Ain't no mountain high enough...

June 28th, 2009- Day Four

The kids, of course, woke up again early and we went outside to play since Kelly & Molly were still sleeping. When everyone was up & awake, we ate breakfast and Kelly & I drank coffee together, like our Baylor days. Kelly was having a Mom's Play Group hosted at her house. There were so many kids but it was great to visit with Kelly's friends. One of Kelly's friends, another Jennifer, made cookies that had pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds & peanut butter in them. They were delicious!

Jeff & Adam drove over to Kelly's house to pick me & the kids up so we could head to Sandia Peak and check out some of the sites in Albuquerque. We met my Mom & Dad along The Turquoise Trail, then drove up to the top of the mountain. Sandia Mountain is the mountain in the middle of Albuquerque and you can see out many miles from the top. There were some hiking & picnic trails/tables along the way up, but not much else once we got to the very top except a gift shop and a small snack shop. There were so many radio towers at the top. The view was incredible and we took a few pictures. The trash cans required you to open with 2 hands and put your trash inside a certain way because the bears know how to open the trash cans and help themselves to trash insde. No, we didn't see any bears, but for that I am glad!

I got a little nervous at the top because my eyes were playing tricks on me for how high up we were. There was a viewing balcony and seven feet below it was grass and then a high fence (low enough to be out of the overlooking view). My mom was holding Jetta and all I could see was way out far down below and I had a sense of panic so I grabbed Jetta to hold on to her. There was no danger for me, Jetta or anyone else, but I felt better holding her at the top of the mountain.





We drove down the mountain and took Adam to the airport so he could fly back to New Jersey. There was bittersweetness in telling him good-bye so early on our trip. He got a super-sweet fare on a non-stop flight from Albuquerque to New Jersey at a last minute notice and we were glad he got back safely to his wife and new baby.
We headed back and ate Arby's for a quick lunch. Jeff & Kevin ended up going to the golf course and playing, then hitting range balls. Kelly and I spent the afternoon visiting and relaxing. When Jeff & Kevin returned from the golf course, we went to meet my parents again so the kids could swim at their hotel. The kids were wound up from a long day and pretty exhausted, but we did get a courtesy call from the hotel desk and they asked us to please be quiet, some guests had complained about children jumping. That was our cue to leave and the kids were sacked out asleep before we got back to Kevin & Kelly's house.

We didn't do a lot on this day, but it was my favorite because we got to see a lot of Albuquerque and driving up to the top of the peak was an adventure. I wish I could breath a breath of mountain air every morning. Simply beautiful!