Albuquerque Trip, Part II

We arrived in Albuquerque Saturday around noon, after spending the night in Amarillo - we had left Dallas on Friday after work. On Monday morning, Stephany, Malory, and I went hiking in the foothills of the Sandia Mountains, which border the east side of town. The west side of town becomes more like a mesa (with some old volcanoes, which is also good for hiking), and the middle of town basically sits in a valley (so on either side of town, you can see most of the entire city - it's especially cool at night when you can see the city lights).

We had hiked the foothills back during our December trip, and Malory suggested that we go again on this one, an idea which Steph and I heartily embraced. The hiking is good, because there are some good paths you can follow (or not) and you see a variety of terrain, including desert with cacti (we're pretty sure that's the plural of cactus, but I sometimes say "cactus plants" just to be safe), large rocks (good for bouldering), and even some wooded areas.

Here's us on the drive out to the mountains. We ate chocolate chip pancakes from the morning before, made with love by Diane.





Here's us at the trailhead, preparing to venture out into the open spaces.





Here are some of those cacti I mentioned. Some of them create some truly beautiful blooms.







When I first moved to New Mexico in 2005, I noticed shades of green in the plant life there that I had never seen before (and coming from green East Texas - the "Piney Woods" - that's saying something). These plants are a really unique silvery green. It's an amazing aspect of the desert that although there is relatively little plant life, what plant life there is tends to be dramatic and vivid, as though it is proud of its accomplishment of existing in such an arid environment (and rightly so).



Mal and Steph taking a break.



We hiked on this stuff.



A stream ran through a valley area there. When we hiked back in December, we could easily follow it, but in June, it was too overgrown to even see really. We lamented the fact that we had no machetes.





Steph maneuvering on the rocks.



When we realized we couldn't pass the stream due to the overgrowth, I tried finding a way to go up and around and ended up climbing a good ways up. The girls backtracked a bit and climbed up to meet me. Malory knocked her knee into a rock she was climbing and skinned her leg, but she took it in stride - the girls were determined.





And here's a view of the city from the foothills - it's always an enjoyable part of the hike.



And here's us at the highest point we went.





By this time, we were all getting a bit eager to head back down the mountain and grab breakfast at the Flying Star on Eubank, not far from where Steph and I used to live. The Flying Star Cafe is one of our favorite local restaurants, and those of you who were at our wedding rehearsal dinner likely (because it was a memorable occasion, people) remember our dinner that night at the one downtown!

Okay, that's Part II. Two more parts to come!

Nathan