More From New Mexico

Kokopelli

The most important news: Someone looked at our house on Wednesday, but they have not expressed any interest since, so the house is still not selling.

Moving on...

We came to Albuquerque to look at housing options, and we have walked through four homes for sale, two apartments, and one house for rent. We are settling into the probability that we will rent a house eventually - the cost is not very different from apartments, and we will get more space that way. Renting is a way to get the money out of our house and invest it in a way that returns some income, so all part of the retirement plans.

The Kokopelli figure above was in front of the rental home we toured.

We went out for Mexican food on Thursday, and I had pork adovada enchiladas, calabacitas, and fideos, all new to me, all good. Jackie wanted me to remember calbacitas, because she had a bite and loved it. Next up is Cracker Barrel, a visit we were planning before the logo change hullabaloo, because it is a regional place we don't see in Washington.

We are walking distance from the famous Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta Park, but we have not seen even one hot air balloon. Very disappointing. I just looked it up though, and unsurprisingly, hot air balloons don't do well in hot air, so that explains that.

Weather has been over 90 degrees every day, but it's more tolerable than we expected. You go from air-conditioned house to air-conditioned car to air-conditioned stores and back, and it is usually comfortable enough in the shade. (It is not comfortable in the afternoon sun.) We have had some short thunderstorms.

I visited the Duke City Bridge Club and managed to win half a point. I'm playing again tomorrow, but no great expectations.

I made a list of 19 places in New Mexico that we may want to see, anywhere from here in the Albuquerque area to as far as five hours away. (New Mexico is a big state.) These are just natural sites, so nothing like Taos or downtown Santa Fe. There will be a lot to do if we can ever get here.