I got my bags packed on a roll heading out there and I'm ready to go looking real good

in my passport photo

amateur traveler episode 583. Today the amateur traveler talks about Native American culture,

petroglyphs, atomic bombs, hot air balloons, and most of all we answer the question, red or green, as we go

to Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Welcome to the amateur traveler. I'm your host Chris Christensen just back from

India with seven of use should have been eight but that's a longer story. We'll talk

a little more about India after this episode, but first let's talk

about Albuquerque.

No guest today on Amateur

Traveler, but instead I want to tell you about a recent trip I did to Albuquerque, New Mexico.

This was my first trip to New Mexico. It is my 49th state, so it was a big deal.

I was working with the Visit Albuquerque tourism board and with their PR agency,

Turner PR. And they pitched me coming to Albuquerque. We've been talking about it actually for a couple of years now.

And we were trying to nail down dates,

they actually mentioned five different festivals

that happened in Albuquerque

that they thought I might be interested in.

One was the National Firey Foods and Barbecue Show and we'll talk more about food in Albuquerque,

but actually that sounded like a lot of fun.

And the Southwest Chocolate and Coffee Fest, both of those are in March, That also sounds like fun chocolate for me,

coffee for my wife Joan, who was coming with me. And then the gathering of the nation's

...