Greeting readers (Auntie Moe, Nana and Moms),
We are in Albuquerque, New Mexico! We are sitting outside enjoying the hot air, sunny blue skies with white puffy clouds and the breeze.
We left from Bellingham and arrived to the airport probably a little earlier than we needed to. I’m pretty sure it was just us and the airport staff at that time. We dropped off our one checked bag and went through security. Again, it was just us in the line and we got through with no problems. I was surprised Jacob’s bag didn’t get an extra check like usual.
Earlier this year, we got a new Alaska credit card, the Atmos Summit Card (oooooooh). We partly decided to get this card because we knew we had some large home renovations that would get us bonus points and we also knew we want to get back to traveling internationally again someday. This card helps us accumulate international air travel perks. Next year for my big 4-0, we are tentatively planning on traveling to Spain for a few weeks.
Already since we’ve had this card, we have been automatically upgraded on most of our flights. We have discovered Jacob fits best in the premium seats which have just a little more leg room. Yesterday we got lucky and were upgraded to first class for our flight to New Mexico. We had plenty of leg room, so much in fact I couldn’t touch the ground. Being in first class we also get a free meal which is my favorite part, and extra snacks! We both ended up with the Fruit and Cheese plate since everyone else pre-ordered but it was still good and filling, and came with a warm chocolate chip cookie.
Our flight was a little delayed because our pilots were delayed arriving, since the flight they had come from was also delayed. I wasn’t too worried about this. One thing that surprised us about traveling to Albuquerque is the car rental places all close at midnight. And our flight was scheduled to arrive at 11:59 p.m. I called Alamo and asked if this would be a problem, they assured me it would not since I had included my flight information in the reservation (ominous foreshadowing).
(Update for readers: We have moved inside the house to enjoy the AC. We were both melting even in the shade outside).
Our flight landed around 12:15 a.m., then we had to unload and walk to the baggage claim. We commented on how nice the decor was in the airport. It gave very New Mexico vibes with brick floors, beige stone and turquoise accents everywhere.
Alaska’s “get your bags in 20 minute guarantee” was not accurate this time and we waited nearly 30 minutes for our bags. At this point I am getting just a tad bit nervous about our rental car situation. We learned that there was a shuttle to the rental car area and we suddenly weren’t sure what hours that ran. Jacob looked up the distance if we had to walk and it was over 2 miles. While Jacob waited for the bag, I saw the rental car shuttle just before 1 a.m. and ran out there to ask if he’d be coming back. He assured me yes, he would be coming back.
There were many people collecting their bags and I was sure some of these people would also be going to pick up a rental car….A few minutes later we got our bag and were headed to wait outside for the rental car shuttle. It was a nice balmy 80 degrees outside and I felt very overdressed in my jeans and sweatshirt. We were the only people on the rental car shuttle.
We arrived around 1:15 a.m. Every kiosk in the building was closed and the lights were dim. We wandered outside to where the outdoor kiosks are. The Alamo kiosk was dark and closed, with a sign that said to go to National kiosk. We walked over there and it was also dark. On top of that, there were hardly any cars. The only car we could see in the Alamo parking lot was a black Chrysler minivan (ominous foreshadowing). Every single kiosk was closed and the exit also said closed.
We continued to cart our bags around looking like lost puppies until finally a man approached us (wearing pants and a sweatshirt – again 80 degrees!) and asked if we needed help. We said yes! He said he saw us wandering around and didn’t want to leave us hanging. We explained that our flight was delayed.
He asked what car rental place we reserved through and we said Alamo. He then asked us if a minivan would be ok, apparently they have 8 of them. I looked to Jacob and said, well we rented a compact SUV will we be charged the difference? He said no and even offered to comp a tank of gas for us. I thought this was pretty generous considering we’d be in a world of hurt if he had decided to clock out instead of helping us.
And thus we were granted the black Chrysler minivan. But hey, it’s a hybrid with vented seats (black leather seats).
From there it was an easy drive to our AirBnB. We got into the house with no trouble. We have rented a 3 bedroom, 2 bath house which is much more space than we need but we really rented it for the backyard space. The backyard is large with a covered patio and lots of seating.
The house is nice and comfortable with everything we need and the hosts have so far been great. We are in a nice neighborhood in the northeastern part of Albuquerque.
We spent the morning sitting outside enjoying the warm morning and the sound of the birds. It was while we were sitting outside that I got my first mosquito bite and the title for today’s blog.
This morning, (ok around 11 a.m.) we ventured out to have some brunch at a local restaurant called Dave’s High Desert Grill. We heard New Mexico is famous for the breakfast burrito so Jacob ordered one of those and I had a Carnitas Benedict with iced tea. Jacob ordered his burrito “Christmas” style which means he got both green and red chiles in it. I asked Jacob to describe to our readers how it was and he said, “It was tasty.”
After brunch we stopped by Walmart to pick up provisions for the week. We are now relaxing in the house for the afternoon. Thunderstorms will likely roll through each afternoon/evening we are here.
We are aiming to head back out this evening for dinner and to explore Old Town which is supposed to be very scenic with historic buildings. We are still discussing what we will do tomorrow.
Until then!