Friday, August 1, 2014

Day 32 - Santa Fe, NM

Dateline:  July 18, 2014; Santa Fe, NM

We got up super early to get Greg and Ruth to their balloon ride in Albuquerque.  They were doing a champagne balloon ride with World Balloons.  We arrived in time to get to Starbucks and get some hot beverages and then Gage and I (not being fans of heights) dropped them off and went back to Starbucks to hang out and use their free wifi while we ate our breakfast and drank our coffees.  Ruth and Greg had this adventure, though!


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There is a lot of prep work in doing a balloon ride! 

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From the parking lot behind the Starbucks, I could see the balloons getting ready. 

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This company was sending up two balloons that morning.  There were lots of others lifting off around Albuquerque as well. 

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Greg texted me and said they were right above me.  They were.  

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Amazingly, they landed within a hundred yards of where they took off!  That was easy! 

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Greg helped pack things up. 

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Cool shot! 

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Just a few of the other balloons up at the same time. 

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They had mimosas and goodies afterwards.  They even got commemorative champagne glasses. 

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A few shots from Greg's point of view! 


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After they were done, we headed to the nearby Petroglyph National Monument.  Surrounded by the outskirts of Albuquerque, this area was saved just in time.  There are amazing petroglyphs from the ancient native people as well as Spanish explorers.   We didn't have tons of time so we picked on quick hike. 


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Gage ran up, of course! 

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The rest of us came at a more leisurely pace. 

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There were tons of huge millipedes roaming around.  Very cool. 

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The cross indicates that this was carved by the Spanish.  

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You can see a little development behind Greg here. 

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You can see the city of Albuquerque behind Gage here.  

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This road runner and a friend of it's ran right by Gage and brushed his pant leg.  He swears they did not say "Meep-meep!"

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Looking down on my car.

Afterwards, we went shopping in Albuquerque and had lunch at Duran Central Pharmacy.  It is really a pharmacy with a restaurant in it.  Great food and our waitress, Donna, was awesome!   We shopped in Old Town and then drove back to Santa Fe on the beautiful Turquoise Trail.

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Liza bought this adorable road runner in a cute little gallery in Madrid, NM.  

We went back to Tomasita's for dinner that night as we knew it was our last night in Santa Fe.

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Clouds north of Santa Fe.  

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