Great Fun at The Quadrathalon and Albuqurque...

I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend. We had a terrific weekend, it is always nice to get out of town....but it feels so good to get home again.

We traveled about 4 hours to Grants, NM for the 28th annual Mt. Taylor Quadrathalon. The race consisted of a 13 mile bike ride (up hill), 5 mile run, 2 mile cross-country ski (up heartbreak hill, which apparently lives up to its name), a 1 mile snowshoe to the top of Mt. Taylor....a shot of Jack Daniels...then you turn around and do it all backwards. This was my husband's first quadrathalon. He finished in 8 hr. 35 min. Can you imagine racing that long?! I can't.

Alfred Before the Race

The Starting Line

Off They go


After the Race...exhausted

While he was racing I took the opportunity to explore Grants and all of the outdoor fun in the area. I took the dogs hiking in El Malpais. El Malpais, means badlands in Spanish. It was named this because of the barren and dramatic lava fields covering most of the park. The El Malpais is part of the Zuni-Bandera volcanic field, the second largest volcanic field in the Basin and Range Province. We had a nice little hike through the park, it was beautiful.

Lava Tunnel in El Malpais

Vista of Grants, NM

Lava Field in El Malpais

After the guys finished racing we then drove into Albuquerque to spend the night. We had amazing sushi and crashed. Sunday, we explored Old Town Albuquerque. It is a small square close the The Rio Grande River, where Albuquerque started.

Door of San Felipe de Neri Parish

San Felipe de Neri Parish (Albuqurque's Oldest Catholic Church)

Chili peppers hanging

Old Wooden Ladder

All in all a great weekend, I am thinking potentially if I can get the hubby to compete next year, I might give the quadrathalon a try too.....after a lot, lot, lot of training....we'll see....