Out West. Saturday. 7/3/2010.

This morning I awoke to find a fully awake Aunt Bev keeping herself busy with the chores of the house. Turns out she had been awake a great deal longer than me, try 4am. I sat in the hammock on her porch with Scottie (one of the dogs) and watched the sun settle into the sky. Once everyone had woken up and gotten dressed, we all went to breakfast at one of two restaurants in the vicinity, Ancient Way Cafe. When we got there we were greeted outside by one of the cooks and one of Aunt Bev's many friends, John. Turns out he's a Cherokee. It was cool to meet someone with roots from back where I'm from. After being introduced, he settled us at a wicker and glass table on the porch. I immensely enjoyed the breakfast there, the food was nothing short of amazing (but of course still spicy like everything edible down here), the temperature perfect, the landscape beautiful in the early morning sun, and the people friendly and full of interesting stories and anecdotes. John was the first of many we were introduced to. We even saw the owner of the restaurant, Red Wolf. Like I said, it's a different world out here. A world I'm beginning to absolutely love. We chatted away the morning while i snuck bits of my huevos rancheros to Guido Sarducci, the dog that hung around the cafe. I was sad when we had to say our goodbyes, I would have loved to have spent more time over at Aunt Bev's, but we still had Albuquerque to get to before our flight home tomorrow. However I left with the promise to return and visit. There are few things I could think of that I would love more than to go spend spring break or something over there with her and the Navajos and that may be exactly what I intend on doing. When we got to Albuquerque, we unloaded our stuff at the hotel then headed to the Historic Old Town to look around and do some shopping, I was determined to find a turquoise bracelet before I left the American Southwest. It was a leisurely afternoon of shopping and exploring, and I proved successful in my hunt for the turquoise. Albuquerque is a cool place to say the least. We tried to go to the art museum because I had seen advertising that they had a special limited time showing of one of my favorite artist's works, J.M.W. Turner. However, by the time we got there at around 4:30, we discovered that they closed at 5, but kicked everyone out 15 till. That was one of the biggest disappointments of the trip, who knows when I'll get another chance to see Turner's work on display like that. After Historic Old Town, we headed back to the hotel to shower and get ready for dinner. The restaurant we were going to was called High Finance & Tavern. Considering the fact that it was quite literally on the top of a mountain, the only way to really get there was to take a tramway. At an elevation of 10,378ft, it was the highest point i've been to thus far. The view was gorgeous and the ride up was pretty cool being able to look out of the glass box at the mountain peaks surrounding you. While we were looking down at the view of Albuquerque below waiting for our reservation, we also got to talk to and watch a hang glider propel himself off of the mountain top. I was worried that we'd have to go in and eat before we'd see him take off since he had to wait for just the right winds for the jump, but just as we were getting ready to go in he leaped into the air and rode the thermals over the mountaintops. It was incredibly to watch him glide up and over the jagged peaks. Apparently this guy set some world record spending some 20 hours in the air hang gliding. New hobby? I'm definitely looking into it. When we finally got to sit down for dinner, the food was exceptional. I'd say it was a definite second to the Bellagio buffet this trip with to die for white truffle risotto, filet mignon, and berry lemon cake. After dinner we went back down on the tramway and stopped off to watch them set of fireworks in celebration of the 4th of July tomorrow on the way back to the hotel. This whole trip has been amazing and although I am depressed beyond belief to be hopping on the plane home tomorrow, I know I'll be back soon...I don't think I'll be able to resist. I'm absolutely head over heels for this area. I love everything about it. Raleigh can't even begin to compare.