Albuquerque

Our first night in New Mexico was spent at a casino. That’s not like the Wallers! Well it is if there is a $20 powered site and an US$11.99 (half price for children) steak buffet. We were celebrating the end of Simone’s school year. We were all happy to get to the end and quite pleased with ourselves that we managed to complete all the work on time.

Symi happy have found Trinity

Next morning we drove to Albuquerque to meet up with Joanna, Chris and Trinity who we met in in Sedona. They had kindly asked us to stay for a couple of days at their house. After a bit of work levelling the RV on the sloping street we were plugged into power and Rob was ready to head off mountain bike riding with Chris. Symi had to wait a couple of hours for Trinity to get home from school but luckily for her Joanna very kindly played on the Wii with her while Fiona sent off the last of the school work to her teacher.

That evening we went out for Mexican which was great – a lot less cheese than you sometimes find. The girls were very happy to find out that all children get complimentary chocolate mousse. Feeling very full we drove into the centre of Albuquerque to see the famous river of lights. Every year the botanical garden puts in what must be thousands – if not millions of lights – and decorates a huge area. We would estimate it took more that 90 minutes to walk around it once. That evening Symi enjoyed a sleepover with Trinity leaving Rob and Fiona to sleep alone in the RV for the first time all year.

bit cold

On Saturday the boys did some more riding while the rest of us went for a walk in a nearby canyon which we all enjoyed. Unfortunately while Rob and Chris were riding, Chris’s car was broken into. There was very little in the car to steal – an empty bag, a t-shirt and a shirt. Sadly the clothes were Rob’s and he is still mourning the loss of his Whoops T-shirt from Bend in Oregon and his “Montana Man” shirt which he loved. All very pointless and expensive with an insurance excess of $500 for Chris and Joanna. In the evening after dinner we helped decorate the family Christmas tree which was lovely as our RV Christmas tree which was lovingly drawn and cut out by Symi certainly could not support any decorations! We do however have a homemade advent calendar and Christmas stocking which we hope will get some use.

Sunday saw Fiona doing some last minute cooking to stock the freezer before our planned week of snowboarding. Rob managed to sneak in one last ride before we headed north to Sipapu. Due to our late start we did not make it all the way that night but found a roadside RV park to stay. Next morning set off to Sipapu early for a longer than expected and very undulating drive through the high desert.

Next up Snowboarding.