Kyle continues to enjoy his Karate classes. In March he participated in the annual tournament and again won trophies in sparring and forms. Cosette entered a Charleston County-wide poetry contest and won third place in her age group. Victoria Hansen, a local TV newscaster, presented trophies to the winners. The theme of the contest was 'My Favorite Place', and Cosette wrote about our visit to Yellowstone in July, 2005.
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During the first week of April we travelled to visit Mark's parents in Albuquerque, New Mexico. They had moved there in 2006 and we hadn't had a chance to see their new home and environs. We visited the Albuquerque museum and zoo, and enjoyed walking downtown. We toured the old town one afternoon and saw a re-enactment of a Western gunfight.
We had a chance to go on a fantastic
hot-air balloon ride early one morning. The weather was perfect
with a slight chill in the air, a moderate breeze, and absolutely clear.
Here are Mark and Roger helping to fill the balloon. Here we are, ready for take off...
We landed about an hour later. Roger and
Alice followed along in the chase vehicle to meet us where we landed.
We ended up in a dry river bed that was difficult for the chase car to
get into. Kyle and Cosette were delighted to help tip over the gondola
as we were deflating the balloon. We needed to keep them inside
for a little while as ballast. After our trip we returned to our launch point where we had a champaign breakfast and received a number of souveniers. |
... up, up, and away we go.
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| Another day we drove about an hour west from Albuquerque to
visit Acoma Pueblo (also known as Sky City), the oldest continuously
inhabited town in North America. Originally the Indians inhabited
the nearby Enchanted Mesa (below), however, life atop this mesa was
too difficult and they moved to Acoma about the 12th Century. We were fortunate to have several Native American guides, and
life-long residents of Acoma Pueblo, for a personal tour of the mesa.
They are members of the church that Alice and Roger have joined.
In the picture below are Cosette, Kyle, Lydia, Patrick, Evangeline,
Pastor Judy, Alice, Roger, Leonard, and Maria. Afterwards, Leonard
and Lydia invited us all to their home where we sampled some traditional
medicines and food. Later, we all went out to dinner at the Indian
casino. |
Currently there is a road cut to the top of the mesa for access
to the pueblo, but historically the only means of access was a narow
and steep trail of steps cut into a crevasse. We took the bus
up, but climbed down the steps. Even grandma made it down safely! |
| This is the view from a nearby
overlook of the valley with Acoma Pueblo in the distance.  |
Kyle and Cosette with Lydia
and Leonard. Acoma Pueblo is behind Robert's head.  |
| On one of our last days in Albuquerque
we took the tram up to the top of the Sandia Peaks, located to the east
of Albuquerque. Albuquerque is located in the valley to the right
at an elevation of 5400' and the tram took us up to 10,400'.  |
At the top we took a hike up
to the peak behind Maria's head (an increase in elevation of about 200').  |
| When we set out in the morning
we never expected that most of our mile-and-a-half hike to the top would
be on snow. We probably weren't as prepared for it as we should
have been.  |
At the top we enjoyed a picnic
lunch at the stone shelter that had been built by the Army Corps of Engineers.
The view of Albuquerque was magnificent. Poor Cosette, however,
had wet, cold feet by the time we arrived and Mark had to carry her back
down. He won't be able to do that for too many more years.
This photo was taken by Kyle.  |
Back home, Kyle's baseball team attended a minor-league baseball game at the Charleston Riverdogs. They were the special guests of the game, were announced by name with the Riverdogs players before the game, and stayed on the field during the national anthem. During the game they took part in several between innings activities. It was a lot of fun for everyone involved. The team finished their 12-game little league season with a 6-6 record, but rebounded in the league playoffs to beat the best team in the league (with a 12-1 record) to win the league championship.
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