New Mexico - the land of enchantment

We had a wonderful trip to New Mexico - first we attended ARIN's annual public policy meeting. ARIN, the American Registry of Internet Numbers - provide the IP addresses for north american requests. Our company 5Nines is a member of this group.

Then we met up with our good friends from college - David and Tracy who have been living in Albuquerque for 17 years (which I still can't believe...) and travelled north to Sante Fe with them. We tried to get to Ojo Calientes mineral water spa and arrived 20 minutes before closing. And bless their hearts, they let us in to soak how ever briefly and it felt wonderful.

For a couple of days, Todd and I spent the time exploring the natural beauty of northern New Mexico. We hiked around the Rio Grande Gorge, visited ancient peublos, drove through the mountains, and even bought a little turquoise. The trip ended to soon and we were back in Madison before we knew it.

Below are about 40 pictures of New Mexico. If you want to look at the whole gallery just double click on the black screen - you'll be taken to my picasa gallery where you can view individual images.

The Land of Enchantment

Todd and I are in Albuquerque, New Mexico this week. Right now we are at David and Tracy's, our friends from college, having breakfast. Soon we'll be heading up to Sante Fe for the night. Where we'll be going to a geothermal spa called Ojo Caliente for some natural baths under the stars.

Yesterday, Tracy took us to the Acoma Pueblo. This pueblo is built on top of a sandstone mesa and has been inhabited for several hundred years. They do not allow photos to be taken unless a permit is purchased. Suffice it to say, it was amazing. We took a guided tour of the pueblo with a Acamo named Gary. We saw some beautiful pottery and met some very nice people. Will report more later.

The taste of Champagne

So last weekend Todd and I popped the cork on one of the last bottles of champagne we bought back to the US after living in Europe for three years. This particular bottle of Taittinger was purchased at a Carre Four grocery store in Nancy, France for the equivalent of $21.65.

Knowing that the Euro was coming, and our days in Europe were ending we took all of our francs to France for one last hurrah weekend. We had about $300 worth of francs, so we found a grocery store and brought around 20-25 bottles of French wine and champagne. It was one of the best purchases we ever made. With our household being packed up for shipping, these boxes were labeled "Kitchen Cooking Supplies" for the official manifest.

You can see on the picture that we had written the price we paid because we were so amazed at how cheap it was. Not sure if the same thing would happen with the dollar being so weak against the Euro but back in 2001 it was a field day!

Revisiting Reims, France

One of my favorite cities is Reims, France. It has history everywhere you look, roman ruins, a medieval center, the first cathedral I ever visited (which almost turned me religious, as I was so moved by the experience of walking through the nave and being overwhelmed at the ability of humankind to build such a monument by hand...) But my favorite part if Reims is that it is in the heart of the Champagne region.

Above are photos we took when we visited Reims in 1998 or so. I can't believe how young the girls are in the photo. If you'd like to see more photos from France and when we lived in Europe visit the first website I ever built in 1999. This website chronicles our life living in holland from 1998-2001. The site still functions nicely and holds up well after 8 years -

The last colors of summer

Oh my, It's been almost three weeks since my last post. I can't remember anything really big happening, but at the same time I have glimpses of lots of little things occurring like visits to Grama Boos, Spaghetti fest, the start of fall yard work, fall clothes shopping. The past month has just whirled by. Pictured above is a rudbeckia capturing the last summer rays. I also like the composition below of the coneflower and frilly white flowers. Both photos were beautifully taken by Raine.

Grocery lists

I try to make lists when I go to the grocery store. And for the most part I stick to buying what I've already written down. But this week I didn't have a any notepaper, was in a hurry and I needed a bunch of stuff to restock the pantry. So I whipped out my trusty digital camera and I took pictures of the empty spice jars and under my kitchen sink to remind me what I needed when I went at the store. (below: dish detergent, windex)

If you are like me and type faster than you can write, another way is send a text message to your cell phone with the grocery list.