Albuquerque: Day 2

The title of this post is a bit of a misnomer, because we spent most of the day out of Albuquerque in Santa Fe and the roads around the countryside.

We started out the day seeing some hot air balloons flying around Albuquerque. We set out in a caravan to visit Santa Fe first, where we saw the downtown plaza, did some shopping, and visited an art gallery where a friend's mom's art was on display. We also caught the strange-but-famous donkey sculpture:


The donkey is just outside the Cafe Paris, where we had a tasty breakfast. Wes almost got a pastry there, which apparently cost $8.10 per piece. Yikes! But my chorizo omelette was tasty.

In Santa Fe, we also saw the "miraculous staircase," which was allegedly built by the resurrected Jesus. If they say so... But it was pretty neat just the same. (Note that it has no center support!)


After leaving Santa Fe, we drove through Los Alamos (past the laboratories!) to our next destination, Jemez Springs. Dave said the drive was his favorite part of our trip thus far, and with the views of the deserts and mountains, you can see why:


We had a lot of fun philosophizing in the car with Wes and Chad, our stowaways. We were basically in agreement that children today are very ill-behaved, which I don't think is a difficult agreement to arrive at.

Next was Giggling Springs in Jemez Springs in the mountains. Mark, Chad, and Laura had visited this spot before, and they had the foresight to realize that we would absolutely love it. (And, being mostly stressed out law students on spring break, we needed it!)

Look at the awesome pool, and the mountains in the background! This is the whole group. (See me and Dave in the front right.)


The weather was beautiful, as you can see. I think it might have been one of my favorite things that we did during the trip; it was certainly one of the most unique.


We spent about two hours in the water, which was hot and full of minerals. Apparently the water, which came from a New Mexican volcano, had quite a bit of iron and other minerals.

After a good soak there, we were relaxed and very happy. Plus, I got to wear the hat that I made on the plane ride over.


We finished out the day with pizza at Mark's house, accompanied by playing with his two very fun dogs, Spencer and Finnegan. These two Standard poodles may not have the crazy puppy cute factor that Hoss has, but they are so intelligent and regal. It was really fun to play fetch with them for a while.

Another awesome day.