We travelled from Grant in New Mexico to Alburqerque. Because we arrived right on Thanksgiving, we didn’t want to encroach on Donna’s family time, so spent time at a park where the kids played and Chayse practised his artistic skills.
First he drew a portrait of Kaitlin and Akaisha, then tried a second piece with Trev, Flynn, Akaisha and himself. I had to take photos as he had done his drawings on a whiteboard.
We camped at the KOA and whilst our stay in Alburqerque was short, it was well worth the visit to meet up with Donna, a good friend of my brother Scott. They met originally when they were both travelling around South America. Donna came to Australia, but I only had 4 kids at the time…..so I wondered if she knew what she had gotten herself into by meeting us at a restaurant with our seven kids!
But I needn’t have worried. The kids took to Donna and her family immediately and we enjoyed a wonderful brunch with Donna and her Mum Irene. Soon after we met Donna’s boyfriend Ramiro and they introduced us to a different type of Mexican dish to what we were used to. As Donna pointed out, food is very different in this region than in Mexico.
Trev was more adventurous than myself or the kids and he shared the dishes of Carn Adobada (pork marinated in red chile sauce and Carnitas (shredded beef with green chile) with Donna, Ramiro and Irene.
You would think that by now we would be used to the fact that when you order anything in America, it is usually twice the size of what we expect! But no, the kids and I still ordered anough pancakes to keep us going for breakfast, lunch and dinner for the next two days.
Flynn assured us that he would eat EVERYTHING. I wish I had bet him some money…because after one pancake, he could barely squeeze another mouthful in.
Luckily, Weck’s provided take away containers, so none of this delicious food should go to waste.
Not long before we were due to leave (we had a big drive ahead of us), Ramiro’s son, Roberto and his wife, Sara arrived. They had a one year old daughter called Sophia and she was absolutley gorgeous. Sara’s mother, Colette, was also there.
I so wished we didn’t have to get on the road but we were now on a bit of a tight schedule. Ramiro’s family were all so delightful and I think we could have quite happily talked into the evening had we stayed longer.
So, this was the first time we had ever been to Wecks and it was well worth the visit.
We were so glad we had the chance to catch up with Donna, but there was still one more family member to meet………..her dog, a Husky called Maggie. What an extraordinary dog. Kaitlin couldn’t get over the colour of her eyes.
Donna, Irene, Ramiro and family, if you’re reading this blog, remember you are always welcome to come and visit/stay with us if you make it to Australia. We’d love to see you.
We had a long trip from Alburquerque to go to Roswell, so our next blog post will be all about Aliens!……
Hi Cathy- catching up on a few blogs? It was a great idea meeting Donna again. Mum and I were very impressed with her when she came to Fitzroy and then to Perth and Pemberton. See you all in a couple of days time. By the way received your emails.
Love Mum and Dad
Hi Mum and Dad,
I tnink I will be writing blogs for another two weeks. I want to complete the memories of our trip (even if we are back in Australia by then). This is our diary as well, and I still haven’t shared with you all the rest of the wonderful people we met and the experiences we had.
See you soon.
Cath and family xx