Back in New Mexico

We were surprised to find that Tucumcari was at over 4,000 feet elevation.  Cool night but lovely morning:  low 60s, sunny and dry with only a slight breeze.  Definitely not in the South anymore.  We took a long walk before driving to Albuquerque with no weather challenges but miles of dry, dusty, and to be perfectly frank, ugly landscape. 

It was, however, so nice when we got here we went out by the pool - first time this trip!  Seems strange that as hot as it was the last month or so, the pools weren't open since it's spring.  You'd think with 80-95 degrees it would be considered warm enough to open them.  It wasn't all that warm here, maybe mid-60s, but the sun was shining and it felt glorious.

Spent the rest of the afternoon in Albuquerque's Old Town, just walking around and soaking up the sun.  Enjoyed a New Mexican cuisine meal at the Church Street Cafe and then watched square dancers in the Old Town Plaza.  We thought it was perfect - another American form of music and dance to add to the jazz, country, soul and rock we've learned about and listened to on the trip.

Then we cruised Albuquerque's Route 66, which is now Central Avenue.  Starts in Old Town and goes through Downtown, the University district and Nob Hill, which is funky, retro and now hip with lots of the old motels and neon signs.  Since we had stopped in Albuquerque on our way east and saw the western suburbs, we feel like we've got a good idea of several areas of the city.

As nice as it is, I'm having withdrawal pains from leaving the South. Neither of us expected to like it so much.  There isn't a state we wouldn't return to although North Carolina and Tennessee were probably our favorites.  Every state was so green, mostly very clean if you don't count New Orleans and Memphis, and the people were exceptionally friendly.  There seems to be a sense of place as seen in the large numbers of adult children of all ages with their parents shopping, eating out, in the grocery stores or just on the sidewalks. The churches were HUGE and numerous and people we talked to almost always mentioned something related to going to church but they definitely weren't preaching to us.  We all know there continue to be problems related to racial equality but we didn't see anything overt and were pleased to see diversity in staffing everywhere we went and in groups of people.  The history, culture and scenic beauty were overwhelming at times.  And, of course, the food was fantastic.  We've probably taken a few years off our lives for the overindulgence in white food, butter, fried food and sugars and lack of whole wheat, vegetables, fruit and lean meats. 

But we're still on vacation and tomorrow we're off to Flagstaff to visit the Whites!