Trains, planes and automobiles, but not necessarily in that order... Part 1

I recently went on a vacation to visit Suman in Fort Defiance, AZ. We then flew out to New York to visit his family and see his newest "godson" Gaurav. We are playing fast and loose with the term godson here because for one Suman is not Christian, and for two he will not be raising Gaurav and his older brother Aaryan in the event that both their parents die. He just wants to be able to call himself a godfather, but I digress.

As usual, I had traveling issues. First, the train that I took out to Gallup, NM (about 30 minutes away from the Fort) was 3 hours late. The engine broke down and they had to get another one, a freight engine, to take over. As it turns out, freight engines are much slower, so not only were we 3 hours behind, but we were LOSING time the whole way! I was suppose to be there at 9am, and my train finally got there at about 2:30pm.

Train rides are always interesting, though. I went to the dining car for breakfast and they sit you with other people like on a cruise. I was sitting with a early 20s Pennsylvania Dutch boy (there were about 20 of like ones on the train). They were on their way back from what he said was a business convention in San Diego. He was telling me that the soil they farm with has been drained of a lot of it's nutrients, and the convention was telling them about how sea vegetables are much higher in nutrients, yada, yada, yada. So I'm thinking they're using this to fertilize the crops. Nope, it's a liquid vitamin supplement that you take once a day. -Wait a second, the Amish boy is part of a pyramid scheme! Quick, change the subject... Lady next to me was on the way to her 60 year high school reunion. I thought that was awesome.

So, we finally get to Gallup. And I swear to you, there was no rain the entire train ride until we pulled into Gallup, then it was POURING! It was raining so hard that the drops were hitting the ground and bouncing back up at least 5 inches. It was crazy. Suman was working so one of his coworkers husbands, Ben, picked me up. I'd never met this guy before, so I was a little worried that I wouldn't be able to find him, but I did. He had a sign for me, a dozen beautiful roses with a balloon and a teddy bear! So awesome!

Made it safely to Fort Defiance, stopped by the hospital to get a tour and Suman's house keys. Went to his place, met his new cat Maytag. He's quite the character, let me tell you! He's a playful little cuddle bug who talks at least as much as Phatness, maybe more! He is also a total ham, and looks right at the camera when you're taking his picture. Suman was a little late getting home that night (such is the life of a doctor). We had a great night just spending time together and went to Mexican food which was soo good! It was so great being with Suman. It had been 5 weeks since we'd seen each other, that's the longest we'd ever been apart. The next day was pretty uneventful. I went to Gallup, loaded up on baking supplies, bought some moccasins and baked chocolate cupcakes with buttercream frosting. Trust me, they were awesome!

On Thursday we drove to Albuquerque to have dinner, stay the night and fly to NYC the next day. We went to old town for dinner. We went to this amazing French restaurant. Seriously some of the best French food I've ever had! Who would have thought, in the middle of New Mexico that you could find such great food! It was a welcome surprise! The New York/New Jersey portion will be continued...