Albuquerque Part I

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We pulled into Albuquerque late at night. When we woke up at the American RV Park we were very pleasantly surprised. It is a really nice place with grass and trees (almost unheard of in this neck of the not woods) and has great facilities (pool, playground, flat roads for lots of kid biking, and a continental breakfast every morning).

The kids and I enjoyed the pool and the not driving in the am and then the family went up to the top of the Sandia peaks on the Sandia tramway. This was one cool trip. The tram is the longest in the US. We started the trip at 6,500 ft and ended it at 11,000 ft. It was much cooler on top and really comfortable. After wandering around and enjoying the views the kids decided they wanted to do the hike (YEAH with capital letters) and set off on the 3.5 mile hike in high spirits.

It was probably our best family adventure of the trip. The weather cooperated, the bugs cooperated (but not being present of course), and we all enjoyed the majestic views and the close up ones as well. Ed and I were pleasantly surprised that they managed the rocky trail so well but we are definitely going to have to get Danielle new sneakers if we want to hike more this summer.

On a surreal note, we are on top of this mountain enjoying the scenery and my cell phone rings. My parents who are flying in are running late but called to tell me what time their flight would land. Now it never even occurred to me I could get a cell phone call on top of a mountain when there is nothing else around but I’ll probably make sure my phone is off before I hike. It was really weird.

For dinner we cooked out at the campground to the sounds of kids biking all around. I think Ed and I are really enjoying this aspect of the trip. The kids take off and hook up with other kids and they all bike around mornings and nights. My parents joined us for a steak and veggie dinner and we just enjoyed the beautiful night, the not so hot temperature, and the not traveling.

On our second day in Albuquerque, we all took in Petroglyph National Monument (which is Ancient Indian Pictographs for those not in the know) and explored the hot environment. I was really proud of the little mountain goat (Danielle) and the Grandma Sasi mountain goat that both made it to the top of the canyon trail. It got pretty hot pretty quick so it was off to lunch and Old Town for some eating and shopping. We lucked out because the Route 66 80th birthday was taking place at the hotel that my parents were staying at. We got to see some really neat old cars and the kids really loved hearing about route 66.

We lucked out even more when my Aunt Phyllis and Uncle Ira joined us for dinner (having flown in from Ohio). Then it was off to the mandatory ice cream stop and then back to the RV for sleep. We hadn’t been to the RV since we left in the morning but we were really glad to see it and pass out.

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