It's Springtime in New Mexico!

We're back! At 3 a.m. we were waking up in New Hampshire, and at 3 p.m. we were driving up to our casita! I did a fair amount of whining at the different airports (especially when it got the attention and laughs of everybody around), but once we were in the air I just snoozed out.

Beautiful warm weather in Albuquerque. At the casita most things went smoothly except that the kitchen sink was spraying water all over the ceiling. Dad eventually got that temporarily fixed. Then he couldn't get the hot water heater going. He was looking a little frustrated ... but he figured it out eventually, and now we are all cozying in for a nice desert sleep.

As you can see by the second photo, I am feeling a little tuckered ... I am relaxing in the Cowboy Room.

And So To Home ...

On this our last day on the trip, we went into Santa Fe where Mom and Dad had a breakfast of Blue Corn Pinon Pancakes. They even brought me a sausage afterward! (Although Mom was upset at how quick I ate it -- "You didn't even have a chance to taste it!").

Then they packed. Afterward, we went for a nice walk around our land. I smelled footprints of coyote and rabbit and some kind of little squirrely thing. Of course, once you smell, you have to dig ...

Dad did his closing-up-the-house thing, which is more complicated than I want to talk about, other than to mention that he did the whole thing in a snow squall. Then we drove him up to Santa Fe to take the Rail Runner back down to Albuquerque, we drove down to Albuquerque and met him, we had our different dinners in Old Town -- and now here we are in this luxurious La Quinta hotel room, which is big enough to put our casita in with room for an attic and an extra corridor. (This is not an exaggeration!!)

Tomorrow we take off at 10 a.m. for home, and so I end this chapter of Sundance Goes to Sundance. Hope you've enjoyed it!

Signing off,

Sundance

Cruising Around the Old Town

We had a great hike in the Cerillos Hills today, and then went down to Albuquerque. These are some pictures of Albuquerque. Then Mom took the Rail Runner train up in the afternoon and Dad and I met her in Santa Fe, only to drive back down almost half the distance to our casita. But never mind -- go figure! We love driving around and finding new things.

Black Dog on Black Lava

Today for a change was warm and sunny and the nasty cold wind was gone, so we were happy to hang out at home, meet with Thom the guy who takes care of the house, and generally clean up things.

(Thom and Dad and a blowtorch were able to get rid of an ice blockage in the pipe that we need to blow water out of the system when we leave. Dad was VERY relieved!)

Then Mom, Dad and I went down to Albuquerque to these volcanoes that are up on a ridge behind the Petroglyphs National Monument, on the west side of the Rio Grande. It didn't take very long for me to start digging! There was a whole prairie dog village out there too, but Mom pulled me away from that. I bet those "dogs" were shaking in their burrows!

The climb up the volcano wasn't very strenuous, and then we had a beautiful view across the prairie to the city of Albuquerque and the huge Sandia mountain behind. It was very quiet, and smelled very peaceful.

Sundance

Black Dog in White Sands

Today, deciding that the Santa Fe area was just too cold and windy for us, we took a road trip to southern New Mexico: we traveled 4 1/2 hours down to the White Sands National Monument, where the temperature hit 36 degrees (it was 7 when we left Santa Fe).

It was fabulous! The whole place is covered with this fine white gypsum sand, which Mom tells me is some kid of mineral that washes down from the mountains, then turns into crystals, then they turn into sand dunes which blow and shift every which way for thousands of years. Right now she says the dunes cover 275 square miles, whatever that means.

From the moment my feet hit the sands, I was running. It was like snow, except not cold. I hope I go again soon. I slept the 4 1/2 hours back. (You try running 2 miles in powdery gypsum sand when your legs are two inches long ...!)

Sundance

More Than Chillin' in NM

We woke up warm in our casita. However, when we set out today for Santa Fe -- yikes!

The temperature only just got above the mid-teens and the wind came cutting in every time we stepped out of the car. We did some shopping, with Mom getting some new Fiesta Ware to substitute for the lousy plates we bought six months ago.

In downtown Santa Fe, Mom and I smiled in the fountain because a big building blocked the wind and we had a lot of sunshine. Then we walked around downtown, planning our route to maximize the sun and get on the other side of buildings to cut the wind.

I really appreciated walking by all the Indians at the Plaza -- they had their stuff out on blankets down at my level where I could sniff it. Mom tells me they have some of the best jewelry in the whole area, and it did look beautiful. However, they also were fighting the cold, all bundled up in down parkas and wool blankets and, I would bet, waiting for the day to end.

By early afternoon, we were feeling that we had had enough and, after a stop at Whole Foods for supplies, went quickly back to our casita for a warm cozying in and an early New Year's Eve.

Sundance

Back in the Saddle Again!

Well, it wasn't exactly a saddle for me -- more like six hours stuffed in a carrier under an airplane seat, but ... whatever: we're back in our casita in Madrid, New Mexico, and very happy to be here although kind of tired. We weren't sure we were going to make it, they had us held in Baltimore because of the weather out here, but they let us go

Our friend Thom came by earlier and turned on the solar power and the gas furnace, so we came in to a warm house that we could brighten right up. Dad turned on the water and it also came up, so we are 3 for 3. (Dad is going to let the water dribble tonight because it's going down to the teens and he's worried about pipes freezing.)

Right after dinner, I found one of my old bones from last visit and as you can see, I am happily getting to know it again!

Sundance

p.s. Just before we came out, we watched the original True Grit with John Wayne to get us ready for watching the new True Grit, which is shot in New Mexico