokes about how dry it is here. That evening we went to a great restaurant recommended by Roch, our tour guide from the Jeep tour - Vernon's Hidden Valley Steak house. What fun! When you make a reservation they give you a password. It's based on the old speakeasy style places - so you have to find the restaurant based on the directions they give you (there's no sign, only a black door with a red light over it) and knock on the door. When the slot in the door opens they ask you for the password so you can enter - they also ask you if you're a copper and whether you're wearing a wire! I was hoping for a frisking myself!! LOL! ;) Anyway, it's pricey, but well worth it! What a fun place!
On the Tuesday, after sighting some prairie dogs near my apartment, we headed up the Turqoise Trail, to Madrid. More fun shopping and gorgeous scenery driving through the Sandia Mountains on the way to Santa Fe. In Santa Fe, our first stop was at the Georgia O'Keefe museum. It was great to see her work displayed, but we were all a bit disappointed that it wasn't bigger - more paintings, more about her life, etc. But it was still great to visit. On the whole, Santa Fe was more of a disappointment. It's been on my bucket list for a long time. But we all agreed that we had more fun in Albuquerque.
On Wednesday, instead of making the long drive to Taos, we decided to hike the Tent Rocks National Monument. And that turned out to be a fantastic decsion! What a gorgeous, incredible place! And thanks to Borock personal training (shout out to Jeff!), Linda made it almost the whole way! You should have seen her climbing over boulders! And Angela as well! It was awesome!! (See Tent Rocks blog for photos) After Tent Rocks, we visited the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center for a Tewa Taco on Indian Frybread, finished up some shopping at the Palms Trading Post and Old Town, then finished up the evening with a visit to the Route 66 Casino.
goodness gracious, you guys covered a lot of territory.sounds like you even got linda into a couple of casinos, which i know she loves. i would love to see georgia o'keef's work as she loved the southwest so much. vernon's place sounds incredible. thanks for the great post....s
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