Hope everyone had a fun, safe Memorial Day!
I had a really nice day spent with the fam-we even got to Skype with my sister Karen in Australia! She just got back from a dive trip to the Great Barrier Reef. Not too shabby 
The day started with a leisurely breakfast with everyone and then we all headed up to our ski hill, Pajarito, for a hike.
Pajarito
It was gorgeous weather out, although really windy at times.
The Valles Caldera-the Aspens are just getting leaves
It’s kind of crazy because the Aspens aren’t even out yet. It’s almost June! Just goes to show what a freakishly cold the winter was here.
Made it to the top!
We hiked up to the top of one of the mountains, to a summit of a little over 10,000 feet, and looked out over the Valles Caldera, which is essentially a sunken volcano.
Moch needed a drink at the top
Mocha of course loved being outside to explore.
The afternoon was nice and relaxing. We all had lunch outside in the sun, and then we all read for several hours until my mom and I met two of her teacher friends for a run. We headed to a nearby canyon and did a nice 3.4 mile run.
Then we ate an early dinner of homemade tamales and chile con carne, before heading to see the newest Pirates of the Caribbean.
Tamales, filled with pork and red chile, are traditional of New Mexico, and it is traditional for a family to make a large batch (hundreds) of tamales every fall, usually in November.
Tamale!
Then you can freeze the tamales for the year (we have an entire chest freezer that is taken up every fall by tamales and fresh roasted green chile!), although the main reason to make them in November is because it is traditional to have posole (a soup made of hominy, pork, and chile), tamales, and tortillas on Christmas Eve. My Grandfather Quintana (keen-tana), my mom’s dad, was about as New Mexican as you can get, so she grew up always making the tamales with her family, and now we always make them. It’s such a fun family tradition and everyone gets really into it. It usually ends up being an entire afternoon, and always involves lots of fun and often margaritas
Mom and I also shared a Magner’s Pear cider with dinner. So good!
I love Irish Cider 
We all really like the new Pirates. I happen to really love Penelope Cruz, and I thought she was really great in this movie. Plus, the mermaids were crazy! If you liked the other ones, I would definitely recommend it. It’s different enough, and action-packed enough, that to me it wasn’t too similar to the other ones to be boring.
I am off to bed! I hope everyone had a fabulous long weekend.
Cheers,
[...] 1st I was still in New Mexico. Pajarito Ski [...]