[To view the entire Flickr photoset from this trip, go here.]

I spent Friday afternoon at happy hour with Matt, who dropped a very-tipsy me off at the airport; I proceeded to board the plane and partake in Northwest Airline’s free booze, because I consider it my duty to exploit them as they exploit me. I’d been upgraded to first class on three out of my last four flights. How awesome is that?

I arrived in Albuquerque after 11, and walked over to the car rental place. They handed me keys and I sleepily rolled my suitcase out to the lot. I was confronted with a giant white minivan, so I sleepily rolled my suitcase back inside. I asked the guy behind the counter, “Do you have anything smaller? I drive a MINI!” He said no, that was all they had left.

I named my minivan ‘Cracker’.

I checked out of my hotel in Santa Fe and headed back toward Albuquerque. On the way to Petroglyph National Monument, I saw many, many hot air balloons taking to the skies.

I was the first person to reach the park, and the gates to the trails was still closed. I swung by the visitor center and talked to the very friendly park ranger for a while before heading back to see petroglyphs.

cracker, alone in the parking lot.

giant creepy millipede!
Note to self: hiking in flipflops is dumb. Why do you do it when you have good hiking shoes?

I headed towards Albuquerque’s Old Town, to the National Atomic Museum, because I have a huge fascination with everything atomic-age and cold-war related. I was greeted and checked-in by the cutest old man ever, who stopped just short of giving me a personal tour.

the flag that flew at the trinity site

formed by the first atomic blast, it’s caused by the sand melting and fusing.

fat man

brick from ground zero at hiroshima

I left the museum and went to wander around Old Town until my flight. I picked up a bunch of tacky joke-souvenirs for the folks back home, and then found the greatest store on earth; it was full of Dia de los Muertos decor. Upon leaving, I had to completely repack my bag to fit it all in there.

I hopped on my plane at 2:30 that afternoon, and was happy to say goodbye to Cracker and join my homies for happy hour back home.