August 25th and 26th 2012:

The first few days of our US road trip were spent with Brendan, Julie, Mya and Sean. This gave me an opportunity to organize to a couple of mobile phones and  rent a car for the next couple of months. Brendan was a great help. Thanks Bren. I love the new Facebook site with your superb photos, 

http://www.facebook.com/BODImages

Walmart an American institution.

We went to Walmart for the phones where you can get anything you could ever want and you will purchase many things you never needed in the first place. There’s no such thing as ‘just popping in’ for a single item. That may be your intention but 1 hour later and a couple of hundred dollars poorer you will emerge back into the real world. Anyway, we got a couple of cheap phones and pay as you go minutes.

Car Hire:

I can recommend  Budget at Albuquerque Airport. Just ask for Laura, she gave us a great deal on a Ford Fusion for the full two months. She even made renewal after one month as easy as a phone call while other operators wanted us to call back to the center to renew. Ask for Laura and tell her I sent you : )  Ladies you may like to check out her nails.

Cliffs Amusement Park:


We went to Cliffs Amusement Park in Alququerque with Brendan, Julie, Mya and Sean

I will load more images onto Flickr once I can get WiFi that runs a little better than old dial-up.

Cliffs Amusement Park on Flickr



Brenda watching the speedometer

Brenda, Mya and Sean take a helicopter ride

Brendan and Sean on the Train



Julie enjoying a train ride

Brenda and Mya on the Train

Brenda and Sean on the Waterslide

For tourist information about Albuquerque and New Mexico click the links below:
Albuquerque ,  New Mexico 

Oct 17-22 2012 Albuquerque

Oct 17-22 2012  Albuquerque

We arrived at Brendan's home  at about 9:30. Spent some time catching up before going to bed after the long drive. We were looking forward to seeing Mya and Sean early the next morning.

Sandia Peak Tramway
We took the Ski lift (Sandia Peak Tramway) to the summit of the mountain at 10,300 feet. Great views across New Mexico. It was not as cold as we expected and a big improvement over Pikes Peak.

I'm sure Brendan's photos of the sunset are far better than mine. check out his facebook page here
Click for our photos

Sandia Peak: High Finance Restaurant
The High Finance Restaurant at the summit of Sandia Peak is abusing their monopoly. It is the only restaurant up there. The prices are high  but you would accept that if the food lived up to expectations, sadly it didn't. However, you can get great views of the city and the sunset if you get a window seat, which we did : )


Corn Maze and Pumpkin Patch
We had a great time at the Corn Maze. Myself and Brenda even managed to get lost for about ten minutes. We always wanted to spend some time in a cornfield together. Why waste the opportunity : )
We  travelled around the maze with Mya's class mates. Such fun for kids of all ages.

Click for our photos

Vernon's Steakhouse (Speakeasy)
Vernon's Steakhouse was amazing. It's a speakeasy. You are granted access after giving the password to the big guy behind a metal door. He then outlines the rules of the house, without ever smiling. We had a great table close the the band who  played brilliant music, jazz/ blues/ I think. The wine list was very impressive and hugely expensive. We found some within our bracket and enjoyed a few bottles. The food was superb. A great night and the food was up there with the best we had on our trip. A very special place for special occasions. Loved it. Click for our photos













The Main event: Sean's 2nd Birthday 
Bren and Julie organised a party for Sean to celebrate his second birthday with us before we left Albuquerque. The official date is November 10th. I have many more photos to load and will do so over time.

Leaving Albuquerque:
Leaving Bren, Julie, Mya and Sean was made easier because he informed us he would be moving back home shortly. We had a great time in Albuquerque. We loved the time we shared with Mya and Sean and will continue to Skype with them so we will not be strangers whenever they return to Ireland.