Albuquerque Day Two

 

Has been on my bucket list for years
and I finally got here!!

On Sunday, it was Day Two of our Albuquerque vacation. Did you know I could not spell this city until I spent two days in it?? Seriously.....I finally can spell this "chili  capital of the world". 

We began the day sleeping in a bit as we quickly acclimated to the time difference. We rose around 7 AM (9 AM in NY) and had a breakfast of fresh fruit and rye toast.  We had bought a few groceries the day before once we landed and before we checked in to our Air BnB. We chuckled because we couldn't find mild salsa anywhere.  NM's medium is our mild I think!  We bought salsa, tortilla chips, a pint of blueberries (literally HALF the cost of ones here in NYS), 4 oranges (again, half the price!), a loaf of rye (about $2 more than here in NY), some potato salad, a Caesar  salad (our lunch), a roll of paper towels, lemonade (cheaper than NY), and 2 beautiful beefsteak tomatoes (way cheaper than here in NY).  Basically, the cost of living in the west (other than CA) seems to be much less expensive than here on the East Coast. NYS is so over taxed it's ridiculous. 

After breakfast, we texted the family members who wanted to hike with us and it turned out that everyone did!  So we met Karen/Ernest; Peter/Kathy; Adam; B and P at the above national park. Sadly, there was only one ranger there. Happily, there is no longer an entrance fee!  Our niece B does have the national park pass (I just have the NYS parks one) but we discovered they no longer have enough rangers to work all the trailheads so...no more fees! 

Adam, B and P and Dave and I decided on the longer trail about a mile from the visitors center. The others all went  a different direction for about a mile and hiked the more "touristy trail"...the easier one that had a sidewalk for some of it and where the petroglyphs were close to the trail. 

The trail Dave and I chose was a 2 mile loop. It was so easy!!  I was astounded at all the cacti, the skinks, the rattlesnake warnings, and the SAND.  It literally made a layer on our skin. But it was my first time hiking in bright sunshine and no sweat!!  I knew deserts were dry of course but this was really dry!  The wind felt great and it was just so weird to us to not be working up a sweat. I didn't even feel like this hike was a hike!  It was more like a walk on sand. While we were doing the loop, we saw a skink, many birds with yellow bellies, and two coyotes on the ridge!  We saw no sign of a rattlesnake. Our nephew who is in his 6th year of living in NM says they mainly come out in early morning and early evening and sometimes on a cool day at noon.  He has only seen one rattlesnake since living there.  And it was on an off ramp of a highway near his first town named Clovis.  (I think I have that right). 

After the first hike, because it was so easy, we decided to go to another longer trail (another 2 mile loop) in a different section of the Monument. It was about a 10 min drive through a residential area.  Very nice and quiet neighborhood.  

Below  are some photos of the two hikes we took: 

I loved these red flowers on this cacti

Dave and I finally get in a desert hike!
two checks off my bucket list:  Hike in a desert and hike in the Petroglyphs

I also loved these yellow flowers on this cactus 
although the photo isn't as vibrant as in real life

We liked this cactus

Dave on the left, our nephew Adam on the right
b and p are leading the way

Desert's are SOOO flat compared to our mountain hiking!
Although the volcanic rock makes these hills...and there's no green
anywhere!!  No running water! 

I liked these cross symbols 
and we found out that the Pueblos didn't really explain
the various petroglyphs....they're fascinating though!

I liked this quote..
this was at the easier trail that we did on our last day in ALBQ

On this ridge is where we saw 2 coyotes
 looking down at us!
One was running through the rocks but we  couldn't get a pic in time

a skink!
They reminded Dave and I of the little geckos we saw in Aruba

The name of the first trail we hiked. 

I've always wanted to see real tumbleweeds....
and now we have! 
I even took a video of this one....it's on FB

A hill!!  But no trail to the top. 
some of the black rock is from 3 volcanos
that rolled and rolled and landed here
according to signage we read.

I really liked this group of petroglyphs
of all the different hands...wonder what the meaning is??

some of us thought this was supposed to be a coyote
others thought a roadrunner!
Can you see this animal petroglyph?? look closely

This was the name of the trail where the previous 
4 photos were taken.  

After the hikes, we all met up at this lunch place.  It was already mid-afternoon but we had delicious salads and cold drinks. Then we all went our separate ways to shower, relax with books and wait to meet up for dinner. 

This fountain was gorgeous outside
the restaurant where my brother in law
Peter and his wife Kathy treated us all to dinner 
in honor of Adam getting his law degree. 

I decided to not have alcohol with dinner
so ordered this amazing super chilled drink
called Cucumber Lemonade. it was so refreshing!!

Since our day two was Karen and Ernest's last night in Old Town, along with B and P's last night, Peter and Kathy (B's and Adam's parents) treated the gang to dinner at the restaurant linked above in the fountain pic. WOW. The food was outstanding. Dave ordered a  ravioli dish as did Adam. I don't remember what other people got. Karen (Dave's oldest sis) and I had the parmesan crusted chicken breast with aspargus, polenta and a dijon-herb sauce. I have always wanted to try polenta and can now say I have and it was fantastic!!  We all ate every bite of our food. Only Adam and his parents had room for dessert. We all did order  coffee for after dinner and we went our separate ways after a nice long 2 hour dinner. We said goodbye to Karen and Ernest who had to fly back to CA the next morning. Hugged our niece B and her hubby P who had to fly back early in the morning to get back to their home on the east coast. And agreed to text Peter and Kathy the next morning after we all slept in, to make plans for Monday, our third day in NM and their last day. Adam had to work Monday so we wouldn't be seeing him. 

We were tired from our long day so Dave and I did some reading and then went to bed.  Day Two in NM was so much fun!!