A Little R & R

I'm going to Albuquerque, New Mexico later this month.  This will be my first real vacation in 11 years. ("Real" meaning it does not involve a visit to family.) I wish I could say that this was a destination of choice, but it is more by chance.  After receiving a promotional email from Southwest Airlines about a big sale,  I looked at the destinations in the lowest price range. Albuquerque seemed the most interesting of the bunch.

I received some interesting reactions after telling people of my planned trip.

"Albuquerque?  Hmmm. Well, you can always take the train to Santa Fe."

"Albuquerque? Oh. You're visiting family?  You're not? Why are you going to Albuquerque? You should go to Santa Fe instead."

"Albuquerque? That's really close to Santa Fe.  You should take a trip to Santa Fe."

I was in Santa Fe many years ago and I enjoyed it, but I looked forward to visiting a new place.  After receiving such a lukewarm response to my destination, I almost considered cancelling the hotel in Albuquerque and finding one in Santa Fe instead. But then my penchant for choosing the underdog kicked in.

So, yes, I am going to Albuquerque. And I am very much looking forward to it. I've done some internet research and have found a number of interesting ways to fill our four days.  Here are some of them: the National Petroglyph Monument, watching the sandhill cranes at the Rio Grande Nature Center, the Anthropology Museum, the Museum of Art and visiting the historical Old Town area. Of course, we can always take the train to Santa Fe if we get bored...