May 2014

Not bad Albuquerque, not bad at all. My host's house doubled as a 'micro-farm', so there were some unusual guests there to greet me upon arrival.

Jack and Kristy

I lucked out and had a chance to book tickets to see The Pajama Men performing at the historic KiMo Theater. If you have a chance to see these guys, GO!

A quick Google searched showed off a small Rattlesnake Museum. It was cheap, $4 bucks if I recall correctly, and full of lots of slithery serpents.

Petroglyph National Monument. Most of these pictures were taken through my sunglasses. Their tint made the petroglyphs easier to spot!

Albuquerque is also home to the Netflix series Breaking Bad, so I went nuts finding locations of familiar spots. If you haven't watched the show, these pictures won't mean much to you.

Gustavo Fring's house

Gustavo's Laundromat

Walter White's house.

Car wash (they left my car squeaky clean!)

I didn't even think of visiting Carlsbad Caverns until my best bud gave me a ring while I was driving towards Albuquerque. He always wanted to see the caverns himself and suggested that I check it out, if time permitted.

The next day after getting a crappy nights rest in Fort Stockton, TX (yea I know, "where?"), I continued on towards Albuquerque. After three cups of coffee, a refill on gas and 2 hours worth of driving, I saw signs on the road for Carlsbad Caverns. I was itchy to get to Albuquerque and rest in a decent bed since last night's sleep in the car wasn't the best, but thought, "what the hell, when will I get the chance again?"

I'm so glad I stopped by for a few hours. My cell phone didn't do the greatest job of capturing the little light in the caverns.

Descending into the cavern. There were little cave swallows flying in and out of the cavern entrance, and a creepy fog of dust rising up into the last remaining sunlight.

I had a double-dose of luck while in Texas, and was able to stay with another friend in Austin. Why is everyone moving to Texas?! I haven't seen this guy in a long time (5 years?), so it was nice to chill-out with my 'brah' for a few days.

University of Texas at Austin

Blanton Museum of Art

Throwing darts at the Black Sheep Lodge

Texas State Capitol Building. Their door hinges alone were impressive.

The weather proved to be more than suitable for a some pool action at Barton Springs. It's a 3 acre man-made pool that is fed by underwater springs. The temperature stays nice and cool year-round, around 68-70 degrees. Barton was refreshing but not overbearing for the average person. Some say it's a bit chilly and I don't blame them; I like being in frigid water. And no, I have yet to swim with any polar bear clubs... yet.

Barton Springs pool (thanks for joining Miss Darts!)

I spent a good amount of time at Epoch Coffee and Caffé Medici to veg-out or update my pictures. I'm sure given to Austin's tech culture, coffee shops are accommodating to coffee-shop squatters, with a plentiful array of power outlets everywhere. Epoch Coffee even had some extension cords hanging from the ceiling.

For my last night, Mike made a farewell dinner with his famous turkey burgers* from scratch.

• not pictured, since I ate them too fast. Thanks Mike!

Till next time Austin.