Sorhus's in New Mexico

Meg and I (Steven) decided for our summer vacation we would take Michael to see his cousins in New Mexico. Alice and Silas Scott, the ones who lived in Philomath Ward while Silas was finishing his PhD at OSU, have been very hospitable and taken time away from their busy lives to show us some incredible sights around Albequerque and Santa Fe.



On our way we stopped at an exotic animal auction in Macon, Mo where a person can bid on and purchase a Zebra, Giraffe, Watusi Cow, Camel (Meg asked Michael if she could take a camel home, he answered, "No... It's too big"), Alpaca, miniture cow, miniture horse, etc. They also sold african mounts the day before. We toured the barns and the warehouse and saw some neat animals.

The rest of Friday and all of Saturday were spent in the car. Sunday was nice and relaxing. On monday we went to the tent rocks formation. I got some mediocre pictures because my camera died before we got high enough for the great views, but here they are anyway.

On they way home from the Tent Rocks we stumbled onto a native american festival at one of the Pueblos. It was impressive to see a hundred or so native americans dressed in full costume dancing the traditional dances. They asked that pictures not be taked (and my camera was out of battery), so I don't have any shots to share. In addition to the dancing, there was a market where native americans sold handmade jewelery and such. Meg got a beautiful turquoise necklace and bracelet for next to nothing.

Tuesday we were all dead tired, but we went to Bandelier State Park anyway. It is an archelogical site where cliff dwellers lived a long time ago. We were able to hike among the ruins and climb around in the caves that were hollowed out centuries ago. The highlight was when Michael's cousin Jesse scared a rattlesnake who was sunning himself on the warm path.

Wednesday was spent doing the shopping that can't be done in rural Missouri. We drained our account a Costco, Trader Joes, World Market, saw the Albequerque Temple, and cooled off with some Baskin Robbins Ice Cream. I was also able to take a tour of the Intel Chip manufacuring plant with Silas, who works there as a process engineer, which made my day. (Meg chose to skip that tour.)



Tomorrow Meg and I booked a horseback tour in the Santa Fe mountains, Friday we plan to head to the Albequerque Zoo. Saturday we will begin the journey home.



I'll post again with more pictures next time I get a chance.



Steven