Sandia Peak

First a Daisy update: Daisy is back at "home" with us. She doesn't need surgery. She is not back to normal yet, so we have to monitor intake and "outtake". That means we (me) have to syringe feed her 4 times a day. Any of you ever syringe feed a bunny with three helpers?

Katie and Chelsea are especially happy to have Daisy back with us. They wanted to spend the day with her, but after we settled Daisy back in her cage in the camper, I thought that Daisy might appreciate some peace and quiet after her ordeal, so we went on the Sandia Peak Arial tramway (the longest tram in the world). I know I ooohed and aaahed over the view from The Gateway Arch, but this was amazing. The tram ride is a 15 minute trip in each direction.

 There was still snow on some parts of the mountain. At the top of the mountain, it was 45 degrees, when we got back to the bottom it was 86 degrees. We were at an elevation of 10,000 feet. At the top we ate lunch at The High Finance Restaurant. Afterwards, we walked around and met a nice older couple who told us about the time they went to dinner at the restaurant and the tram was shut down because of a thunderstorm and high winds. There was a wedding to take place there that night and the groom and groomsmen made it up on the first tram but the bride and bridesmaids were still at the bottom when they closed down the tram. They bussed everyone down the mountain on a service road at 2am. We talked to this couple for awhile and Katie and Chelsea performed a ballet show for them. (no, they do not take ballet lessons :0)

The ride back down in the tram was just as amazing. We were at the front of the tram, it was almost like a roller coaster except slower. We were in sight of the tram station, and we stopped. I looked over at the tram operator and said, “That’s supposed to happen, right?” Nope… Fortunately it was a power outage and it only lasted for a long 5 minutes. Then we were on our way.

Tomorrow we are driving about 440 miles to The Grand Canyon. It is also our 21st wedding anniversary so there will be no post from me tomorrow.
More great views from today in the Photo Gallery #2!

Daisy Update

Daisy spent the day and is spending the night at the animal hospital.  They took x-rays and gave her barium to watch her intestinal tract movement.  By morning we will hopefully be able to take Daisy "home".  She may have a hairball or soft foreign body in her stomach.  We'll keep you updated.

New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science

Today we spent the day at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. They had a simulated walk through volcano, simulated cave, an "evolator" (a time machine that takes you back through time), and great dinosaur fossils. One of the museum guides gave the kids bones and they had to walk around and figure out which part of the dinosaur (and which dinosaur) they belonged to. We also were able to see an actual paleontologist excavating a fossil in the lab. There were a number of dinosaurs fossils displayed in the museum which had been found in
New Mexico. We also went to their planetarium and watched a show about the dawn of the space age. Great museum !

After the museum and before dinner we had to make a stop at PetSmart. Bentley- well … let me just show you :

Heavy Duty Cloth Dog Crate - Not a good idea,

For dinner we went to The Range on old route 66. Dinner was great! But the dessert… the dessert… I got butterfinger cheesecake. So you know the scene in “When Harry Met Sally” when she says “I’ll have what she’s having…” That was me… They have an on-site baker. His name is David. I told the waitress I wanted to take him home, she said she had already tried. The thing is I’m not really crazy about butterfingers. But this cheesecake… (maybe I should do a food blog? :O)

Tomorrow we have a vet appointment for Daisy. (1 year old teacup bunny- Chris says more like a teapot) Daisy has not been making any cocoa puffs. If you have ever had a rabbit, you know that they make lots of cocoa puffs. It’s been 5 days and we got Daisy her favorite hay, and still no cocoa puffs. So off to the vet we go.

Links:

http://www.nmnaturalhistory.org/

http://rangecafe.com/

Check out more photos from today in Photo Gallery #2!

Looking for Ghost Towns

Today we went looking for ghost towns. Ted had pointed out what he thought were ghost towns along the way on route 66. Definitely not ghost towns. Ghost towns have old buildings on both sides of the street, shutters banging, tumbleweeds blowing, and no signs of life. Having researched last night Ted found two possibilities for ghost towns not far from Santa Fe. Neither one matched my criteria for a ghost town, but both were extremely interesting. Cerillo certainly had the dilapidated buildings, but it had some gorgeous trees, a cool old church, and people, definitely great potential for a ghost town. Down a few streets, there was an adobe house/store that had a “petting zoo”, a mining museum, and all different types of rocks, minerals, and turquoise. Unfortunately, (Ted did not seem to share in my disappointment), they did not accept credit cards and we had a limited amount of cash, and no atm in sight , so I was not able to purchase all of the treasures I saw. I also saw this amazing adobe house with a courtyard right across the street from the church. It had a for sale sign in front of it. Ted quickly got me out of there. ( I just wanted to see the inside.)

The next town we visited had more people. Apparently, some artsy people have opened up some shops and the ghost town is coming back. We decided to eat at The Hollar, a little restaurant with a courtyard. We ate with the locals and a bunch of bikers. It took an hour to get our food (they made the food table by table in order of arrival). Chris said it was called the “holler” because you had to holler to get your food. The food was really good. I had breakfast tacos (eggs, green chiles, pork, cheese, sauce, fancy lettuce, mmmm). Ted, Katie, and Chris all have a cold so their taste buds are not working as well. Chris said the food was good, but not worth waiting an hour for. I’m glad we went. I think it’s important to step outside of your comfort zone (in this case, sit).

After brunch we headed back to the camper to drive to Albuquerque.




Check out more photos from today in the Photo Gallery 2.



Learn more about:
Ghost Towns: http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/nm/nm.html
The Hollar: http://www.thehollarrestaurant.com/