900. Resolute

900. Resolute
Definition: (adj) admirably purposeful, determined, and unwavering
Location Placed: Albuquerque Amtrak Station, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Date Placed: 12/23/18 at 3:21pm





We did most of our traveling between cities via train, so we saw quite a few train stations. The station in Albuquerque, while small, definitely was easy to navigate both pick up and drop off. It's not terribly large, but the folks working there are the absolute nicest! Apparently the week of Christmas, Amtrak allowed their employees to wear "ugly" sweaters instead of their normal attire. And they took advantage of that to my delight!

899. Enterprising

899. Enterprising
Definition: (adj) having or showing initiative and resourcefulness
Location Placed: Albuquerque Photographers Gallery, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Date Placed: 12/23/18 at 1:58pm





Old Town Albuquerque definitely had a lot of charm. There were a number of folks selling lovely jewelry including those with turquoise! It was really nice to walk around this area and pop into a lot of local shops including the Photographers Gallery. So many lovely prints of areas of the city and state including the desert by night.

898. Centered

898. Centered
Definition: (adj) well balanced and confident or serene
Location Placed: New Mexico Museum of Natural History, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Date Placed: 12/23/18 at 11:38am





After getting a nice breakfast complete with New Mexican chile,  we headed to the Museum of Natural History. We got to take a really nice tour of dinosaur remains and fossils as well as the history of New Mexico. It was definitely a nice couple hours spent at the museum. I didn't realize there were a number of dinosaurs that were native and only found in that area. It was really neat to learn about that before we headed back to the Old Town area for some browsing and shopping.

897. Self-confidence

897. Self-confidence
Definition: (n) a feeling of trust in one's abilities, qualities, and judgment
Location Placed: Hyatt Regency, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Date Placed: 12/23/18 at 9:53am





After a solid nights sleep, we needed to make the most of our time in Albuquerque. We ended up getting in a little later than anticipated the night before due to train issues. Unbeknownst to me, the Amtrak trains run on the same lines as a lot of trains hauling goods across country. Not all the same lines as we saw some really long trains while on the train, but there is some crossover. So if one of those gets held up, or does the holding up, that can throw off other trains along the line. Train travel is definitely a really interesting and different experience. I'd recommend a day trip on a train, but perhaps not anything including an overnight. You'll want to spend a lot more time in your hotel the next night, promise!

896. Quality

896. Quality
Definition: (n) the degree of excellence of something
Location Placed: Hotel Andaluz, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Date Placed: 12/22/18 at 7:44pm





After a nearly 18 hour train ride from Kansas City to Albuquerque, we decided to treat ourselves to a really nice dinner at MAS Tapas y Vino. Definitely different than the bar-b-que we had at the previous two stops. This place was certainly quality! My favorite was the bacon wrapped dates and the brussel sprouts. The place was hopping, but thankfully we were able to get a table as we wandered in a bit early.

895. Open

895. Open
Definition: (adj) frank; not given to deception or concealment
Location Placed: Model Rail Experience, Kansas City, Missouri
Date Placed: 12/21/18 at 9:15pm





Tucked back behind a fancy event room was the Model Rail Experience that had about a dozen displays of miniature railway displays including Christmas scenes, Legos and surprisingly more Marvel superheros than one would expect for a number of model train exhibits. It was really neat seeing all the different scenes that they came up with. A free thing to walk through on our way back from a wonderful bar-b-que dinner at Jack Stack's across the train tracks. Even though we only got half a day in Kansas City, it certainly didn't disappoint!

894. Merit

894. Merit
Definition: (n) a feature or fact that deserves praise or reward
Location Placed: Tom's Town Distillery, Kansas City, Missouri
Date Placed: 12/21/18 at 6:22pm





By far this was one of the coolest things we did on the trip! It was part historical tour of the Kansas City area, particularly around the time of prohibition, part tasting, which is the right mixture of things for all people. Tom Pendergast, who the distillery was named after, was a political (see: mafia) boss who basically ran the town. He paid off law enforcement during prohibition, so Kansas City basically didn't go dry during that time. Additionally, Tom paid off political individual's so his other ventures, namely the concrete business, could make Kansas City into a more booming city with concrete structures.  Plus their vodka is, if I am recalling correctly, 17 times distilled! I absolutely recommend going here if you're in the Kansas City area.

893. Kudos

893. Kudos
Definition: (n) praise and honor received for an achievement
Location Placed: Parisi Artisan Coffee, Kansas City, Missouri
Date Placed: 12/21/18 at 5:06pm





We decided to kill a little time before our next activity of the evening exploring Union Station a bit more and getting a warm beverage while we waited. I had a delicious hot chocolate as it was a bit cooler than we had anticipated it being after the sun had set on our walk back from the WWI Museum across the street. But we warmed up real quick and checked out the gift shop for the science center type thing they had.

892. Glossy

892. Glossy
Definition: (adj) shiny and smooth
Location Placed: National WWI Museum and Memorial, Kansas City, Missouri
Date Placed: 12/21/18 at 4:30pm





As we got into Kansas City a bit on the later side, we had to limit what we could do and see. So we opted to stick close to the train terminal and visit the WWI Memorial and Museum, which is conveniently right across the street from the station. We saw a lot of really neat memorabilia, artwork, and short video clips. They also had a really nice vantage point of the city from on top of the memorial. We even watched a couple get engaged!

891. Hot

891. Hot
Definition: (adj) passionately enthusiastic, eager, or excited
Location Placed: Union Station, Kansas City, Missouri
Date Placed: 12/21/18 at 2:56pm





Union Station in Kansas City is absolutely gorgeous and had a ton of different things to do and see. I was most impressed by all the holiday decorations and the piano that self-played holiday music throughout the main hall. There were several museums, eateries, and activity areas, including a really neat back room with a number of model train villages several made of Lego! It was definitely the nicest place I've been while waiting for a form of public transportation, that's for sure.