GOLF, GOOD FOOD, GOOD FRIENDS AND GOODBYES

In case you haven't figured it out yet, I most always blog after the fact ... especially when we're traveling. It can be very time consuming and I'm selfish with my vacation time, so I take extensive notes and photographs and then post the things that happened after we return home. This is most certainly true with today's post.
Frank played golf with Walter and another friend who now lives in Dallas and was visiting Walter in Santa Fe. They drove to Paa-ko Ridge golf course just outside of Albuquerque to play and I had the day off.

Borrowing its name from the nearby Anasazi Pueblo Indian ruins, this mountain course is sitting at 6,800 fee elevation on the eastern slope of the Sandia Mountains. It's a glorious setting.

Late that afternoon we received a phone call from our friends in Raton to find out that some very dear friends in Albuquerque had just been diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. We made arrangements and went to Albuquerque early the next morning to visit with her in the hospital. We have been friends with the Burrows for over 50 years and it was very sad to see her under these circumstances.

We had a really nice visit with her, and then right before we left, her husband and daughter Valerie arrived so we visited with them for a while as well. She has a very difficult time ahead of her, so I ask for your prayers for her as well as her family.

Since we were already in Albuquerque, we decided to call and see if our nephew, Gary and his wife, Teresa were home. Luckily they were, so we went by their place for a minute.

Gary is Frank's brother's son. We have so little family left now that we try to make a point of seeing them as often as we can. It was nearly 2:00 and they had not eaten so we went to lunch at a place called Elephant Walk. The food was delicious. I had crab cakes and they were amazing.

This was the appetizer portion. I don't know how on earth anyone could have eaten more than this as they were very rich and so filling. Frank had a salad that was as tasty as it was attractive.

The bread sticks were served in a basket as were the sweet potato fries. We certainly didn't go away hungry!

Since it was named the Elephant Walk, I had to get a shot of the family with their "mascot".

On the way back to Santa Fe we received a phone call from some friends from Arlington and they had just arrived in town. They had spent the previous week or so in Colorado and decided to stop in Santa Fe for the 4th. We told them that we really weren't hungry since we had a late lunch, but we would meet them at The Shed for a drink.

This is a favorite place of ours and also a lot of tourists come here, so they had a pretty long wait. At least that gave us the opportunity to have a very nice visit.

When their buzzer finally went off, we said our good-byes and made plans to meet them on the Plaza in the morning for the Pancake Breakfast and all the 4th of July activities.

Fortunately both Theresa and I had our cell phones with us, so we were able to hook up. They sold 15,000 tickets to the breakfast, so it would have almost been impossible to find them without the help of Ma Bell!

There is always a lot of musical activity and dancers on the Plaza on the 4th and they are fun to watch. The whole crowd gets in the mood of the day and patriotism is abounds.

These precious children started dancing at 9:00 and I couldn't decided if it was more fun to watch them or to watch their parent's faces as they performed.

Will, Teresa and the children were able to get a front row seat and that was great. They were there at the right time!

There is a group called Manzanares that we really like and they performed earlier than usual so we were able to stay and listen to them. We love their music and have followed their careers for years. The fact that their lead singer looks a lot like Johnny Depp doesn't hurt anything either ;-)

Once this group starts to play, everyone wants to dance. It doesn't matter what your size, shape or age is, everyone is in the mood to party!

Having a dance partner is also optional. If you're in the mood .... get up and DANCE!
An easy way to get around the Plaza is by a Santa Fe Style Rickshaw. There are several of these around town all the time.

Every 4th of July our friends, the Williamson's, have a party and we're blessed to always be on their guest list. It starts around 11:00 a.m. so that affords us the time needed to visit the Plaza first. Cleo decorates everything with red, white and blue and then fixes a lovely brunch. She's definitely the Hostess with the Mostess.

We always look forward to this annual gathering as we get to see friends that we only seem to see when we're in Santa Fe.
That evening the Rosses came by our place for a cocktail and then we decided to go out for dinner together.

We went to Del Charro and I had a burger and the kids had nachos.

Of course Will had one of their special margaritas and said that it was great.

We plan on meeting our friends, the Ellises tomorrow and continue on this New Mexico style eat-a-thon. I'll fill you in on more in a day or two.
XOXO, Pcasso

I am so very sorry to have to report that I have just received word that my dear and probably one of our oldest friends, Eleanor Burrow, died yesterday. We have been friends for 52 years. I am so thankful that we were able to spend time with her on this visit. It is very hard to lose someone who has been very special in your life. This is one of my favorite photos of her at my 70th birthday party in Santa Fe.

My prayer is that His peace which passes all understanding will be with the family and that light perpetual will shine upon her always. May God bless her soul.