WHOA....WHO lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico!?!!?

Deenise Bryant, Ken and I owe you one! We arrived in the beautiful (and I mean beautiful) city of Albuquerque, New Mexico yesterday afternoon. We immediately set up and went to a Verizon store to obtain a better method to reach the internet while on the road. Had dinner at an Italian restaurant (I know, I know...why in the world would we eat Italian in New Mexico!!?!)...it was late and the only thing we could find open and nearby.

Ken has been threatening to look at newer RVs and trade in our current joy-rider while on the road. I originally did the "Uh-huh, sure we are," response until we saw several new RVs today while at a camping store. We spent several hours looking and pricing newer RVs. Ken fears our current RV will continue to fail us and quite frankly, we fear the worst during the second leg of the trip through the mountains of Arizona, California, Oregon, etc. Not sure what we will do at this point. However, a wonderful surprise came to us wrapped in a cell phone call that began, "Carol, where are you right now?" I stalled initially, not knowing who was on the other line. "This is Tim Gifford...where are you?" came the now familiar voice. Then it hit me, Tim and Kay live in one of those mountain, western states...could we be in their back yard right now? "Tim, where do you and Kay live?" "We live in Albuquerque...where are you?" "Ummm, we are also in Albuquerque...and I'm in so much trouble, aren't I?" Tim and Kay were gracious enough to forgive me - especially when they heard how we were tumbling through the southern states ... trying to survive the RV pitfalls of this exciting journey. I have heard about Tim and Kay being gracious hosts, but they are so much more. They brought us to their home, showed us around (including an introduction to Tim's studio where he creates his awesome sculptures)and then took us to dinner at a traditional mexican restaurant, El Pinto. At the restaurant, we joined by their tall friend, Monica Rodriguez, who I would have sworn is a military brat - she has many of our best qualities ... she doesn't know a stranger and she can carry on an easy conversation with anyone, including our fun waiter. After a fabulous dinner, we headed back to Tim and Kay's home to catch up on our lives. Their home could be featured in a decorator's magazine - bright colors with warm compliments throughout. For those of you who do not know Tim and Kay - they are both military brats who I knew in Ankara, Turkey (in the early 1970s). They made a love connection several years ago and made life happen together in Albuquerque, New Mexico. As I said earlier, Deenise, we owe you, for reading the blog and letting Tim and Kay know we were in town. I would have kicked myself indefinitely had we not connected with them while we were just down the street.
Thanks Tim and Kay for the dinner and the calming evening. Feeling the loving arms of friends was more timely than you can know.
Nite ~ Ken and Carol