Saturday, 20 May

Its a pretty morning.  I sat out for a little bit and drank my coffee, but it gets pretty hot pretty fast with the sun beating in.  The awning works later in the morning where I can put it out and have my upper body in the shade but my legs are still in the sun.  That is actually kind of nice.
Bella and I decided we would go check out the Celtic Celebration going on this weekend in the Balloon Grounds...remember, this is the place with the giant balloon fest every year.
Anyway, I went over last night to tell our neighbors about the Blues Fest.  He was all dressed up in a tuxedo shirt and kilt with all the trimmings.  I said wow; you look handsome where are you off to.  A banquet. He told me they were working the Celtic festival, that they had a booth.  They are part of the Moffit Clan.  I told him about being part of the Campbell Clan and Rob being Gunn.  So we chatted a few and I told him I would stop in and see him.
So, Bella and I went off the the festival.  It was big and spread out.  They had a lot going on.  Dance competitions, pole throwing, band competitions, hammer throwing  and some other activities.  They even had an actual wedding.  That was kind of cool.
We stopped in and visited with Jim and Janine.  It turns out their Clan is sponsoring the whole event.  They were dressed in their tartans, as were the rest of their 14 Clan members.  They had apparently told their friends about Bella because they all wanted to come out and meet and pet her.  Bell was surprisingly friendly and licked everyones extended fingers.  She even let a couple actually pet her.  
We wandered around for about an hour or so and then decided we'd had enough and were ready to move on.
So, back to the Margarita Trail.  Rob and I talked about how I could get my T shirt in the short time we had remaining here.  I have to get 5 stamps and we can only get 2 a day.  One of the  Restaurants is actually in Miner, the small town that has the Blues Fest going on this weekend.  So, we thought, I already have 2 stamps, go up to Miner on Sunday and get # 3 at the restaurant there, and then.......Bella and I would take the train up to Santa Fe on Monday.  There were actually 2 restaurants right near the railroad square.  Then I could just walk to the Visitor Center, get my T-shirt, walk back and take the train back to Albuquerque.  That would be fun, and no driving.
But, I since I still had the rest of the day today I decided to drive up to Santa Fe and go visit one or two of the restaurants.  Most of them are in Santa Fe, with the exception of the one in Miner. 
So we did.  We went to one of the places which was up on the roof top.  It was fun.  This is a painting in the stair well leading up to the roof.

 I found a spot right up at the railing looking down on all the people passing by.  I ordered their margarita.  Now here is the deal.  It is not just order your favorite.  It is their specific Margarita Trail concoction.  This one happened to be made with jalapeño infused tequila.  And cucumbers I think.  It was a bit hot with the cucumber taste.  It wasn't terrible, but nothing I would ever order again. I chatted with the nice folks next to me and then headed off to another restaurant.
This one featured a margarita that they blend, then smoke the glass with sage smoke before pouring it in.  Well, I watched them make it and he lit the sage, smoked the glass, and then put it the burning sage out in the margarita.  Then he shook, shook, shook it and poured it into the glass. 
While I was sitting waiting for my drink Rob tested me and said "send me a picture of you"  I said what picture?  He said take one.  This is the horrible picture I sent him.

 When the waitress brought the margarita  to me it had big chunks of ash in it.  I looked at it and though YUK!  She stamped my book and I took a sip.   Hmmmmm it was terrible with a capital T.  I took another sip.  Yup it was still horrible. The gal came back and asked how I liked it.  I said its horrible and I can't drink it.  She asked if I wanted something else and I said no thanks.  She didn't charge me for the terrible drink so that was nice, and I got the stamp, so that was a bonus.
We drove back to Albuquerque and to our abode.  We had some dinner, watched TV and went to bed.