Ivan & Tamaya & the Balloon Museum

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Tuesday, July 4, 2006

Although only on the road for three days, more than 1900 miles separated us from our families, so we were delighted that our arrival in Albuquerque meant we would be visiting our dear friends Ivan & Tamaya. After hugs and oohing and ahhing over Tamaya's new tummy (sporting the soon-to-be born Sean Raymond) we took a tour of their hometown and then we got down to the serious business of discovering our first taste of New Mexico.

Ivan & Tamaya gave two thumbs up to Roadfood's suggestion of Frontier. This gigantic restaurant (literally spreading across an entire block), caters to U. of NM students, locals and visitors like us 24/7. It looks more like a school cafeteria (with the exception of Western art adorning the walls and the abundance of paintings paying homage to John Wayne) but that's the only comparison to any cafeteria we'd been in before. The food, served in nano seconds, is stupendous! Ivan and Tamaya steered us through the seemingly endless menu. We indulged on perfectly piquant green chile stew, gargantuan chicken enchiladas, and super crispy beef tacos. Nirvana!

Ivan is on the board of the International Balloon Museum so we were privileged to attend a private party on the balcony of the museum where we saw a spectacular 4th of July firework display. What made it even more fabulous was while the colorful rockets and flares exploded in air, Mother Nature simultaneously hurled bolts of lightning across the mountains, for as far as our eyes could see.