Trip to Albuquerque

Well, I'm back from New Mexico, it was a really good trip. The weather was sunny and warm (except for the day I arrived- it rained all day) which was a nice change from the Colorado snow!

Jen and I had a fun time shopping, trying new restaurants, going to movies, and just hanging out in her air-conditioned apartment. We met with her realtor Saturday morning to look at a few houses (she's probably going to buy a house within the next few weeks!) visited the Rio Grande Zoo, Botanic Gardens and Aquarium and even treated ourselves to pedicures before she dropped me off at the airport Monday afternoon.

Here are some pictures from the weekend:

We visited a really cool bakery where they specialize in awesome cupcakes. Each day they have 15-20 different varieties. When we visited Saturday afternoon, we picked out 6 to try, but only ended up eating a total of two each over the course of 3 days. (Jen cut each one in half, to be scientific about tasting them) I think we were pretty restrained, all things considered. My favorite was the lemon custard cupcake (lower right). Yum!

Sunday we headed to the zoo. The three facilities were part of what the city calls the "bio park" and one modest fee gets you into all three, plus a train ride between the zoo and aquarium. It was a beautiful day, blue skies and plenty of sunshine. Jen and I had a good time walking around.

The polar bear at the zoo was amazing! When we were outside he was walking around the edge of the pool, but as soon as he jumped in we headed downstairs, and I'm glad we did, it was awesome to see him playing in the water.

I love the bright colors of the flamingos. So distinctive! And they were all awake when I snapped this shot, but I noticed when we walked back through on our way out several house later- most of them were snoozing the afternoon away.

And oh my gosh- these prarie dogs made me laugh! While their friends were busily scurrying to and fro, these two just laid still and soaked up the sunshine. They are so adorable!

After the zoo, we hopped aboard the train to see the aquarium. It wasn't a very big facility, but they did have a nice sized salt water tank with lots of sharks, sting rays, big fish, and even turtles. I could have stood there watching them swim by for hours.

To finish off the afternoon, we walked through the Botanic Gardens... and it's already Spring down in New Mexico! C'mon Colorado... we're waiting... enough with the snow! Their tulips were nearly finished, and the roses almost in bloom, while here in Denver I'm excited that my daffodils have finally bloomed.

The main grounds of the garden were still a desert landscape to be sure, and xeriscaping was a big focus. But they did have lots of lawn and a pretty bulb garden laid out.

Also, there's a new Japanese Garden feature which looks to be really nice once the weather warms up and things start filling in. Another feature in the garden were two big conservatories, one with a desert climate and landscape, the other a mediterranean climate with simply lovely flowers. Just outside was a fruit tree in full bloom, you can see the walls of the conservatory behind it:


I liked the Botanic Garden the most, but that's the gardener in me I'm sure. Which one did you like the best, Jen?

Here's Jen smiling with glee at a big kitchen in one of the houses we viewed. This particular house came in second overall, and actually the dark burgundy paint with floral border was not much of a selling point for us. Cosmetics can be changed though, and this house had good "bones".

I really learned a lot touring the houses with her realtor, he was very knowledgeable about the Abq market, house values and what things to watch out for. It was like being on one of those HGTV real estates shows, without all the cameras and commercials.

It was a wonderful trip. Nice to get a few days away from work, and great to see Jen. I really liked the opportunity to be somewhere I've never been before, the adventure of finding out about a new city and what it has to offer.

Next up it's Chuck's turn to travel, he heads to Utah to see lots of family and Sam's graduation/comissioning into the Air Force. Have a good week everyone!