Summer 2025

Summer is slowly drifting by.   There has not been any exotic, foreign travel for us so far.  In mid-July, Jane and I did spend a few days at the Blake Hotel in the Taos Ski Valley.  That was a pleasant respite from the hot summer temperatures in Albuquerque.  All-in-all, it was a fun little get away to the cool, high elevations of the Sangre de Crito Mountains of northern New Mexico.  The Blake Hotel is an elegant, full service inn, with free valet parking.  Named after Ernie Blake founder of the Taos Ski Valley resort in 1955, the hotel is reminiscent of alpine ski resorts.

Then, in mid-August Jane and I embarked on a weeklong road trip to Monterey, California.  The main purpose of this journey was to enjoy Monterey Car Week and the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion.  The highlight of our time in Monterey was going to the Lagune Seca Raceway to watch historic cars racing around the hilly road course tucked in the foothills east of Monterey.  We watched old race cars from the 1930s, sport racers from the 1950s through 1970s, and open wheeled Formula 1 cars from the 60s, through 80s. 

The theme of the 2025 Rolex Motorsports Reunion was to celebrate the 75^th anniversary of Formula 1 racing.  There were about 30 or more Formula 1 cars on display from various racing teams that have competed in the sport over the years.  The 2024 “papaya” colored McClaren Formula 1 car driven last year by Lando Norris was on display as was last year’s Oracle Red Bull Racing Formula 1 car driven by Max Verstappen.  That was a surprise treat for us since we have been watching Formula 1 racing on TV for a number of years and were familiar with many of the cars on display.

In addition to the historic car racing at Laguna Seca, I also took advantage of proximity to Monterey Bay for some whale photography.  I went out twice with the hope of capturing whales breaching out of the water.  That turned out to be disappointing.  I did see a number of whales during my four hours on the bay, but was only able to photograph some tail flaps.  So photographing a breaching whale is still on my bucket list.

In Monterey we stayed at the boutique Merritt House Inn on Pacific Street close to car week activities.  Jane had arranged for us to stay in one of their historic, 1830s, adobe suites with a large living room and separate bedroom.  It was nice to have some room for our six-night stay.  We were within walking distance of the Monterey Aquarium and spent some time there marveling at the size of their salt-water exhibits.  We were also close to the Monterey conference center where one of the many classic car auctions was scheduled during Car Week.  We marveled at the scores of exotic, historic cars slated for the auction block.  There were pristine examples of Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Porches, Mercedes Benz 300 SL Gullwings, Aston-Martins and many other cars to drool over.

On our way home from Monterey we stopped overnight in Paso Robles to experience the Sensorio light show.  After sunset, more than 100,000 lighted fiberoptic bulbs create fields of different colored lights.  There were also scores of light towers made from 17,000 illuminated wine bottles and geometric light sculptures that changed color with the beat of accompanying music.  Sensorio was an extraordinary experience, not one to be forgotten soon.

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Now, back home in Albuquerque, it is still hot as we while away the rest of summer.  We have no trips planned for the immediate future and will be enjoying home-life, with its mixture of dinners with friends, concerts in the park, happy hours with neighbors, and watching Formula 1 races on TV.