This post finds us just returned home from our unofficial annual weekend pilgrimage to the high desert.  Our third tenant in as many years- a young couple in the film industry with a shar pei dog - is moving in later this week and we thought we'd better go see how the house was faring after a couple of move-ins and -outs.  And as an added bonus, it also gave us a wonderful excuse to see a few friends from our Albuquerque days. 

We hadn't seen the interior of our former home since we moved out almost exactly two years ago and we weren't quite sure what to expect when we got there.  Upon arrival, we were pleased to see that it was quite clean.  The dog smell that several prospective tenants complained of had been completely eradicated with carpet cleaning and the house was in surprisingly good condition overall (not perfect, but good enough).  We were very pleased with our most recent tenant's treatment of the place and are sad to see him go.  Furthermore, we were delighted to hear from our friendly next-door neighbor, Rick, that our most recent tenant, Tim, had even had a couple lively-sounding parties out on the patio just as we had hoped he would, as this patio was meant to host parties.  Since there were no real surprises at the house, we easily finished the small projects we intended to work on during the day on Saturday and on a quick follow-up visit on Sunday, as well as compiling a small list of items to ask our local property manager to help us with after our return home.

Even though the primary focus of our visit was the house, the highlight was definitely seeing some friends whom we've really come to miss over the past two years since our departure.  On Friday evening, straight from the airport, we met Erica and Eric for dinner and drinks, complete with paper stick-on mustaches for all (compliments of the silly and fun-loving Erica), at Seasons in Old Town.  Saturday evening found us with more friends on the patio at Kelly's (which was great until the high winds came in and started to blow over full water glasses and patio umbrellas).   On Sunday, we even got in a short Sandias hike with Petra and Joe after Joe kindly brought some tools over to the house and helped Scott with a couple of small projects.  It was wonderful to see everyone who was available on such short notice and we hope to see the rest of you before too long, either in Albuquerque or Oakland! 

Say "mustache!"

Patio dining at Kelly's in Nob Hill with Joe & Petra

Checking out Petra's new ride

Scott enjoys a breakfast burrito from Weck's that is bigger than his head!

It wouldn't be a trip to New Mexico without a hike in the Sandias!