Sunday, June 16, 2019

At Ease in Albuquerque


Hard to believe we are already a month into our three month house and catsitting job in Albuquerque. Things are going well and we feel very fortunate to be here. The cats are a joy to have around and the house is so much more comfortable than the Lazy Daze. We are not missing the RV life at all so far.

A couple weeks ago friends Alex and Ellen spent a week at a nearby Coronado Village RV park. They came over for dinner and walks around our neighborhood and I actually enjoyed cooking for them in our huge kitchen. 


Ellen and Jim on one of our walks

We took a nice bike ride along the Paseo del Bosque trail followed by lunch at Steel Bender Brewyard. Not only did they have a great seitan sandwich, there was also a very good live band playing that afternoon.


Alex, Jim and Ellen on the Paseo del Bosque.


Rio Grande 

Another day we all took the train to Santa Fe, a bargain at $6 round trip for seniors.

Waiting at the Sandia Pueblo train station

The ride was around an hour and 15 minutes. Nice to leave the driving to someone else.

Getting off at the last stop puts you about a mile and a half from The Plaza in Santa Fe. Before heading there we detoured to the State Capitol building, aka The Roundhouse, the only round capitol building in the U.S.







The best part of our self-guided tour was the artwork. The capitol is home to a collection of art from over 600 New Mexican artists, as well as a changing exhibit. We were very impressed.




Believe it or not, these are actually quilts. I am not a huge fan of most quilts, but these were absolutely beautiful.

Strange looking lion.

We all really liked this bison head.

Blog artist at work :-)

It was fascinating to discover all of the things it was made of, including plastic spoons, fishing reels, newspapers and paint brushes.



From the capitol we walked over to The Plaza then wandered through some shops and checked out the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Asisi.






 Simple but nice looking chruch.



Alex and Ellen used to have a macaw like this one so they had to stop and talk to the owner. He's had this bird for 32 years!




Jewelry vendors along the Plaza. It was interesting to see most of them sitting there looking at their smartphones



Lunch view of the Plaza from the balcony at Draft Station.

Great beer and pizza at Draft Station.


Alex and Ellen


Gayle and Jim

After lunch we did some more window shopping, then decided to head back to catch the 4:15 train. The sky was getting dark and we heard some distant thunder getting closer.

Omen of what was to come.

We didn't get too far before it started raining, and of course none of us brought our rain jackets. Then the temperature dropped and the hail began. We finally found a side entrance of a small hotel for some protection but we were already soaked and cold by then. Since it wasn't letting up Alex finally called an Uber to take us the last mile to the station. We were never so happy to get into a nice warm car!


Accumulating hailstones.

This post is getting too long so I'll save the rest for the next one, but first we have a question about mattresses. We've been to just about every mattress store in town and have been gravitating towards an all foam mattress, like a Tempur-Pedic. Reading reviews online is confusing us as there are so many choices these days. If anyone has a recommendation we would love to hear it, especially about the bed-in-a-box type that seem to be all the rage. We are looking for something softer but supportive. Appreciate any input!






25 comments:

  1. Check out the mattresses at Costco. We have one in our guest room and it is very comfortable.

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    1. We looked at them but they don't have one on display to try out. We hate to buy something we can't lay on first.

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  2. I get about 10 years out of each foam mattress I have had. They are as close to my preferred waterbed that I have found. There was LOTS of difference between foam mattresses when I did my last shopping. If I cannot try it first, I do not buy it.

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  3. Yes, we do miss the old waterbed, except for the times when we had a leak and when the heater quit working.

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  4. Thanks for taking me along on the retirement for full time RVing. I feel like I am a couple of years behind you. It seems like my RVing now is more like trying to find where I will quit full time traveling mode.

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    1. We know the feeling. Only time will tell if we're making the right decision.

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  5. Glad you are enjoying your time in the house. Having the space is nice, but everything is SO far away!!! Cooking takes on a whole new concept when you don't have to pile things on top of each other. It is nice to spread out. The train trip was such a great day, well, til it hailed! Love the art in the capitol. The quilts are amazing.

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    1. We get a lot more exercise just walking from one room to the next in this house. It was only a handful of steps to walk from one end of the Lazy Daze to the other!

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  6. Wonderfully informative and fun post, the artwork is fascinating too. I recommend an ordinary spring cheap mattress with no bells/whistles and then buy a good foam "topper" (high density) which lays on top of the mattress and can be replaced every 3 to 5 years. Do an Amazon search for "memory foam topper high density".

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    1. Thanks, Terri. We used a memory foam topper in our motorhome and also on the sleep number type mattress we had in our house. Something else to consider!

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  7. Darn, too bad you couldn't sleep on our mattresses for a few days before you make a mattress decision!

    Looks like you are not going to have a problem adjusting to life in the apartment! Having lots of space is really nice.

    Make the drive at long the Turqouise Trail while you are in ABQ. Madrid is a wonderful, quirky art town along the trail.

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    1. Had no idea mattress shopping would be so difficult. Wish we had looked closer at yours.

      We have not been to Madrid or driven the Turquoise Trail before. It's on our list!

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  8. Have you heard of the Purple mattress? I'm not sure if they're only found online or not. It would be great if you could try one out in a store, but, I have a feeling they're not in stores yet. Here's the site along with my favorite commercial they did with Sasquatch's wife LOL: https://purple.com/mattressprotector?utm_source=YouTube&utm_medium=Sasquatch+Video I hope that can help you both.

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  9. We love ABQ and have friends there but are curious as to what ABQ foodie finds you are finding ;)

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    1. Other than Steel Bender we've eaten at Il Vicino, Grassburger and El Patron. All had vegan options that were quite tasty.

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  10. Consumer reports has an new article testing mattresses. They focus on mattresses for side sleepers.

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    1. Thanks, Jim subscribed to CR last week but we haven't read the new mattress tests yet. Timely since we are side sleepers.

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  11. We love our Tuft & Needle mattress. So much we bought one for our camper! Very light and cool. Had it about 2 years now. I think they still have a showroom in Phoenix. You should check them out.

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    1. Will add it to the list of mattresses to check out, thanks.

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  12. Thanks for the visit to Santa Fe, one of our favorite cities. The gallery at the capitol is wonderful - added to the list!! Uber was a smart choice to avoid that surprise storm :-)

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    1. We like Santa Fe, too. Plan to go back again while we're in ABQ.

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  13. We couldn’t sleep on the Tempur-Pedic!! Probably one of the few couples that can’t! Mike couldn’t get up and down easily and turning over for him was harder. Good luck on finding the right mattress...it’s a hard job for sure!
    Glad you’re enjoying all the room as compared to an RV!!!

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  14. Wow, I can't believe that bird was 32 years old.... Loved the tour with you today and the art work at the capital was beautiful.

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  15. Photo #16 is of the home of Erica Enyart, custom home designer/builder and major collector of Michelle Cook's (www.iac2.com) artwork. See: http://urbanecos.com/

    One of Erica's recent projects was designing and building a home in the Manzano Mountains for the Natl Forest supervisor who was in charge during the Hubbell Trading Post debacle. See: https://www.amazon.com/Case-Indian-Trader-National-Investigation/dp/0826348602 She, the supervisor, did her best to help Billy Malone.

    A synopsis of the issue and book: https://www.hcn.org/issues/43.7/a-misguided-investigation-ends-an-era-in-arizona

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