Emily Visits New Mexico

My niece, Emily, flew to Albuquerque last Thursday to visit us and see the desert. Telly and Murphy were so excited to see her they nearly turned themselves inside-out. After picking her up at the airport, we had some lunch, took a little drive, ran a few errands, and played with the dogs. In spite of pouring rain, we decided to have dinner in Old Town and had a pleasant, filling meal at La Hacienda, where Emily was introduced to red and green chiles.


Still on Eastern Time, Em retired shortly after we returned from dinner.

Friday we bought a homegrown, homemade ristra from a man with a big smile at the side of the road not far from home. The new chile ristra is now hanging at our front door.



After a stop at the Sandia Tram for a panoramic view of the valley, we stopped at Elena Gallegos Picnic Area, where several mountain trails converge, including one that leads to the crash site of TWA Flight 260, a twin-engine plane that went down in the Sandia Mountain Wilderness on February 19, 1955.



Too hungry to hike, we made a dash to Whole Foods, picked up several trays of sushi and guacamole, and drove home to chow down.

Saturday morning we went to the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, a wonderful museum on 12th Street in Albuquerque. We were treated to a dance performance by a group from Zuni Pueblo, who performed an arrow dance, followed by a deer dance.






After touring the museum we ate Pueblo food and bought oven bread fresh out of an adobe oven.




Mid-afternoon we drove to Santa Fe for a quick tour of the city.






Sunday we hiked up the mesa in Boca Negra Canyon to see the Petroglyphs. I discovered I wasn't nearly as out of shape as I thought I was. This was all very encouraging. My muscles are feeling the strain today, however.




Emily left for home on Monday. I dropped her off at the Southwest terminal late morning and returned home to console two grieving puppies who miss her.

We humans miss her too...it was a swell weekend and we hope she'll come back for mountain hikes, chiles and desert air. Y'all come back real soon now, ya hear?

[For those interested, the futon held together and did not collapse.]