Albuquerque

We got a little bit of a late start on our drive to Albuquerque because of an unfortunate exploding tea mix situation when the container was opened for the first- some clean up was necessary! Next time, open the jar for the first  time at a lower elevation! 🙂

We caught a little rain on the way to Albuquerque- what a surprise.  We are staying at a campground next to a casino about 15 miles west of the city- it’s nice, but could use some trees- that’s what you get when staying in the desert!  We had great burgers at Laguna Burgers- if you ever see one, go there- delicious and reasonably priced!  We hit the casino- and lost $26 gambling, high rollers that we are!! 

So far this trip we have had wind in Las Vegas, WIND in Williams, and WIND in Albuquerque.  I don’t know why I am bothering blowing my hair dry as it just gets messed up as soon as I go outside.

We went to the New Mexico Museum of Natural History, and it was not all that I was expecting, but it was interesting.  It’s main focus was on the formation of the universe and dinosaurs.  They had some amazing fossils and skeletons:

That’s Jerry in the first picture, so you can get an idea of how big these dinos were!

We met up with my oldest brother and sister in law, CJ and Peggy, for a wonderful visit and dinner at Joe’s Pasta House.  We are so thankful they came down from Colorado to visit with us!

The following day we went to the US Nuclear Museum, which had a lot of information of the development of nuclear fusion, fission, weapons and energy. We saw info about the race for the atomic bomb, and saw a B-52 bomber like the Enola Gay:

We had a delicious lunch at Two Cranes to celebrate Cinco de Mayo then wandered around Old Town for a bit before calling it a day.

On Saturday we went to the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center. Jerry and I went last year but CJ and Peggy had never been, and it is a MUST DO! While there we spoke with several artists who were selling their pottery, and it was fascinating. They told us how they make the pots and then decorate them, and the meanings of all the symbols and decorations on the pottery- I now have a much greater appreciation for the difficulty of making this beautiful pottery, and understand the high prices. The pottery, weavings, and jewelry of these Native Americans is truly art! After going back and forth several times (indecisive much?) between 2 artists, a father and his son, I finally purchased a beautiful wedding jar, and Peggy and CJ bought a bear and a bison.

We were lucky enough to watch a dance performance- I think it was a deer dance:

It was beautiful! We had lunch at the Indian Pueblo Kitchen- delicious!

We finally remembered to get a picture of the 4 of us before we left the museum:

We then went to see Covenant at the movies- it’s a great movie and we all recommend it!

We had a great time in Albuquerque, and are so thankful that CJ and Peggy came down to see us- we love you guys!