Well we are packing our stuff to catch the first of our flights within the country tomorrow. We will say goodbye to the trusty Ford Escape that has taken us on our journey thus far and will fly to New Orleans. This will make for a very long day as we will fly to Atlanta first (2 hours ahead of New Mexico), stop on the ground for a couple of hours, and then fly on to New Orleans (1 hour behind Atlanta, or an hour in front of New Mexico). We will arrive there around 9.30pm Saturday night (US time) at which point I won't have a clue which day of the week it is. And.... just when I am getting used to the Mexican accent, we will now also throw French into the mix.
Today the Bear took me for a drive around Albuquerque and showed me where he was stationed on the Kirtland US Air force Base. That truly blows my mind. We also visited “Old Town Albuquerque” which is an old town square that was founded in 1793. There were a lot of the Mexican locals who line the streets to sell their wares as well as a number of craft and souvenir shops. I thoroughly enjoyed poking around there although I will add that listening to Christmas Carols with a Mexican accent was entertaining. “Siiillllllrint nyyyyte. Haaaaawwry nyyyyte”. We visited the Candy Store which sold sweets that had me think of home. (“Green Boogers” made me think of Nic). Across from this was a beautiful old convent which I was tempted to enter and place a request to join the sisterhood.
The souvenir shops are filled with Mexican mats and sombreros as well as a lot of pottery. More than this however is the religious content. There are crosses and churches, and more versions of the baby Jesus than there are hairs on my head. Both Albuquerque and Santa Fe have a deeply religious culture and don’t mind celebrating their faith by creating replicas of their lord. I do scratch my head however and wonder why it looks as though they are taking the complete and utter mickey out of him. I do not have a religious bone in my body however even I know that Jesus didn’t look like a cross-dressing "Iron Man". Another Jesus looked like he had suffered stroke but that was nothing compared to the one which looked like a blow up doll doing gymnastics on crack. I thought momentarily these were jokes, or had been made by the local kindergarten however no – this was expression by the devout community. This was a shame because I was primed to grab some clay and make my own contribution. Given that it is legal to carry guns in this town though it was probably a good idea that I didn’t.
Also today we dropped into “Avenue” which is one lot of fat-racks clothing in America. I love the fact that their pants and trousers have three different size classes - Petite, Average and Tall. The jeans and trousers that I can purchase from this store are in the "petite" range. As far as I am concerned that is like putting chocolate cake on spaghetti...but hey...I will grab it where I can. "Petite" means short/stout/ducks disease....and this makes their pants just simply awesome! I had made a few purchases at the store in Las Vegas and they had emailed me to inform me of their “40% off sweaters and boots” sale. Every other chubby store I have ever been to in Australia or the U.S I have found that the staff are of a similar build who can wear the product that they are selling. I have always found that this has been great because they experience firsthand the issues of being a larger person. I was very surprised to find that the sales person in this store was a tall, very thin, African/American man. This being said he was absolutely great!
I am amazed at the colour of the sky here in New Mexico. It is bluer than the North Queensland sky on a spring morning. I would have expected it to be choked with smog like L.A is...but no. The clouds seem to be painted on the sky with water colours – yet I can’t seem to capture this with a photograph. I don’t know if it is an optical illusion with the towering, brown mountains that surround the city, or whether it is simply the stark contrast to the desert. Whatever the case, it is very pretty and is totally unexpected.
What was also unexpected this morning was seeing two miniature dachshunds that are staying here at the same hotel. It is legal in the United States to have pets at certain motels although it does come at a cost - $75 a day. The Bear and I were walking down toward the reception area to have breakfast which is included in our stay. The Bear realised he forgot to leave a tip for the housemaid so ran back to our room to do so. I waited outside on a pathway. I saw a man walking towards me – he had a mini long haired black and tan (who was leading the way I might add) and a mini short head red (who wanted to run amok). He was a fair way off but I didn’t hesitate to start walking in his direction, and that turned into a half desperate run. He turned off toward his own room, so I sort of *cough* gave chase. The man and his dogs (who the Bear came across as he was coming back from our own room) disappeared into their room just as I had nearly caught up to them. I stood there with tears in my eyes (I am such a sook) and was tempted to go and knock on this man’s door to request a cuddle with his dogs. I refrained but stood there missing my “Bubba-Girl” (Ella) and “Boyz” (Schultz) even more than I am already. In the past 48 hours, I have thought I heard Schultz bark in a street in Santa Fe; thought I heard Ella growl in our motel room; and thought I felt Schultz nudging my leg (as he likes to do when he is “directing” me). I think I am hallucinating. God I miss my babies.
Speaking of dogs, when we were in a “Five and Dime” in Santa Fe I saw some dog bones for sale. They were from deer antlers and I was mortified. I know that we eat cows and chooks but in this country they hunt just for fun. In Colorado I saw many signs that said “Hunters Welcome”. There they hunt Moose and Deer. Having now seen deer in the wild and been close enough to look into their big brown eyes (I kid you not...it’s just like looking at my Bubba-girl) I have no idea how they can hunt just for fun. In Albuquerque this weekend they also have the “Great Coyote Hunt”. I haven’t seen coyotes in the wild but I do know they are just like dogs and it breaks my heart to see them being hunted. We have also just found out that the Prarie Dog population near Albuquerque Airport was poisoned by the council recently because the Federal Aviation Administration didn't want wildlife near the airport. If I spend too much time here I suspect that I would become a vegan!
Bring on New Orleans!
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