It was off to Albuquerque in December to enjoy the "warmth" of the Southwest and to join all the kids for the Christmas holiday. We were able to stay in a friends house about 20 minutes from Greg and Cindy's home, so we got to spend lots of time together. Amelia, Bill, Jack and Katmai drove down and Matt came down by jet. First thing to greet us was snow the day after we arrived!
That was a bit of a stunner, but we still had some sunshine and some days when it got above 50F. The snow did not hang around long, really.
We headed down to the Bosque de Apache one morning with our friend Peggy Wallach (married to Angelo Tomedi, a med school classmate). The Bosque is a large wetland area along the Rio Grande with millions of geese, cranes and ducks overwintering in the swamps. We had to get up at 4 AM to get there in time to see the birds take off and it was really quite cool. Never saw so many Snow Geese in one place.
Then the boys all retired to the garage so we could play with OUR tools.
Greg and Cindy live in a nice neighborhood that is great to take walks in and we wnet to the Park one sunny day.
Jack and Uncle Matt headed out on their own for a walk.
We got to take Jack to the Aquarium and on another day to the Explora museum for some hands-on science education. The adults loved it as much as Jack for sure.
Before they had to drive back North Wendy andI really enjoyed having time to just hang out with Amelia Bill and Jack.
Despite the cold, I was able to put a few miles on the new Beemer I shipped down from Fairbanks. Unfortunately, Greg's bike is really not geared for the highway so I was riding pretty much solo. This was a place called White Mesa, about an hour North of ABQ.
HIGH POINT OF TRIP ALERT!!
For Christmas the kids all pooled and got Wendy and I a hot air baloon ride. It was freezing that early morning but what a blast. Wendy is a little afraid of heights but never showed a bit of anxiety!
She was really just hamming it up for effect in that photo. It was very enjoyable for both of us. So cool to float over the yards and the Rio Grande river. We had a good landing performed by Randy the pilot (he actually calls that a job!) and we were presented with a certificate and some traditional champagne. Very much fun.
Due to the cold weather we decided on a road trip to Phoenix to visit some friends who just bought a house there. On the way we went to a place called El Morrow, in western New Mexico, which was essentially an ancient watering hole used by humans and animals from the days of the ancient Anasazi Indians to the railroad builders. They all carved their names in the sandstone rocks there and it was interesting to read inscriptions by Spanish Conquistadors and Wagon Train immigrants. I forgot to take pictures. DUUHHH
On the way down we stopped in Flagstaff and visited Jane and Jeff James who moved down from Palmer a couple of years ago. Jane was an ER nurse and was a big factor over the years in educating this bonehead to the ways of Alaskan Medicine. We drove with them down to Sedona and took an AWESOME Jeep ride over a really rough trail in the Red Rocks. Jeff put his Jeep at serious risk by letting yours truly drive. Lost a lot of metal off the bottom I think. Very cool corner of the Earth.
In Phoenix we visited with Greg and Nancy and took a day long MC trip on his bikes to Tucson and ate at our favorite BBQ restaurant there, Bubb's Grub. We befriended the owner of the place and his wife, who showed us some homes for sale with the thought of perhaps spending winter there, cause we really like Tucson. But we decided Albuquerque is probably more for us.
The rest of the trip we spent visiting with Greg and Cindy and looking for a house we might love in ABQ, but so far no bells have rung. Still working on it from here. It was hard to go back to Alaska and the windy weather in Palmer.
Stay tuned. In three weeks we head to New Zealand and the saga will continue.
