June 3, 2019: Return to Albuquerque, A Hike/Walk Along the Corrales Forest Preserve, and El Pinto!

Hiking, Walking, or Biking, Corrales Forest Preserve has multiple trails along the Rio Grande near Albuquerque.

"I live a lonely photographic life here in Santa Fe. I do see Eliot Porter occasionally, and Ansel storms through every so often, otherwise I plug along in my old fashioned way." ~ Laura Gilpin

Today we bid farewell to Santa Fe, our home for a few days, but a favorite of many creative people over the years, including Georgia O'Keefe, Val Kilmer and a host of writers and photographers through the years. Then, there's us :)  We enjoyed our stay at Casita Patron I pictured below.

We had a kiva in our bedroom

The entrance to the cottage. Here's a plug for airbnb!

We had a nice Mexican influenced breakfast at El Dorado Hotel, did a micro amount of shopping and then we hit the road for Paul's business trip to Albuquerque. On our way in, we stopped at the Corrales Forest Preserve for a nice walk. This trail is many miles long and has a series of crisscrossing trails that run along the Rio Grande. We took the path closest to the water for the hike out and then walked back on the levy seen above. The levy attracts many bicyclists as well as runners and walkers. It's very close to downtown and easy to access. You can literally traverse 20+ miles on this path. Parts of it are shaded with cottonwoods, which is welcome on an 85 degree day like today.

The shaded section under the cottonwooods 

 

The Rio Grande was running brown and fast today due to heavy rains north of here over the weekend, some of which we experienced!

Rio Grande with Sandia Mountain in the background. And of course, blue skies and pillowy New Mexican clouds.

We were essentially very close to the urban area, so we didn't see much wildlife but that wasn't a surprise. 

The ever present New Mexican blue-tailed whiptail lizard was a frequent guest. We also saw this species, the spotted Gila whiptail. 

We saw this mallard doing yoga. Tree or Warrior?

Overall, the attraction of this walk was its proximity to downtown, its length, and the Rio Grande. We finished off our transit day with a meal at El Pinto. This restaurant is "touristy" and nonetheless an institution in the city of Albuquerque entertaining the likes of US presidents, entertainers (Mick Jagger and Katy Perry prominently featured on the walls) and foreign dignitaries. It started as a seven table restaurant in 1962 by the Thomas Family and now seats 1200 under the direction of the family twins, John and Jim Thomas who took over from the parents in the 1990s.  They also run a salsa factory on the site. They have a huge Hass avocado facility to ripen avocados at three temperature levels for their award winning guacamole Seriously??? Who needs to know this? Let's just eat!

We ate in the garden area on a pleasant night. This area encloses in the winter

Coming soon to a grocery store near you..probably already there!

The beautiful front of the restaurant with the signature hanging chilis

My meal. Hatch chili crusted ribs. YUM.

No one leaves this place hungry. Paul had a good friend named Cy who loved Mexican food and complained about eating establishments that served "small portions at overinflated prices.." I don't think he would leave here disappointed!  And every meal comes with a complimentary sopapilla and honey at the end. 

Sort of a slow day of vacay, but enjoyable none the less. As much as I love my work, I love being in a relaxed environment---that's very available here!

"You cannot make everyone happy. You are not a taco."  Unknown source.

Paul's Ponderings:  Compared to the last few days, this was a slower one with less walking, although we still got in quite a bit.    We've had some crazy weather out here, with hail, rain, wind, etc, off and on, but luckily we've not been impacted much at all.   Today we drove back to Albuquerque, a place I've spent a lot of time in and which in the 20 years I've been coming out here has changed in a notable way.     We finished up with a nice dinner at El Pinto, which is always a pleasure on the patio in the summer.    Lots of food to say the least.   Tomorrow, for me, it's work time!