Today M and I kept it low key. We had breakfast at a nearby place we like. Then we had loads of fun at the post office.
Personal
The High Road to/From Taos
We only planned on spending one night in Taos so we were upset to check out of the awesome hotel we were staying at. Before we left Taos we wanted to check out the Taos Pueblo. It is a UNESCO site or something like that. Any settlement that has been around for 1100 years is cool to me. We got a tour and walked around a bit. It was very interesting to see.
From the Pueblo we took off for Santa Fe. We took what everyone calls the high road to Taos, yet the guide book suggested we do it going from Taos so that is what we did. It was only about 30-45 minutes longer than the other direction. We had more breathtaking views of the countryside. We stopped at some carpet stores that do their own weaving. It was interesting but M was more into than I was.
We also stopped for a snack at Sugar Nymphs that was recommended by the books and then we had a late lunch at Rancho De Chimayo before heading off to our hotel outside Santa Fe.
For the last leg of our stay we had reservations at the Hilton Buffalo Thunder Resort. As hotels go it was by far the worst of the 3 hotels we stayed at. it was OK, but the other two were fantastic.
After we checked in we went to the indoor pool for a while before going into Santa Fe for dinner. MC got reservations at a Galisteo Bistro in downtown Santa Fe. The food was ok. Compared to the great places we had been to this was nothing spectacular.
Horseback Riding and R and R
For our last full day in Albuquerque we got up early again (not as early as yesterday) and went horse back riding at the hotel. We didn’t know this but the hotel is on an Indian Reservation. We got to rid the horses on a trail on the reservation. It was pretty cool. We saw petroglyphs. Well M did. I saw them later on photos since I couldn’t see the rocks well enough to see them.
My horse was pretty good. She actually listened when i wanted her to gallop, go left or right and sometimes stop. The only thing was she wanted to stop and eat every five minutes. I was pretty pleased with the horse choice. The only thing bad was she attacked M’s horse and someone elses. I am not kidding. M and I got lined up next to each other for a photo and my horse tried to slam her head into M’s horse. It was pretty bad ass. While we were riding back another horse got close to her and she tried to do the same thing to that one. I thought it was a bit funny.
I was glad to be finished with the ride since it was getting very hot and my legs were starting to kill me.
For lunch we went back into Albuquerque for lunch at the place that was closed on Sunday. The Grove Cafe. It was another really good lunch. After that we we drove around downtown a bit and then went to a nice espresso place before heading back to the hotel to get in some pool time, and reading.
For dinner we went to the Corn Maiden Restaurant at the hotel. It was very highly rated and it was fantastic.
Hot Air Balloons and More
Our first full day in New Mexico was pretty fantastic. M and I debated on doing a hot air Balloon ride. We both wanted to but it was pretty expensive. In the end we said it is a once in a life time experience and we were in one of the best places in the world to do it.
We got up at like 6:30AM to get picked up for the ride. We learned the only real time you do a Balloon ride is right at dawn. We got some fantastic photos of the ballon being inflated. It was a pretty big ballon. It fit 12 people and for our ride there were 10 of us.
There is so much i could write about this experience. It was simply fantastic. We got so many awsome photos. There were 3 other ballons launching when we did so we got to get a lot of them and the scenery. We got well over an hour of airtime before we set down right off a soccer field.
I learned that once we land you never just jump out or else the ballon will get lighter and fly away. Don’t worry I didn’t try it but the pilot was very informative. Once it was safe several of us got out and moved the ballon away from a building so we could deflate it. It was interesting work helping to deflate and put away a 260,000 cubic foot ballon into a big bag.
We were done and back at the hotel well before lunch time. We decided to drive to the Range Cafe for some lunch. It was nearby the hotel and got good reviews in the travel books and everyone at the hotel suggested it. We were glad that we did. The lunch was good, but for desert M and I had a piece of chocolate layer cake that we both agreed was THE BEST WE EVER HAD. From two people who love chocolate that is a stellar endorsement. M has photos of me before and after. They are pretty funny.
For the afternoon we lounged by the pool. We were going to go horse back ridding at 6pm but it was very stormy so they canceled it for the night. We rescheduled for tomorrow.
For dinner we were lazy and stayed at the bar restaurant at the hotel since the nice restaurant was closed. We had low key food. M had a cheese plate and wine and I had a delicious hot dog. Go figure that New Mexico could make good hot dogs.
Last Day Before Vacation
On my last work day before a week off I had to tie up all loose ends at work. It was tough but i think i handed everything off ok.
After work M and I meet up with Luke and some other people for a few drinks at Windfall.
Off to See a Judge
Today we went up to Pearmont to see a judge. No we didn’t get arrested for anything. This judge will be the officiant for our wedding. It was a simple meeting. We just meet for lunch to I guess interview each other. She seemed pretty cool and her story on how she started doing weddings was pretty cool. M and I both liked her. We both joked that the officiant for the wedding will be the cheapest part of the actual getting married.
Getta a Schvitz
Today M and I headed into Forest Hills again to do some apartment hunting. Before our apointment we headed over to Mens Warehouse to look for Tuxedo’s for the wedding. We ended up not picking a tux. I need to go online to find one and then go back. There were too many choices.
While we were at the store I did do some shopping for a suit. I have been saying a need a new one for a year so I finally pushed myself to get one. I found 2 I liked and ended up buying both of them. There was a buy one get one free sale so it worked out. I have to come back after vacation to pick them up.
The apartment we saw wasn’t anything to write home about. After the apartment viewing we headed into Manhattan to use our life booker coupon at the Russian Turkish Baths. We saw this place over the winter and wanted to check it out so we were happy when we saw only a few days later a lifebooker coupon for it. It was really cheap but we had been procrastinating going for months. We were glad that we went. That place was great. The different hot steam and sauna rooms were fantastic. The cold plunge was even really good. We each got a 50 minute massage.
After the schvitz we went to a sushi place called Kanoyama nearby. It was good but TJ Asian’s by our apartment is still better. I am totally loving the Sushi now. I am still new to it. I only started having some Sushi over Sashimi over the past few trips to the place by our apartment. After dinner we went to ChikaLicious for desert nearby. I had some really good macaroons, but the mini cupcake i had was only ok. It was a fantastic Saturday spent with M!
Save The Date
After pondering what to do for a few months, M and I settled on not sending out paper save the dates. Instead we sent out a save the date email to people we had addresses for. We just pointed everyone to the wedding website with all the details on the wedding.
Mmm Coffee
After going to Crate and Barrel with M to do the wedding registry I became very interested in an espresso maker / milk frother. I have been using a Flavia machine to make Capuchinno’s for over 2 years now. M can’t stand it. She thinks it is brown water. Lets face it, it only makes OK coffee. I really wanted to find an easy to use and clean up coffee maker that will also make Capuchinno. I knew stuff was out there but hadn’t found anything that was cheap enough and easy enough.
On Thursday the sales lady at Crate & Barrel showed me a Nespresso Espresso machine that also had a milk frother add on in the back. It looked generally easy to use and I had heard good reviews of the Nespresso coffee makers.
Last night and this morning I did some more research online and went to Wiliam Sanoma this afternon and asked some questions. Once I was done there M and I went to the Nespresso Cafe on Madisson. One of the advantages of living in a big city is if a company is going to have an outlet store it will be in NY.
The Nespresso Cafe was pretty cool. It was a real cafe were you could get coffee and pastries but it also sold the coffee machines. I asked a bunch of questions and then they actually made M and I cup’s of Capuchinno using the model machines we were looking at. They tasted great. I opted to get a regular Espresso maker and a seperate milk frother vs the all in one unit. The price was the same but we wanted to have two units in case there was an issue with one so we don’t have to replace the whole thing.
M surprised me by buying everything since she owed me an anniversary gift. I will take delicious coffee over jewelry any day.
Registry Update
Tonight M and I met up at Bryant Park for a quick dinner before going to work on our wedding registry again. We got sandwiches at Witch Craft. It was really yummy as always but we almost got drenched when it started to rain. We got luck and weren’t too bad off.
After our brush with water we headed up town to Crate & Barrel to work get to work on our wedding registry. We went to Macys already but there was a bunch of stuff we wanted to get from Crate and Barrel. Their process was as easy or even easier than Macy’s. We got the bar code reading gun and a tutorial and off we went. I think we rounded out what we needed so we were very pleased. We almost didn’t realize the store was closing and had to leave at 8:30. As a rule when they stop playing music it is time to go.
Afterward we walked towards the train station but made a detour to Dillan’s Candy Shop for some Ice Cream. It was a great end to a very productive and fun day.