Company!

Stephen and I were hoping that we would get lots of visitors here in ABQ, which is why a guest room and minimum of two bathrooms were "must haves" on our house hunting list. When Katie came the weekend after we moved in to help unpack, we had just a bed, one make-shift nightstand, and a lamp for her comfort. Then Ray and Sandy came with the truck and trailer and hopefully found the accommodations comfortable (I was in NY for Christmas so I missed their visit). We were able to add a few decorations and amenities for Jackie and Ralph's visit this week. They flew in Wednesday evening and were here at the house with Stephen when I got home from the music studio. Very cool!

On Thursday, Stephen and I went to work and left our guests with a car, some brochures of ABQ attractions, and instructions for the alarm system. They ended up going to a couple of the museums in Old Town, and we all met at Cafe Da Lat for supper during my hour-long break from the music studio. I took Friday off from school and only had to teach at the studio in the afternoon. So after Stephen went to work, we went furniture shopping and then hiked a short distance in the open space behind the house to look at the spectacular views.

We picked out this table at U-neek, which is a huge emporium of antiques, vintage, and craft items on Route 66. Mom M. had made the quilt for us as a Christmas gift, and we were able to hang it over the new table once we shortened the dowel and drilled some holes for the cord.


On Saturday, Stephen drove us on a tour of the desert to the South of ABQ, looping around into the Sandia mountains to the East. We stopped at the Abo ruins which date back to the 1300's. There was a pueblo there, and a Spanish church. The weather was breezy and sunny with temps in the 50's.


On Sunday, we went to church then walked around Historic Route 66 in the Nob Hill district. We had lunch at Yanni's, then went to Masks y Mas, a folk-art gallery and store across the street. The art was fascinating, but not things I would like for my house. The main theme is the Day of the Dead, or Dia de los Muertos, a Mexican holiday celebrated throughout Mexico and around the world in other cultures. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died.


Today was Presidents' Day, which is a school holiday but not a day off at Stephen's workplace. But he was able to take most of the day off, after calling in to a meeting with some executives in Italy and participating in another conference call with folks at his office. We drove up the Turquoise Trail toward Santa Fe, stopping in Madrid which was a coal mining town, then a ghost town, and is now an artist colony with many galleries and shops and a theater. We found this lovely little gallery and Mom M bought us two small original oil paintings by the gallery owner which we will frame and hang in one of our rooms.


We had lunch at a cafe inside another gallery. I liked this whimsical sculpture, so I made my three traveling companions pose with "Guitar Guy."


We had to be back in time for me to go to work at the music studio. When I got home, we ate leftovers from our various meals during the week, and then Mom M. and I played our third game of Scrabble for the week. Tomorrow Stephen will take his folks to the airport on his way to work. We sure will miss them!