Great Day Off in Albuquerque

We had a golden day off in Albuquerque today and everyone made the most of it.   Our hotel sits in the southern part of Albuquerque overlooking I-25 which overlaps part of the old Route 66.  (Yes, as in "Get your kicks on....")

The view from my room

Several of us rented cars to see sights in and around town.  Hardy and I headed into the desert southeast of town with no particular goals, just a desire to get out into the desert and see what we could see.  We just sort of drove along without even a map and when we saw a little road we wanted to take, we took it.  Then we found a spot, parked the car on the side of the road and just started walking up a hill covered in scrub.  We had no idea specifically where we were, we were just in the desert.

We'd gone about 150 yards or so into the trees when John stopped dead in his tracks and pointed.  Just in front of us, nearly hidden by the trees were the ruins of a very old stone house.  We could barely believe it, but there it was.

Near the house we found several old outbuildings and finally we guessed that the land had once been used as a small cattle farm but had apparently been abandoned long ago.  Obviously this wasn't the type of thing you'd find on a standard tour so for us it was perfect.

We spent the next three hours or so just wandering around this section, sometimes in the car but much of it on foot.  The terrain is rough and distinctly western and there's something about the reality of visiting these kind of places off the beaten path that makes you feel that you're getting a real taste of the region that you just couldn't get any other way.

We got back to the hotel around 5 o'clock then at 6, Mike O, John and I headed north to meet Amelia Ampuero and Frank Green for dinner at The County Line, a BBQ restaurant that sits at the base of the Sandia Mountains.

The Sandia Mountains just north of Albuquerque

For those of you familiar with Barter I'm sure you remember Amelia and Frank.  Amelia is from Albuquerque and she and Frank are working together to found a new theater company in town.  Sounds like they're making great progress and, even though we sure do miss them in Abingdon, it's nice to know things are progressing so well here.

Frank Green, Amelia Ampuero, John Hardy, Mike Ostroski, Rick McVey at The County Line.

Mike had just said something about scoring a touchdown or something to that effect.

Day Two in Albuquerque promises more of the same.  The weather tomorrow is supposed to be fantastic again so Hardy and I are headed back to the desert.  Mike O is planning a solo hike in the Sandia Mountains,  Gannon is planning a drive on the Turquoise trail, and another group is planning a train ride to Santa Fe.  And that's just the plans that I know about.

There's no doubt that all of us are loving being on tour with Of Mice and Men.  It's great having the tour buses and playing these venues all across the country with a terrific show.  But it's also nice to make the most of these days off.  And we are.