Albuquerque bound!

Whew, not much sleep last night, maybe 4 hours if that.  But that's ok.  Got up around 5:15 to get ready to drive to Mom's where Kathy was going to meet us at 6:15 to take us to the airport.  Carlos joined us on the trek to the airport.  Really easy at the airport, not too much of a line waiting to check in, then had coffee with Kathy and Carlos at Starbucks, then we pretty much sailed right through security.  They didn't seem to be checking all that much this time.

We didn't have long to wait to board our plane and we had a really good flight to Denver.   When we got off the plane we felt like it was almost miraculous to be able to get off at Gate 55, and our connecting gate turned out to be Gate 54!!!!  So, really easy, we just walked across the aisle!  So, we had an over 2 hour wait for our next plane but it seemed to go fast.

We were somewhat taken aback upon boarding our next plane when they told us we'll have to check our biggest carry-ons and to leave them right there at the door of the cabin.  Lots of other people had to also, but the thing is, I had stuffed my purse into my carry-on (thinking I'd take it back out once I was in the plane) because they kept announcing that anyone carrying on more than two items would have one taken away from them.  But even so, they took my carry-on away and it all happened so fast that I had no time to get what I wanted out of my purse.  So, the whole flight, I wonder how the chocolate bar was faring in the purse, if my glasses were getting crushed and if my cell phone would be in once piece after this.  But no, everything turned out ok.

At the airport in Albuquerque, we found that to get to the rental car place we'd have to take a shuttle ride for 10 mins. and there'd be no guarantee there'd be any available cars.  So we just decided to take a taxi to the hotel.  This hotel is far from the airport, it's not in a "touristy" section, but two things:  one - it's close to where Jackie's apartment is, and two - it's the same hotel Guillermo and I stayed at a few years ago.  It's not the biggest and the best hotel, but it's convenient to where we want to be, it's quiet here, the room is well supplied and the breakfasts are good.

In the late afternoon, since all we had for lunch were some sandwiches at the airport in Denver, we decided to have an early dinner.  We asked the hotel to call us a taxi and we had the driver take us to Cracker Barrel.   We had a great dinner there and we called our taxi driver back when we were done and asked him to take us to Jackie's apartment.  This taxi driver's name is Idaan (he's from Israel) and we really liked him.  We told him why we were wanting to go to Jackie's apartment complex and we got into a nice discussion with him about families and how difficult things can be sometimes.   Once we arrived at the complex, we were pleasantly surprised to see that there was no gate so he was able to drive right up to the leasing office.  He agreed to wait for us, as long as it took, so that we could talk with the office manager and ask her to get a note to Jackie.

Well, when we got there, the manager was just finishing up with some new renters so we had to wait a little while.  When we were finally able to talk with her, we explained to her the situation and she was very sympathetic.  She said of course she'd get a note to Jackie, and if we wanted, she'd call her right now and see if she could come down.  We thought maybe it'd be better if she got the note first.  The lady did let us know, though, and this was a big one, that Jackie does indeed still live there.  So, we felt hopeful.  We left the note with the lady and she kept telling me, "You sound just like Jackie!!"  In a way, it felt kind of weird, yet good, to talk with someone who knows and has talked to Jackie lately.

The taxi driver then drove us back to our hotel.  Later that evening, Mom and I decided to walk over to a very near Furr's Cafeteria and of course, right as we're getting ready to walk, it got extremely windy, with dust blowing all over the place.  We walked through that anyway, and we both had a piece of pie with water.

So, all in all, we felt it was a good day!

It's summer all right

Saturday July 16th, the neighbor Mary and I got pedicures at D'Anthony Salon.  That was fun!  Afterwards, I drove over to Kathy's house, where she was holding a garage sale.  It was so hot out there on that driveway, even though we were sitting under a nice big beach umbrella.  Just a few people came while we sat out there, and soon Kathy was ready to put things away.  Before we had everything put back in the garage, a wind gust came and blew the beach umbrella over her house!!!  Carlos found it on the backyard fence.  Good thing it didn't go even further!

Today is Monday, July 18th, and tomorrow Mom and I fly to Albuquerque, hoping we'll get to visit with Jackie, but ready to just enjoy visiting the city.

So busy today

Wow, there seems to be so much to do everyday.  After watering Guillermo's garden and feeding all the plants, I went to spend the rest of the morning at the IRS office.  Our return has been rejected 3 times now, and I was hoping I could get some answers from someone there.  I sat down at 10:20, fully expecting to wait at LEAST 2 hours or more.  My number was 910 and I had no idea where I was in the lineup, since the numbers on the board seemed to be in the 5 and 6 hundreds.  But after about 10 minutes they called 904, so I figured I wasn't TOO far away.  910 was called exactly 1 hour and 50 minutes after I sat down, so that wasn't TOO bad.

After explaining my problem to the lady, and her looking up my account, and calling someone else in to help decifer the error codes, both of them also were stumped as to why the return keeps being rejected.  Their big suggestion was to give up filing online and just file the paper form, as there is no "electronic stuff" in that to be rejected.  So, I picked up several forms and figured eventually I'd file the paper form.  I have until October.

From the IRS office I drove to HEB on DeZavala to buy a few things then came home and fixed lunch and watched the rest of a video I've been watching.  After finishing the movie and washing the dishes, I went outside to cut some vegetables from the garden and talked with the neighbors who told me they had also picked some squash from the garden earlier that day.  So, that was good to hear!

In the evening, I drove over to Mom's house to get our mail.  Linda and I had decided earlier in the day that we should also try to go see our cousin Louis playing in his band at the base of the Tower of the Americas.  Mom decided she wanted to go with us!!  So, we drove to Hemisfair Park, found good parking and walked over to where his band was performing.  We got a table, waved to Louis and he was so happy to see us there!   Right after we sat down, a waitress came around asking if we'd like a sample of the margaritas they were selling.  There was only one sample and Mom said she'd try it!

After playing a few more songs, the band took a break and Louis came over to our table and sat with us until it was time for his band to get back onstage.  A little later, Louis's wife Terry and their two girls Sofia and Rachel arrived and they joined us at the table.  It was an enjoyable evening!

Here we are with cousin Louis, who plays in the band Hogg Shedd.

And they're off!

Took Guillermo and Alfred to the airport this morning, for their 1:09pm flight to Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Waiting to turn in the bags they're going to check.  The airport was quite busy this morning!

Another picture, really?!!?  Ok, last one.

At least where they're going the weather will be nice and cool, if not cold.  They are lucky to be getting away from this intense heat and drought.

This morning, I went over to the house of a former colleague from Elrod, where I helped her (Becky Mendez) and another friend (Cherri Hasenkamp) reconnect and/or connect for the first time on Facebook.  That was fun going over things with them and seeing their excitement in discovering friends from the past.

This evening, we are staying up quite late because we are going to the airport to pick up Guillermo's brother Alfred, who should arrive on a 1:10am flight.

The old gang

Yesterday, 16 of us that used to work together at Elrod Elementary got together at La Hacienda de los Barrios for a wonderful evening out on the patio.  It was great seeing everyone again and catching up on their lives.  Wow, you can even see the mist that the fans were blowing from the misters in these pictures!!

Today, Thursday, Guillermo and I went out to dinner with our friends George and Sandra.  We went to La Gloria mexican restaurant along the Museum reach of the river walk and after our delicious dinner we walked along the river a bit - to as far as the fishes that hang from under the highway.  We stopped along the way to watch several ducks, a cormorant, and even a yellow-crowned night heron flew in real close to us!  I didn't bring my camera this evening, so Sandra was kind enough to send me the pictures she took with her camera.  So, the following 3 pictures were taken by Sandra Garant.

The Cormorant.  He was making his throat quiver the entire time we watched him.

Yellow Crowned Night Heron

New art work along the river.

After walking along the river, we drove to Brindles Ice Cream and had some ice cream!!

Taco trucks

The other day, Sunday I believe it was, we thought we try the food at another taco truck around town.  Our first taco truck experience was last year, at Tin Can Tacos in Helotes.  The tacos were good and it was comfortable since the truck was parked near some trees.  That is a great thing to have by a taco truck since it is so hot outside.  So, at Tin Can Tacos, you can sit at some picnic tables placed under the trees.
On Sunday, we tried the tacos out of a truck called Chela's Tacos.  Actually, these vehicles are really more like old Air Stream trailers than trucks.  Chela's Tacos is painted bright red and all it has to escape the heat is a little awning over the area where you order.  This little Air Stream is parked out in the sun, no shade around and no picnic tables.  But oh those tacos are delicious!!!   We ordered three, and ate them standing up beneath the awning.  You get your drinks from a huge ice chest that is next to the trailer.  (Bottled coke from Mexico!)  Those three tacos were so good that we decided to order some more to have the next day for breakfast.  At both Tin Can Tacos last year in Helotes and at Chela's Tacos, there were lots of people waiting to order tacos.
We will definitely go back to Chela's Tacos if we are ever in the area (UTSA Blvd), we only wish they had shade from trees and a few places to sit down.