Spring Break Trip - Day 8

Arranged to meet Ellen at 0900L, but we ran into winter weather again... This time, we had a couple of inches of snow at the hotel and both Interstates were closed outside of town. Luckily, we were able to make it to Ellen and David's pretty place on the west side of town (near the Petroglyph National Monument - see NOV 2008). It was a great feeling for me to kick back and relax and the kids had fun playing with her dogs, Jack and Sneakers. After lunch, the kids went over to visit Ellen's horse, Rolex (see MAR 2009). They all really love horses and Ellen is so good about showing them how to act around them. We've been lucky to be able to spend time with her over the last couple of years and she is so patient with the kids. I actually stayed back to rest and wait for David - and when he arrived, we spent the afternoon checking out the new tech stuff he has. The ladies returned around 1700L. Ellen fixed a great dinner - steak tacos! Mary, Leo, Shannon and Sean, whose soccer games had been snowed out, were also able to join us. It's amazing, with everything we've done this week, that we just saw them only last Monday! The evening was very enjoyable -a nice way to end our journey. And, we stayed up much later than we meant to - before we realized it, the time was 2300L! Oh well, so much for getting back on Texas time before we get home! Ellen and David had graciously invited us to spend the night - it was good to be able to crash there. Went to bed with a view of the Sandia Mountains and twinkling stars of ABQ on the horizon...