G'day from Albuquerque! Arrived here yesterday for a 2 nighter...gotta love those 2 nighters..went to Old Albuquerque Town yesterday afternoon enroute to our hotel in the downtown area. Old Town was fabulous, lots of tribe specific small handcraft stores, I sank a few $$$$ on some real nice turquoise pieces. The turquoise here is mined along the Turquoise Trail where prehistoric peoples made there homes. Spanish missionaries explored the area & battles were fought over this land for obvious reasons....see the pattern? Outlaws & Confederate soldiers camped in the area & Kit Carson marched Navajo people along the Trail in their 'Long Walk' to incarceration at Fort Sumner. It truly is a beautiful area. I particularly like the Navajo craft work, they are, in my view, the best artisans of all the native American tribes. Tijeras is the gateway to the Turquoise Trail with busy mountain communities along its path....just bloody brilliant! Although keen on all the art & crafts Moth did do a runner as usual when it comes to anything jewellery related...found him in Casa de Ruiz bar with a few other like minded Aussie blokes & had a few Pacificos....prefer Corona.....no Sol. Whilst in Old Town we witnessed a few wedding parties having photos taken as the Mariachi's were playing their hearts out....fabulous to be part of. There is something I find inherently strange about a bride in full white gown sporting a pair of 3/4 high multi coloured Mexican boots....must be a tradition I reckon. Made for interesting pics which I can't load for a few days unless I can get WIFI on my phone in Santa Fe today...sorry! This mobile data card on the iPad has been fantastic here as the Irish one was over there but I regret not getting another for my phone, would have made photo downloading easier...oh well at least we have the iPad connected. Last night we went to the old Route 66 diner for dinner here in Albuquerque, it has been fully restored to its former glory & comes complete with juke box & 45's on the turntable, all rock n roll! We, team Alamo of 8 scored the only old corner half circle 9 seater table & proceeded to rock the night away. Only downer was no booze was served as it was a traditional diner so milkshakes, burgers & soda spiders...and the biggest banana split I have ever seen....leaves Dukes Hula Pie in Honolulu for dead! 1 of these babies was shared between 7, no joke....of course there is a pic. We fully intended on heading out to a Cantina after dinner but instead headed back to the hotel for a quiet few. Moth was still suffering Inspite the grease fix. Today we have awoken to a glorious day & are back on the sheep truck heading up the mountain to Santa Fe, some 7000 feet or so above sea level & home to the original capital of New Mexico. It is rumoured to also be home to Shirley McLean. Santa Fe is now the artisan hub of New Mexico & for me today is going to be a hi-light day. After the dry heat of the past few days it will be nice to have some cool mountain weather for the day. Santa Fe is also home to the Miraculous Staircase at the Loretto Chapel which is best known as the staircase built by a carpenter in answer to the Sisters of Loretto's novena & then vanished. The name Santa Fe actually means The Faith. Had to buy more suitcases yesterday, the gift shop at the Marriott had a sale on with 50% off luggage, I bought a set of 3 Route 66 memorabilia rollercases, we will be heading home with our 6 checked bag allowance...thank god for Qantas :0)....I didn't think we'd done that much shopping & with a week to go hmmmmm that allowance will be needed. It is quite mountainous now as we chuggalong up the road to Santa Fe, almost there. The original Route 66 never went thru Albuquerque, in fact it went about 40 mile west & went thru Santa Fe...reason being the road was too steep for the old cars. Be back later Hoo Roo