We Are Home

We Are Home

We're home, well actually we've been home for a couple of days already; but I have been too lazy to post. The homeowners arrived back in Albuquerque on Monday and we left on Tuesday morning. We had a long day as we drove all the way to Nogales, Arizona where we spent the night. We crossed the border as soon as it opened, for the first time we got the red light and had to pull over and be checked by the border people. I think they were just bored, anyway that took all of 5 minutes and we were on our way. We stopped once to eat, and besides having a really yummy breakfast, we also had some fun with the lady who was cooking and serving us. There were 2 things on the non- existent menu, a ham and egg dish or soup. Not feeling like soup at 9:30 in the morning we ordered the eggs. After we had started eating the lady brought Roy a bowl of soup anyway, just to try. She was laughing as she told him that it would make him very strong. She seemed to find it hilarious that I was translating for him and was really enjoying herself. She would say something and look at me and then watch Roys face as I told him what she said. Pretty funny. Lots of smiles and come back agains as we left. Arrived home in Guaymas around 1 PM and vegged out for the afternoon, before heading to San Carlos for supper and some visiting with our friends. Yesterday I got groceries and we both got badly needed haircuts. Things at home were fine. I guess Hurricane Johns rain managed to come in one of our windows; but the landlord dealt with it and then re-caulked the window, so other than some dust, everything is great.

We had a nice time in Albuquerque (other than the cool weather some days), it is a lovely city. Our homeowners were great people and we are missing the animals; but am sure we will be back to visit them when we return in April.

Sunrise in Albuquerque, New Mexico. September 25,2006.

Wind, Rain, Hail and Snow

Wind, Rain, Hail and Snow

On Wednesday evening the wind rose, the clouds rolled in and it began to rain fairly hard; a few minutes later small hail came down. Lovely! On Thursday morning when we watched the news we learned that it had snowed in some places north of us, Taos for one. The thermometer read 42 degrees F. that morning. Yuck!! Isn't this what we left Canada to get away from?? This morning it is a balmy 52 degrees F., windy and cloudy.
If you are thinking of changing your location here is a site that may interest you and/or give you some insight into some of the joys/problems in relocating. The people running this site interview expats from all over the world and get their views on the moves that they have made. Expat Interviews.com is an interesting read and I suggest you take a look at it: http://www.expatinterviews.com/
We had called the people that we housesat for here in Albuquerque last October and yesterday we went over and had a visit with them. It was nice to see them and their dogs; although the dog that was in assistance training has now been sent on and there is a new one in his place. The new puppy is very cute and lovable. The other dog seemed to remember us and enjoyed the dog biscuits that I had stuck into my pocket before we left home. It looks like we may be back here in Albuquerque next April for a couple of weeks as they have some plans for a 2 week get away at that time and would like us to return and sit for them. We enjoyed caring for their dogs and home last year and look forward to returning in spring.
Here on the homefront everything is clicking along as normal, I think, no catastrophes anyway. The beasties all seem happy and content and are of course running the place.
I was supposed to be the one having a siesta; but they took over.


One of the homes in our "housesit neighborhood" with a close up of the gate.

The homes in this area are not actually within the Albuquerque city limits, they are in the county of Bernalillo. If I have it correct, each home is on a 1 acre lot. Our home gets its water from a well and has a septic tank; but the county collects the garbage weekly. There are some lovely homes and also some that are different and don't quite fit in with the landscape.

Old Town Revisited

Old Town Revisited

We haven't been doing too much the last few days, just vegging out with the beasties basically and watching NOAA for the hurricane reports. Thankfully (for us) Hurricane Lane veered inland and did not go close to Guaymas. I hope that it did not cause too much damage elsewhere.
As you can see by the photo Roy and Bonnie are on an exhausting schedule.

It was nice and sunny yesterday so we decided to head back to Old Town, Albuquerque. We wandered around and looked at more shops, galleries, etc. and sat in the plaza for awhile. A nice afternoon.





We are totally amazed at the insect life here, everywhere you look there is a different kind of bug/insect/caterpillar/spider. I am not sure if this is normal or if it is just because they have had so much rain this year. We have seen 3 scorpions already, at home in Guaymas we have only seen 2 in 8 months. There has been 2 more huge caterpillars like the one that I posted the photo of the other day. The other evening there was an absolutely huge spider on a web (outside, thankfully), he had caught an aphid or something and was going out to dine. Lots of flying ants also. Interesting place.

More Photos and Video Clips

More Photos and Video Clips

You can see more photos on pages 4 and 5 of this album:

http://good-times.webshots.com/album/553821990teTOaL?vhost=good-times&start=84
and more video clips here:
http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=brendamaa

Albuquerque Aquarium And The Botanic Gardens

Albuquerque Aquarium And The Botanic Gardens

It was a lovely sunny, warm day so we headed for the Aquarium and the Botanic Gardens. We loved the aquarium and took some photos and some little movies with the new camera. So much to see and such a wonderful facility. We actually turned around and went through it all over again, before we exited the building. Great exhibits!

We then headed over to the Botanic Gardens, again the city has outdone itself with the well placed statues/sculptures, we took lots of photos again. The first area we came to was actually the childrens fantasy garden and was wonderful. There was a large dragon at the entrance which looked like a couple of castle turrets. Once you entered it was made to seem that you were under the ground of the garden. You were in a playground area with the carrots, potatoes, radish bottoms. You then went on into many other areas, we skipped the maze. Large, lifelike ants inhabited the area with us and there were some chunks taken out of some of the oversized veggies. In another area we walked into the inside of a pumpkin, the floor was made out of a soft, flexible material and seeds and slimy looking threads hung from the top of the pumpkin. It was a wonderful place for inquisitive children. We continued onto the butterfly house and along the way was a small gauge railroad with all the buildings, a river with a water mill which was actually working, and everything else that you would see along a real railroad. There was one train carrying a circus and all of its animals and another sightseeing train, all in miniature. Arriving at the butterfly house, we enjoyed looking at all the colorful inhabitants. We went onto the building housing Desert and Mediterrean landscapes and recognised lots of the vegetation from home. Onto the Heritage Farm, the Rose Garden and another garden where weddings, meetings, etc. could be held. One building had some large sculptures from Korea and Japan from the 14th and 15th Centuries. Our legs were getting tired so we returned to the entrance and took the train around the park. It is a large park with Tingley Lake and the Zoo among other things. They are in the process of building a Japanese Garden and in an other area have some special bamboo planted in hopes of eventually getting a Panda Bear. The other side of the road from where the train travelled is a State Park right within the city, it runs along the Rio Grande and is referred to as the Bosque Area. I hope that I have this correct. It is a beautiful area with huge, old cottonwood trees (the train man told us that some of them are 75 years old).
Before heading home we stopped and picked up some groceries and called it a day.

Back To Old Town

Back To Old Town

It has rained everyday here and is quite chilly, for us anyway. Friday evening it rained hard for awhile and they had warnings out for the residents to the west of us. Yesterday it was nice and sunny until about 4 PM and then it rained again. The weather report says that it is going to continue like this for a few days and is also going to get cooler as a system moves down from Colorado where there was some snow yesterday in the mountains. It has been around 54 or so in the mornings and it feels cold to us.
The sun was out yesterday so we decided to go to the City of Albuquerque Museum of Art and History and also back to "Old Town". We enjoyed the musuem and the grounds. The city has been purchasing art for the town through a special program for a few years and they have done a wonderful job of choosing and placing the art. We especially enjoyed this statue of a lady sitting on a bench writing a letter. In her purse beside her are her sunglasses, pens, etc.. it is a wonderful piece.


After spending several hours wandering around the museum and grounds, we again ventured into Old Town. We enjoyed just walking, looking and also a little shopping. We laughed at a couple of wooded Indian statues, thinking of the Charlie Pride song, Kalija (spelling??). They still have an old red Trolley running although we didn't take it, nicer to see things walking. Some of the shops have some lovely old doors, that we find beautiful.





There are other photos in the photo album here:http://good-times.webshots.com/album/553821990teTOaL?vhost=good-times&start=84# of old town and the scenery around the house where we are staying.
The animals are doing fine and seem to be loving the extra attention of having "humans" around most of the day to pet them. We don't have to go out to work, so can spend more time with them.


Bonnie and Roy after their walk last night.

Today we are planning to go to the Botanic Gardens and possibly the Aquarium. So we will see how the day goes. There are also a couple of other places I would like to see: Indian Pueblo Cultural Centre and the Hispanic Cultural Centre. So many things to see and visit. It's a tough life!

What Is This?

What Is This?

Albuquerque after all the rain they have been having is definately different than the Albuquerque that we saw last October. It is cooler or maybe we are just used to a warmer climate now. I have been wearing my fleece jacket alot since we got here. Daytime temps. are around 75-80 and early morning has been around 54; although this morning it was a balmy 59 (Farenheit). There seem to be alot more bugs around to, so everything must be enjoying the unusual wet weather. Last evening the clouds blew in, and there was lots of thunder and lightning; but we didn't get any rain.



Late in the afternoon I noticed a large caterpillar crawling around on the patio, he was a strange looking fellow and seemed to give off an odor, that was not unpleasant; but was strong. The cat poked at it once or twice, the odor came and the cat left. If anyone knows what it is, let me know.





There was a lovely sunrise this morning, all the animals are happy and we have had our coffee, so all is right with the world. The dog slept in our room last night and this morning the cats came in to let us know that it was time to get up.

Settling In in Albuquerque

Settling In in Albuquerque

Our homeowners left for their holiday this morning; they have been having an interesting few days co-ordinating their holiday and their plans have changed a few times. They did manage to leave this morning though and we are hoping they have an enjoyable time. The dog was getting the idea yesterday that "mom and dad" were leaving and had a spell of missing them before they had even left. This morning after they had left, she disapeared for a few minutes and then came and checked in with me for a few pets, then off outside for a nap in the shade and things seem fine. She and Roy have gone for a walk at the moment; the cats on the other hand don't seem to concerned.
I had a few things on a list that I wanted to purchase while we were here and so made our way to the shops yesterday. I managed to get a lounge chair for our deck (Roy insists he doesn't want one??), a kitchen funnel (can't seem to find such a thing in Mex.) and joy of joys a new camera. It is a Nikon Coolpix L1- 6.2 MP, 5x optical zoom, so I am hoping that I get more fun than frustration out of using it than the old one.

Sun and Shadows

Ulysses the cat.

Night time in the yard.
Everything on the blog looks all upside down the last couple of days for some reason, so I have posted these photos in the smallest size, hoping that will help. You can still view the full size photo by clicking on it. We will see, I am getting very frustrated with blogger, it seems that everytime when I go to the blog, something else has gone wacky.
Just a note to Roys cousin Steve. Thanks for the comments on the photo re-sizing; the people were not commenting on the load time for the regular photos but on a slide show thing I had put on the blog for a couple of days. I think by the time you came to the blog I had already removed it. Thanks anyway and nice to see that you are keeping up with us.
Hasta Luego.

To Albuquerque

To Albuquerque

We had a good trip to the border and the crossing into the US took only minutes, I think there were only 3 cars ahead of us in our lane. We stopped in Nogales, Arizona for lunch and continued on Highway 82 to Sonoita, Whetstone and then headed north on #90 to interstate 191. We spent the night in Benson, Arizona. We followed the 191 into New Mexico, to Deming where we took #26 to Nutt and then the #27 to Lake Valley which is designated as a "Ghost town" and it truly is. On to Hillsboro another Ghost Town; bust this one has some inhabitants. We then fogged over to Interstate #10 where we again got off onto a side highway running alonside the interstate. We followed this one north for part of the day until we reached the junction of # 60. We took the 60 to Mountainair where we intended to spend the night. The motel we had stayed at before was closed for renovations and the other small towns had no accomadations so we continued into Albuquerque. After settling in and eating we called the homeowners where we are housesitting and arranged to meet them the next evening.
With all the recent rains the desert is a lovely rainbow of color. Plants and shrubs blooming in every color: red, pink, orange, blue, purple, yellow, white; all capreting the landscape as far as your eye can see. It is hard to believe that the desert can be so colorful.










We had arranged to meet the homowners at 7 PM Sunday evening, so after checking out of the hotel we decided to head to Santa Fe for the day. We spent the day wandering around the "old town" area, looking at the old buildings and viewing the many art galleries. It is a nice place to visit; but too touristy for us. In 2010 Santa Fe will be 400 yrs. old. The Palace of the Governors dates from 1610 and is the oldest public building in the US, according to the Santa Fe visitors guide. Loretto Chapel (1878) is lovely and is home to the legendary "miraculous" staircase. The Romanesque Cathedral Basilicas of St. Francis of Assisi houses a 380 year old statue of the Virgen Mary, the city's patroness. The plaza was full of "sales" tents so was not a nice , quiet place to sit and enjoy the ambiance of the city.


Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi







Loretto Chapel

We returned to Albuquerque to meet the homeowners and spent the night at their home, visiting and getting to know the animals. On Monday we drove down to " old town" Albuquerque and spent a good part of the day wandering. We visited the Natural History Museum, which was great and walked around the Old Town Plaza. We again visited many art galleries and listened to some musicians originally from Ecuador. We really liked their music and purchased one of their CDs. We enjoyed old town Albuquerque much more than Santa Fe. It is not as touristy and we had more personal space. We will definately be returning to this area a few more times during our stay here.


Entrance to Old Town Plaza, Albuquerque, New Mexico




More photos on the Photo Album # 3 on sidebar in album My Public Shoebox, for some reason it didn't accept my album name. Or just click here:
http://good-times.webshots.com/album/553821990teTOaL