Albuquerque has more to offer than just the Museum of Nuclear Science and History. Does this surprise anyone? I resisted the urge to lounge in my hotel room for the rest of the trip and managed to make it to a couple more sights before heading out.
One evening I strolled around Old Town Albuquerque. There’s a plaza area that is surrounded by lots of cute little shops. I guess kind of like Santa Fe but on a smaller scale.
These dried chiles (below) seem to be everywhere in New Mexico. I feel like they’d be awesome hanging in our kitchen. Probably not worth the luggage space though!
Of course every old city center has a church. This one was called San Felipe.
Also seemingly common in New Mexico is art. Art everywhere. Like this crazy face sculpture.
On my way out of Albuquerque I took a small detour to visit the Sandia Crest. Apparently you can take a $20 tram ride up to the peak. Yet for some reason I thought it would be easier to drive. So my one hour drive to Santa Fe turned into a 2.5 hour excursion. I wasn’t sure the rental car was going to make the hike, but she held on.
The peak of the crest is at around 10,600 ft. I’m fairly certain that this surpasses my previous record at Bryce Canyon, Utah. Which, if I remember correctly, was at around 9,000 ft. I need to find the picture that documents that.
Driving up to the Crest was done through a slow, meandering road. I came to a point where there was a clearing in the road and I thought I had made it.
I was wrong. Silly me. The road continued…
Here we go.
The views were definitely nice. Of course true to my sightseeing form, I was in and out in 5 minutes. Walking back to the car made me out of breath. I know its the elevation, but it still feels embarrassing to be breathing heavily from such a short walk.
