Bosque del Apache with Friends

First off, I'd like to thank all who called and emailed to ask for an update about Auggie. I am happy to report that he is feeling much better, his e-collar is off, and he is just about back to his old self. He can still feel his stitches, which will dissolve on their own, but most of the time he ignores the sensation. I tell him that each day he will feel them less and less until they are gone. I'm not sure he believes me, though.

Today Bob and I drove up to Socorro, NM to visit with our friends, Kathy and Ron, whom we met last spring in Albuquerque. We had a great time catching up, and together we toured the Bosque Del Apache Wildlife Refuge. What a gem this place is! While we were unable to get a photo of the many Sandhills Cranes that winter here, we did see and hear them fly over us. Plus we saw an egret, a roadrunner, snow geese, and a bald eagle. And a lot of small birds, only some of which I could identify. We strongly recommend a visit to this lovely place. Next time I will bring my bird book!

By the way, Bosque Del Apache means "Woods of the Apache," and the term "Bosque" (pronounced 'boskay') has come to mean an ecological area with cottonwoods, which is typical of this region.

After we finished seeing the refuge we went into Socorro to have a bite to eat at Buckhorn, which proudly proclaims that it is #7 in America. According to the menu, "The Buckhorn Burger has been named in GQ Magazine one of the top 20 burgers in the US, rating it #7, mentioned in Travel + Leisure quoted "paraje numero uno" in The New York Times and the Buckhorn Burger beat Bobby Flay in  a Green Chili Cheeseburger Throwdown shown on the Food Network." Of course, we had to try it, and it was very good (despite a very long wait to be served.)

We then drove into town where we stopped at the Old San Miguel Mission, a lovely church that has recently been restored.

I loved the way the sun was just peeking over the church tower in this shot.

All in all, it was a really fun day and we will hopefully be able to see Kathy and Ron again this year when we travel back through the area.

OK, I know that the title of this blog is Weaving Down the Road, but today I was Warping Down the Road, putting a short warp on my tape loom so I could show a little woven tape to Kathy. It is, not surprisingly, rather difficult to actually warp a loom while riding down the highway. Not so easy to weave that way, either!

Here is the very first tape being woven on my new loom. I was surprised at how different it is to weave on a tape loom as opposed to an inkle loom or using one of my other looms to weave a band. There is a definite learning curve, but the loom performed very well and it was fun. I will have to work on my selvages, though!