One of the benefits of being a military family is having extra days off around holidays, usually more days than an average working adult gets off from their job. The Fourth of July was a tricky day for many people since it fell on a Wednesday this year. However, being in the military there is always the holiday and a "family" day in which the whole base is closed, but the squadron decided not to fly anyone on Friday either, so Sam had July 4th thru the 8th off. We had many options to choose from for our time off, we could stay in Altus, visit Springfield, or take a trip. Sam didn't want to stay in Altus doing the same thing we already do everyday and remain in the 110* heat. We already have two events in July that will be bringing us to Springfield and I wasn't too thrilled for another marathon race of spending three of the four weekends in July driving to and from Springfield. So we decided to take a family trip. Our main goal was to try and go somewhere cooler, Sam suggested we visit Colorado Springs, but we have pretty much done everything big there is to do in the Springs from my visits there over the last two years of Sam's Academy career and there were also crazy wild fires so we decided it probably wouldn't be safe to visit a place people were evacuating. We did some research looking for cheap flights or cool places to visit. We found that Albuquerque, New Mexico was only about a seven hour drive from here and it was a place that neither one of us has ever visited, so we said LETS DO IT! We had just ordered new tires for Sam's car, which we will be selling next month, and decided to get some miles out of the tires. We loaded up the Santa Fe and set out westward on July 3rd.
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| Head out on the highway... |
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| Lookin for adventure... |
We were going to drive to Amarillo, TX and stop for the night, but we got their around 8 and decided to keep driving the remaining four hours especially since we were gaining an hour going into mountain time. While we were at a stop light in Amarillo an interesting looking guy in the car next to us started yelling at us. I was of course freaked out, but luckily Sam was there and he rolled down the window and the guy wanted to know where in FL we were from (since Sam's license plates are FL tags) Sam told him Pensacola and they carried on a conversation for a good minute until the light changed. It felt like the longest minute of my life. We finally made it to Albuquerque at 11:00 (12 central time). I sent my mom a text message to let her know we arrived safely and decided to drive all the way, though I am married now whenever we take trips I still feel the need to check in with my mom, otherwise I know she would be wondering if we made it safely, but afraid to ask because I am a grown adult now. I don't think your ever too old to check in with mom and I will make sure our future children learn that too :). Except when we are over seas, you will just have to learn to check Facebook more then, mom, to know we are alive and well. Our hotel in Albuquerque was called the Plaza Inn, which looked nice in the picture on Expedia when I booked it, but when I saw the actual hotel I was a bit nervous. It turned out to be okay and the best part of the hotel was the King size bed that was way more comfortable than our bed on base.
Sam and I have a tradition of going to a zoo in every city we visit so the first thing we did after breakfast on the fourth was check out the zoo. They even had a bald eagle, which we thought was very American for the holiday. After the zoo we headed to eat lunch at The Elephant Bar, which was a restaurant we liked to eat at in Colorado Springs. Then we saw a Target and of course we had to stop. Sam wanted new shorts, which we learned we have different tastes in fashion when it comes to picking out men's shorts, so against my opinion Sam went with plain ole khaki shorts, and I got a satchel (shoulder bag) which I have been looking for to take to England so my hands will be free to take pictures when we go exploring. After Target we went to a Nuclear Science and History museum which sounded super cool, but I found it to be a bit boring, too much reading and not enough pictures, but they had cool planes outside. After the museum we went to dinner at PF Chang's, another Colorado Springs favorite of ours, and headed out to Balloon Fiesta Park for the biggest firework show in New Mexico. It was really neat to be there, it kind of reminded me of Fire Fall that Springfield use to have the weekend before the Fourth of July. Diamond Rio performed right before the fireworks and I didn't realize New Mexico was such a country music lovin state but I enjoyed it. As we waited for the fireworks it began to rain and the temperature dropped, I was glad we had a blanket. The show was beautiful, they played every patriotic song known to man and then some, I even teared up a bit as I realized it would be the last firework show we would see for a few years, but later that night I saw on Mildenhall's Facebook page that they have a firework show on base, so I was happy to learn that it wouldn't be our last firework display.
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| It looks like he is giving me the middle finger but he is just scratching his eye |
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| Creepy bird |
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| Trying out the new camera |
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| Peacock |
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| Camel |
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| Just hangin out |
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| 'Merica | | | |
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| Trying to stay warm and dry |
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| Happy Fourth of July |
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| Fireworks |
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| Messing with the fireworks button on the new camera |
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| Very pretty |
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| Great show and I love the camera |
On Thursday we decided to go hiking in the beautiful mountains. We started the day at these petroglyphs, where native Americans drew on the rocks, and we hiked up about a mile above sea level. It was around 90 degrees in Albuquerque and we were hiking around the valley so it felt pretty warm. We had a quick lunch and then we decided to head to the Sandia Mountains, which were a10,500 feet above sea level. The trail we were going to had a tram you could take up the mountain or you could drive to the top, but the trail started at the top of the mounatin. As we drove up the mountain the temperature dropped from 90* to 50* and we were both chilly once we reached the summit. We invested in a wind breaker jacket for me, which will come in handy in England, and a Mexican style parka for Sam, which he called his "drug rug", that will also come in handy for England. I also fell in love with another satchel and Sam wanted a buffalo figurine. After getting our treats we started out hiking down the mountain. It was gorgeous! We found the tram station and a place where people ski in the winter. They had the ski lifts running and were giving people rides. We found a trail that went along the cliff of the mountain which we took back to the summit. Every time I stopped to take a picture I felt a little hand grab onto my backpack so I wouldn't fall, it was so cute! We enjoyed the hiked until it was time to climb back to the top of the mountain, by this point we had been hiking for five hours, we were exhausted, and with the altitude well you couldn't catch your breath! We did make it back to the top though and celebrated our victory. July 5th was Sam and I's first date, which was on a Thursday night back in 2007. We went to Ocean Zen in Springfield for our first date and then saw a movie. We decided, in honor of our first date, to go out for sushi on Thursday night. On our way to dinner Sam spotted a Barns and Noble, so of course that is where we went after dinner, and he was so excited that it was two stories. After Barns and Noble we headed downtown for Cold Stone, hey if your going to cheat on healthy eating better go all out right?!
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| Sandia Mountains |
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| Testing my new camera |
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| Sam's in heaven |
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| Sam in his "drug rug" |
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| Our camera takes panoramic pictures! |
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| We conquered the mountains |
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| I love him :) |
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| The tram |
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| The ski lift |
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| At the summit |
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| Tired from hiking but we made it to the top. |
We both woke up pretty sore on Friday from our day full of hiking. We decided to check out the dinosaur museum that we had read about. It was awesome! It was interactive, short signs to read, two stories of fabulous displays, and mostly all about dinosaurs and other history/science related topics and I loved it. Sam loved it too, but anyone who knows him would not be surprised that he was like a kid in a candy store when we walked into the museum. They were also doing a Blue Star program so any military person and their family got into museums for free until September or something like that. So we didn't have to pay to get into any museum we visited, bonus! After lunch we went to try and find extinct volcanoes to look at, but there was a minor glitch in the navigation system (me) and we ended up driving thirty minutes to the middle of nowhere and didn't find the volcanoes. I am a lucky lady though because my husband didn't get mad or yell at me or spend the rest of the day in a bad mood, he made a joke about it and even stopped to let me go to the bathroom at an Alon gas station (which was yucky). Once we made it back into town we decided to check out the Albuquerque art and history museum. This was my least favorite museum of the whole trip. It was full of crazy art figurines and about two pages of small print to read at every station. From that point on I limited Sam to one museum per day of vacation in the future, unless it was interactive and had lots of cool things I could touch.
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| Sam loves dinosaurs |
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| This dinosaur moved and growled |
On Saturday we were going to be checking into a Bed and Breakfast. I found a groupon that gave us a room for $77 at this B&B where they usually charge $125 a night. I thought it would be a relaxing way to end our vacation and it was a good deal, plus neither one of us has ever been to a B&B. We had to check out of our hotel at noon, so first thing Saturday morning we headed to find these extinct volcanoes. They were really neat, but luckily we went early in the morning so it wasn't too hot, but I think with all the basalt rocks and desert around it would be pretty hot in the middle of the day. After the volcanoes we got checked out of our hotel and couldn't check-in to the B&B until 4. We went to lunch and then found Kirkland AFB, which I wanted to check out. They had a HUGE base and big Exchange, I was quite impressed. We decided we could totally live in Albuquerque, but we would have to figure out how to get stationed there! They train helicopter combat search and rescue which is what Sam really wanted to do, so I didn't talk much about moving there since not getting helicopters is still a sore subject, but we both decided we would love to move to Albuquerque. After the base we were going to check out one of the many wineries, but it started raining. So we stopped at the Balloon Fiesta Museum, which was all about hot air balloons. I wanted to take a hot air balloon ride while we were in Albuquerque, but Sam told me we could take a balloon ride or get a new camera. I opted for the new camera and saved the balloon ride for another trip. The balloon museum was neat, there were lots of interactive things, basically any museum a kid would enjoy, I enjoy is what we decided on this trip. We made it to the winery after the museum, I was so excited because I have never been to a winery. Unfortunately, there was some big wine festival going on in Santa Fe so they weren't giving tours of the winery when we visited, which I was bummed about but we got to taste some New Mexican wines and even purchased a delicious Riesling (Sarah McCubbins you would love it). We headed to our Bed and Breakfast which was built in the 1800's and it was so cute. Our room was upstairs and Sam was convinced it was haunted, so I had a fun time freaking him out. They provided snacks from 5 to 7 and they had cookies when we came back around 10pm and their homemade breakfast was delicious. I felt like we were staying at a friends house, it was very nice and relaxing.
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| In front of the B&B. My satchel from Target |
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| Extinct volcanoes |
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| Top of the volcano |
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| At the volcanoes, my other new satchel :) |
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| Sam on the volcano |
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| We went to the top, but native Americans find it offense if you go to the very top, they consider it sacred |
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| Pilot wings for a hot air balloon, looks a lot like Sam's! |
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| I am ready to go up in a balloon |
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| Sam's face is priceless in this picture. "Wanna ride in my balloon...hehehehe" |
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| I found a balloon to build |
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| My finished project |
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| Outside a winery we ate dinner at |
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| A hot air balloon |
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| Ready to fly our own balloon |
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| At the balloon museum |
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| Inside the B&B |
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| Our room at the B&B |
On Sunday we went to church in Old Town, which literally is like stepping back into olden days, we even went to church at a big old church that was also built in the 1800's. Unfortunately, it didn't have AC and got a tab bit hot. We tooled around the town a bit, not in a hurry to leave, and found a place for lunch. Then we started our drive back to Awesome Altus and made it home around 9pm. Yes, I made sure my mother knew we were back in OK (Shauna, I am just trying to become the favorite child and steal your title :)).
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| In Old Town we discovered a story that sold candy cigarettes |
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| In front of the Old Church |
On Monday, we had to move to a different room. They called and told us we would be moving right before we left town. I threw a bit of a fit to them about how when they moved us from the third floor to the first floor of our building they assured us we wouldn't have to move again before we left Altus on July 30th. Unfortunatly, my fit did nothing, I have learned that they don't really care if you have a lot of stuff to move and you just have to suck it up. I didn't just say "I DO" to Sam on January 14th, I also said I DO" to the United States Air Force and that includes saying "I DO" to moving whenever they asked. We went to get our key's on Monday morning and we were told our room was on the second floor, I had to restrain myself from throwing another fit about being promised a room on the first floor, but after we got everything moved I saw an vacant room on the first floor....those little liars, maybe a fit would've worked that time! Anyway, it took us a lot longer to move this time because we separated out stuff we can live without for three weeks to take to Enid and stuff to move to our new room. We packed two tubs and a big box for Enid that we plan to deliver to our house this weekend, which will make our next move in three weeks easier. The new room we got is a brand new room! I guess this is the remodeling that they are doing to our old building. It has a larger entertainment center, dark wood, a coffee table, hardwood floors in the kitchen, and the best part is they have a pillow top bed, finally a comfortable bed!! I wish they would've moved us here back in May when we moved for the second time, but at least we get three weeks at the Ritz.
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| The TV and entertainment center |
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| Our new bed! |
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| Sam eating pie. Our living room, love the coffee table and hardwood floor |
Thanks for reading!
Love,
Amanda
