Albuquerque, New Mexico: One thing we wanted to do in this area was visit the Petroglyph National Monument, but unfortunately the major trail to observe most of the petroglyphs is under repair and closed.
Plan B. A quiet day? Well, you know that is never going to happen around here, but we did have a very nice day. I ran for 30 minutes and walked for 30 minutes and DT covered the same distance in half the time. Show off. Anyway... it was good to get in a workout after several days of New Mexican food. Just as well I exercised for so long: while out this morning, a member of the RV park staff (whom I has passed-by several times) asked me how far I was running. I told him I was running for 30 minutes and walking for 30 minutes. He said, "You should be able to lose a lot of weight with that workout." Thanks for that. Carriage return. New paragraph. What could be better than to have lunch outdoors at a brew pub on a sunny Sunday afternoon? DT always likes to visit local brew pubs to sample their wares and we killed two birds with one rock by visiting a brew pub in the Nob Hill District of Albuquerque - another area we wanted to explore. Nob Hill is located on Historic Route 66 and has an eclectic collection of shops and restaurants with a hipster/hippy vibe - somewhat like 23rd Street in Portland or Silver Lake in Los Angeles.
We found ourselves on the busy outdoor patio of Kelly's Brew Pub. In the true Historic Route 66 preservation spirit, Kelly's is situated in an old Ford dealership - the Jones Motor Company - originally built in 1939. Completely restored by Kelly's in 1999, diners now sit in auto repair bays with overhead signs reading "Lubrication" and "Service"... which oddly enough is also appropriate signage for a brew pub. We lubricated ourselves with brews and happily crunched on fresh salads instead of cheesy enchiladas.We drove Historic Route 66 back to our campsite and I snapped a few photos from the car window. We saw so many vintage cars today on the route (Central Street in Albuquerque) today, we wonder if it isn't maybe "the thing" to cruise the old highway in classic cars on Sunday?
Awesome fins!
Historic Kimo Theater on Historic Route 66I had big plans for the afternoon, and DT wanted to watch some golf on television...
When we were saying goodbye to Leo on our last visit to Los Angeles, I explained that Bubba and I were going to drive around in our bus for a while and it would be "a long time" before we would see him. Leo seems to understand the concept, but then asked me, completely concerned, if I would send him cookies in the mail. I wanted to laugh, very hard, but kept a straight face and promised cookies. (Truth be told, I often send him cookies in the mail, so he is familiar with the concept. Leo was only concerned about his cookie supply chain.)
I love that child.
Yesterday, while DT and I were strolling through Old Town Albuquerque, we spotted a Spiderman lunchbox in a shop. Leo just loves Spiderman, so we had found the perfect vessel to hold a few dozen cookies.
Completely made-up cookie recipe, which were baked at altitude and still turned outkinda-decent. I added some peanut butter, chocolate chips and peanut butter chips, using my usual chocolate chip recipe as a base. I will post the recipe after I bake them again at a lower elevation in an oven other than my small RV Advantium oven (which only could bake 6 cookies at a time - wahhh - that took a while).
A certain little fellow we all know will hopefully be very pleased with his new lunch pail - and cookies - in the mail.
Another reason for our stay in Albuquerque was to visit with Lisa's long-time friend and high school classmate, Leslie. Leslie is a physician in Albuquerque and we had not seen her since Lisa & Lenny's wedding... when, honestly, we really didn't have time to visit properly with anyone. Leslie made reservations at Indigo Crow, a very hip spot north of Albuquerque in Corrales Village. We had great food, delicious wines and a great time catching up with Lisa's dear friend. Sorry the photograph of two pretty girls isn't better... in a dark restaurant... by an unknown waiter... but we were happy. We just love, love, love connecting with Lisa's pals. Keeps us young!Pedometer: Over five miles for this old gal today!
Until my next update, I remain, your reminiscent correspondent.
RV PARK: American RV Park - About ten miles west of downtown Albuquerque on I-40, with easy on/off freeway access (some freeway noise) and close to Camping World. A very nice park with a heated pool, spa, bathhouse, dog park, laundry, store, free Continental breakfast, free wifi, cable TV, playground and horseshoes. We have a large full-service paved pull-though site with 50 amp in the newer "big rig" section. Few trees to bother your satellite reception. We are paying $38.