New Mexico Running 11

For the second year in a row, my daughter Debbie and I flew to New Mexico to see my Dad and Stepmom. Got to Albuquerque late Thursday night and went to the Standard diner for dinner- great food. It was on one of my new favorite shows- Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. Veteran's Day we went to the Very Large Array down in central New Mexico. It's a radio observatory using giant antennas on railroad tracks. We got really lucky and the antennas were all in so we could see them lined up close. Ate at a small diner in the town of Magdalena that had a bunch of abandoned buildings, but a great diner run by a German couple with great food and good prices. Saturday I got up early and ran by the airport in Albuquerque through a neighborhood and a park for 3 miles. Then we went to Jemez Pueblo for their feast day. Got to the pueblo and it was jammed with parking a long ways away. So we continued on and stopped at the Jemez State Monument and toured the ruins of a 1630 church.
Then on to some sulfur falls and then ate lunch at a remote mountain resort that had elk stew. Passed the new Valles Caldera National Preserve, very pretty. Then into the town of Los Alamos. Had to drive through a security checkpoint to enter the town. Went to the small museum and they had exhibits about life in town during the bomb building. Saw a t-shirt on display and asked if they sold it, the guy said downtown at one store. So we went there and I got a mushroom cloud t-shirt. Really impressed with Los Alamos, running paths all over. Hiking paths galore from the town. On the way back we stopped for dinner at Sadie's in Albuquerque and had to wait 45 minutes for a table. It was featured on another great show- Man VS Food. The portions were huge, but I still finished my plate no problem. Sunday it was cloudy and rainy, so we went to breakfast at the Cracker Barrel and then just Dad and I went exploring the Sandias Mt roads. Ended up at a ski area about 8500 or 9000 feet and the snow was getting thick and had just a car so back to town. Monday morning I ran a new road by the airport to Mesa Del Sol on a great bike path, except it was littered with glass. Did 6 miles. Then we went up to Santa Fe to revisit the capitol building.
I tried to go in the chambers, but they were locked and the closest I could get was the viewing gallery above them. Went up to the second floor and they had an art gallery around the halls with some great paintings.
After lunch we visited the Georgia O'Keefe museum and the photography gallery beside it. Then on the way back we took the long way and drove the turquoise trail back for great scenery. At a tiny town of Madrid I think, I saw a bunch of strange shacks with a very 60's feel to everything. I expected to see tie-dye. Almost to town we stopped in a new shopping center at a great diner that had good food, good coffee, and two really cute waitresses. Tuesday morning before I flew out, went to Sophia's Place which is the other Albuquerque restaurant featured on Diners and had their blue corn pancakes. Then the flight home.