Albuquerque or bust

I always love showing off the pretty flowers of early spring here in southern Arkansas...if for no other reason to give you Yankees some sense of what will eventually come your way!  The last month has gone flying by...hard to believe it is already early March!  Below, Beth, Kenny, and Stephen enjoyed a church-sponsored bingo night (as did Hope and I):

We also had a nice first visit to the Arkansas Art Museum in Little Rock, which has a number of nice pieces on permanent and rotating exhibits, including this wooden sculpture of a table, fruit bowl, and books (below):

We've also made a traditional of going to Arkansas Post National Park on one of the first nice spring days, as you can see in the picture below:

We hope to see alligators basking in the sun along the bayou leading to the park, but they weren't out this year.  We walked a little bit of the trails at Arkansas Post, including passing by this replica Civil War cannon:

You'll recall there was a major Civil War battle here in 1863...  We couldn't stay long, because we had a program to attend on one of the "ghost" towns in Arkansas called "Napoleon".

Last weekend I left Arkansas for a week-long first installment of a leadership training program I've entered with the Forest Service.  It was held in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at some of my agency's office facilities in that city.  Outside of our meeting space were these sculptures of elk:

We were inside most of the week at this training, so I didn't have much of a chance to get into the countryside and enjoy the nearby mountains.  However, we did get the chance one evening to venture up to the top of a nearby peak:

The quickest way to the top was via a tramway, for which we paid $25:

It was worth the price!  Although we were packed into the car (the people smiling at the camera were some of my fellow trainees):
 

We had great views of the mountains and adjacent valley:

The top of Sandia Peak is over 10,300 feet above sea level, and it felt like it, between the cool, thin air at the top and the grand views.  After getting their, it was amazing to look back at the thin wires that carried us up:

We also spent some time together at local restaurants, enjoying the New Mexican cuisine, and (this night) a musical accompaniment: 

I returned yesterday just in time to join Hope, Beth, and Stephen for a couple hours of bowling:

Kenny didn't join us for bowling because he was off at Boy Scout camp undergoing his "ordeal" to join the Order of the Arrow...He returned today, but spent most of the afternoon catching up on sleep.  This meant he missed out on our fun of making Cornish pasties:

And yes, they tasted as good as they looked...especially with a Guinness gravy!