ANM trip, Day 4 part2

 We came back into the city and had a picnic outside the Aquarium and Botanical Gardens.

 The Aquarium was warm!  There was a mantra ray tank...

 and a big shark tank with turtles and divers feeding the animals.  There was also a coral reef tunnel, jellyfish and more.

 Then to the outside Botanical Gardens which were preparing for their Christmas lights show.  There was a fairy garden with huge watering can, and this pumpkin.  The girls loved running around pretending to be fairies!

 There was also a Japanese garden with coy, some of the fountains still had ice in them.

 It was a little cold so Gloria and I went back to the Aquarium to warm up for a few minutes while Lydia and Caleb played in the fairy garden and hid from each other.  One time she hid too long and he was afraid he lost her, but they found each other!

 Gloria and I joined them because they had turned the lights on.

 The Sandia mountains, were named (maybe) because they looked like a watermelon with the setting sun on them.

From there we went to UNM to pick up Maryam who took us to an Arabic restaurant.  We proceeded to stay for four hours talking about culture, classes, Oman, family and 'hanging out.'  We ate too much, had hot tea with mint and the girls played wonderfully and had the run of the dining room.  We dropped Maryam off at student housing and said Goodbye until inshallah next time in Texas, and back to the hotel for our last night and packing up.
Day 5-we drove and drove and drove.  12 hours, only two stops, gassing up, bathroom breaks and making of meals, yay we had enough leftovers not to have to buy anything!  The girls watched the Barbie movie, played with silly putty, snacked and sang Christmas music.

ANM trip, Day 4 part 1

 Finally it was on! On the city side of the mountains the snow was gone, but as we passed through them it got colder and icier and snowier.  I drove on ice and got stuck right in front of the stables.  Caleb and Donald, the owner, pushed us onto the driveway, but as we were getting all ready to ride, four other cars got stuck including a van with two guys who got all and were all dressed in orange.  We were told they were monks and up the mountain there was an monastery…Cedar Crest Stables is family owned and there were 16 horses.  

 Where the snow was melting it was turning MUDDY, Gloria enjoyed getting stuck.  She fell and we had to quote Ms Frizzle from Magic School bus-Take chances, make mistakes and get messy!

 After the safety lesson, Lydia got to get on Kip...

 Caleb got Snoopy.  Gloria got to pet all of them so that made her happy.  Gloria and I played around the grounds while they were on their ride.  Their backyard was beautiful snow and we messed it up with lots of muddy footprints.  Gloria did get a little tired and the cats would run away from her but it was good when we got to stand a pet a pretty blue eyed horse for a long time.

 The three riders headed out into the mountains, they didn't get to go out as far because some of the ice was still slippery in places.  Lydia learned how to direct the horse and would have to kick her to start because she enjoyed eating anything green.

 Gloria and I ended our time with snacks in a comfy chair.

 Donald took a couple of family pictures and Lydia was so happy!  Yes we are all wearing blue jeans.  Mine and Gloria's were super muddy so we changed back to 'regular' pants.

ANM, Day 3 part 2

 We had daylight left after coming down from the tramway so we wanted to see the Rio Grande River. We went to Tingley beach and chased tons of birds….

 walked through the brush to the actual river...

 and saw a hot air balloon!  Saige designed and rode it one but that wasn't on our agenda this time.  The mountain covered with the cloud was where we were at the peak, still covered in cloud!

 The girls and I had watched a kid video about the Southwest and it featured Route 66, several places where we drove through town were part of the old road and I enjoyed pointing it out, the girls would groan!  We left the beach at sunset and drove through downtown to find a place to eat, ended up at a hamburger tavern….

then back to the hotel for hot chocolate, horse art and hot baths!

ANM Trip, Day 3, part 1

Monday we woke up unsure of what our day would hold due to the weather.  We started out at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center which had an interactive area for children where the girls made a butterfly and bowl out of clay, wove with yarn and lots of coloring.  We finally got the call that horse riding would be postponed due to slippery ice...

so we headed to the Sandia mountains and the tramway.

We had a family picnic at the base of the tramway including Oreos :)

Then we layered up even more and headed onto the 2nd longest tram in the world, 2.7 miles up to the peak...

and through clouds.  It was 20 degrees at the top and rather windy...

but the girls enjoyed grabbing icicles and chunks of ice

We were above the clouds.

Gloria was happy until she her feet got cloud, so she and Caleb went to warm up in the visitors center while Lydia and I went for a little hike.

Selfie...

I wanted another but Lydia was ready to run and play!

We went around a turn and it was so quiet and peaceful

a step into deep snow got coldness inside her boots too so we went in to warm up.

We were at the top of the world and wanted to see it, so we all got out and a family took our photo.

Gloria got super tired and Lydia cold….oh no meltdown in the snow!

We waited until the next tram down and headed back into the high 30s and dry feet.

ANM, Day 2

 Snow!  Sadly Carsbad Caverns were closed due to icy park roads, but we enjoyed the drive.  We stopped in Roswell at the courthouse because there was a huge field of untouched snow for us to play in!

 Making a snowman.

 Since we had time we stopped by the UFO museum (the whole town is alien themed including the McDonalds).  If you like newspaper clippings and photos then it might be worth the time.

 We continued our drive and make it over the Sandia mountains (which were mostly covered with clouds) and into Old Town Albuquerque.  This church is over 300 years old.

 There were lots of pretty adobe and southwest decorations.  We mostly did window shopping (we never got around to buying anything, oh well that's why we have pictures!!) and Maryam from Oman who is doing her phD at UNM met us for dinner at LaHacienda which had a live band playing.  We enjoyed the New Mexico food.

ANM Trip, Day 1

 In the summer I had a hankering to go to the mountains as the girls have never seen them.  At first we thought Arkansas but then Lydia got obsessed with Saige the 2013 American Girl who loved horses and art and lives in Albuquerque.  So we planned it!  And when we planned it the normal weather for end of Nov is mid40s to mid50s…well the Great Snow Storm of the year messed up that.  We got to drive through West Texas covered in ice (fortunately none on the road).  We stopped to see the ice on the trees and Gloria ate it off and complained of the being cold.

 We stopped in Mohanas Sandhills State park.  It was cold but not wet while we explored and did the dune disk.

 The hotel in Pecos had a HOT TUB. So after watching some of the Aggie football game we played in the water.

During the night the huge sleet storm came through.  We woke up and continued driving after a yummy La Quinta (Caleb gets points from work) waffle breakfast (LQ also allows pets so Gloria got to pet lots of dogs) and we de-iced the car.