Day 9, 9/10/08

Albuquerque day, and a full one at that! First stop was the New Mexico State Fair. It's quite different from Missouri's, more compact, with shaded streets. It has 5 different arts venues - fantastic! Sandra will write a book on them, I'm sure.

We then had lunch at the Frontier cafe, across the street from UNM - good, and we sat right next to a picture of Tony Hillerman & Wes Studi. After lunch we visited the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology on the UNM campus, then on to the Museum of Natural History, the Albuquerque Art Museum, Old Town, and the Pueblo Cultural Center. Whew! Finally, we took a back road down the Rio Grande valley to Belen. Great SW-style restaurant there - Pete's Cafe. It's also notable for the decor, lots of Navajo rugs and RC Gorman prints, plus some assorted oils.

Tomorrow we take back roads to visit Abo & Quarai ruins, then on to Tucumcari & the Mesalands dinosaur museum. That's on the way home.

Day's travel - 81 miles. To date - 1781.