Belated Birthday Celebration

December certainly gets busy, so we held off on my birthday movie and lunch until today.  Saw The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (second in the series) at AMC. Loved it! Of course Audrey made me watch the first movie (An Unexpected Journey) before we went so I would be "caught up". I had read the J.R.R. Tolkien story as a youth so was familiar with the plot line. Knew the spiders were going to make an appearance! Audrey laughed when I was squirming in my seat.

Then we went to Clinkerdagger's for a late lunch. They seated us by the window.

Audrey ordered the fettuccine and John ordered the turkey combo sandwich. He started eating before we could snap a picture! Audrey thought hers was too spicy (it was) so John traded with her halfway.

I ordered my favorite, the open-faced crab sandwich with the Broadway pea salad. Yum!

Christmas Day 2013

When we got home on Christmas Eve, we did open the presents Santa left for us. Always thoughtful! John got a Griswold Family Christmas t-shirt, Audrey got Batman pajamas, I got new slippers and PJs, and the cat got lots of paper to swat around the room.

We woke up on Christmas morning and opened presents. Audrey got some Xbox games, some Disney blu-rays, and a Wacom tablet and case. John got the Good Wife series, the Bond series, and a new winter coat. I got a pashmina (if you don't know what that is you must listen to the humorist Jeanne Robertson on Youtube "Men Don't Know the Style in NYC"), an EWU turtleneck, Crock-pot hook-up set, some serving dishes, a french rolling pin and a shortbread baking pan. John wanted to put something in our stockings and got Poo-Pourri for each of us - "Spritz the bowl before you go and no one else will ever know". (Another for you to checkout on Youtube called "Girl's Don't Poop - Poo Pourri ad")

For our Christmas meal we had prime rib, garlic mashed potatoes, cranberry fluff, fruit salad, and more of the pimento cheese stuffed celery. Then we watched Christmas movies for the rest of the day, enjoying time with each other.

Cranberry Fluff
1 cup cranberry juice
16 oz whole berry cranberry sauce
3 oz package raspberry jello
1 cup heavy whipping cream, whipped

Heat cranberry juice in a medium saucepan. When boiling, add Jello and stir until dissolved. Stir in cranberry sauce. Chill until thickened. Fold in whipped cream and serve

Creamy Fruit Salad
10 ounce can pineapple chunks, drained
11 ounce can mandarin oranges, drained
1 medium apple, cored and chopped
1 cup grapes, halved
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup sweetened, shredded coconut

Combine the fruit in a large bowl, tossing well so the apple can get coated in the pineapple and orange juice to prevent browning. Stir in the sour cream and coconut, gently tossing to coat. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours prior to serving to allow the flavors to meld together. Serve chilled.

Christmas Eve

We went to mom's for Christmas Eve. Everyone brought a couple items to add to the menu of appetizers and desserts. Note for next year - we each only need to bring one thing... way too much (yummy) food!  We brought Cougar Gold cheese and crackers; pimento cheese stuffed celery; Jalapeno Popper Dip; and two types of meatballs (Swedish and BBQ). Recipes are at the end of this post. Yup, we could have brought less food!! Note John taste testing the cheese? He's wearing his new Christmas t-shirt (Chile Dogs) that we got in New Mexico. See the green and red chiles on the dogs? Refers, of course, to the "Red or Green" salsa question you have when eating in New Mexico.

The Cougar Gold cheese is a great story. I tried to pick some up at the WSU Spokane bookstore and they said they would be out of stock until January. I sent an email to my Safeway store manager in Pullman asking if he would know how to get some. He (Ray Stirling) and the Assistant (Rob Knapp) went to the WSU creamery, bought 2 cans ($30 each), brought them up to Spokane and then would not let me pay for them! Said "No.. drop it....we love you". Sweet!  PS - as an interesting side note, John reminded me that while we were in New Mexico in the gift shop at Los Poblanos, they had WSU Cougar Gold cheese in their cooler. They had to include the cost of shipping, so their retail was $49. Interesting to see a bit of the Pacific Northwest on our trip to New Mexico.

Cheyenne entertained us with some piano music. She does not look thrilled, but I think she enjoys sharing her talents. I thought this picture of Mariska and Cheyenne was great!!

Below are pictures from our gift opening. Top photo: tree in library, Grandma, the girls - Cheyenne, Mariska, Audrey. Bottom photo: Tyler and Mariska, the group (Dakota, Mom, Audrey, Shaune). Grandma got Audrey a Susan Boyle CD, a WSU Cougar key chain and some earrings. She gave John pistachios and gave me some earrings and a light aqua, (very soft), knitted scarf. We gave her some DVDs for her movie collection and some lavender items from our Los Poblanos stay.

This was the first year that we did not do a gift exchange between families (only to/from grandma), so we made sure to have some activities to keep everyone entertained. One of the activities was a clay thumbprint showman ornament. Supplies included Polymer clay (white, black, orange, and assorted colors for scarves), eye-hooks, and thumbs!  Roll three balls of white clay. Stack them closely together. Press the thumbs evenly into each of the balls. Add decorations. Insert the eye-hook. Bake the ornaments according to package instructions. Cool. Optional: Paint a thin coat of glaze over ornament. Mom's is the red scarf, mine is the blue scarf, Cheyenne's is the pink scarf. Then Michelle got off work and she and Mariska made the cutest ones - the ones along the bottom.

Then things started getting silly. Dakota was heard to say "Someone had too much eggnog". Cheyenne was heard to say "Grandma, your butt fell off" because her ornament needed some TLC before going into the oven.

Dakota and John played the slapping game. John is quite good, but I think Dakota gave him a run for his money. John was heard to say "Tell me when you've had enough".

Michelle had specifically asked if we could do Whoville hair like Cindy Lou Who on the Grinch movies. Michelle started with my hair - I thought she did an awesome job! Then Mariska did Cheyenne's hair and then Michelle and Cheyenne did Grandma's hair. Michelle was heard to say "Shaune, I need some wire cutters" as she made her way to Grandma's tree....shhhh!!

John was heard to say "Shaune, nice nuts!"

Cheyenne scared me with this fake mouse

We had a great time, a crazy time, a goofy time. Let's do it again!!

Grandma Whisler's Pimento Cheese Stuffed Celery
1 (4oz) jar diced pimentos, drained
Mayonnaise
Cheddar cheese, shredded (small shreds best - mixture of medium/sharp cheese is good)
Celery

No amounts - this recipe is by taste. Wash celery, pat dry. Mix pimentos, mayo and cheese in a bowl. Spread mixture on celery stalks. Cut into chunks. Can use leftovers on bread or crackers, but tastes best on celery.

Jalapeno Popper Dip
2 (8oz) blocks cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup Mexican cheese blend, shredded
1 cup Parmesan cheese (divided)
4 oz an chopped green chiles (not drained)
40 can chopped jalapenos (not drained)
1 cup Panko bead crumbs
1/4 cup butter, melted
Dried parsley (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 2-quart casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray. Using an electric mixer, mix together the cream cheese, mayo, Mexican blend cheese, 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, green chiles and jalapenos. Mix until smooth and totally combined. Spread the mixture into the casserole dish. In a separate bowl, mix together Panko bread crumbs, 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, parsley and melted butter. Sprinkle crumb mixture evenly over dip filling. Bake for 20 minutes (on the middle rack). Do not overcook. Topping should be golden brown and the dip should be gently bubbling around the edges. Serve with your favorite crackers.

Swedish Meatballs
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup milk
1 cup soft bread crumbs
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/3 teaspoon pepper
1 pound ground beef
1/2 pound ground pork
1/4 cup butter, cubed

In a large bowl, combine the first seven ingredients. Crumble beef and pork over mixture; mix well. Shape into 1.5 inch balls. In a large skilled, cook meatballs in butter in batches until no longer pink. (Or bake in 350 degree oven in rimmed cookie sheet for 30 minutes or until no longer pink). Remove and keep warm.

Dill Cream Sauce
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup beef broth
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dill seed
In a bowl, combine the sauce ingredients until blended. Stir into skillet. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Serve over meatballs.

No Shave December

All of November, Audrey kept telling John to participate in "No-Shave-November". I thought she was either making it up or was something that the college kids were doing. Come to find out it was actually started in 1999 when a group of men in South Australia grew their mustaches out during the month of November for charity. It has continued to grow (hah) and finally hit North America in 2006. Well, John shaved all of November. However, he does not shave when on vacation, so took the growth started in early December and did not shave the month of December ......because in our house, we always do things differently!!

Cookies & Candy Baking

What do you need on cookie baking day? A regal looking cat with supervisory skills and a husband with a hammer!

We made a few old favorites: Bessie's Christmas Candy (recipe obtained from Bessie Riggin), Candy Cane Snowballs, and Soft Ginger Cookies. Then we tried a new favorite, Stained Glass Window Candy.

Bessie's Christmas Candy
1 package Almond Bark (white), melted in a double boiler
Then add:
3 cups Rice Krispies
3 cups Captain Crunch Peanut Cereal
1/2 jar dried salted peanuts
3 cups colored miniature marshmallows

Mix all ingredients well. Drop onto waxed paper. Let set. Break into chunks.

Candy Cane Snowballs
2 cups butter (no substitutes), softened
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 and 1/2 cups flour
1 cup chopped pecans

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and confectioners' sugar. Stir in vanilla. Gradually add flour. Stir in pecans. Refrigerate for 3-4 hours or until easy to handle. Roll into 1-inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on un-greased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool.

8 ounces white candy coating
1/3 to 1/2 cup crushed candy canes

In a microwave-safe bowl, melt candy coating; stir until smooth. Dip the tip of each cookie into the candy coating, then into the crushed candy canes. Yield: 5 dozen

Stained Glass Window Candy
1 stick unsalted butter
1 package (12 oz) semisweet chocolate chips
1 package (10 oz) colored mini marshmallows

Melt the butter and chocolate together over the stove at low heat just until melted. Stir well and let cool 10-15 minutes. (Or you run the risk of melting the marshmallows when adding them). Stir the marshmallows into the slightly cooled chocolate mixture and stir gently until well-coated. Place the bowl in the refrigerator to let the mixture cool and firm up, only about half an hour. On a sheet of wax paper or aluminum foil, form the mixture into a log about 1 and 1/2 inch thick. Roll up the log and wrap tightly, sealing the ends so it looks like a burrito. Refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight before slicing. Remove tin foil/wax paper before slicing. (*this is the tricky part!) Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

FAIL!  I've made these many times before and they are usually wonderful. They were the last cookies we mixed up and when they came out of the oven, I was tuckered out and defeated. (I don't know about you, but when I plan my baking day, I usually have grandiose plans on how many millions of different batches of adorable cookies and candies I'm going to make.... and by the time I get to only #3, I'm almost done!) Anyway, we scrapped the first batch and then realized what had happened... I saw "3/4 cup" in the recipe below and grabbed 3 cubes of butter = 1.5 cups!  That would certainly flatten them out.... I showed the picture to Audrey and she said I should delete it. I said "I have to post the fails 'cause people think I'm perfect". She literally fell to the ground in uncontrollable laughter. After about a minute of non-stop giggling, she breathed and then asked "Who does?" We were both laughing now : )

Soft Ginger Cookies
3/4 cup butter (no substitutes), softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses
2 and 1/4 cups flour
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp salt
Additional sugar

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg and molasses. Combine the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt; gradually add to the creamed mixture. Roll into 1 and 1/2 inch balls, and then roll in sugar. Place 2 inches apart on un-greased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until puffy and lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool. Yield: 2.5 dozen

Cranberry Appetizer # 2

John had a potluck today at work and had signed up to take an appetizer. I found another cranberry recipe to try with a different twist. This requires a little planning to refrigerate overnight. They were both good. This one was a little sweeter.

Christmas Cranberry Dip
12 oz bag fresh cranberries
1 cup sugar
1 cup pineapple preserves
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
Buttery crackers, like Keebler Club

In a 2 quart baking dish, stir together cranberries and sugar. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove cover and stir to be sure cranberries have popped and released their juices. Add pineapple preserve and stir until well combined. Allow to cool to room temperature and place in an airtight container and refrigerate overnight. Spread cream cheese over bottom of a pie plate. Spoon cranberry mixture over cream cheese and spread out evenly.

Bunco Night

They had a Relief Society Bunco activity at Jill Nelson's house tonight. Asked each person to bring something to munch on. I found a new appetizer recipe to try. Those attending: Jill Nelson, Nicole Black, Nicole Simmons, Kami Berezey, Angie Abrams, Kim Heath, Lydia Stewart, Kim Whalen & neighbor Sara, JaNae Freedland, Stephanie Dubois, Alyx Cleaver and myself. It was hard to concentrate on the game when everyone had brought something yummy to try! They had multiple tables set up so we could rotate for each round. Overall I usually stayed at the losing table and ended the night with a pretty low score compared to others, but I did have one round where I continually rolled 17 times since I kept getting at least one of the number we were rolling for. I even rolled #4 x fours one time. Fun evening! And would definitely make this recipe again. I really liked the spicy and sweet combination with the cream cheese. It was best with tortilla chips (rather than crackers). Do need to plan ahead so you have time to chill. Made the house smell divine while cooking : )

Cranberry Salsa Dip
12 oz bag fresh cranberries
1 and 1/2 cups sugar
4 and 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp allspice
8 ounce block cream cheese

Heat all ingredients except for cream cheese in saucepan over medium heat. Keep stirring as the cranberries pop and continue stirring until the cranberries are softened and the mixture has a salsa consistency (about 10 minutes). Cool the mixture and then pour over cream cheese. Serve with chips or crackers. Note: Make sure to store the cranberry mixture separate from the cream cheese as it will not store well. As long as not combined, both will store refrigerated for several days.

Church Christmas Breakfast

Saturday, 12/14 - While we were gone, our ward had a family Christmas Breakfast with the theme "Polar Express". Audrey was asked to assist with the lighting and sound system during the program. They served breakfast and hot chocolate with peppermint candy canes. We heard it was a wonderful event and extremely well attended. Audrey is pictured below as a train conductor - she is wearing Great-Grandpa Gramlow's wedding suit and Grandpa Gramlow's pocket watch.

Bro Date

John went to the movies with his older brothers, Steve and Ralph. They saw the latest Hunger Games movie, Catching Fire. He said they had a good time and the movie was great!

New Mexico: last day

Our flight left super early, so we did not have time to have breakfast at the inn. However, they packed us a to-go-breakfast and left it in our room fridge, included things like granola, fresh fruit and energy bars. (Note: The bars were local - Taos Mountain Energy Bars www.tmebars.com - and yummy!) That was nice! So we left the inn, returned the rental car and took the shuttle to the airport. We had another layover in Denver (had a snack at Woody Creek Bakery & Cafe) and arrived in Spokane. Audrey picked us up from the airport. It was good to get away - but great to be home. Three souvenir spoons from the trip: Sandia Peak, Route 66, and New Mexico state. And later, I had the miracle staircase from the Loretto Chapel mailed to me, making it 4 spoons.

New Mexico: Day #5

Today was my favorite breakfast menu! I would have enjoyed either choice. John ordered the Eggs Benedict (house made English muffins, sauteed vegetables, smoked ham and hollandaise) and I ordered the Cardamom Aebleskivers (danish pancakes served on house made apples preserves). One delicious item I had never tried was celery root, which happened to be one of the sauteed vegetables on John's plate. I need to find out how to prepare celery root. See the gorgeous breakfast room? That's where we got to enjoy gourmet breakfast each morning.  See the yummy homemade granola? Another recipe to find!  Los Poblanos Organic Farm - Our menus are rooted in what comes from our farm as well as our food shed. We call it Rio Grande Valley Cuisine and feature many ingredients from Los Poblanos. Among them are fresh eggs from our chickens, bacon and pork belly from our own pigs, honey from our honeybees, as well as, stone fruits, jujubees, figs, cardoons, and a variety of greens and vegetables. In the winter we harvest root vegetables from the fields and use microgreens from the 1934 Lord & Burhom greenhouse. 

Since John served his LDS mission here, we did need to locate an LDS chapel! We found it on our way out of town, right before fueling the rental car.

Today we headed to Santa Fe and met with John's brother, Duane, and his family. They live in Farmington, New Mexico, which is about 200 miles from Santa Fe. We only had to go about 65 miles from Albuquerque, so we ended up getting to Santa Fe before they did.

We walked by the Loretto Chapel and decided to take a tour of the miraculous staircase. Below is the picture of a model that makes it easier to show what they describe regarding the physics of the actual staircase. When the Loretto Chapel was completed in 1878, there was no way to access the choir loft twenty-two feet above. Experts at the time felt a ladder was the only solution. Legend has it that after the sisters prayed, a man appeared at the chapel looking for work. He completed the elegant circular staircase, and then disappeared.

At the end of the Old Santa Fe Trail stands the Loretto Chapel. Inside the Gothic structure is the staircase referred to as miraculous, inexplicable, marvelous and is sometimes called St. Joseph's Staircase. The stairway confounds architects, engineers and master craftsmen. It makes over two complete 360-degree turns, stands 20' tall and has no center support. It rests solely on its base and against the choir loft. The risers of the 33 steps are all of the same height. Made of an apparently extinct wood species, it was constructed with only square wooden pegs without glue or nails."

About the time we were done with that tour, we were able to meet Duane, Anngela, Zach, Blake, Gabi and Eva at the Cathedral Basillica of Saint Francis of Assisi. We toured the Cathedral and checked out some of the shops in the plaza. At Duane's suggestion we went to the Blue Corn Cafe for lunch. Fabulous suggestion! Everything that we ordered was great - would go here again if I had the opportunity.

After our meal we headed toward the Santa Fe railway station where they had a Santa Village. Activities included reindeer games, miniature train rides and pictures with Santa! It was a neat opportunity to see the kids play since we live so far from them!

Thank you Anngela & Duane for bringing your family so far to spend the day with us. We had an absolutely wonderful time!!

We headed on the road...quick note about the "cute" Fiat? Cute - - but gutless. It really did not care for the mountain terrain we drove today - I was missing my Zoom-Zoom car as we had to stay to the right for everyone else to pass : )

For dinner we went to the Flying Star Cafe when we got back into town. It was the place we were going to have breakfast a few days ago, but it was too busy (flyingstarcafe.com). Ended up not being quite as busy when we got there tonight. I ordered the fish tacos (seasoned, grilled wild Atlantic haddock, avocado, crisp slaw, pickled vegetables, chipotle sauce on 3 little tortillas corn or flour). Tasty, but they definitely had a peppy-kick to them that I was not expecting. John went mellow and just ordered a chocolate shake.

New Mexico: Day #4

We again had breakfast at the inn. The first choice today was Blue Corn Polenta with two eggs any style and sourdough toast - John ordered that. The other choice was Breakfast BLT served open faced on sourdough toast, lettuce, aioli, tomato, and eggs any style. And that's what I ordered. They also served a quick bread each day - today was an olive oil cake with lemon zest. I must try to find that recipe! Ate it before I took a photo : )

Today we visited Albuquerque's historic Old Town (www.AlbuquerqueOldTown.com). "Experience the grace & charm of Old Town Albuquerque! The focal point of community life, founded in 1706, by Governor Francisco Cuervo y Valdez. Old Town follows the traditional Spanish pattern of a central plaza and church surrounded by homes and businesses. Many of the historic homes are still standing and some have been renovated into shops, galleries and restaurants." 

Old Town is located between Mountain Rd and Route 66 just east of Rio Grande Blvd. We had fun exploring the plaza and the shops. See photo below - John said hi to the Hulk and Leonard from the Big Bang Theory (hah). The tree? Completely made up of empty plastic water bottles and lit with miniature lights at night!  The church near the central plaza was San Felipe de Neri Catholic church, but there also was a smaller chapel down one of the brick paths called Capilla de Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe. We checked out t-shirt and souvenir stores, jewelry stores, art galleries, basket & rug shops, antique markets and cafes.

New Mexico's official state cookie is the biscochito, a spicy, anise-flavored, crisp cookie. They were first introduced to Mexico by Spanish settlers who brought the recipe from Spain. They are a holiday cookie staple in New Mexico. We had to try them!

Biscochitos (bis-co-CHEE-toe)

1.5 cups lard (can substitute butter, but will not be as crisp or moist)
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar, divided
2 eggs
2 teaspoons anise seeds
4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
About 3 tablespoons apple juice or milk
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat lard and 1 cup sugar in a bowl until fluffy. Add eggs and anise seeds, beat until very light. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Add to cream mixture along with the apple juice. Mix thoroughly to make a stiff dough. Place dough on one end of a long piece waxed paper (3 feet). Fold wax paper in half (so dough is between) and press to about one inch thickness. Refrigerate until chilled. Roll out dough between waxed paper to just under 1/2 inch thickness. Cut with flour dusted cutters into 3-inch rounds or the traditional Fleur de lis shape. Combine the 3 remaining tablespoons sugar and the cinnamon in a shallow bowl. dip unbaked cookies into the sugar-cinnamon mixture on one side. Place cookies on ungreased baking sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes or until tops of cookies are just firm. Cook on wire racks. Makes 4 dozen.

The Christmas Shop was a fun 2-level store with any ornament you could imagine. In addition, they had a Nativity gallery. I thought this was especially cool - with 9 separate pieces intricately carved.

Next up? Route 66! We just walked the portion of Route 66 that is in downtown Albuquerque, along Central Avenue.

"Route 66 in New Mexico is a special place. New Mexico is indeed the Land of Enchantment. For many people traveling the old Mother Road during its hey-day, New Mexico presented the first glimpse of the exotic cultures of the southwest. For the Route 66 traveler coming from back east it was as if they had entered another country. The fascinating Native American and Spanish cultures encountered along New Mexico's Route 66 presented the adventure of discovery - from the old Indian Pueblos dating back to days before European colonization to the old town plazas of Santa Fe and Albuquerque."

Route 66 was first commissioned in 1926 (utilizing existing roads when possible) with the first route alignment running north-south through Albuquerque, part of a giant S-curve. This original section was 506 miles of mostly unpaved road. They pushed for a straighter route, and in 1931 with federal money, it was realigned to a more east-west direction. By 1937, the entire route from Chicago to California was paved.

"Route 66 was fixed in the memory of many by John Steinbeck's novel, "The Grapes of Wrath" and Bobby Troup's lyric "Get Your Kicks on Route 66" as well as CBS Tv's "Route 66". Today I-40 runs over much of the original roadbed, but many parts of the old highway can be seen today just beside I-40."

See Photo Below:

• Top picture is Route 66 pop - we saw this display and had to take a picture for our pop-addict Audrey!!
• Buildings - Middle row, left to right: Bliss Building (now Lindy's) circa 1929 Art Deco style, J.A. Skinner Building (now Villa di Capo Ristoranto Italian) circa 1931 Art Deco style. 
• Buildings - Bottom row, left to right:  People's Flowers circa 1944. KiMo Theater circa 1927 Pueblo Deco style. Maisel's Indian Trading Post and Brigg's Drug store and Soda Fountain (now Nick's Crossroads Cafe) circa 1909 Victorian style.

The KiMo Theater was built in 1927 as an extravagant Art Deco / Pueblo-styled showplace for movies and shows. For decades it delighted both travelers on Route 66 and local audiences, but by 1977 it was in such disrepair it was scheduled to be torn down. Thankfully the city bought it and restored it to its former glory.

We stopped at the Standard Diner (320 Central Ave SE) since it was on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives (February 2009). I had not seen that particular episode, but thought the traditional diner classics on the menu would be good for our Route 66 afternoon.  They are billed as classics with a modern flair, so we were intrigued. John ordered the Diner Burger (lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle) and I ordered the Meatloaf Sandwich (bacon-wrapped, aioli, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle, bun). We both got the side-salad, but we could have ordered the "soup of the moment" (changes daily)!

New Mexico: Day #3

We were going to try a restaurant for breakfast that would be on our way to our destination, however, it was very crowded so we ended up eating at Village Inn. So even though we have one left in Spokane... we never eat there, so I don't think we've broken the "eat in different restaurants while on vacation" rule? We took advantage of their VIB deal (you get 4 different items, your choice from the list of 2 eggs, a meat, a side, and then a pancake / waffle / crepe / french toast).

We headed on the historic Turquoise Trail, picking up Hwy 14 at Tijeras, going through Cedar Crest and turning onto NM 536 at Sandia Park, headed toward Sandia Crest and through part of the Cibola National Forest. We passed Tinkertown Museum (closed for the season) and then continued to the "High Point on the Turquoise Trail" - Sandia Crest (10,678 feet). This was also the Sandia Peak Ski area (closed until later in December) and the exact opposite side of the mountain where we would be visiting later. It was a nice drive and the car got muddy - but it was red mud, not brown. Appeared to be some type of red clay.

Next we went to the Sandia Peak Tramway (sandiapeak.com). "Sandia Peak Tramway was manufactured by Bell Engineering of Lucerne, Switzerland and constructed between 1964-1966 at a cost of 2 million dollars. This is a Double Reversible Passenger Aerial Tramway. Five thousand helicopter trips were made during construction of Tower 2 and the cable installation. New Tram cars were installed on the Tram's 20th anniversary in May of 1986." 

We purchased our tram tickets and ended up getting the car to ourselves - just John and I and our Tram tour guide Daniel. He was awesome. Full of fun stories on how the tram was completed and lots of interesting facts. Elevation of upper terminal - 10,378 feet.

"Although the Tram is an engineering marvel, visitors come mainly for the spectacular view - 11,000 square miles of the Land of Enchantment. Passengers ascend 4,000 feet in about 15 minutes, gliding along the western face of the rugged Sandia Mountains. No matter what time of day, the view is unparalleled." 

"The Sandia Peak Tram is 2.7 miles in diagonal length and is a bi-cable double reversible aerial passenger tramway. Both tramcars are attached to the hauling cables and the weight of the downhill tramcar helps to pull the uphill tramcar to the top. When the tramcars pass at midway, they are almost 1,000 feet above the ground. Top speed of the tramway is 24 feet per second, averaging 12 mph. The main drive is a 600 horse power dc electric winch motor."

What a fun excursion on the "World's Longest Aerial Tramway"!!

Next we visited the Anderson-Abruzzo Albuguerque International Balloon Museum, named in honor of balloonist and Tramway co-founder Ben Abruzzo. The Balloon Museum contains one of the world's finest collections of historic balloons and ballooning artifacts reflecting the history, science and culture of lighter-than-air flight. (balloonmuseum.com)

"Since the first balloon flights in 1783, there have been many feats recorded in the story of Balloon flight. Hot air and gas balloons have been used for adventure, scientific experiments, the arts, warfare, espionage, and the exploration of space." 

The displays were divided into these sections: How and Why Balloons Fly; Science; Recreational; Balloons in War. It was interesting to learn more about the history of hot air balloons and to see various uses. Interesting fact: The Montgolfier brothers, who owned a paper factory in France (1700's), became intrigued by a piece of paper that flew up a chimney under a roaring hearth one day. They began to experiment by filling a small silk bag with smoke and were thrilled as it floated to the ceiling.  The first balloon flight took place at Versailles on September 18, 1783 and launched with only a duck, a rooster, and a sheep in a basket. Since we were in New Mexico, we seriously looked into taking a hot air balloon ride - sounds terribly romantic, doesn't it? It was a splurge ($300 with others or $500 exclusive) and quite frankly, I like soil...

We went to Cracker Barrel for a very late lunch. Originally I was going to order comfort food, but ended up wanting something a little healthier so ordered the Country Chef Salad. Came with turkey breast, ham, bacon, cucumber, tomatoes, Colby cheese, deviled eggs (yes deviled) and sourdough croutons. Hah, not sure it was healthy, but it was good! John ordered the lunch special which included turkey, dressing and veggies. We had to check out the Country Store after we finished our meal. It's a fun aspect of Cracker Barrels - restaurant and store-in-one.

Headed back to the inn and then later that evening when we were hungry again, we ran to Smith's grocery store and picked up some snacks and then stopped to get a donut at Dunkin' Donuts.