Going to the New Mexico State Fair.....last day in Albuquerque

Yay......we're going to the fair.  What perfect timing....the state fair was in Albuquerque, New Mexico the same time we were.  We hadn't been to a fair in ages and it sounded like a fun thing to do.  Plus we had a rookie with us......Shay had never been to a fair.

It was even a bigger bonus when we got to the ticket counter and instead of costing $40......it was $2 Tuesday and we only paid $8 to get in.

Of course, before we got started we grabbed a couple of foot long corn dogs to give us energy.

After perusing the fair schedule for the day......we decided we couldn't miss the duck racing.  We have never seen duck racing before and what an event it was.

 Just trying on a pile of shi* hat.  No we didn't buy it :-)

 Shay got picked to be a duck racer

 Her duck came in 2nd place

 And then Paul had his chance to be a duck racer too!  I love how excited his face us......he was totally thrilled to be able to race a duck!

Unfortunately, his duck also came in 2nd place

 Here was our two duck racers after the race

 Paul standing proudly with his new duck caller around his neck!

 We found an animal barn where I could pretend I was milking a cow.  Actually, I think there was supposed to be something coming out.....but apparently this cow had already been milked!

 Can't go to a fair and not see the pig races!

 We also got to see dock dogs.....they would jump off a dock into the water. 

Amazing how far those dogs could jump!

 And while Aaron and Shay were watching a magic show.....we were checking out the fine arts awards and ended up buying this painting.

 Next it was on to the place where all the rides and games were. 

Our men took a chance at winning their ladies a stuffed animal.

 This guy conned Aaron out some money so that Shay could take home a cute little giraffe.

 

After a full day at the fair....it was time to quickly head to a UPS store and ship back that ginormous painting that Paul bought.  After finishing up all those details, it just so happened we were next to a grocery store that roasting fresh chiles.  So our next stop was a place to buy some to bring back home with me.

Seriously, nothing smells better than fresh chiles roasting.  I ended up bringing back 4 bags of frozen red and green chiles.

 

Our evening was spent packing, relaxing and watching TV after a long hot day in the sun, and eating from California Pastrami.......some place that we wanted to get food from before we left Albuquerque.

 

We left their house the next morning around 7am and headed back home.

 

We loved our visit to Albuquerque!

Leaving Santa Fe

.............after leaving Meow Wolf, we headed back down south on the freeway.

Next stop on the adventure was going to be an old trading post, practically out in the middle of nowhere.  I had first seen this place because it's one of the train stops on the way to and from Santa Fe.  Unfortunately, the day we came by it was closed......but look at the history of this wonderful place. 

This was the day we visited

 

It was first opened in the 1880's. 

And this was the way it looked when I first saw it.

It was destroyed in a fire in 2001.

I'm hoping the next time I visit NM that it's open.  I just really, really love old historic buildings

 

A little further down the road was our destination......Tent Rocks

 

We hiked along for about an hour (1.5 miles) and just enjoyed the

gorgeous weather and the beautiful scenery around us. 

Shay took a picture of Aaron, I borrowed it from her FB page

because I can never get him to pose for pictures. 

 

Our 2nd group selfie for the day!

We got the Ranger to take a group picture of. 

(if you are wondering why I look like a prancing pony.....it's because my foot is up on a stump. 

I was trying to pose myself in a relaxing and interesting position -- and I failed!)

 

Just hiking along......what great exercise

 

We started walking back to the car about dusk and found a pile of fresh Coyote poopy right in the middle of the trail.  Looks like we may have just missed someone doing their business. 

It was definitely time to go.

We snapped this picture on the way back with the wind blowing in

our hair in the back seat of a car speeding down the freeway

 

The day ended with us picking up pizza and salad and headed home to have a couple of cold beers and playing card games again.

 

It was another fantastic day!

On our way to Santa Fe!

It's Monday and we had plans.  We got a slow start, but hey......we were all on vacation.

We loaded up the car and headed north to Santa Fe (about 1 hour drive).  We had fun plans for the day.

First stop:  New York Deli in Santa Fe.  They have the most amazing sandwiches and food.  Most of the items contain green chiles too.  We sat outside in the beautiful sunshine and enjoyed our lunch.  Some had French Toast, 1 had Rueben, and the last one had a Philly Cheesesteak Sub (which was one of the best I've ever enjoyed).

After lunch, we were headed to Meow Wolf.  What is Meow Wolf you might ask.  Well it's an old bowling alley and strip center that's been converted to this place that you can't even describe.  You are supposed to try and solve a mystery in a house and then you can walk through closets and fireplaces and it takes you into another dimension.  Here's a link if you are interested in seeing what this place is MEOW WOLF.  It's described as the house that art, fantasy, and mystery built.  It's definitely different.

 We sure do love this girlie!

 A nice lady offered to take a picture of us in the neon under the sea

 These bones make musical sounds when you hit them with the mallets. 

Shay and Paul had a good time in there......as you can see!

 Some creepy thing that Paul took a picture of

 Just resting in a pod

 How cool is this......walking out of a refrigerator?  There's a hallway behind me that goes into the other dimension.  It was funny watching people's faces when all of a sudden you come walking out of a refrigerator.  This was my favorite part in the whole house!

 Paul standing at the doorway of a very tall rabbit (and kinda creepy)

 Another nice lady offered to take a group picture of us in front of the creepy rabbit

 See what a gorgeous beautiful New Mexico day it was!

Our first selfie shot of the day (and certainly not our last!)

 

Well since this posting has gone on too long with so many awesome pictures, I will continue the rest of the day on the next one.........................

Sometimes you just need a lazy day

It was Sunday in Albuquerque.  We had no real agenda today.....so we just made it up as we went along.

Aaron's priority was seeing the Texans game and that meant going to a place that was showing it.  We chose Bubba's.  We went and had lunch and at half time, Paul and I decided to head to a casino.  Well actually, Paul didn't decide on it -- he was just being nice and letting me have a little casino action while we had an opportunity.

We drove 1/2 hour to get to one of my favorite's in Albuquerque (the Route 66 Casino) and maybe spent an hour there losing money before we decided to head back.

We met back at Aaron's and Shays and this time we all headed to Old Town Albuquerque.  This is an amazing place to shop.  Similar to the Plaza in Santa Fe, but we think it has better shops and much less expensive. 

We had a little thunderstorm hit us, so we all decided that a cup of hot chocolate was the first thing we needed before we stormed the shops.

But first we needed a group selfie......because our motto is "a group selfie every day"

 

Shay needs a new phone camera.....

And of course she had to have a selfie with her favorite buddy. 

He thinks she's just the greatest too!

 

We wandered around and purchased some New Mexico souvenirs and then it was time to head to dinner.  We were meeting up with Shay's father, brother, and father's girlfriend.  It was going to be the first time for Paul to meet her family.

 

We had dinner at Claim Jumper and had a wonderful time.  For some dumb reason we forgot to get a picture.  I can't believe we did that.......duh

 

Shay's brother was going to spend the night at the house with us so we stopped and bought Cards Against Humanity game and we stayed up for 3 hours laughing our butts off playing that game.

 

What a fun and chill day it was.

 

We will once again have to thank Shay for ALL the photographs today. 

For some reason, I never pulled my phone out and snapped anything.

We're back!

Got back last week from visiting the kids in the Land of Enchantment......New Mexico.

I have to honestly say that I really love visiting there.  I guess I never saw the beauty of that place, but everytime I visit.....it's amazing.  Of course, visiting the kids is our highlight.

We started off the morning with a selfie on the plane.  This is probably our last vacation this year (* insert sad face here * )  Sorry for the blurriness.....it was a little early for us!

 Yay!  We're going to New Mexico!

 

We landed, got our rental car and headed over to the kid's house.

After a quick tour of their home (it was for Paul since he'd never been there), we all were HUNGRY and we couldn't wait to start eating that awesome New Mexican cuisine.

 

The kids picked out a restaurant and we feasted on Mexican food topped with lots of green and red chiles.  I love New Mexican flat enchiladas.  There is something about that enchilada being flat and not rolled up that tastes so amazing.

 

Next stop was Central Ave.  Lots of shopping to do and fun to be had.

 

Paul found this one shop that he didn't want to leave.

I believe he really wanted to spend some money in there, but never got that opportunity.

 

We had to wait so long for him to get done shopping, that Shay wanted to take selfies.  I was told that we were going to act scared.....I played my part well.

 

This is the shot where I wanted to get out of the store, but Paul just kept shopping, and shopping, and shopping

 

After a HOT afternoon of shopping, we stopped off at Walmart and stocked up on a few things and headed back to the house.  Paul and I really needed a nap.

 

After a little refreshing sleep.......we headed off to the horse track and played a little at the casino there.  Didn't win anything off the ponies and didn't win off any of the slot machines either.  Boo!

 

It was a beautiful night to be at the horse track.  It was also a beautiful night to take a group selfie!

and another group selfie....................

The decision for dinner was to get a pizza.  Yum......we LOVE pizza!

We took the pizza home because we had games to play.  Paul and Shay picked out some crazy game where you wear these headbands and put cards on them and try to make your partner guess things.  This is what my crazy partner looked like with his headband on.

We sure did enjoy this first day in Albuquerque.  It was a great day! 

 

Have to give a shout-out credit to Miss Shaylene for most of the pictures in this blog episode. 

She was the one taking the most pictures on this first day.