Friday Funny - Don't You Hate It...

Don't you hate it when you do something stupid in front of your neighbor?

 

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Love Goldens

Betty and I love Golden Retrievers. When our kids were young, we had a wonderful female Golden, Missy. She lived with us for 14 years and she was really special.

Some day we may get another Golden when we slow down on our travel. So, until then we make do with pictures like this one I ran across the other day to get our 'Golden fix.'

 

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Balloon Fiesta Time Lapse

I know that I have put far more photos and videos about the Balloon Fiesta than most want to see. However, I ran across this time lapse video that gives a great overview of the whole show from the Dawn Patrol in the morning before the sun comes up all the way to the fireworks show in the evening.

Hopefully, this may encourage some of you to come visit us during a future Fiesta (we're booked for 2014).

 

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Monday Video - Margie Meets Frankie and Pickles

On Sunday we told Betty's sister Margie that her life would not be complete unless she met Frankie and Pickles. Now her life is complete.

Plus, she got to feed half a carrot to Sugar - life is good!

 

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RailRunner to Santa Fe

New Mexico has a commuter train called the New Mexico RailRunner that runs from South of Albuquerque (Belen) up to Santa Fe with several stops in between. One of those stops is in Bernalillo which is the closest station to us.

Betty and I have talked for years about taking the train to Santa Fe, but we never got around to it. Margie, who is visiting with us, said she wanted to ride the train so we said now's the time to do it. So we took the Saturday RailRunner to Santa Fe.

The Saturday schedule has a train that leaves the Bernalillo station at 9:37 AM and that worked for us.

We rode all the way to the Santa Fe Depot which is the Northern end of the line.

There is a great shuttle system that runs every 15-20 minutes from the Depot to the Plaza. We visited most of the shops around the Plaza and several of the shops down the side streets. The first stop was the Portales where the Indian vendors show their wares.

Then we hit some of the side street shops.

We had lunch at a quirky little restaurant called Pasquales which is a block off the plaza.

After lunch and some more shopping we caught the 3:28 PM train to return home in time to feed the horses and see the Breeder's Cup Classic horse race.

It was a tiring but good day.

 

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Taos, New Mexico

We got home Thursday afternoon from our trip to visit the kids and grandkids in Fort Collins. On our way home we took a two night side trip to Taos, New Mexico. Taos is a great art community in Northern New Mexico that sits at 6,969 feet among the Northern New Mexico mountains.

We stayed at our favorite place in Taos, the Taos Inn which is on the Historic Register. It was originally the home of Doctor Martin, the local doctor in Taos.

There are several houses with different styles of rooms. We stayed in the Sandoval House which is an old stucco home with walls that are almost two feet thick. Each room has a wood burning kiva so we could have a wonderful fire each night as we went to bed. Margie was in room 202 and we were in room 203.

Every night there is entertainment in the lobby/bar area of the Inn. There is a happy hour entertainment from 4 to 6 PM and a 'main show' from 7 to 10 PM. The two 'happy hours' we were there the music was provided by the Christy Hayes Duo who were from Austin, Texas. We were able to have drinks and food which became our dinner each night.

In a small sitting room behind the performance area, the Inn had decorated for the Day of the Dead which is today, Saturday, November 2. It always follows All Saints Day on November 1. To most outsiders it may seem kind of weird and, for some, it is just a chance to dress up as skeletons. However, to Hispanics it's a special time to celebrate those of their families who have gone on before. They take it very seriously and it's meant to be a time of remembering, celebrating and honoring their lives and what they meant to their families.

Pictures and little slips with names are pinned to the board. Since this was a serious celebration of the Day of the Dead, we wanted to celebrate and honor those of our families who have gone before. We added slips for our nephew John Wade, Betty and Margie's parents Bill and Martha Wade and my parents Dorothy and Clyde Cooksey.

The second night we were there enjoying the music it started to snow.

Each morning we went to the Bent Street Deli & Cafe for breakfast and the second morning we walked through the one inch of snow from the night before.

As we drove out of Taos we stopped at the St. Francis cathedral which is an historic church in the Taos area.

We drove home on the low road from Taos that goes along the Rio Grande River. The Cottonwood trees were still magnificent. We think, because of the rain we had this Fall, the trees are as brilliant as we've ever seen in our 9+ years here.

Finally, we stopped at one of our favorite restaurants on the way home, the Range in Bernalillo and it was appropriately decorated for Halloween.

All in all it was a great trip.

 

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Friday Funny - Huge Bear Surprises Photo Shoot in BC

Check this out.

 

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