April 2018 Albuquerque

Albuquerque April 2018

I had a great week in Albuquerque.  I went on a hike at the base of the Sandia Mountain.  I later drove to the top of the mountain (over 10,000 ft) and got some pics.  There was still snow at the top of the mountain and it was in the 20s at 10 AM - Whew - that is cold in mid April (it was in the 50's at the same time in Albuquerque).  Albuquerque is about 6,000 ft. above sea level, so it is an additional 4,000 ft. up to the top of the mountain.  There is a tram ride to the top of the mountain, but it was closed for spring cleaning the week I was there, so I made the drive up instead.  Here are some pictures from my hike.

I went on a day trip to Santa Fe driving up the Turquoise Trail (a beautiful drive).  I passed a couple of small towns, including Madrid, which has a bar that was featured in the movie Wild Hogs, but I did not stop there (the town seems like a tourist trap).  The state capitol building in Santa Fe was not impressive at all, just another building.  I was briefly on the Old Santa Fe trail while in Santa Fe, it is now a road.  

Another day I visited Historic Old Town Albuquerque.  The old town square is surrounded by shops and a few bars and restaurants.  It is very interesting and worth a visit while you are in Albuquerque. 

I had lunch one day with the Vencore Director of the Albuquerque team at an authentic New Mexican restaurant, Tomasita's.  It was great food and great company.  Thanks for lunch, Brad!

I played golf twice on Arroyo del Oso and Tierra del Sol.  The round at Arroyo was interesting.  I was paired with 3 guys, one of them from Reston, Virginia (went to South Lakes High School and Va. Tech!), another was a retired judge in Albuquerque, and the third was a guy in between jobs.  We had a good time.  I played by myself at Tierra del Sol and did not play that well at either course.  The scenery was gorgeous at both courses, especially Arroyo.   

The University of New Mexico in Albuquerque was the destination for one of my many walks.  Albuquerque has a very artistic vibe (similar to Austin, Texas). 

I went on 2 short hikes to see Petroglyphs on rocks.  Petroglyphs are images on rocks (not painted on) and they are believed to be hundreds of years old.  Some have been found in Albuquerque and also in Tucson, AZ. I got some great close-ups with the zoom feature of my fancy new camera (thank you co-workers) that I received as a going away gift. 

I also visited the New Mexico Natural History Museum and their current featured Leonardo Da Vinci exhibit.  That was amazing.  There was a detailed analysis of the Mona Lisa painting by a French engineer that was recently completed and lots of interesting things were discovered.  

The exhibit also featured some of Da Vinci's designs for tools and inventions.

There were also some great dinosaur fossils in this museum that were found in New Mexico.

I am now in Tucson, AZ and will post a new entry for Tucson soon.

April 2018 San Antonio

I arrived in San Antonio Monday afternoon and went online and secured a ticket (in the nosebleed section) to the NCAA Championship game Monday night at the Alamodome.  Villanova was able to beat Michigan and it was at great game!  The atmosphere was electric.  

The guard from Villanova, DiVincenzo took over the game and was amazing!

Before the game, I visited The Alamo and found a CBS Sports crew filming a pre-game segment (I think part of it was live) with The Alamo in the background. 

I then walked around the River Walk and got some great pictures. The stage (see below) in front of an amphitheater on the River Walk was apparently used as the stage for the talent contest in Miss Congeniality. 

In my opinion, the 3 must see things in San Antonio are The Alamo, the River Walk (which is very long), and the Missions south of the city.  The Alamo was actually one of the original 6 missions founded by Franciscan friars but that was the only one that was turned into a fort.  Mission Concepcion, Mission San Jose, and Mission San Juan were also very interesting to visit.  

I played golf on Tuesday at Riverside Golf Course (which is on the San Antonio river) and had my best round of the year.  I had 2 birdies, 1 bogey, and 6 pars on the front nine for a 1 under par score of 35.  I had 5 bogies and 4 pars on the back nine for a 41 and a total score of 76.  That is my all time best score.It was a very enjoyable round and I walked the 18 holes.  I played again on Thursday at Mission del Lago south of the city and had a 78 so it was a really good week of golf in San Antonio.

On Wednesday, I hiked along the San Antonio river and visited Mission San Juan.  

The River Walk trail extends many miles south of the city.  I hiked on this trail many days during my stay.

On Thursday my brother Jimmy and his wife Judy arrived in San Antonio for a School Board conference.  It was great to catch up with them.

We went to a couple of the Missions on Friday (Mission Concepcion and Mission San Jose).

On Sunday, we toured The Alamo and wrapped up the weekend with a company sponsored dinner (related to the conference) at an Italian restaurant on the River Walk downtown.  It was a great evening with Barbara, Ken, Mark, Mariah, Jimmy, and Judy.

It was a great week in San Antonio, now I am off to Albuquerque.