IT'S NOT ITALY......

.......but it was a last minute four day trip to visit my son & granddaughter in New Mexico! Our trip to Italy scheduled for February 29 - March 13 was cancelled by the tour company due to the coronavirus. In hindsight it was a VERY good thing. Southwest slashed their fares so we jumped on it & made our way to Albuquerque. I am never disappointed when the result is time with my Charley!

Note: I didn't take my camera. Lou & Darrin get photo credit on all of these.

Following shopping & playing the day of arrival, our first full day was a trip on the Sandia Peak Tram to the top of Sandia Peak at 10,378 feet.

The Sandia Peak Tram holds approximately 30 people per car, travels 2.7 miles each way & takes 15 minutes to arrive at the top of the peak.

Here we go! Charley loved it & we all had a great time.

Approaching the top of Sandia Peak. Although it was bright & sunny just a little lower the top was in the clouds.

The view from the top is supposed to cover 11,000 square miles of New Mexico but today it barely covered a block. Oh, well, it was still fun & the views on the ride up & down were fantastic.

The four of us "enjoying the view" before we headed into the cafe for some hot cocoa.

Charley & Darrin playing in the snow that was plentiful at the 10,000 foot plus altitude.

As we headed down the mountain Albuquerque was visible in just a few minutes. Those are the cables in the upper right of the photo.

Coming in for a landing at the Sandia Peak Tramway visitor center.

Day Two we dropped Lou at the Nuclear Science Museum before the three of us headed to the theater to see Pixar's "Onward" before picking up Lou. That evening we drove to Old Town Albuquerque for dinner at the supposedly haunted "High Noon" restaurant. Not a ghost was seen or heard even though Charley tried to find one.

Lou took a ton of photos at this museum that I'm not sharing since Darrin, Charley & I didn't see any of it. I'm sure he will share lots of photos on Facebook if you are interested.

The Old Town Plaza in Albuquerque founded in 1706.

Lou & I in the center of Old Town Plaza. The coronavirus seems to have scared tourists away since the place was like a ghost town on a Friday evening.

My two cuties!

The gazebo in the center of Old Town Albuquerque.

One of the centerpieces of Old Town Plaza, the San Felipe de Neri Catholic Church founded in 1793. There was a permanent sign proud of the fact that the church has been open continuously since it's first opening. Next to it was a sign saying it was closed until further notice due to the coronavirus. Open continuously until now anyway.

The High Noon Restaurant where we enjoyed dinner. It is a favorite of Darrin & my friend, Melinda. It came highly recommended & didn't disappoint.

After more playing the next day we went for a hike to scale the small mountain behind Darrin's house. He has beautiful views of the Sandia Mountains with a popular hiking area just a few blocks away.

It was such a beautiful day we all needed to get outside to enjoy the bright blue sky & fresh air. Darrin hasn't found much information on this small mountain other than it is a 300 foot elevation gain from the trailhead to the top.

Off we went. The trail makes a 1.8 mile loop around the mountain with a detour to rock hop to the very top. Since the hike starts at almost 6000 feet & Gaga has enough trouble with a titanium hip, bad feet & other assorted issues, I decided to put the climb to the top on my "Fuck It List" (opposite of Bucket List).

That's the mountain on the right as we circled beside it.

There were gorgeous rock formations interspersed with the cactus & desert terrain.

Gaga set up "Base Camp" on a flat rock where Charley & the guys began the trek to the top. I was texting my sister regarding their progress & sending photos from my phone but the zoom isn't enough to see more than what appear to be really tiny almost unidentifiable moving objects.

Charley & Darrin at the top with Albuquerque in the background.

Charley & Louie at the top. Charley is getting to be a real little hiker. She & Daddy will have lots of great times exploring this area & more.

After returning to Base Camp we headed back down to the parking lot which was a lot easier than going up. Charley was still bouncing down the trail, jumping off of rocks & finding fun places to hide along the way.

Another view of the mountain from the other side as we headed back.

Some more interesting rock formations as we were just about back at the car. I was pretty happy that I made the 1-1/2 mile hike with some inclines at 6000 feet & came away only a bit winded but basically unscathed. Nothing that a glass of wine didn't fix back at the house.

They dropped us at the airport about 5 PM. Good-byes are hard no matter what the situation but this was one of the easier ones since they will be flying out here in less than two weeks for spring break! It was a great last minute getaway that certainly helped me over the cancellation of our trip to Italy. Charley has a way of doing that for Gaga!

GO NINERS! UNDEFEATED & COUNTING!

We made the 112 mile trek to Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara to watch our beloved San Francisco Forty-Niners play the Carolina Panthers yesterday. They had started the season 6-0 with some promising new players reminding us a little of the beginning of our "Team of the 80s".

After a slightly harrowing morning commuting we arrived at our seats with about 20 minutes to spare before kickoff. They were giving away George Kittle bobbleheads to the first 30,000 fans & we managed to snag ours - barely. 

The tunnel through which our Niners would emerge for the player introductions.

This is defensive back, Richard Sherman, high fiving his teammates as he takes the field.

This was an interesting way to display what was supposed to represent our American flag while the National Anthem was performed. 

The gentleman who sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" on the scoreboard screen.

Our plan was to drive the 112 miles to Hayward then take the train the remaining 25 miles to the stadium. It was the worst day of high winds & fire danger in a season of many such days. Downed trees across the freeway & new fires that closed highways slowed us up but we managed to make it to catch the train on time - which was then delayed 1/2 hour.

I'm going to hop up on my soapbox for a minute here. Rather I will step carefully onto it holding the handrail. P.G.&E. has turned off the electricity to hundreds of thousands of customers for days at a time recently. My sister has been without power twice - they live in the foothills & rely on electricity to operate their well for water. It has been a nightmare for them storing enough water for their horses, other animals & themselves, not to mention trying to keep food from spoiling & living in the dark. Gas stations are closed along with many grocery stores that are without power.

P.G.&E. insists this is necessary for "public safety". BUT they are causing more hardship & major problems for customers trying to live without electricity. All while really just wanting to cover their ass from more lawsuits. They should have been upgrading their antiquated systems for many years. AND even with all these intentional power outages, much of California is on fire! It isn't working!

I have two suggestions. One, let's get some companies to compete with them & offer better service (Sacramento has its own electrical company). And, two, get your shit together P.G.&E.  Okay, back to the game yesterday.

The view from our semi-nosebleed seats. We were up high in the corner but you can still see the action reasonably well. I like attending a game once in awhile because you can watch whatever part of the field you want rather than just the focus of the play that you see on TV.

The Niners first touchdown was down at our end of the field so we had a great view of the first of many TDs! If you click on this photo to enlarge it you can see the football in midair on its way to the quarterback.

Our quarterback, Jimmy Garoppolo, number 10, leading the offense just the way I hoped when we traded for him the year before last. He looked really promising but then was injured & missed most of last year. That's George Kittle, number 85, in the lower right corner. Supposedly, the bobblehead is a facsimile of him.

Our Niners played a great game beating Carolina 51-13. Lots of fun for our fans, not so much for the few Panther fans! We remain undefeated for the year joining only the New England Patriots with no losses so far.

We were likely bordering on bugging the poor guy behind us to take photos but he was a good sport. It was Alumni Day so Lou wore his Joe Montana shirt. I had splurged on a Jimmy Garoppolo shirt since he's looking so good. We had the old & the new covered!

Even from the upper deck my high zoom camera makes the action look up close & personal.

Part of the Alumni Day ceremony during halftime. Unfortunately the huge stars like Joe Montana or Jerry Rice weren't present but there were still some familiar names from days gone by.

Yep, 51-13! Woo Hoo!  Tevin Coleman scored 4 touchdowns. Nick Bosa had 3 sacks & 1 interception. Everyone did their job well making for a big win. There were very few penalties which is always nice. It was 13 hours from the time we left our house in the morning until we returned that evening - a long, but REALLY FUN day!

BATS & CAVES & ALIENS - OH, MY!

It is hard to believe but our Charley Ellen will be 8 years old in just a couple weeks! Since she had a couple days off school, we celebrated with an overnight road trip to Carlsbad Caverns National Park & Roswell in southeast New Mexico for her "Early Birthday".

What a couple of cuties ready to light the candles & sing Happy Birthday. Daddy did a great job decorating the cake!

My largest suitcase was filled with gifts from us & my sister. This Barbie car was one of her favorites. But, of course, it was filled with Monster High ghouls. That's Draculaura driving with her father, Count Dracula, holding her little sister, Fangelica, on his lap. The one in the back sitting on the coffin (full of their accessories) is Elisabat, one of her new birthday ghouls. They were ready for the road trip, too!

Charley in the back seat with her car full of ghouls & her sleeping buddies. The iPad loaded with shows & movies was in the holder on the back of the front seat. On the floor was a shopping bag full of lunch & snacks as well as another one that she packed herself with whatever she needed to bring. We were ready to hit the road!

It took us five hours (with bathroom breaks) to reach the caverns from Albuquerque. Charley was a real trooper on this road trip. After finally arriving we talked to the ranger to get the "lay of the land" & decided to hike the Natural Entrance trail down into the Big Room. The trail is 1-1/4 miles long & descends 800 feet into the cave via a series of many switchbacks.

We made it! 

The Bat Flight Amphitheater where the ranger talk is held each evening from May - October. That dark square in the middle of the photo is the natural entrance to the cave.

Darrin & Charley just before starting down into the natural entrance behind them.

Gaga & Charley part way down into Carlsbad Caverns - before I knew what we were getting into.

Most of my photos inside the cave weren't the best given that the lighting was low & I soon realized a few things I had not anticipated. The cave is a cool 56 degrees BUT there is 90% humidity. My glasses & camera lens were almost constantly fogged up - AND I was sweating even more than when I was in Kauai! My hair was literally drenched & dripping down my head! Darrin & Charley zipped right down the trail with little problem but Gaga's legs were exhausted & shaking so I sent them on ahead while I took my time. And there was no way I was allowing anymore photos of me until I dried out.

This photo was taken from the spot where Charley & I were sitting in the above picture. You can see the steep switchbacks that lead into the cave. These were just the beginning of lots & lots & lots of switchbacks.

One of the columns that were created over thousands or millions of years - not sure how many.

This is part of a small river that flows inside the cave. It is near where the bats sleep during the day but the ranger told us there isn't nearly enough water for the vast number of bats to drink.

After finally reaching the end of our trek, we were greeted by a gift shop, restrooms, a small cafe & the elevators that took us 800 feet back up to the visitor center - probably not the best way to preserve the natural beauty of the caverns.

All three of us agreed that the evening bat flight was the highlight of our trip. A little before dusk the park ranger begins a talk about the hundreds of thousands of bats that live in the cave - yes, you read that right, HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS! We were instructed to power off all electronic devices - phones, cameras, tablets & not take any photos or talk once the flight began since the noises can confuse & distract the bats causing them to possibly find other homes.

When the bats began to emerge it was incredible! For over 20 minutes there was a constant stream of bats flying all around as they took off to find water & food - each bat can eat hundreds of small insects a day. Even the small children were quiet. We were all mesmerized as thousands & thousands of these amazing creatures filled the evening sky. It was a spectacle that I highly recommend seeing if you ever get the chance.

This is a photo from the National Park Service website showing the sky filled with bats. But even the beautiful sunset & countless bats in the picture can't come close to witnessing the flight in person.

We arrived at our hotel in Carlsbad about 8:30 PM ready for a good night's sleep after a long but really fun day. Following breakfast the next morning we started the trek back to Albuquerque making a stop in Roswell at the International UFO Museum.

The entire town of Roswell seems to be enamored of all things alien. There are little green men in front of gas stations & signs with various versions of aliens adorning them. Even the street lights are decorated to look like aliens.

The International UFO Museum & Research Center is located in an old theater on Main Street.

While the museum would like to take itself seriously, I got the impression that tackiness was a big part of the whole thing. An example is this scene with a couple of cutout aliens to take your photo with in front of the museum.

In the summer of 1947, a rancher discovered unidentifiable debris in his sheep pasture outside Roswell, New Mexico. Although officials from the local Air Force base asserted that it was a crashed weather balloon, many people believed it was the remains of an extraterrestrial flying saucer. Darrin believes it was some secret testing of experimental military equipment & it made a good story for those who wanted to believe it.

The interior of the International UFO Museum. If they really believe this was a "flying saucer" then wouldn't it no longer be a UFO since that means "Unidentified Flying Object" & it has now been identified? Just a question that comes to mind.

The three of us with our alien friends & their "flying saucer" behind us.

This is the scene behind us in the above photo. Every so often the spaceship spins, smoke pours out of it & colors flash. IMHO nothing convinced me that aliens have indeed landed here in our country. But they had some pretty gruesome & crazy displays throughout the museum.