Returned from my 1-day trip to New Mexico today. Actually, if you count the time I arrived there to when I left, I was there less than 24 hours! Talk about a long trip, it took about 7 hours each way from Lubbock to get to Albuquerque. For some reason, I didn't think it would take that long. It's about 400 miles one-way, almost the same distance from Houston to Lubbock. Houston to Lubbock is about 8 hours. My point is, it took awhile, and I'm glad to not be in a car for awhile!
Once we got to Albuquerque (I traveled with my dad) I had a good time. We went to my dad's friends' house to pick up some boxes of my grandfather's stuff that they moved with them when they moved from Massachusetts a few weeks ago. They've lived there their whole lives (both in their 60s now) and I can't imagine what a shock it would be to move to a completely different state at their age! But I admire their gumption and adventurous spirit:) It was great to seem them; I haven't seen them in about 10 years. That's 10 years too long! I used to seem them all the time when I lived in New Hampshire. They're a part of my past, and it was really great to go down memory lane with them.
Albuquerque/Rio Ranch are beautiful cities. Everything is very clean, and well-manicured. The weather is as close to perfect as possible, and the city caters to bike-riders by adding in bike lanes to all the main roads. I thought that was pretty cool. I guess in a city like that you can actually ride your bike because the climate is so dry and it stays pretty cool most of the year. I have pictures, but I left my camera cord at Sam's apartment, so I won't be able to load them until (possibly) next week. Ugh.
On the way back to Lubbock, we went a different route. Instead of driving I-27 from Lubbock to Amarillo, then I-40 from Amarillo to Albuquerque, we took I-25 from Albuquerque to Santa Fe (love it!) and then highway 285 to highway 84 which goes directly to Lubbock. Actually, we weren't supposed to drive that way, but we both missed the exit for I-40, so it ended up being faster to drive to Santa Fe and then back down then to turn around. We also stopped in Fort Sumner to see Billy the Kid's grave. It took all of 5 minutes to see, and it was pretty creepy, but at least I can say that I saw it!
New Mexico truly is a beautiful state, but it is such a barren wasteland. I mean, in some parts there is literally nothing. No homes. No trees. No hills. Nothing. So Ive dubbed it a beautiful wasteland. I go back forth in my head as to whether I could live there or not, but for now, I'm sticking with no. It's beautiful, cheap to live in, and has amazing weather, but it's really isolated from everything. But I dunno, knowing myself, I'll change my mind tomorrow. I do like how outdoors-y it is.
Once we got back to my house, my dad decided he wanted to leave to go back to Cypress. I tried to convince him it wasn't a good idea, but he never listens to me, so he left around 8:00 tonight. Last I heard he was somewhere near Abilene.
Glad to finally see my pup again! I was so worried about her. I know I shouldn't be, but she's still only 10 weeks old, so I didn't want to leave her without me for too long, which is why we didn't stay in New Mexico longer. My roommate was nice enough to watch her for me, and I didn't want to place more of a burden on her!
The only thing I wish I would've done was buy some turquoise jewelry. I've been wanting some for awhile now, and I live so close to New Mexico, it's kind of ridiculous that I haven't gotten some by now. I'm supposed to go to Carlsbad Caverns next month. Hopefully I can buy some them!
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