Patti & Dick's Grand Adventures: July 19 day 4: Albuquerque New Mexico and surrounding area

We woke up to such a beautiful morning in our little Casita, an Airbnb house. Dick began doing some more work on photos. The process of downloading and looking at which photos were taken during a particular day is one that he has happily taken on. Some days we only have a few photos, like a dozen. Other days we might have for 5 or 600. We both find many things interesting to photograph. Once he has taken the rough cut at photos, he identifies a number which will make this blog. He then goes into an editing program and cleans them up to be ready to shared.

In the meantime, Patti uses the "Notes" program on her iPhone to dictate the first draft of the day's events. This shows up on her laptop, which can then be copied and pasted into the blog spot blogging program. Then Dick adds some more to the text and adds in the photos. Finally, we are ready to publish one day's entry. This is why it sometimes takes a while, complicated by the fact that there always is more happening each day. But, we both enjoy reflecting upon our experiences and sharing them with you.

Once Patti was up, she brewed a cup of coffee and settled in on the front porch to enjoy the cool New Mexican morning. The bunnies were up and the quail were running around. She enjoyed a little time and then had to call Dick to come out and share the morning with her. It was just a delight!. We also had a chance to meet one of our Airbnb hosts, Sue. We heard more of the history of their Airbnb business and their travels. They’ve really created a lovely sanctuary for people to come and enjoy quiet in nature.

Soon Tomi arrived ready to swoop us off for a great adventure at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center. Hank was not able to join us this morning, but wished us a great day. We enjoyed driving the scenic route to get to the center.

The Indian Pueblo Cultural Center is a fabulous organization which has museum exhibits, an amazing gift shop with authentic Indian made art, and regularly features dancers.

We were able to have an early lunch featuring some amazing Native American cuisine. The food was fabulous, tasty, and pretty healthy. We were all very full by the time lunch was over.

Then, we were so glad that we caught part of the Zuni Nation’s traditional dancers. We saw several dances of old and young dancers wearing beautiful regalia and sharing some of their culture with those who came to the center. It really was special to see this dancing. A big highlight was an eagle dance that was done under a mural that was featuring an eagle dance. We were so glad to be able to photograph the dancers when they were finished.

Then, we went inside to a couple of exhibits looking at Pueblo people and their history. There also was a fascinating exhibit focusing on Pueblo women and their accomplishments. There were so many beautiful exhibits, films, art work and things to learn.

One of the biggest highlights was quite an exhibit of Storyteller pottery. This was displayed along with interactive audio which told many stories depicted in the pottery. Patti has some replica pieces of the Storyteller pottery, but these were exquisite!

Tomi was able to give us some additional information out of the history that she and her husband, Hank, had from working with the local Native American tribes in their gardening and Hunger-Grow-Away projects. For many years they have had very close friends in the local native communities. And, Tomi was able to show us one of the large outdoor garden areas that they worked with people to create. It was very special to get some more of the background information about this amazing center.

And of course it was extra special for Patti and Tomi to explore this together. We had to get our pictures taken in front of this fabulous mural.

There were also some artists who had their work on display for sale at the center. We were enchanted with one artist's work that particularly featured a turtle and paintings on its back of a hummingbird and dragonflies. Dick and Patti decided we must bring it home and put in a certain corner of our house where we have many indigenous pieces of art. It’s a beautiful piece and the artist was also happy to pose for a photo.

Then, it was off to our respective homes for a little afternoon nap. At one point we were hanging out in the living room and Dick announced “I smell rain." We ran outside and indeed saw a big cloud had passed by and rain was coming on down. It only last for a couple minutes, but was very welcome before quickly drying up.

Then, off for dinner at Joe’s Pasta House with Tomi and Hank. So nice just to enjoy meals with friends. The food was good and the company was great. Then, all too soon it was time to make our goodbyes and head back to our Airbnb. Tomorrow we had another long drive. But, what a lovely lovely day it was enjoying a taste of New Mexico.