Days 31 & 32--Albuquerque Old Town and Sandia Peak

Brett, Phil, Aurelia, and I walked around Old Town and browsed through the shops, mostly art galleries and jewelry stores...meh.

Phil wanted to go see the Rio Grande, so we drove to a "beach" area that was a couple of ponds that had more ducks and geese than people.  It was near the Rio Grande but trees and a barb wire fence lined the river, so it was a no-go.  After that, Brett showed us where he works on satellites on Kirtland AFB, which was pretty cool.  We were looking at things that are going to be in space...no big deal...

Right when we got back to the house ice cream truck music tickled our ears, so we ran to the corner of the block like a bunch of kids and saw the van coming our way.  The treats hit the spot since it was like a gajillion degrees outside!

We waited for Jess to get home from work (the boys played XBox and the girls took a nap), then went to Gardunos for dinner.  It was pretty tasty New Mexican fare and good margaritas.  Phil and Brett talked alot.

 Saturday!!  We woke up, made some sandwiches, got our hiking gear together, and slathered on lots of sunscreen for our trek up Sandia Peak.

And finally--a picture of Brett and Jess!

 The La Luz trail to the top of Sandia is over 8 miles and covers nearly 1 mile of elevation.  We decided  not to do the entire trail, but hiked to the overlook spot about 5 miles from the trailhead (8,800 ft. elevation).  It was the most strenuous thing I've done since labor contractions...

 Aurelia was worn out.

 The view was nice, but smoke from wildfires in Arizona covered the land with a haze.

 Lunchtime!

 Group shot!

The hike took up most of the day.  Jess and Brett finished off a great day with a perfect dinner of grilled teriyaki chicken, an orzo dish, and mixed green salad.  Tired and happy...