Thanksgiving Vacation
Posted By Jill on November 26, 2007
This year Jeremy and I headed off to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to visit Kevin and Marla in their new home. They moved there after Kevin’s retirement last spring, and this was our first opportunity to visit them. We flew down Wednesday afternoon, arriving late Wednesday night. This was new for me, flying somewhere for a holiday with family. Although I have some cousins around the country, I unfortunately rarely have a chance to visit them, especially for the holidays.
Check out all our photos on our Flickr photostream!
Thanksgiving day was very relaxing, at least for me! I was pampered and treated to resting on the sofa watching my Packers (win) and working on Baby’s blanket, my knitting project that I haven’t touched since we were up on the north shore. It was heavenly. 
Kevin and Marla worked hard on our traditional Thanksgiving dinner, and Jeremy learned to make his grandma’s gravy and sticky rolls. It was wonderful to visit and catch up on all that has happened since we were last together in September.
Friday we woke to a surprise… SNOW! It had snowed just about a half inch Thursday night, but more was forecast for during the day on Friday, which hampered our tourist plans for the day. 
We ended up driving around Albuquerque, starting with the petroglyphs at Boca Negra Canyon, drawings on lava rocks left from the volcanoes that can still be seen nearby. We continued through Old Town, down part of Route 66 (I still can’t get that song out of my head), and around some different communities where Kevin and Marla are looking for houses. My favorite was a community called Corrales, where there is truly a mix of living styles. Driving around the (mostly dirt) roads we could pass a beautiful large home next to an average home with a barn and horses, then a home with a small vineyard, and so on, all co-existing as CLOSE neighbors. They said they love the area but it can be pretty expensive. It borders the Rio Grande as well. We headed back home as it started to snow again!
Saturday we headed out for Santa Fe for the day. It was a nicer day, no snow but cold, and colder still in Santa Fe, but we survived. Santa Fe is a beautiful town. There are lots of shops and a square with vendors selling their hand-made jewelry and such. We didn’t shop but did drive around to get a good feel for the town – very trendy and artsy. We toured the three churches I wanted to see there, starting with the Chapel of San Miguel, the first Catholic church structure in the U.S. It has an amazing history and still stands to hold a weekly Mass to this day. 
Then we walked a couple of blocks to the Loretto Chapel with its “miraculous staircase” said to have been built by a mysterious carpenter believed to be St. Peter himself. It is really an amazing chapel with beautiful wood-carved Stations of the Cross as well. From there we headed to the St. Francis Cathedral, which I personally don’t think even comes close to comparing to the beauty and history of the other two. We drove back to Albuquerque via the “Turquoise Trail” including stops in the old mining towns of Cerrillos and restored Madrid. 
This was quite a scenic drive through beautiful hills, mountains and rock formations, ending on the other side of the Sandias. Saturday night finally offered the promised view of the Sandias at sunset, right from the house!
Sunday we planned to drive up to the crest of the Sandias, but unfortunately due to the weather we’d had the days before, there was snow accumulated on the road up the mountain (and they don’t have plows or sand/salt for the roads), making it a bit treacherous, so we turned around about half-way up. We’ll have to do that next time! We drove around some other areas where Kevin and Marla are looking at houses, then headed home for lunch and to pack up.
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