Back to Albuquerque for some much needed rest

Our drive to Albuquerque from Boise was happily uneventful. It was nice to have two drivers. Also Biska was by now fully house trained, which makes everything so much easier.

Originally I was only going to stay in Albuquerque for a day or two, just long enough to get my booster shot before heading on to Tucson. John needed to stay and work, but I didn’t need to stay. We were going to have to drive two vehicles back to Tucson anyway because we had ended up with an extra in Albuquerque. I could leave at any time, and I was anxious to get home and be done traveling for awhile.

But I ended up with a fever from the booster shot. And then several days of migraines. That could have been because of the booster shot, but I’ve noticed a few times recently that I seem to be getting migraines whenever I go to Albuquerque. I am probably no longer acclimated to the elevation, which is higher than Denver – and certainly quite a lot higher than Tucson.

I spent the first week resting, and by that weekend I felt well enough to get out and do some low key, local fun things with John.

Coffee and croissants at the Sawmill Market:

We looked at building supplies:

Yes, we are going to start remodeling the house in Tucson soon. During our first year in Tucson we only did a few things; installed a pool heater, installed new closet doors, and a lot of painting. We didn’t want to do anything too expensive until we had been there a year and decided that we really do like Tucson, the neighborhood, and the house. Now we have some larger projects to tackle, starting after the holidays.

Meanwhile, we had a nice, empty, work-free weekend in Albuquerque. One day we went for a walk around the UNM campus. We usually go to the biopark, so the university was a nice change.

We went to the biopark too, but I didn’t take many photos because we already have so many.

We went to an art store downtown. It was the first time I’d noticed back-in parking, although I’ve noticed it since then in Tucson too. Apparently it’s for bicycle safety.

Next we ordered take-out at a well-regarded café near downtown. There was a long wait. We went on a walk in a nearby neighborhood, which made the wait a blessing in disguise. We were very hungry by the time our food was ready. It took over an hour and they had not estimated that long!

The next day we discovered something like a smaller version of the Sawmill Market, called Tin Can Alley, up in northern Albuquerque on Alameda Blvd. It had several food options, lots of good light and views.

I don’t know why no one was outside. The weather was very nice.

There weren’t very many people indoors either. We haven’t tried all the cafés yet, but we thought our tacos were only ok. And it’s possible to get excellent tacos in Albuquerque, so a taco place with only ok tacos isn’t going to do very well.

I’m guessing this place needs better food. City views and cool ambience is only going to get you so far.

That’s John down there waiting for our food while I took pictures. Our only so-so tacos took awhile too.

We always have such a nice time in Albuquerque. I know we could have a nice time in Tucson too, except we are usually working on the house. Even though we are not doing the major remodel yet, there is still a long list of handyman items that keeps us running to the hardware store and banging around in the house and yard on the weekends that we are there. We rarely take the time to do anything fun.

The house in Albuquerque is done, so we have our weekends free. Someday the house in Tucson will be done too – just not anytime soon.

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