October 10 - What a day! Melissa, Jean, Karen and I left today for a girls trip to Albuquerque. The original plan was to go see the Balloon Fiesta for a couple of days, however, plans changed and the long weekend grew into a road trip also. Unfortunately Melissa will be leaving us in Phoenix and Jean will leave a few days later from Tucson and Karen and I will be home the 22nd.
Melissa and Jean both left about 7AM. Melissa left Orlando and made it to Albuquerque at 10 AM according to schedule. It was the rest of us who didn't land on time as planned. Karen and I were diverted to El Paso after circling Albuquerque twice due to inclement weather and a missing windshield wiper. Upon landing in El Paso I called Melissa to let her know our situation and discovered that Jean had also had the honor of making a side trip to El Paso but was in the air and landing soon. Although the weather was clearing we could not leave until a plane from Dallas arrived and unloaded so we could trade planes as they were heading right back to Dallas and didn't need a wiper. Odd!
Karen and I waited patiently for our flight and Jean landed and caught up with Melissa, who I know was really tired of the Albuquerque airport by then. Karen and I finally arrived in Albuquerque at 5:45 pm and they were patiently waiting for us. We claimed our luggage and caught the first shuttle to the Alamo car rental, picked up our Chevy mid-size SUV and headed to our apartment.
The landlord was waiting there to meet us as Melissa kept in contact about what time we'd be there. It's a nice 2 bedroom place that could sleep 6. Big bathroom and nicely decorated and very clean. She even left us a bottle of local wine.
Everyone was starved so once we claimed our rooms, Karen and I and Jean and Melissa, we headed out for some dinner. The place recommended by our landlord seemed a bit ritzy for us tonight so we ended up further down the road at a Mexican place that had quite a few cars for 7:30. Wise choice on our part. Everyone ordered something different and no was disappointed in the least. Karen got to try sopapillas for the first time and loved them. but what's not to love. We made a quick stop at a grocery for water, fruit and breakfast sandwiches for tomorrow. We are really close to Old Town and only 10 minutes from the Park and Ride shuttle to the fiesta so we're in a great location.
It was disappointing not to have the afternoon to get a head start on sight seeing but we were thankful that in the end we all arrived safe and sound.
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