Country Mouse in the City

The eldest child was scheduled for wisdom tooth removal yesterday morning, which is a pretty common event in the teen years these days. I myself remember doing this when I was about his age. The difference for us, of course, is how far we have to drive to do it. The only oral surgeon that takes our insurance is in Albuquerque, which is around 200 miles away.

His appointment was at 9 a.m. I briefly considered just getting up early and leaving at 5 a.m. to drive to Albuquerque. But then I considered how miserable that would be for the fasting patient, as well as for me when I had to turn right around and drive another 200 miles to get home after the surgery.

I got a hotel room for the night before.

The oral surgeon's office was near the balloon park, which is where they have the big Balloon Fiesta that Albuquerque is famous for. I was wondering why the hotel room was almost twice the regular price for Sunday night, figuring there was a graduation or something. I found out when we arrived and saw signs for "Boots in the Park."

It was a country music festival. There were something like twenty different bands playing for the weekend. The eldest child, who is a big country music fan, was incredulous that we were RIGHT THERE and were not going to be able to go see Luke Combs. I did look to see if there were any tickets available, because I actually would have taken him--it's not like we were doing anything else that night--but the only ones left were $500 VIP tickets. Sorry, kid.

The park was only a mile and a half away, though, which meant we could actually hear the music in our hotel room. Son could even identify the songs. So it was kind of like being there, right? Right.

We stayed at a Quality Inn. It wasn't the worst hotel I've ever stayed at, but it wasn't particularly nice, either. That's why this car in the parking lot was so amusing to me.

A Corvette at the Quality Inn? I guess those car payments ARE pretty steep. 

There are a lot of things I might do when I myself have GRWNKDS, but buying a Corvette is not one of them. I hope that person is enjoying it, however.

Since we were in the Big City, we had an overwhelming number of restaurants to choose from for dinner. The son with me is a big fan of sushi and sashimi, which is not something we are often in close proximity to. We were this night, though! Off we went to a Japanese restaurant.

So much raw fish.

I do not care for fish cooked, and certainly not raw, so I got literally the only thing on the menu that didn't have fish in it.

Noodles, vegetables, and beef. It was okay, although way too sweet for me. Kind of like teriyaki.

None of the dessert options were very appealing to me at this place, but I thought that surely, we must be pretty close to a Cold Stone Creamery. My phone informed me that we were only about half a mile from one, so we went there for dessert.

We got back to the hotel around 7 p.m., which is too early to go to bed. I have no interest in TV, but as it was still light outside, I went for a walk.

I think this is the biggest flag I have ever seen. Must be some really patriotic mechanics in that shop.

Albuquerque has nice mountains outside the city, which makes me feel right at home. It reminds me of Tucson, where I lived for seven years.

Then back to the Quality Inn to read for a bit before bed, and listen to the concert through our window. And to the concert-goers as they came back to the hotel in the wee hours, still very hyped up from all the excitement. They were almost certainly drunk, too, which made it quite the party scene.

I always wake up early, usually around 5 a.m., although I didn't actually get up until 6 a.m. when the breakfast stuff was put out in the lobby. 

Unbeatable dining ambiance.

I had some scrambled eggs that were almost certainly mixed up from a powder, as well as cornflakes and coffee.

Breakfast of champions.

I typically drink my coffee and chicory with only a tablespoon of heavy cream. This sort of hotel coffee needs a lot more help than that to make it palatable, though, so I added whole milk and sugar to it. 

It was still early after this. Time for another walk.

A much different scene than my typical morning walk.

Spring comes a lot sooner in Albuquerque than in does at our house, so there were many flowering plants.

I don't know what this is, but it smelled heavenly.

After my walk, we still had about an hour before the surgery. I had discovered that the oral surgeon's office was right near the big grocery store I had been to last time I was in Albuquerque. 

Source of The Good Italian Sausage.

I of course had my coolers in the car, which is why I decided to go grocery shopping right then so we could just go home after the surgery.

Then finally, the actual purpose of this trip.

Awaiting the patient.

Eldest had been referred for extraction of one tooth, but on the advice of the surgeon, ended up getting all four wisdom teeth taken out. So that was pretty much the end of anything fun. But it was a nice city adventure while it lasted.