New Mexico - Day 4

Today was the beginning of the holiday weekend, and the number of guests at the resort began to increase. Lots more kids meant lots more noise. 

We planned to explore Jemez Mountain about an hour away from the resort. Our first stop was Soda Dam which is a rock formation that has been forming for years with deposits of calcium carbonate from an underground spring. 

Next stop? Jemez National Recreation Area. Battleship Rock towered over the parking area and the first part of our hike to McCauley Hot Springs. We didn’t pass anyone else on the trail until we got to the hot springs where an older couple was just leaving. 

Battleship Rock is in the foreground.

First experience for us: enjoying a hot springs in the mountains. Kind of weird though as there were little minnows in the water that liked to nibble on you and sometimes their nibbling was a little more aggressive. I had enough of this “nature” and didn’t stay in the water for too long. 

We brought our microfiber towels just for this experience and dried off quickly. We met a few more hikers as we returned to the parking lot. We could have kept on hiking up and over the mountain to from the hot springs to Jemez Falls; instead we kept on driving until we came to the parking lot on the other side of the mountain and hiked the short distance to the Jemez Falls from there. 

We stopped for a picnic lunch in the day use area and then continued on to Valles Caldera National Preserve and Bandelier National Monument and Frijoles Canyon Overlook. We made a quick stop at the overlook before parking at Bandelier. 

After leaving the visitor center, we planned to hiked the Main Loop past the Long House to Cliff Dwellings. 

Big Kiva on the Pueblo Loop Trail (second picture is looking down on the kiva)

I climbed a little off the main trail to get some pictures of the Tyuonyi. 

These were cool white rock formations. As we walked along the loop, we passed numerous cliff dwellings and even some petroglyphs. 

There were ladders that you had to climb once you reached Alcove House. If you had any fear of heights, this would not be the hike or climb for you! Chris and I climbed up four steep wooden ladders and some stone steps. 

It is said that 25 Ancestral Pueblo People lived in this particular cavate. We explored a few other cavates as we continued the loop back to the visitor center. 

We drove back to the resort and enjoyed dinner on the patio of the Rio Grande Lounge. 

The sunset and colors on Sandia Mountain was beautiful.

New Mexico - Day 3

We didn’t plan a lot of activities for today. Just a relaxing day at the resort. After walking around the resort for exercise and then having breakfast, where we were once again served by Henda and once again, where we two of three or four guests in the restaurant. Granted, it was a Thursday just before a holiday weekend. 

We actually enjoyed the quiet atmosphere. I had to teach my Pathway class at 11 am. I brought my laptop and Chris assured me I should be able to connect and hold the class without difficulty. 

Since we had breakfast around 10 am, we weren’t too hungry until later in the afternoon. We found a spot around the “adults only” pool to relax for the day. It was lovely and quiet. 

We had dinner at the “Corn Maiden” at the resort. I had a salad with chicken. The servings were huge.

Chris' vegetable side. I happily helped him eat it!

My chicken salad.

New Mexico - Day 2

We had a meager breakfast at the Holiday Inn and then started for Santa Fe. That was about a 4.5 hour drive. The weather was in the 70s and perfect for exploring new areas. From our research, we had high hopes for this area of New Mexico. 

The old town of Santa Fe was our first stop. We found parking and easily found the Santa Fe Plaza. It was surrounded by tourist shops, art galleries, and beautiful church, La Fonda hotel, museums, and Native American artisans selling jewelry and wares under the portico of the Palace of the Governor’s building. 

Palace of the Governor’s

Museum

The Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi

We stopped for lunch at a creperie. There wasn’t much that I wanted to eat there. We left after lunch and drove to our Hyatt resort outside of Bernalillo on the Tamaya ancestral lands. It was literally an oasis in the middle of a dessert. 

After checking in, we had a long walk to our room. Seriously, if you ever stay there, grab a luggage cart. It could be a 5-7 minute walk just to get to your room! 

We explored the resort, checked out the pools, and dined pretty much all by ourselves in the Santa Ana Cafe. We also tried the flourless chocolate cake and mmmmmm so good. Our server was Henda who was working in New Mexico as an intern from Bali to learn the hospitality industry.

New Mexico - Day 1

Chris was immensely looking forward to time away over Memorial Day weekend. Turns out, being the CEO of a door company is pretty stressful. 

He left work a little after 4 pm on Tuesday afternoon. He had already packed his stuff before leaving for work. I had the rest of my gear, the food, and hiking gear ready to go when he arrived home. We drove to Pueblo and stopped for dinner at Chick-fil-A. 

Our stop for the night was in Raton, New Mexico at the Holiday Inn Express. It was the best option available. It was about 2.5 hours from the Springs.

Kristen's Crazy Roommate

Kristen has lucked out in the wacko crazy roommate lottery twice now. Her first roommate, Emma, at the UofU, and now Cassie in Provo.

Yesterday, Cassie accused Kristen of entering her room and pulling down her curtains.

I'd say these girls are lucky that Kristen has such a good heart. Some roommates would really make their lives miserable. Instead, Kristen is the miserable one and is counting down the days until she gets to move on August 14th.

Kristen has reported the roommate with management, but because Cassie has an ESA "emotional support animal", management can't do much except caution Cassie to keep her rabbit's mess contained to her bedroom.

Kristen's other roommate, Ana, who was a friend from her mission, hated the roommate situation so much that she has moved home for the summer and is just paying rent on an empty room.

Hiking at Mueller State Park

Chris and I used our State park pass to hike in Mueller State Park. We hiked along the Rock Pond Trail along the Outer Ridge Trails Loop that started from the parking lot of the Visitor Center. There were a number of trails you could follow that intersected throughout the park. 

No matter which trail you took, they all started downhill. Not bad except that you knew you had to climb back up at the end of the hike which is never fun.

We had to delay leaving on the hike for a brief 10-minute rainstorm.

A large part of the hike was on a service road. We hiked down to Brook Pond where we stopped to have lunch. Chris had already been mountain biking in the morning, so he was running low on energy. 

Brook Pond

We saw very few people, and most of the ones we did see were competing in some kind of race. 

We also passed Rock Pond and Geer Pond before we started our 900 feet of elevation gain back up to the Visitor Center.

Rock Pond

Geer Pond

We were lucky that we returned back to the car just in time for another rainstorm to hit.

Kristen's Official

An official Utah resident that is.

Mother's Day

Misha came home for Mother's Day bringing flowers and gifts from all of the girls.

We are looking forward to having all of the girls home at the end of the month. Amy and Kristen are coming for a concert and Kristen will be excited to pick up the Mazda (but maybe not the driving it back to Utah part).

Garden Update

Last weekend, Chris and I spent hours working on the garden. We installed the sprinkler system. Chris put the sprinkler parts together and I dug the holes. Thankfully it had rained earlier in the week and the ground was soft enough, but, whew, it was still a lot of work.

Each box has its own sprinkler pipe and shut off valve.

This week, I finished off the boxes with weed fabric, a layer of cardboard, and then a bunch of twigs and pine cones from the yard. We will have our landscaper bring in some fill dirt for the pot 6 inches of the beds and then a layer of garden mix.

Top it off with a thin layer of worm castings and it will be ready for planting. 

I think I will have missed the early crop window for peas, but I have strawberries from Home Depot waiting to be planted and already producing berries. They are the Albion variety that are ever bearing instead of just June bearing like our last bunch in Firestone.

Amy's Business Trip to Florida

Amy traveled with some of her co-workers to Florida for a big conference. She worked hard, but then they all got to go to Universal Studios. 

Universal Studios was closed o the public on Wednesday night and open to the conference attendees. 

Then they all got to go back on Thursday morning before flying home.

Kristen New Apartment for Fall

It will be with zero regrets that Kristen moves out of Branbury. Her roommate situation (including the rabbit) has been less than ideal.

She has already found a place for fall that is on the other side of campus. The rent is a lot cheaper and so many fewer fees. She will have laundry in the house, her own room, and hopefully some fun new roommates.

Kristen's 2nd Job

Kristen was able to successfully interview for and get a second job for the summer. She is working at the Provo Rec Center in Guest Services. She still works on the custodial staff for the BYU Conference Center. Between two jobs and a full load of spring classes, she keeps very busy.

And she does it all without a car. She gets some frustrations from the bus and getting where she needs to be since it has been early all week long (and she missed it), but she and Amy will be home at the end of the month to pick up the Mazda. And then she only has to worry about paying for gas!!!!!

Front Porch Decor

I found some beautiful faux hydrangeas for the front porch. 

Here's hoping I can plant some real flowers soon. We still are having nights below freezing!

Bird Spikes

While bird spikes are very pointy and sharp, it is safe to say that they DO NOT deter the birds from building nests.

Kristen got Bangs

Kristen got bangs! She loves them.

Course, she's got the ducky lips too!

New Monitor

Chris bought me a new laptop and mega screen. He "bought" my old Mac for Pivot Door Company to replace a machine at work that is from the 2012 era.

Having such a huge screen takes some getting used to, but it is pretty awesome as a workspace too. I like having the laptop too. It makes working on weekends away much nicer.

It's New Car Day for Misha!

Misha has been looking for awhile for a new car. Kristen gave up the use of the Mazda for the first half of this year so that Misha could have something to drive to work after selling her previous Subaru.

Misha said this morning, "Favorite purchase ever."

She bought a Subaru Forester (again) from a dealer in Thornton. It is a 2024 in a forest green color. 

Chris and I drove through rush hour traffic on Friday afternoon for an hour and half to help Misha with her purchase (and so that Chris could drive the Mazda back here so Misha didn't have to worry about it).

The sales lady that was helping Misha was totally ineffective and rude at times. She even went so far to tell me Misha that there were other Subaru dealers Misha could buy from if she didn't like the price.

Misha asked if she could get someone else to close the deal for her. 

While we waited, I drove to Chick-fil-A and grabbed some dinner. I drove Chris' Audi home while he stayed with Misha to help her finish up with financing.

Fortunately, the finance lady was just as tired of Misha (it was at least an hour and a half past closing by then) and Misha quickly declined all of the "extras". 

She drove her new car home to Denver, and Chris drove the Mazda to Monument. 

Just Because Tulips

Chris brought me some tulips just because. They were fun to watch as they spread out in the vase.