26 March 2007

spring break, phase 1 complete

after a few days of pure leisure, we drove up last wednesday to ABQ to pick up alex from the airport followed by an immediate drive back to old el paso to pick up ben. went home to cruces for a late dinner and a drink at el patio, which was short-lived because we had missed the jazz band.

woke up the next morning and went on a hike in soledad canyon, in the organ mountains. there was a threat of rain which never materialized, and in fact the skies opened up mid-hike. did a bit of rock scrambling and the boys had lots of fun throwing rocks.

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decided to forego a trip to white sands in favor of camping that night at faywood hotsprings. didn't realize that we were driving straight into a severe weather warning in effect until 430am, got there at dark with some dark clouds looming overhead. despite this, we quickly set up camp and hopped into the springs. we lucked out because it only sprinkled a bit, and we spent several hours soaking and drinking in a couple different tubs. unfortunately, we didn't get any photos of that place, due to the darkness.

we woke up early-ish the next day and headed over to city of rocks to play around on the boulders. again, the guys were bouncing off the rocks and burning off some boyish steam. we did stop for a catnap:

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we came back to cruces that night and headed out to chope's in la mesa for some sloppy mexican. then we went for a pitcher at high desert and brought home a growler. we watched eddie murphy's delirious, also a boyish activity.

next morning, we were lazy and joe cooked breakfast. the guys checked out the farmer's market, coas bookstore and then joe's studio. went to andele's for more mexican and stopped by old mesilla. then we hit the road for albuquerque, and got to the hotel just as the sun was setting. stayed downtown and went to the nob hill neighborhood for pizza and home-brewed beer. a local tipped us off to a pub called 'two fools' just down the street. after a few drinks we returned to the hotel. had to get up at 6am the next morning to drop alex off at the airport and then head to el paso to get ben to the airport by noon. had an interesting conversation with ben about religion on the ride home. got back to cruces and slept a lot, and watched 'in the mood for love' (very good, by the way).

overall we had a great time...thanks to ben and alex for making the trek down here. looking forward to phase 2: san diego, which begins wednesday night.

19 March 2007

we have spent the first few days of spring break both prepping for guests and lazing around. saturday was yardwork all day, in the 85-degree heat. pulling weeds, raking, etc. felt good at the time, now 2 days later i'm still sore with blisters on my fingers. also, joe had an epic battle with the bush of death:

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anyway, the yard looks much better, and now we have to try to nurse the grass back to life. not an easy task in the desert. the warm weather also brings a whole host of fun new insects, including this cuddly little fella:

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contrary to their hideous appearance, these guys tend to keep to themselves, occasionally wanderning into the bathtub or landing on their backs in attempts to go down the steps. this is their cry for help, which calls for removal via overturned glass and piece of paper.

joe also had a black widow crawling on his arm the other day, which led to a complete freakout by both of us. somehow the spider, still alive, was lost in the shuffle. she is lurking somewhere in our living room, ready to strike us dead at anytime. well, not quite dead, just really sick. consquently, i had a dream last night that i was bit by a black widow/scorpion hybrid.

also last night, at about 1am, we heard some hooting from inside our house so we grabbed the binocs and went to investigate. we found an owl at the tippy top of this 100ft evergreen spire across the street from our house. so we spent a good 20 minutes watching wise old owly. his placement up there really got me.

more updates to come this week of ben and alex adventures.

11 March 2007

radium

had a relaxing weekend...went on a retreat with my americorps program to a resort up in radium springs, about 20 minutes from cruces. this is the same place we brought jesse and katie over thanksgiving to soak one night in the hot springs. it was nice to finally see it in the light. it isn't open to the public due to fire truck access issues (have to get there via dirt road under a little railroad bridge). people who stay there or use the springs all have connections to the owners. they let us stay for free (super nice guys).

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here's the resort and bathhouse as seen from the gazebo (visible on top of the hill in the photo above):
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we basically just relaxed and stayed in the tub all night...i had a marathon soaking for probably 4-5 hours. next day we had massages. that place is amazing! plus, i was able to make up mad hours for work, which will hopefully tide me over for the couple days i'm taking off for san diego in a few weeks.


speaking of which, andy has announced this year's theme party: a twenties-style speakeasy! i'm really looking forward to getting a costume together...i've even tried this vintage store here in cruces twice this week, but it was closed both times. that is SO las cruces; no one is ever open. oh well, sometime i'll get inside.

we've also got to start planning for spring break, which is only a week's worth of work away. thank god. ben has been back and forth about making it out or not, depending upon his work schedule. but alex will be here for sure. hopefully we'll do some camping, and check out some areas we haven't been yet. we shall see.

nothing much else going on this weekend. we went to a potluck last night and joe made some hominy (sp?) chili for that, then we went to a party. today was lazy. i've been reading about hinduism.

that's about it. another week gone by, another photo set up on flickr. jesse and katie, you guys should check out the photos...don't think we got any the first time we went.

05 March 2007

alameda district

on sunday, thought we'd take a cruise through the neighborhood and take some photos for those of you who only see cruces via blogosphere. here's a small sampling, and of course there's a set up on flickr. all photos taken within a couple block radius from our house.

mural wolf
mural close up

mode of transport
looking down

springtime
cherry blossoms in bloom

we just bought tickets for san diego, going out there the end of march. yay!