Vacation the Osterhout Way

We Osterhouts are not sit-by-the-pool vacationers.  When we do vacation, we need a vacation to recover from our vacation!  My family's recent visit to Abq was no exception.

Arriving on a Tuesday, my folks and brother had a few days to amuse themselves while Stephen and I worked.  They went to the Unser racing museum, took a walk in the Bosque and visited the nature center there, and went to Santa Fe where they toured the Plaza.

 

On Friday night, I had a gig at the Mine Shaft Tavern in Madrid.  Stephen and David and Mom and Dad had dinner and then stayed for the first set.  This was my first gig with Trisha O'Keefe and the Open Road, and it was a blast! 

 Saturday was the 50th Anniversary balloon ride, which is documented in the previous post.  We went out to dinner at El Pinto with my Mom's cousin Marge and her husband Terry to extend the celebration.

On Sunday the weather turned colder and we had a little rain in Abq.  Stephen drove us up to Los Alamos where we visited the Historical Museum and the Bradbury Science Museum.  We saw some snow up in the mountains, and drove through a few flurries on the trip back.

 On Monday Stephen went to work but I had taken a personal day (my only one, which I saved up for the whole school year for this occasion!) to take the family to ride the Sandia Peak Tramway.  On the drive up to the base of the tram, we could see that low clouds covered the top of the mountain.  The sign at the ticket counter said "Visibility at the peak is 0."  We bundled up anticipating wind and temperatures in the low 30's. 

It was snowy but not nearly as windy as we had feared, and we were not at all uncomfortable as we explored the area at the peak. This was the extent of the "view," however.  It was really interesting to go up under such different weather conditions than I had experienced before.  But now my family has to go again when it's clear and sunny.

 Heading down, we emerged from the cloud very suddenly and saw this!

After our tram ride, we had lunch at my house and I got to go for a walk with my Mom.  Later, we again met Marge and Terry for a lovely dinner at Sadie's.  Do you think we packed enough fun into six short days?