Hello from The Land of Enchantment

I was a little worried when I found out I was going to visit an Air Force Base in New Mexico, since Miss K’s dad gets a really funny look on his face when he talks about “being held captive in southern New Mexico for six years.” (Supposedly, the only thing that made life worth living then was “his baby.” I thought he meant Miss K or one of her sisters but it turns out they weren’t born yet and the baby was an F-117A, which I’m pretty sure is an airplane. It’s a guy thing.) I got lucky, though, and didn’t have to go to Holloman Air Force Base; instead I visited Cannon Air Force Base near Clovis, New Mexico! Cannon is the home of the Air Force Special Operations Command.

Miss K’s sister is a big fan of Josefina and I can’t wait to tell her all about New Mexico! It is so beautiful, with rose coloured deserts, snowy mountains, and rivers, including the Rio Grande. I got to see sagebrush, cacti (that’s the plural of cactus…cool, huh?), and yuccas.

I was lucky enough to get to make a trip up to Albuquerque with my host family for a swim meet at Kirtland Air Force Base. Jess and I hung out together and cheered and had a great time. Then Jess talked me into taking a ride on the Sandia Peak Tramway, the world's longest passenger aerial tramway, which goes from the edge of Ablbuquerque up, up, UP over 3,800 feet to the top of the mountain. The view was incredible; you can see Albuquerque and 11,000 miles of the New Mexico countryside. It was a little scary, being up so high in a little car held up by a few cables, but it was worth it for the view!

Back in Clovis, Jess and Kit took me to Ned Houk Memorial Park to look for buffalo! We found the donkeys right away (or rather, they found us, then wandered off when they realized we didn’t have any food) but the buffalo took a little longer – and we didn’t get nearly as close! We got our picture taken together in a Zia, too. You see lots of the Zia, a sun symbol of the Zia people, here in New Mexico; there is even one on the state flag. The four lines extending from the ring represent the four directions (north, south, east, west); the four seasons (spring, summer, winter, fall); times of the day (dawn, noon, evening and night); the four stages of life (childhood, youth, adulthood and old age). The circle represents life and love, without beginning, without end. Isn’t that neat? My kind of symbol.

I also got to spend lots of time in the gym while I was here and got gymnastics lessons from one of the girls in my host family. (She placed 5^th in trampoline at Nationals so I got some great tips from her and got to try out a trampoline that was just my size.) I can understand why Ivy loves gymnastics so much. Flying through the air and standing on your head (okay, my teacher gave me a little spot, but still, I loved it!) is so much fun!

I had the best time here and know now why they call New Mexico the Land of Enchantment. I hope I’ll get to come back someday!