Albuquerque, Alamosa

Out of Mountainair yesterday morning, took the scenic route (55 &337) — which turned out not to be appreciably longer than the non-scenic — to Albuquerque.

Mett up with Jeff for a walk over to the Chocolate Cafe & Bakery by his house for breakfast. Chocolate chip pancakes with chocolate syrup, please.



Ahhhh. Then a short drive to Cibola National Forest to hike it off at the Piedra Lisa Trail. Where, as we were about to deposit the money in the pay station, that gray cloud above us opened up.



We retreated to the car for a few minutes, it cleared, we headed out. Well, up. And up and up and up.

Steady climbing through the woods and the flowering cacti, with occasional views of the gray clouds and rainstorms off in the distance.





We were grateful for the cloud cover, but when, about two hours in we reached the ridge, thought we were pushing our luck, so had snacks and headed back down. Just over a half-hour. Our drive to Sonic took us by local Page One Bookstore for a brief stop. Back home by dinner time.

This morning, took Cheyenne over to Santa Fe Baking Company for a burrito breakfast (us, not the dog), where, a real Santa Fe kind of thing, wound up sharing a table with Rich and his dog, who had some suggestions for things to do on our drive (Rich, not the dog). Then a flurry of errands and preparations, dropping the dog off with her sitter, a false start, and on the road to Colorado. By way of the inevitable Sonic stop.

A nice quick trip up through the more-forested, greener north and Into Alamosa by 5:00.



A walk through nice old neighborhoods with some great houses to the San Luis Brewing Company for dinner. North to Salida — which allows us plenty of time for sightseeing — tomorrow.