6 days and counting

I'm headed to New Mexico in 6 days to host friends for Balloon Fiesta.  I'm a bit giddy and people here in Portland Oregon don't really get it.  They say things like... "So you like it cause it's more sunny?  They have dust storms right?"  I don't go on and on about why I like it, cause I don't think you get it until you experience it.  Even those that have lived there might not get it.  If you focus on the dust.. yes - you might not like it.

So I can go on and on here.  I'm excited to feel the dry heat where I feel like I'm on spring break all the time.  I 'm excited to take a walk in my neighborhood and see 360 degree views that are amazing and such  a wonderful contrast of color.  I love the reddish soil against the bright blue skies.. or the purple and pink sunrise and sunsets.  That's the time I'll try to catch each day.  Love the sunsets.  First thing I do every morning - open the blinds and see what the sunrise is doing to everything.  Turns all the buildings a new color.  If it's a lucky day the neighbors horses are next to the fence waiting for me.

This trip is extra exciting as I've only been to New Mexico during the worse drought any locals can remember.  Now they are all saying - more rain than we can remember.  My builder thinks they got about 8 inches in two months at his house.   The data doesn't really support that, but they are almost back to a normal year with the rainfall they've gotten. I do know that my rain barrel has been overflowing, but that could have happened with just one big rain.

So before I left last time we went to an art show and one of the artist had painted the hillside near her home after a great monsoon season and the hill was covered in wildflowers and greenery.  I said at the time - "I'm going to live here until I get to see that."  Well - I  might be walking into that situation next week.  How fun is that.  Maybe there will be all kinds of new plants in my yard - dormant seeds popping up with all the rain.

The weather is looking perfect - sunny, not too hot, little wind and no rain in the 10 day forecast.  so excited!!!

Go Jump! Gravity Park

I'll have to fully review this new business after I actually jump there myself - but thought I'd tell what I know as my daughter works here.  Gravity park - you can see it for the highway 25 - behind the CNM workforce training center.  It's very close to Alameda and 25.  Opening the week before Christmas and has had an amazing opening.  140,000 tickets have been sold in less than a month.  NOT BAD. 

They had 4 areas to use and your ticket buys you an hour.  One area is for jumping in a huge area with tons of tramps side by side and some going up the walls.  You can try to reach things above you, or jump from one tramp to another or practice you tricks.  Another area is for dodge ball, which the games are 5 minutes in length.  The foam pit has tramps below the foam and the launch pad is also a tramp.  They have had many gymnastic group come for training in this area, but it's also just super fun to just jump in without doing something fancy, I am told. 

They also have an area for little kids, where no big kids can come which is great!


You can book parties - details on their website: http://www.gravitypark.us/Home.aspx

Special events on weekend nights for teens and up.  Disco lights come on and the place sells out.  Sometimes even by Thursday so reservations are recommended.  Infact good to make reservations all the time, so you don't run into a sold out place after getting the kids all excited...!! 
Buy some socks - make the jump funner if you have a nice grip.

More once I've actually tried it, just had the full tour so far.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Snow and Ice

I'm sitting at the SunPort - ABQ airport for the uninformed... and getting ready  to head back north where I'm really living even though my heart is here in New Mexico now.  This week I got the Placitas house all moved in to come back and live here for brief stops and then hopefully full time when we can figure out how. 

The city had a surprise snow storm this week.  Wasn't even in the forecast.  Infact after it had been snowing for three house - laid over 2 inches everywhere I tried to get a forecast of when it would stop and none of the major sites, weather.com or bing, or underground even had any chance of precipitation happening or going to happen.  One said there was reports of snow nearby.  Great - I could do better by looking outside.

I had the task of picking up my daughter at work in Albuquerque and headed out to do so and was stopped by a neighbor near the mailboxes and he said, "Turn around and go home, it's terrible out there.  Avoid at all cost!"  He told me that there was cars all over the road going sideways and doing stupid things and it wasn't worth getting out in it.  I tried to call my daughter to see if there was other options... but she did not answer.  Another car, similar to the one I was driving turned into the neighborhood and I waved her down and asked for a second opinion.  She said it was going to be slow getting down the hill, but doable.  So I headed out.  A drive that usually takes about 5 minutes tops took 20 minutes.  Driving no faster than 15 miles an hour, going past a couple cars that were being pushed out of spins, and seeing an ambulance head up the hill was a new look at living in the hills.  Hopefully it's not always this bad.. but I don't know.  What is usually a pretty deserted road was like a busy highway.  Ten cars in front of me and ten behind... at least.  The people going up the hilll were worse off, cause they were having to stop often and it was so slippery it was hard to get going again. 

After I got to daughters work - 45 minutes instead of the usual 15, we decided to go shopping and do dinner instead of getting in the rush hour mix going up that hill.  Good call, we had no problems or traffic at 7pm.  The lingering effects of the day were visible with many cars abandoned on the side of the road going up the hill.

The next day - still cold but gorgeous and sunny again and that helped to clear much of the roads.  Maybe my next car will be more of a 4 wheel drive.. Maybe.

Jobs suck

As much as I'm loving New Mexico - it doesn't change the fact that we can't stay.  Hubby is looking at a job back in Portland Oregon - the sunless city I escaped from just 18 months ago.  Job here didn't work out and so we have to move.  I keep doing the silent scream in my head.  We just built our dream retirement home - custom ideas all over it -only we aren't actually ready for retirement.  So we will never move in, just put it into the market for sale.  So stupid.

What I will miss:

the sunsets
closeness to Sante Fe, Taos, Moab, Tucson.
What I never got to:  Grand Canyon, Northern AZ,  other Ut parks... only got to Arches, Bandelier, Mesa Verde, and a ton of other places!
less flying bugs than elsewhere
the sun
the sky
the big puffy clouds on occassion
the rare thunderstorms
the friendly people
Placitas
the mountains
vitamin D
biking the path by the Rio Grande
the Zoo and botanical garden
green chiles
the lack of rain!
hiking at tent rock
less traffic
living in my new home
the sunshine

New Mexico Jazz Workshop Summer Concert Series

Okay, I totally admit that I'm a little late in posting this, and I can't find my pictures that I took from going to this twice.  For next year - you should know about this wonderful entertainment in the summer in the outdoor amphitheater at the Albuquerque Museum in Old Town. 

I went to two - one salsa and another swing.  The music is just loud enough, so that you can still carry on a conversation and watch people dance.   Some are super good and it's so fun.  Prices for the ticket are somewhere around $10-12 I think and it is on Fridays and Saturdays, not every week but it's pretty often.

This weekend is the last I think... that's why I should have posted earlier.  Both nights we went were a little breezy, but that just make it the perfect weather after a hot day, so it was welcomed.  Even a few drops of rain were welcomed.

This setting is so nice.  It would make a great wedding venue.

If I ever figure out where my pictures are - I'll add them.

Farm and Table

A new favorite restaurant in Albuquerque.  Thank you United Way for having their big annual party there this past Tuesday.  The setting was lovely and the food- even better.  Everything tasted so fresh and healthy.  The salad was a mixture of veggies that you wouldn't expect and it tasted so good together.  The word is that this place has reservations on a weekend night booked out two months in advance and they don't take walk-in's when that happens.  They say Sunday noon and Thursday night is good time to try.   They are closed Monday and Tuesday. Only Brunch on Sat. and Sunday.  Dinner Wed - Sat open at 5PM.   It's between Alameda and Paseo on 4th. -8917 4th St. NW - 87114 

They also do a grocery box - that's what the one sign is about.  It's saying what is in the box this week.  We did this when we lived in Oregon - sometimes there was some pretty interesting such in our box from the farm in Oregon - like fava beans... and odd shaped squash. It was fun trying to figure out what to do with all of it.

The picture of the metal chairs is from the shop that is next door.  Very fun stuff inside.  Mirrors was my main interest... and this outdoor chair set, which I didn't ask the price.  The mirrors were about $100 and they were those fun silver- big frames that you see around here.  I was thinking entry way in new house.  The normal seating is either inside or on the patio, so we didn't see the restaurant with normal set up.  They had the patio completely empty for people have drinks and starters.  Everything was so good.  Can't wait to try it again with the menu.  Some friends told us that they think the menu is done by season, so changes as food becomes available fresh.  She didn't know if that was 1/4ly or monthly.  They had already been there twice.

Well - check it out for a special event in your life.  I'm sure it's expensive... but I didn't see a menu, just guessing.

Desert ZOO

So yesterday we got our foundation poured for the house we are building in Placitas.  We were at a meeting in Corrales in the evening and when we were leaving and saw that it looked like it was raining in Placitas we decided to head over and see the new cement floors and see what rain does to our property, as we've never seen it rain there.

The main house is poured, but the garage foundation was just dug and the guys had it ready for an inspections the next day.  Our builder showed up and said he would need to cancel the inpection due to the water.  We have a moat!!  I've always wanted a moat.  We also have a new pond in the arroyo - not sure if that's what the civil engineer had in mind.  I know she wanted to slow down the water, but seems like it's not draining right??   But maybe ducks will fly in and use our pond each rain.

retaining wall and foundation for garage

The neighbor came out and she gave us a tour of her home, which happens to have been built by our builder also.  It was very nice to see what a great job he did on her house. 

She describe all the animals that frequent her lot and it was sooo fun.  She has a couple cotton tail rabbit, one of which is huge that come and feed right out her window most days.  She's had a snake get into her house... okay this isn't that fun but kinda crazy.  She also accidentally killed a snake in her driveway when she ran over it.  Not on purpose.. although I probably would say that, but probably meant to kill it.  Snakes are not my favorite thing.  She feeds the birds so she gets a ton.  Humming birds, finches, cardinal and some she's not sure what they are.  Lizards are all over she says. AND she say two wild horses the other day - which is so fun.  I thought we would never see any of those right at the house, but she it was her first time.  She hears coyotes.  AND she has three cats that are super friendly, so I can go over to her house when I need a cat fix.

So excited to start living in Placitas.