Showing posts with label Albuquerque. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Albuquerque. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Busy, Busy Weekend


On Saturday, we crammed in a lot of things.  First off, Alayah and Louie were in a kids triathelon.  I mostly took videos, but here's a blury pic of the start of the swim leg.


Both Alayah and Louie did a great job


Then, on to T-ball.

Here's Louie at bat and coming in to home base.




























Next up was Alayah.

















Then, we met C's sister to celebrate her graduation—with ice cream, of course.

Finally, we loaded up the van and drove up to Santa Fe.  We stayed with friends of C's and I now have 6 degrees of separation with Mandy Patinkin and Bob Woodard.

Sunday was the day of the Santa Fe Century bike ride.  The trail starts in Santa Fe, heads down toward Albuquerque, then they turn around and ride back up the mountains.  Here's the biker boy eating his breakfast.

Two-eggs and bread plus coffee
While he was riding up hill and dale, the girlz decided to have way more fun.  We visited the Pecos National Historical Park, situated in the Pecos Valley.  The area was first inhabited in 1100 by Pueblo Indians.



The population eventually grew to 2000 by the 1400s and became a large meeting center where goods were traded between the Pueblo and Plains Indians.








Just imagine these remains being walls that were four stories high.







Part of their culture involved ceremonial Kivas.  These were underground, circular rooms accessed by climbing down ladders.


These ceremonial and social places symbolized the connection between the underworld and life above ground.


In 1598, the Spanish arrived in New Mexico and quickly changed the way of life for the Native Americans, building churches to convert them.  Only the bare remnants remain.



Returning to Santa Fe, we stopped at KaKawa for  the most decedent beverage ever.  It was like drinking a melted dark chocolate bar.


Not long after we returned to the house, the biker boy returned, beating his own time from the ride last year, not too much the worse for wear, but impatient with the picture taking.



An awesome day was had by all.









Saturday, December 15, 2012

Random Observations While Flying



Traveling is always an adventure even if nothing unusual happens.  Even better that way because it give me time to just look around.  There are always different things to enjoy.  People watching in the airport.  Striking up short, casual conversations with strangers.  An excuse to eat junk food--not that I really need one. 

This trip, I flew to Albuquerque and here's where I'm staying



After landing for what seems to be the obligatory change of planes on any trip these days, as we taxied to the gate to deplane, I saw a couple of airplanes sitting by themselves, front end to a barrier, as if they had been put in time out.  Hopefully, just for cleaning and not bad behavior.

Back in the air after a layover in Denver that gave me just enough time to recharge various electronic devices, we climbed to fly over the Rockies.  If I'm lucky enough to get a window seat, I can watch the world go by beneath me.  The folds of bare land in the mountains look like rumpled sheets.  Further on, what I know are trees covering the ground look like blades of grass.  Miniscule dirt trails that snake up and down hills, crisscross the landscape and seem to go nowhere.

But, best of all, after I landed I get hugs from my son and granddaughter and get to spend the holidays with them.