Local scenery

We have ridden the Sandia Tram up the mountain a few times now. Here's a great picture Chris took of the tram mechanism with the huge blue sky behind it.



While not as blue, the sky over the Acoma Pueblo is just as impressive...

Hiking out the front door

Our house is great. I like everything about it. Each day I decide that this feature or that is my favorite. I'm fickle like that. It's part of my charm (I hope). That said, probably the best part of our house is the location. We have the mountains behind us, mountains to the east of us, and sweeping city views to the south and southwest. Every night I look out at the twinkling city lights and am happy.

Even better for Chris, though, than the lights, is the ability to hike right out of our house. We're four houses from the eastern edge of Albuquerque, so we can walk right out of our front door, down the street, and hit the trailhead. The trail at the end of our street connects to hundreds of miles of trails throughout the Sandia Mountains. We took a hike a few weeks ago; it was hot and dry, but off in the distance we saw two gorgeous storms. The first is way off to the west, over the West Mesa area on the far side of Albuquerque.

This storm was closer to home, just north of our house on the other side of the ridge. I have never seen a storm like this, with defined edges to on both sides of the rain. It was pretty amazing, and looked like the clouds just opened up and poured rain out of a trap door.

My first yoga class

Today at 4:30 I'm going to take the plunge and try yoga. I have always wanted to do this, but each time I come up with an excuse.

My favorites are:
I'm too busy
I'm too tired
It's too expensive
I'm too out of shape
I don't have a mat
and the best of all,
I don't have any cool yoga clothes

So today at lunch I went over to the local organic grocery to get lunch because I forgot to bring mine and as I was leaving the parking lot I drove past a Dahn Yoga center. I went in and got a bunch of brochures. The people were really nice and not too yoga-y (ie - they looked like they might actually eat cheeseburgers every once in a while). I came back to work and did a little research on Dahn Yoga. What? You wonder why I'm not doing work at work? Pshaw. You obviously don't know the meaning of work. It is free internet access and a T-1 line.

So anyway, I decided that Dahn Yoga isn't for me. Too much emphasis on releiving stress and breathing and learning about your inner self. I need a yoga that is going to get me in shape, not make me a better person. So I signed up at a regular yoga place near my house and even gave my name and phone number so if I chicken out at the last minute they can call and make me feel guilty. I did not, of course, tell the woman on the other end of the phone this. That would be more information about me than she needed to know. Especially since she's the class teacher and will probably have to peel me up off the floor at 5:30 when the class is over.

So, wish me luck.

The visitors

My mom left today to return home to New York. I'm sad to see her go. We had a really nice five days filled with sightseeing, hanging out, talking, grilling, and drinking copious amounts of red wine.

I enjoyed being a tourist in Albuquerque and seeing the city through someone else's eyes. The highlight of the visit for me was the trip she and I took up the Sandia mountain tram and down the other side on the ski lift. I had never been on the ski lift before (I've only lived here for three months, after all), but it was great. For $6, you get to ride down what has to be the world's longest ski lift, and then back up again. Since it's the middle of August, not too many people are interested in a ski area, so we had pretty much the entire ski lift to ourselves. On the ride down, which took almost 1/2 hour, we saw only three people... all mountain bikers riding up or down the mountain in the distance.

I felt somewhat superior that I had figured out the easy way to travel! Of course, when we were finished and I saw myself in the bathroom mirror where we stopped for lunch, I realized that I wasn't quite as smart as I had thought. One hour in the sun at high noon in the mountains and I started doing my lobster impression. Silly me forgot to wear sunscreen. So now my face is red, with those lovely racoon eyes where my sunglasses were. And the tops of my legs are burned too between my knees and where my shorts stopped. Ah well.

Next on the agenda is a visit from Chris's second cousin (and god-daughter) Sarah. She's 10, so there will probably be less red wine... stay tuned!

The last comma

So, to comma or not to comma? Chris and I are having a debate and I need people on my side. So all one of my readers, please weigh in. Here's the question: when writing out a list, do you put in a comma before the last item or not? For example, is it:

Critical thinking, adventure, and exploration.

or is it

Critical thinking, adventure and exploration.

???

Inquiring minds want to know.

I have arrived!

And oh no, I have nothing to say. Isn't that the story of my life?

But really... here I am... Duke City Dora. So why Dora? You must not be a 10 year old girl. Anyone between the ages of 8 and 12 knows that Dora the Explorer is an adventurous young lady who explores her universe with the help of her friends. And that's me... exploring a new city, trying new foods, meeting new friends, learning new things.

Why Duke City? Well, I have recently moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, also known as the Duke City. It's a long story; the short version is that this whole area was a land grant from the King of Spain to the Duke of Alburquerque (yes, there's an extra 'r' in there... the early inhabitants of New Mexico apparently could not spell any better than I can). So, this was the Duke's City. And the name stuck. Creative people here in NM, huh? I have never been known for my imagination, but I think that even I will do just fine in a city where they haven't managed to think up a new nickname in 200 years.