Saturday, May 16, 2009

The adventure comes to an end






Well gang, for those of you who have been following us for the last 7 weeks you know that it's time to be back in Sacramento. We did arrive home yesterday the 15th. Here's some pics from the last few days of the trip







We spent a few days in Sierra Vista, Az visiting Sharleen's family. We took a walk and found this little lake in the middle of the desert.







On Friday evening we went up to Tucson and watched Ryan (Sharleen's nephew) race Motocross. He ran in the 85cc class and won both events he raced in. Way to go Ryan!!









We headed to Scottsdale, Az on Monday and visited some long time friends who live there. We had dinner on their patio with the view shown here. What a great evening to end the trip. Thanks John and Brenda.... great to see you again.
Well, as they say in the movies..... that's a wrap!
We head out again in late August so..... look for us then.













Tuesday, May 5, 2009

New Mexico

We made it to Tijeras just East of Albuquerque for three fun filled days exploring. Here's a short version of the days.







We started with dinner at John and Sandy's house on Friday evening. A great evening of catching up on days gone by. The next morning we headed to Santa Fe.











We had breakfast at this four star New Mexican restaurant..... great food and super people. John and Sandy know the folks so it was just like home.













On Sunday we drove to a area North West of Santa Fe and visit the Bandelier National Monument. Here the ancient Pueblo Indians built dwellings and occupied these lands some 700 years ago. If you enlarge the photo and look closely you can see the caves at the base of the cliff that they carved out as part of their homes.














I just had to climb the four ladders that took me to a ceremonial cave in the side of the cliff. Well worth the climb




The same afternoon we visited Los Alamos national lab most famous as the home of the Manhattan project which developed the atomic bomb in 1942. The museum was awesome and it gave a great deal of insight into the time and the people who were working in the town that didn't exist to bring a end to WWII.






Monday we headed to Albuquerque and rode the longest tram in the world to the top of Sandia crest.













The view from the top of Sandia Crest was spectacular. The Crest is 10,300 feet msl and nearly 4000 feet above the tram station at the bottom. The entire Albuquerque basin was visible from the top.
We hit the road again today..... we're in Deming, New Mexico tonight and tomorrow off to Sierra Vista, Arizona for a few days with Sharleen's mom, brother and families.
What a great time in the Albuquerque area...... thanks to John and Sandy for all they did.... great food, great tour guides and most of all great just to catch up on old times..... Thanks again.