Earlier this year I took an unexpected trip up to New Mexico to visit my wonderful family there. (They spoil me and love me and feed me more food than any one human could possibly eat.  It’s rather wonderful.) I took a day to explore Albuquerque and visit friends, which was also rather wonderful.  I visited Old Town, but didn’t take any pictures.  Next time! 

Here’s a gorgeous bush that was outside in the Botanical Gardens.  Not much was braving the cold weather, but it was still beautiful and a lovely walk. (And I may have kinda sorta accidentally entered for free – sorry guys!)

They had two enclosures – large greenhouses?  Terrariums? I’m not sure what the correct terminology is.  But here’s a picture from their desert exhibit, which featured all kinds of succulents, especially cacti.  The one with the big purple-red fruits is a prickly pear (or Mickey Mouse cactus) and they grow all over my hometown.  Both the fruit and the leaves are delicious.

This is from the Mediterranean enclosure, where everything in full bloom and there were so many pretty flowers!

I loved these, though I can’t for the life of me remember what they are called.  I’m going to have to start taking better notes.

My absolute favorite thing about the gardens was garden scale model train, complete with buildings, people, and even a mission!

Fear my shark-toothed wrath!

The fish at the aquarium were quite varied and beautiful.  (And I didn’t remember to note any of their names.)

The neon colored fish were my favorite, though.  They’re so flashy! (Warning: The next picture is a little graphic!)

And then there was this exhibit; I’m still not sure what it was about or even if it had water in it.  There was no signage and the light was off – it was tucked in a corner.  Perhaps some morbid metaphor?

Seahorse! This little guy (girl?) was having fun showing off for the camera.

They had a wonderful jellyfish exhibit, including one of those large clear jellyfish columns.  I so adore them.

Overall, the Albuquerque Aquarium was fairly impressive. (This is not light praise. I grew up going to Texas State Aquarium, which has, among other things, a stingray petting pond, a dolphin exhibit with shows, and a rescued turtle exhibit.  My standards are pretty dang high.)

And then, on my last night in Albuquerque, it snowed! I never get to see snow and I was beyond excited! We won’t talk about the terrifying, 4:00 a.m., through the Sandia mountains, almost lost control of the car for a split second because of ice, 20 mph drive I had to take the next morning to catch my 6:00 a.m. flight.  But rest assured, I am now convinced that anyone who chooses to live where it snows is a crazy adrenaline junky.

Finally, this is my great-aunt Carol (in the white) and my grandmother (in the purple).  I am so lucky to have them in my life.