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Albuquerque Day 3

I have a car!  Yes!!  But now I'm getting to experience first hand what all of my Lyft drivers have said...people in Albuquerque do not know how to drive.  Oh well, I'm headed to Santa Fe!

I picked up my car at 9:00 AM and went straight to the Sandia Peak Ski & Tramway (link).  I had to wait about 30 minutes to go up the tram, not bad at all!  I was told to get there early before it gets crowded and before the winds pick up (they will stop the tram if the winds are too high).  By the time I left it was a 2 hour wait! 

The guide said that on a good day you can see 9% of New Mexico from the top!  Such an amazing view!  I hiked about 2.5 miles through the Aspen and Pine.  Such a cool experience!  But it was at 10,000 feet and I'm not sure I've caught my breath yet!

If you're ever in the area and don't want to take the tram, there is a road that will get you to the top of the mountain, but not to the tram terminal.  I saw a man hiking with his dog and another riding a mountain bike, they must have driven up.  But the tram ride is so amazing!!!

On my way to Santa Fe I stopped for lunch at Abuelita's Mexican Restaurant in Bernalilo, NM.  I was excited to have an answer to the waitresses' question of  "Red or Green?"  I said "A little of both on the side."  I'm so glad I did, because they were both way too spicy for me to eat much of.  I'm afraid everything in the Southwest is going to be too spicy for me!  But I ate some of both and in this case enjoyed the red chili sauce better.  Is it a New Mexico thing that they assume you want chili sauce on everything...or maybe a Southwest thing?

I then drove the hour or so to Santa Fe.  Such a pretty drive in a desolate kind of way.  I'm trying to decide if this landscape is somewhat like South Dakota or Nebraska.  I'm going to have to look at my pictures from that trip to decide

I drove around Santa Fe a little and then went to my Airbnb and spent the evening planning!  The weather is supposed to be reasonable for the next four days but then get snowy on Monday.  There is already snow on the mountain peaks!  

 View from the waiting line to go up.  
If you look really closely you can see some balloons.

 Almost to the half way point.  The trams are connected and meet at this point.

The view along the way
 
 The terminal at the top

10,378 feet! 
 
 When I toured the Natural History Museum the guide told me there are several volcanoes in this area.  "If it looks like a volcano, it probably is."  Not sure this looks like a volcano, but a good chance to tell that story.

 Aspens!!  The construction crew is rebuilding the restaurant at the top, should be done next spring.

 This is a view looking down the non-Albuquerque side of the Mountain.

 My 2.5 mile hike through the woods!

 Albuquerque from above.

 Ski lift down the other side of the mountain.

 I thought this was clever.  These are just tubes to look through (not telescopes) but they really helped give context.
 Me again!


Crossing Tower One

Albuquerque from the top

Lost in the woods!



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