More Swimming!

First thing this morning, I got another chance to go swimming, this time in the Galisteo River, not far from our casita. It was very refreshing. The day was warm but not hot -- perfect for walking in in a river!

Then we went into Albuquerque and spent some time on Nob Hill, where Mom shopped and got herself some birthday outfits, and Dad and I walked around seeing the sights. As you can see, the dogwoods have decided that the blizzards and cold winds are over.

(As you might have guessed, the Dogwood is my Favorite Tree.)

There are some very interesting looking stores and signs on Nob Hill.

Also some very interesting architecture.

Mom's Party Game

Today was Mom's birthday, and to celebrate she wanted a party game -- namely to create medallions made up of broken plates, glass and stuff and set them in concrete in our front yard.

I helped with some of the beginning designs. Dad did the grunt work, digging the holes, mixing the concrete and driving into Santa Fe after it turned out that we didn't have enough concrete.

Pam and our friend Pat did all the major design work (after my input). We have this horrible set of Pottery Barn plates that Mom and Dad bought when we first moved in here, so Mom and Pat started by smashing those with hammers and sticking them in the cement. The two of them also had big collections of glass fragments, tiles, beads, beer-bottle tops and things too various to list, and so a lot of that got pressed into the wet concrete as well.

We were all pretty proud when we were finished. (Pretty tired too.) We think that what we created is quite extraordinary and beautiful (and also quite strange). We finished Mom's birthday celebration by going to dinner at Harry's Roadhouse Cafe. Well, THEY did; all I got was to sleep in the car; but by that time, sleeping in the car was fine with me.

Here is one of the finished medallions.

A Big Day Trip

Mom, Dad, our friend Pat and I had a big day-trip today, driving to western New Mexico for them to buy jewelry for Turquoise Trail Traders. One of the best parts of the trip for me was to ride and snooze and snug for 2 1/2 hours with my Dad (going out) and then with my Mom (driving home). Our first stop was Gallup, but they tell me the jewelry was pretty expensive there, so we didn't stay long, but drove south to Zuni and the beautiful Corn Mountain mesa that welcomes you to the Pueblo.

The first thing we saw in Zuni was a Zuni-bread oven getting fired. I guess once it's hot enough they close it up, and then you can bake bread in it. Too bad that we weren't there long enough to sample the bread!

The jewelry prices were much better in Zuni, and Mom and Dad were able to get everything they were looking for. Pat got some nice stuff for herself too.

On the way home, we stopped at El Morro (Inscription Rock) -- one of our favorite places in that part of the country. That's the place where hundreds of years ago travelers across the desert found a beautiful pool of fresh water, and then wrote their names and dates on the walls of the cliffs.

Back home, dinner, then a short time while the people admired the things they bought, and then everybody went to bed early.

Rock Pictures

Today Mom, Dad, Pat and I had a great romp in Petroglyphs National Monument, just west of Albuquerque. Native American people carved all these pictures into big hunks of lava many many years ago.

It was bright sunny, cold and windy out in the canyon.

Mom, Dad and Pat had a great time with the pictures. The pictures looked OK to me. Actually the main parts of my day were 1) A great big jack rabbit hare running up through the rocks 2) Hundreds of geckos that I chased through the bushes 3) Getting my leash and my Dad totally tangled up in the bushes as I chased the geckos, so that he had to keep stopping and untangling us.

Afterwards I was so tired out that I hardly noticed that the grown-ups stopped for lunch in Albuquerque, although I did notice -- and appreciate! -- the half-turkey sandwich that Dad brought back. Slept all the way home, and we all had a quiet, tired, happy dinner, and went to bed early.

Stormy New Mexico Skies

We are here happy in New Mexico with wild winds and dust storms all around us. The snow they talked about hasn't showed up yet, except for a few flurries.

Mom and I (and our good friend Pat) are hanging out in the Casita being cozy and warm. We're very happy with the new pillow from our friend Diane.

As you can see, I spent most of my day sleeping in the car while Mom and Dad did about 120 errands buying stuff (including fortunately a lot of good dog food).

Earlier in the day, Mom and I took a hike down to the downhill part of our land, where we have discovered a great garbage dump going back probably 100 years, mainly of bean and Spam cans. I am greatly looking forward to going back soon and doing a lot of more serious excavations with my ever-so-capable paws!

A Quick Trip and Goodbye

Another beautiful day in New Mexico. It's clear and bright and above freezing.

We went for a walk in the Albuquerque volcanoes. They are about 15 miles west of Albuquerque on a high ridge.

Although it's really nice to have the temperature above freezing, with all the snow they've had up here, a problem is that everything is mud, including the volcano trails. Mom is still picking it off my under-fur; the problem is that the mud has dried into clay. We're hoping they let us on the plane tomorrow, and we're not at all sure when or how we'll get the clay removed from my beautiful fur.

Yes, the sad story is that we are leaving our wonderful casita and wonderful New Mexico tomorrow and flying back to New Hampshire. However, New Hampshire is wonderful too ... and we're all three pretty impressed with ourselves at how we could turn an overnight trip in northern New Hampshire into a three-day vacation, in a 36-hour turnaround.

Going back to my friends the cats and our quiet days by the wood fire. I'll post to you on my next trip!
Best wishes to all --

Sundance

Canyon Road

Another really nice day in Northern New Mexico, with warm sun and clear skies. We went into Santa Fe and took a nice walk up and down Canyon Road, which is where all the art galleries are. The place was packed with people -- Mom said most of them were from Texas.

The story is that New Mexico is the only place in the country that has any skiing ... and it has a lot of it.

Our idea was that I would pose for some photos with outdoor sculpture, but the first one was kind of mortifying: a miniature moose? You'd think these people would study what size a moose actually is. The funny part is, we were originally going to spend this weekend in northern New Hampshire, with full-scale moose. Really!

The next sculpture was three dancing lambs. Much better! If you're not going to be realistic, might as well have some fun with it.

This afternoon Mom, Dad and I took a trail-less walk out from our property to the neighboring property. We would have walked longer, but the sun was going down and the wind was fierce. I couldn't stop running after rabbit and coyote tracks. On the other hand, once I finally got home, I have been spending a lot of time snoozing on the bed and on the couch.