Goodbye for now ...

Today for our last day in New Mexico we went on a very nice hike up in the Pecos Wilderness. Best of all, we followed a stream, so I got to swim whenever I wanted!

We were going to go up to some caves, but Mom and Dad got to thinking about packing for the airplane, so we turned around early.

The Panchuela River valley was really really beautiful, calm and cool.

There were trees with flashing leaves. (Dad says "Aspen".)

And tall piney trees all bunched together. ("Spruce/Fir".)

And just plain HUGE trees! ("Ponderosa".)

Blog you next trip! Love, Sundance.

Stayin' Local

Today we didn't go very far, and stayed cool. Went to the Farmer's Market in Santa Fe, where guess what? Now they allow dogs! (About time!) Then to the Plaza.

They were having a fair with stuff to eat, cheap jewelry and art, some good jewelry and art. Mom got a very nice pair of earrings. A man who made dog hats put one on me. I hated it! "He hates it!" said Mom. "He doesn't hate it!" said the man and took it off. He seemed very offended.

Then we went back down to Madrid where they were having a "Gypsy Festival." One of the things they offered was "belly dancing." Lots of bellies! I didn't get it.

Then back home for a relaxing afternoon. I forgot to mention that we put a new window in the big bedroom. It completely give us a new view to the Jemez Mountains out west, and the room is really bright and light now. I love it!

Hot Hike!

Yesterday we had a hot hike, but I didn't blog because last night we went into Santa Fe and watched a movie outside on the grass -- City Slickers. A lot of cows (I didn't get it).

Our hot hike was the long version of the Cerillos Hills. Mom says 2.5 miles and 90 degrees. As you can see, she and I found every piece of shade we could. Juniper trees make good shade.

Last night before the movie we went over to Lamy which is where the train stops, the one that goes across the country, and Mom treated Dad to a Father's Day dinner at Legal Tender (used to be part of a Fred Harvey hotel). Mom snuck me a piece of Rib Eye (I'm not supposed to have table snacks) and it was excellent! We ate looking back at these tall Indian sculptures watching us. 

June Flowers

We're back in New Mexico -- in the beautiful springtime. Me and Mom and Dad went for a nice hike in the hills behind Santa Fe -- where all the rich people live, but they carved out some trails for the rest of us. That's a prickly pear flower behind me.







Then these are Cholla flowers. We have a lot of these on our land. We're up on top of the hill now and looking for shade -- it's getting hot.



If you look the wrong way up there, you don't get beautiful views but huge houses. Dad said about this one, "A million dollars would just about pay for the garage."

Sunset and Goodby

We started off the day with a VERY BRISK hike up the short trail on the Cerillos Hills. A beautiful day, totally clear, cool with a nice wind. Great view from the top as always, of the Ortiz Mountains. (I've posted that before, so didn't bother now.0

We were followed not long after by a riding train of elementary school girls. They were very happy and excited.

Cut from the 19th Century to the 21st Century: we needed to make our hike brisk, because Mom wanted to catch a Rail Runner train into Santa Fe, to go shopping for shoes.

Mom made her train with minutes to spare. Dad and I went to the dump. and then to Home Depot to buy an additional window for our bedroom. We caught up with Mom in Santa Fe, who had Very New Shoes, and they had lunch, but I at least got to sit outside at a table with them. We then drove up into the hills to a place with very wild outdoor sculpture, and another place with glass blowing and pretty glass. "No Dogs Allowed!" They have no sense of humor.

Mom and Dad had dinner at a place in Madrid. They said it was very good. I had to stay in the car, but they said that the Madrid dogs kept wandering in to see what was cooking.

Now we fly back tomorrow. We are sad to leave our Madrid casita ... but I'll be blogging you again in a few months to pick up the story.

Happy Trails!

Sundance

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.