Friday, November 9, 2018

Sight-Seeing, Old Town Albuquerque, Tea Time and Driving Me ‘Incense’ in a Good Way


Woohoo! I stayed up until 9:30 last night. That is a record over the past few days. It was a great sleep and although it was dropping down to 1C (at 6 am) Bill and Rob decided not to worry about disconnecting the water hoses. We left a couple of our taps on a very very slow drip, as a precaution. I was awake at 5 and noticed that Bill was too, but we relaxed until closer to 6 before getting up. Clem kept the bed warm until 7:30. Such a little sleepyhead!

It was a frosty morning, I can't see ours from my window
but Rob's windshield was covered

By 8 am, the sun had cleared half of it
We had our morning brew together and since we were both able to get on our laptops (yabadabadoo!) we read blog posts to see what some of our friends were up to. When my tea was finished, I had my long, hot shower and oh, wow, it feels so good. I love that we can pull into a park and get the advantage of their water pressure but still have a shower in the confines of our own home. Remember, at the Ridge, we rely on pressure only from a water tank. We don't miss what we don't have, but we sure enjoy it when we do!

Views from Old town

Once cleaned up, I texted Rob and Pat to see if they had anything on their agenda. We’ve had a few suggestions from friends, 'thank you, thank you very much', and the 4 of us decided to drive into Old Town Albuquerque. We left early, almost too early, because only a handful of shops were open at 9. We walked around the streets, very old and very Spanish style and before we knew it more and more of their quaint shops were open.

I met a new friend but she was too busy talking on her phone to notice me
Looking at the picture now, I don't see a phone at all so I should have slipped mine
in her hand for the photo
Pat and I had fun pointing out the fine details in this statue
pen in her hand, her jewelery, fashionable belt and sunglasses in her purse
Bill and I had debated on touring the Museum of Natural History and Science but even though the entrance fee was a minimal $9/senior, other than the dinosaurs, we weren’t so keen on walking and reading the historical trivia on much else. Sometimes we feel in that frame of mind but today, we didn’t. We'd also discussed taking the Sandia Peak Tramway but it is closed for maintenance during our time here. Darn! It was nice that Rob and Pat had never been to Old Town before so a treat for all of us.

This turned out better than I thought
The leaves on the stone wall beside Pat are real
So many pretty things to see
Look at all the red chili peppers
Behind the fence, the bright red wreaths are made from the small ones
We perused the Covered Wagon, a beautiful shop full of many interesting things, the Old Town Basket and Rug Shop and Old Barrel Tea Company to name a few. The handsome young fellow in the latter venue was very knowledgeable and pleasant. We accepted his offer and had a sample of 4 different tea blends and honey as well. When he stepped out from behind the counter, I had to comment on his height as I thought he’d been standing on a platform back there. Nope, he had to be 6’7” as he towered over me. A tall drink of water, he was.

Tea?
Pat waves again at me! Buenos dias!


A couple of sweet guys here........um, a couple of guys who love sweets

We all walked out with purchases so it will be a Teatime Happy Hour today. Bill and I also found sticks of incense at the Old Town Basket shop that were going to be neat to experience. We chose 30 at a great price and Bill bought some fudge at the Candy Shop. Boy did some eyes light up in that store! We gathered at the Plaza Don Luis in the sun to discuss our direction before heading back towards the truck.

Our tea and stainles steel spoon for measuring


Some incense burning at home



Pat and I walked through a cool store, Vintage Cowgirl’s, with absolutely beautiful clothing but way out of our price range. How I would have loved one of the western outfits that were offered. It was getting close to noon hour and we were able to catch a lot of the shops open by that time before deciding to head towards camp. Bill drove to a Walmart where we took advantage of the great diesel price of $3.06/gal that Rob told us about yesterday. Now we both have full tanks for the run tomorrow.

Wild is right - teehee
Pat and I loved these huge clay pots in the median of I-40
Back home, it was time to get something to eat and go through and record our purchases. I made myself a coffee and warmed up some of my tomato soup and Bill made himself a sandwich. Time to relax for a bit before Bill went out to check the tires on the Suite. Our neighbor to the west of us pulled out by 7 this morning so we opened the valve to the fresh water tank to drain most of our water. We don’t need the weight when we travel tomorrow to another park destination.

It was a nice walk down to the front gate and back


I love how these evergreens grow out of the rock
Quite a view from this vantage point
In 2016, I took a picture from here and it was our Suite at the bottom
I vacuumed the Suite and then went for a walk around the park while the boys got things all checked out on the trucks and the rv’s. It was our turn to host Happy Hour. I cut up some of Bill’s fudge to share and we sat inside out of the cool air. Before they arrived, I had prepped potatoes to make fries for supper to go along with the pollock filet we were having. I’d have to be patient and fry the spuds in my electric frypan since we no longer had a deep fryer. 

this worked quite well and they tasted great
 We had a good time sitting with Rob and Pat chatting about memories of our parents in the 'old days'.  so many things you forget until it comes up in conversation. Bill and I tried our new strawberry/blueberry blend of tea in our infuser teapot. It tasted nice and I can’t begin to name all of the benefits but I do know that a dose of Vitamin C and lowering blood pressure are two. That’ll do. Our company left at 4:45 for the night and we sat in front of the tv for a while. Darn, I missed the sunset tonight again.

And the fish was messy but very good
It got to 12C/53F today and in the sun it felt like that but in the shade, it was cool even without any wind and felt a few degrees colder. We have an early start tomorrow, well, early for us. Other than taking the satellite dishes down and unhooking hoses and cords, we will be ready by 8 am. Supper was delicious! Between the two of us, we made an easy transfer of the oil from the fry pan into the oil jar again. This was easier than using the little deep fryer we used to have.


We got the dishes out of the way and it wasn’t even 6:30 yet. I like early cleanups like that, it means the rest of the evening is ours. This has been a great day all around with a little bit of sightseeing, some shopping and some great chuckles with our friends. I hope you have had a good day too.

And this is a combination of olive oil, lard and bacon grease
used for frying
Thank you for stopping by!

13 comments:

  1. I loved Albuquerque but didn’t stay long. Now fudge - that sounds delicious!!!

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    1. The fudge was delicious and a great price for a small treat. only $7+ for 1/2 pound of Chocolate Pecan. Nice because it isn't sickly sweet, just 'delightful'.

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  2. Glad you got to visit old town and few interesting shops we have been to a couple of times.
    With our fry daddy we leave the oil in it , it has a secure lid so no need to pour it out.
    Nice early start to morrow and on the road , safe travels.

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    1. We did enjoy Old Town and would go back again for sure.
      At our house, we left the oil in the deep fryer but on the road we'd rather pour it out. I use the grease for other things too.
      Thanks, we'll get moving back south today. :)

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  3. I enjoyed the pics of Old Albuquerque! I was there for a conference many years ago. It was a beautiful and fun place to visit. Dinner looked delicious!!

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    1. Thank you, it was fun and turned out warm by the time we left. ;)

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  4. There is a wonderful museum in Albuquerque. The Holocaust museum. I was amazed and grateful. Wonderful volunteers look after it and it was free. Well with the donation we gave.
    Why did you get rid of your air fryer. I thought it was a good idea.
    Safe travels. We are on our way in 3 days.

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    Replies
    1. Will have to keep it in mind for next time, the science museum didn't interest us this time.
      We had an oil fryer and it died on us after a year. It was pretty small anyway. An air fryer would be a good idea.
      thanks sis, nice to hear from you. Safe travels to you too, hope all goes well for John. xo

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  5. Looks like you had another interesting day. It's so great that you are traveling with such nice people. We had snow here yesterday and it's very cold. We should have left earlier.

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  6. Sounds like a wonderful day with lots of things to see along with great company. That's quite a combination in the jar, bet it makes things taste great. Safe travels.

    Deb

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  7. We had a great day yesterday . Nice going through the little unique shops . Enjoyed talking to the nice young fella that we got our tea from . Rob had some honey last night on a piece of toast . It was a much smoother honey than at home . Great price on the fudge and very tasty . Enjoyed Albuquerque very much . Maybe next time you go you will get to go on the Tram ride . Let’s keep on having fun .

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  8. I'm sure you're not missing the snow we got here today!

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  9. Looks like you all are having a wonderful time! Love Old Town Albuquerque. Last time we were there for the Balloon Festival and took a day trip there. I remember we ate at a Mexican restaurant that was very good. Time is sure flying isn't it?! Glad you've got your laptop issues fixed!

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