Burqueño

All day I've been communicating with friends and family back in Eugene about this trip. Whether it is through texts or tweets, I have been engaging many of you during this trip. What I have realized during all of this is that Baseball Road Trips have morphed again into something truly exciting. They have become more of an adventure rather than just an experience. More often than not, and this trip is no exception, a sense of adventure is more apt to describe what I'm going through.

After a much-needed good night sleep, I checked out of my hotel and boarded the city bus up back up to Old Town Albuquerque. I caught just a fleeting glimpse of it yesterday on my visit to the Rattlesnake Museum, so I was excited to spend the majority of my day in this unique district. My first stop was the Natural History Museum of New Mexico. 

In the preparation for this road trip, I had learned that the Natural History Museum had an exhibition of artifacts recovered from the Titanic shipwreck. The doomed vessel sunk 101 years ago in the North Atlantic and has gained an almost mythical aura about it. I was very interested in the exhibit and I was very glad to have the opportunity to visit it. 

I can't decide what was creepier, the rattlesnakes from yesterday or the sight of a leather purse that was brought up from a shipwreck and belonged to someone who died on the boat? Once again, my museum trip was incredibly fascinating and enlightening. The exhibit on the Titanic had nearly 100 artifacts that had been brought up from the wreckage. The items included things as mundane as spoons to the opulent bottles of wine and personal documents. While touring the exhibit, I couldn't help but continually imagine what it would have been like in 1912 and boarding that ill-fated ship. The stories surrounding that doomed vessel are fascinating and somber, all at the same time. 

Here is a question I want to throw out to all of you: in this exhibit, they had a record of all the casualties from the Titanic. Under the third-class passengers was a Patrick O'Connell. Do you think he is a long-lost relative of mine???

The museum wasn't just the Titanic exhibit, however. I was impressed by the wide array of fossils and geologic representations from all the different evolutionary periods in Earth's history. This was all concentrated, of course, in New Mexico's natural history. Either way, it was fascinating to see the skeletons of Tyrannosaurs and Stegosaurs.

After the museum, I finally got my chance to wander around Old Town. Setup like a colonial Spanish village, Old Town is about ten square blocks of city surrounding the Old San Felipe church and a main plaza. It's filled with quirky shops that cater to tourists and a bunch of restaurants, primarily Mexican. It was pretty dead when I was walking around, but I'm not that surprised considering it was a Monday afternoon. I'm sure on the weekends the place is hopping. 

I ducked into the old church before grabbing a bite to eat at one of the small restaurants around the plaza. The San Felipe church is, by far, the oldest building in Albuquerque. It was built in the late 1700's and just underwent a complete restoration. It is the stereotypical New Mexico church as it has that distinct stucco brown color and lined with cactus in the front. Walking up to it made you feel like a Spanish conquistador or Franciscan friar. 

After eating lunch, I made my way out to the airport on public transportation. I had to change buses at the downtown bus station, which made for a real authentic experience. However, I did get into a conversation with a nice old lady about the city and public transportation in general. It is these types of interactions that are so customary when you take public transportation in an unfamiliar city. You just have to roll with the situation and seize the positive opportunity they present. 

I made it to the airport in plenty of time, got on the Southwest flight, and made the two hour flight with no hassles. I was in the middle seat behind a crying baby the whole way, but I had to keep things interesting, right?

I had about two hours to kill in Portland, so I went to my favorite Irish pub in downtown for a few drinks and to listen to a live band playing Irish folk music. On my way to the train station afterwards, I ducked into Voodoo Doughnuts for some sweets.

I'm currently on the train back to Eugene right now with an ETA  of around midnight. It's been a long day with lots of adventures (see, I said it!) and I am glad to be going home. 

It has been a pleasure updating all of you these past four days. Look for a Final Thoughts tomorrow evening.  

Always take on a 3-0 pitch ;)