Yesterday we took a rest day.

Yesterday we took a rest day. We had lunch at Hot Tamales New Mexican Food and mostly just chilled out.

Today, we were ready to go adventure again. We went to Santa Fe, so OBVIOUSLY we had to see Meow Wolf Santa Fe. They had done some updating since the last time we'd been there, so there was new stuff for us to see even though this was the 3rd trip for me and Shaun. Even if they hadn't, we'd still go again and again because you just can't experience all of it, regardless. The most exciting part (for me) was a telephone with a video screen where we could see people at what I'm guessing is another Meow Wolf location. We could also speak to each other, but it was super distorted (probably intentionally). It was so neat when we realized that the people on the screen were interacting with us!

After Meow Wolf, we had lunch at Plaza Cafe Santa Fe, which is always delicious. Then we walked around the square. There was a vintage car show happening, which we didn't see advertised, so it was dumb luck that we found it. Janet and her mom are into old cars. I don't know a ton about them, but I do love seeing them fixed up all sexy and still working.

We found a really cool shop called The Mineral, Meteorite, and Fossil Gallery. Shaun bought me a fossil and a piece of black Tourmaline. The shop owner was very confusing and delightful. I wanna be his friend. 😂 There were also trash sculptures in there that looked to be made by the same person who made the Transformers. I also really wish I had $1200 for this flamingo/dinosaur hybrid. 🦩🦕

We took the long way home so we could see The Turquoise Trail. We found some cool rock formations at Garden of the Gods and also tons of really pretty blooming cholla.

We're off to bed so we can rest up for tomorrow!

Random Zia/Ghostbusters sticker on a pole outside of Meow Wolf

The "phone"/video station where we interacted with other people

All of the decor in this room was made from trash/recycled items. It was super cool.

The four of us taking a picture of us taking pictures. 😂

Saw these little monsters in the gift shop of Meow Wolf and had to snap the pic. I obviously have Ca7riel y Paco Amoroso on my brain. 😊

My fossil and tourmaline

Iron Man and Darth Vader made from scrap metal

🦩🦕

A bear holding a dragonfly statue

Garden of the Gods

Blooming Cholla

Last post for the night.

Last post for the night. Janet wanted to see Pinkman's Pickup spot (from Breaking Bad) and the Transformer statues, so we did that. She's got the photos for those things.

Then, we went and saw some cars. Specifically, the Batmobile, the De Lorean, the Mystery Machine, and the A-Team van. Here are a few pics.

Then we went to the The Paleta Bar Rio Rancho for a snack/dessert.

It was a busy, but fun day!

It's a lot of posts tonight, but...

It's a lot of posts tonight, but it's the first time I've chilled in a few days, so it's catch up. 😂

Today we went to the ABQ BioPark. We didn't make it to the zoo part, but we did see the Botanical Gardens, the Bugarium, the Aquarium, and the Shark Reef Cafe. The cafe was cool because it was part of the aquarium and you could watch the fish, rays, and sharks swim while you ate. The aquarium was pretty small compared to the ones in Tennessee and Georgia, but it was still very nice. I didn't take any photos there, though, because my phone was dying from the Botanical Gardens and Bugarium. Also, the Bugarium had Naked Mole Rats for some reason. I didn't get any good photos of them. They were roped off, so you could see them, but not up close.

I'm not going to post every cool photo that I took today because I don't think people want to scroll through all of that, but I'll post a few of the best ones with captions.

Shaun making faces near a Tree Aloe. 😂

Euphorbia something. It's really pretty.

Me and a Tree Aloe

Dragon in the area of the cave/maze for kids that we also definitely went into. 😂

Shaun in the cave

Me with a little cactus

Shaun said we can get married in here. 😂❤️ I guess if we ever decide to renew things, I know where we'll do it. 😊

This Agave is death-blooming. 🙁 It pushed through the thick leaves of the Yucca to get it's pollen up high.

Yesterday, we also went to Old Town Albuquerque to look around.

Yesterday, we also went to Old Town Albuquerque to look around. I was trying hard to be good and not buy things, but of course we had to get some candy from The Candy Lady. It's just not a stop in Old Town without some.

We also got thirsty and happened upon the Blackbird Coffeehouse, where Shaun won a free drink for balancing a coin on a lemon that was floating in water. I had a delicious and refreshing Prickly Pear Lemonade. The decor was gorgeous. Janet got most of the good pictures, so I'll post those later, but here are a few that I got.

Me and a Prickly Pear

Some flowers growing in Old Town

A wall at the coffeehouse

I love these chairs; they look like tree branches!

A bat skeleton hanging outside the coffeehouse

Yesterday, we went to Sawmill Market.

Yesterday, we went to Sawmill Market. Me and Shaun have been saying forever that we need to go in there, but we almost never do cool shit unless we have guests. 😂 It was really neat in there. It's like a large, indoor food court. There's just about everything you can imagine.

Sunday...

Sunday, we had Weck's right after the airport, then went riding around and hiked to see some Petroglyphs at the Petroglyph National Monument. Afterwards, we had some delicious green chile and pepperoni pizza from Dion's.

Monday, we had a balloon ride (our third one with Rainbow Ryders, Inc. Hot Air Balloon Co. - Albuquerque), went to US Forest Service - Cibola National Forest & National Grasslands, then to The Range Café. The food was delicious. Janet had the green chile apple pie with cinnamon ice cream and seemed to love it.

View from the mountain

Some pretty lichen on the mountain

Mural on the side of The Range Cafe

The Range Cafe has tons of plates signed by celebrities.

We've been going pretty hard...

We've been going pretty hard since picking up our friends from the airport on Sunday. We've had a great time. I had to sit down and cuddle some kitties last night, though. I feel like I was missed.

Editing to add that we don't usually leave Bear loose in the house when we're not here... Mostly because we're never not here. But we have been leaving him alone with Cub and he's been great. We're so proud of him! 😊