New Mexico for Rasila's Aunt's Birthday in June 2010

Five years ago, we made a trip to Lake Tahoe for Rasila's Aunt's 65th birthday. This year, the trip was to New Mexico. We took a 4 day weekend, like 5 years ago, but flew instead of driving. We flew Southwest, my new favorite airline, through Phoenix, and arrived in Albuquerque at about noon. We headed over to the Country Club to meet the family for lunch at the pool. Compared to the unseasonably cool weather in Southern California, it was hot (95 F, 35 C)! Rodney got to have his green chili cheeseburger for lunch though. Later that afternoon, we went over to her Aunt's house mid afternoon to prepare for the party that evening. The party was held at Brian and Mary's house, and it was a great party. Lots of friends and relatives and great Mexican food and margaritas. It rained a bit mid-evening, but that cooled off the weather nicely. Since we had woke up at 4 AM, we left early (about 11 PM), and headed off to sleep.

The next morning, we went looking for a coffee shop since Nancy doesn't drink coffee. We knew we weren't in the OC anymore when we had to drive 5 miles to the nearest one! It was a Starbucks (Rodney was hoping to find an independent shop), but it hit the spot nicely. We then headed back over to pack up the party remnants and supplies for a trip to spend the rest of the weekend in Chama, NM. It was a beautiful drive to the place we were staying, Corkins Lodge. We shared a 3 BR cabin with Rasila's Mom and Aunt. It is a beautiful part of the Rocky Mountains, and wonderfully cool in the 8000' (2440 m) elevation. We had a great meal at the largest cabin (the Log Cabin), and slept wonderfully in our cabin.

On Sunday, we drove that morning down to Chama and bought some coffee and checked out the Cumbres and Toltec Railroad station. It was closed due to an arson fire that burned down a trestle, but it looked like it would have been fun to take it to Pagosa Springs, CO. After driving back to the lodge, we hiked a short trail, hung out at the stocked lake, and played horseshoes, among other options. There were 2 deer that wondered the grounds like dogs, and plenty of fishing to have. This evening was another celebration, just for the family, and we had a spectacular meal along with playing some games that evening.

On Monday, Rodney decided to run while Rasila walked down the NM highway that lead back to the US highway. At that elevation, it definitely was a workout! We then joined all for breakfast before heading back to Albuquerque to catch our plane home. It was a great trip!