Are You a New Mexi-CAN'T Or a New Mexi-CAN?
Greetings friends, regulars, first-timers, and lurkers. It's good to be back in the blog saddle again. My trip was a fantastic four days of highs in the 80s, lows in the 60s. It was so nice. Very dry and a lot of smoky haze from the Arizona fires, but nice. It showered a few minutes almost every day which would cool things off even more and give some really cool lightning shows and sunsets in addition to the already picturesque mountain backdrops. My sister and two nephews were visiting also. The boys (me, dad, the nephews, and Duke the chocolate lab) played a lot of horseshoes. Duke would run after and try to fetch the horseshoes after we threw them. The nephews and I also shot bb guns like they were going out of style. I introduced my mom and oldest nephew to Scary Movie 3 which is now a family favorite.
My mom and sister brought my grandma to the house to visit. She is doing so much better than the last time I saw her. She didn't have to use a wheelchair at all and her spirits were so up. Her short term memory is still pretty bad but overall I think putting her in the nursing home was the right choice for her and for my parents who were a lot less stressed than the last time I visited. Mom works for a different bank chain now that is 10 minutes away from the house instead of an hour like she was doing. That makes a big dif too. So everything is going so good for them. After visiting with grandma, mom and sis took her to have a girl day and get their nails did. Us boys piled in the jeep and drove 12 miles up Sandia Peak, parked and then walked up to the observation areas on the crest and looked out at Alburquerque waaaaay below. Elevation: 10,678. Off in the distance I could make out a golf course and what had to be a very large building or resort. Dad informed me this was the casino I would be going to with my mom and sister.
Sandia Casino was my first casino ever if you don't count the Las Vegas airport where I once had a layover which had plenty of slot machines right there in the boarding area (which I didn't play). I wasn't quite ready to play the card tables, roulette, or craps so my sister (the veteran) schooled me and my mom (the first timers) in the finer points of nickel slots. After losing half of what I brought to spend on the first two slot machines I played I got discouraged. I mean even if I lost I wanted to make my money last as long as possible for entertainment purposes. Then I found a penny on the ground. That's gotta be good luck right? I had been playing the Leprechan's Gold machine thinking the Irish bond we shared would work in my favor but no. So I moved on to the sci-fi themed slots and boy am I glad that my inner geek is luckier than my inner Irishman. I sat down at the Aliens (yes the movie Aliens) machine and doubled what I had left. So I was basically even again. Good deal. The lady beside me on the Nurses' Follies machine had turned her $20 into $120 and was getting up to leave just as I was finishing up on Aliens so I took her seat because her machine was obviously "hot". I turned the $5 bill I put in there into $50 before cashing out. By the end of the night, a few ups and downs later, I left up about $30 some odd dollars and even richer in the experience ie. it was a blast. But the real story is my mom. Every machine she sat at she won Big just about. She ended the night up $126! We spent about three hours there.
Afterwards we were looking for some late night fast food and I saw the sign. "Carl's Jr" it read. I begged like I was a six year old wanting a bike. It had been six years since my last Carl's Jr in Oklahoma. They are few and far between here in TX. I had the Six Dollar Western Bacon Cheeseburger. I was in heaven. I've since learned in my drivings that there are two Carl's Jrs in Wichita Falls about and hour and a half away from me. Have to make a Saturday trip out there...mmmm. There's also one in Dallas somewheres but I don't know if I want to try and find it or deal with the traffic.
My sister and mom found out about the Engine House Theater which puts on melodramas. We saw "Little Nell". It was pretty funny. My youngest nephew loved it. They provided us with bags of marshmallows to throw at the villian (hence mallow-drama they joked) who we were also encouraged to Boo and Hiss. As the play wore on my oldest nephew and I were trying to hit props with our marshmallows, making sure that the villian was at least by them before hand. He won with an awesome knockdown of a candlestick that even had the cast cracking up. The best I could do was get a marshmallow on a bookshelf. Neither of us hit the holy grail which was to land inside the phonograph.
My sis, the two boys, and I also took a little trip up to Santa Fe to check out the Palace of the Governors where Indians sell their cool wares, the plaza, St. Francis Cathedral, and The Loretto Chapel's Miraculous Stairway. It was my second time to visit Loretto Chapel but it was just as amazing this time. I admit I get chills there. Plus all the stain glass and sculptures inside just make me really serene even though there is quite a bit of tourist traffic going on.
I think that hits all the main beats of my story. My little vacation could have lasted a little longer and it took all week to get caught up at work but I am glad to be home. Oh and look, it's the weekend again. Sweet.
Oh one last thing. I bling-ed myself out in turquoise and it was hillarious. It is just now dawning on me that I should have got a pic of that. Might have to brush off the MS paint again...I took lots of other pictures that I will try to get on here soon.
My mom and sister brought my grandma to the house to visit. She is doing so much better than the last time I saw her. She didn't have to use a wheelchair at all and her spirits were so up. Her short term memory is still pretty bad but overall I think putting her in the nursing home was the right choice for her and for my parents who were a lot less stressed than the last time I visited. Mom works for a different bank chain now that is 10 minutes away from the house instead of an hour like she was doing. That makes a big dif too. So everything is going so good for them. After visiting with grandma, mom and sis took her to have a girl day and get their nails did. Us boys piled in the jeep and drove 12 miles up Sandia Peak, parked and then walked up to the observation areas on the crest and looked out at Alburquerque waaaaay below. Elevation: 10,678. Off in the distance I could make out a golf course and what had to be a very large building or resort. Dad informed me this was the casino I would be going to with my mom and sister.
Sandia Casino was my first casino ever if you don't count the Las Vegas airport where I once had a layover which had plenty of slot machines right there in the boarding area (which I didn't play). I wasn't quite ready to play the card tables, roulette, or craps so my sister (the veteran) schooled me and my mom (the first timers) in the finer points of nickel slots. After losing half of what I brought to spend on the first two slot machines I played I got discouraged. I mean even if I lost I wanted to make my money last as long as possible for entertainment purposes. Then I found a penny on the ground. That's gotta be good luck right? I had been playing the Leprechan's Gold machine thinking the Irish bond we shared would work in my favor but no. So I moved on to the sci-fi themed slots and boy am I glad that my inner geek is luckier than my inner Irishman. I sat down at the Aliens (yes the movie Aliens) machine and doubled what I had left. So I was basically even again. Good deal. The lady beside me on the Nurses' Follies machine had turned her $20 into $120 and was getting up to leave just as I was finishing up on Aliens so I took her seat because her machine was obviously "hot". I turned the $5 bill I put in there into $50 before cashing out. By the end of the night, a few ups and downs later, I left up about $30 some odd dollars and even richer in the experience ie. it was a blast. But the real story is my mom. Every machine she sat at she won Big just about. She ended the night up $126! We spent about three hours there.
Afterwards we were looking for some late night fast food and I saw the sign. "Carl's Jr" it read. I begged like I was a six year old wanting a bike. It had been six years since my last Carl's Jr in Oklahoma. They are few and far between here in TX. I had the Six Dollar Western Bacon Cheeseburger. I was in heaven. I've since learned in my drivings that there are two Carl's Jrs in Wichita Falls about and hour and a half away from me. Have to make a Saturday trip out there...mmmm. There's also one in Dallas somewheres but I don't know if I want to try and find it or deal with the traffic.
My sister and mom found out about the Engine House Theater which puts on melodramas. We saw "Little Nell". It was pretty funny. My youngest nephew loved it. They provided us with bags of marshmallows to throw at the villian (hence mallow-drama they joked) who we were also encouraged to Boo and Hiss. As the play wore on my oldest nephew and I were trying to hit props with our marshmallows, making sure that the villian was at least by them before hand. He won with an awesome knockdown of a candlestick that even had the cast cracking up. The best I could do was get a marshmallow on a bookshelf. Neither of us hit the holy grail which was to land inside the phonograph.
My sis, the two boys, and I also took a little trip up to Santa Fe to check out the Palace of the Governors where Indians sell their cool wares, the plaza, St. Francis Cathedral, and The Loretto Chapel's Miraculous Stairway. It was my second time to visit Loretto Chapel but it was just as amazing this time. I admit I get chills there. Plus all the stain glass and sculptures inside just make me really serene even though there is quite a bit of tourist traffic going on.
I think that hits all the main beats of my story. My little vacation could have lasted a little longer and it took all week to get caught up at work but I am glad to be home. Oh and look, it's the weekend again. Sweet.
Oh one last thing. I bling-ed myself out in turquoise and it was hillarious. It is just now dawning on me that I should have got a pic of that. Might have to brush off the MS paint again...I took lots of other pictures that I will try to get on here soon.
posted by PostHaste @ 8:26 PM
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