2007 NM Fri Feb 2

Fri Feb 2

Keith got up early and skied a half day while I lolled around in bed until noon! I couldn’t get to sleep the night before and took a sleeping pill about 2 am and it was doing its business. That is one of the side effects of altitude on me, poor sleep.

Keith came back home just as Gil and I were discussing the latest batch of photos he had brought in for us on cd. He is such a kind person. One of the pictures was of the head in the mountains. It looks like George Washington and they say it looks like a skull from some angles. I could see George, but I never saw the skull. Good thing he circled it or I don’t think I would have seen it at all!


We went out to the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge and marveled at the scenery.
















We took the (very) little hike down to the bridge from the parking lot and I was so glad to have my new snow boots! I couldn’t have gone down there without them. Keith held my hand the whole way as I am very leery of slipping! (Memories of two broken legs within 9 months still are pretty vivid!)

Once on the sidewalk of the bridge I noticed a strange thing. It looked like people had been clearing the bridge with their feet. I thought, how odd! Why would they do that? Then once we were over the river, I knocked some snow over the edge and immediately understood. It is very cool to watch the snow chunks fall 850 feet down to the river and to see the breeze pick up the snow crystals and make patterns in the air with them. I ended up clearing a good bit of sidewalk with my feet!

It was the most glorious day – that deep blue sky and bright sunshine. In town the wind had been whipping, and we thought we would get even more wind at the bridge, but there was only the slightest of breezes out there. It was pretty cold, but without the wind and with such low humidity, it doesn’t really bother you. Speaking of wind, here is a picture that is amazing. It was so windy in town that as the snow melted off the roof, it was blown sideways and these sideways icicles formed! Funny, huh?

We spent a couple of hours just soaking in the scenery on the bridge, then decide to head back to town for some lunch – well, dinner really. It was now about4:30 and neither of us had had lunch, so we were pretty hungry.

We decided to go back to the Trading Post, where it was too crowded to get in the other night. Good decision! I asked after Gata, the resident cat, once we were seated. Michelle, the hostess, told us that about 6 months ago somebody called the health department and reported Gata being in the restaurant, so now she is shut in her room until right before closing. Imagine that, she had been there for ten years, not hurting anything, and now she is a pariah! Humph! Busybodies! After dinner was over, we asked if we could say hello, and Michelle brought her out for a quick visit.

Before dinner, a little lady came around showing jewelry she and her daughter had made and I got a nice silver wire wrapped around copper cross. Her name was Josie and she does the bead work and her daughter the silver and wire work.

Dinner was the best yet! To start with, they give you hot fresh bread that you dip into balsamic vinegar and olive oil – yum. Then we split a salad of spring greens, with slices of fresh tomato and buffalo mozzarella cheese and a half of a full size steamed artichoke. Boy was it good!

I had escargot with a fabulous sauce and a clump of crispy angel hair pasta. The pasta had been cooked, then made into a patty, then fried so it was very crunchy. Tasty, tasty.

Keith had the steak with garlic mashed potatoes, a skewer of grilled shrimp, a small spring salad, and fresh vegetables. Vegetables included fresh carrots, zucchini, and spinach. All in various yummy sauces. We traded food back and forth, of course. Everything was so good.



They had a bunch of quilts on display on the walls inside the restaurant, all selling at $900 plus!



After dinner, we waddled out to the car and came back to the room to sit in torpor for awhile! Then we started the process of packing up. Being a week in one room, we have really spread out and it seemed unlikely that everything would fit back in the suitcases, but I know it will. Whether it will be less than 50 pounds is another matter! I guess we will just estimate it as best we can and if it is too much at the airport, we will rearrange things! Keith thought of a good idea, to get one of those fish scales that you could hang a bag from and weigh it!

Sat Feb 3

Today we plan to go to Los Alamos, there is a science museum there. (Oh, by the way, I forgot to tell you, the hippieish couple we talked to yesterday, Adam and Cara, his parents both work at Los Alamos “building nuclear bombs” as Adam said. Don’t you know they have some interesting discussions!) Near Los Alamos is Bandelier National Park, with cliff dwellings and other cool stuff to see. If the weather is nice and the snow not too deep, we may prowl around on foot, otherwise we will take the driving tour. We may take a quick foray through Santa Fe, depending on the time, or just eat dinner there. Then it is back to Albuquerque and fly home on Sunday.