Saturday, March 30, 2013

Bruce at Petroglyph

A busy few days!  While in Albuquerque we took in the Nat'l Museum of Nuclear Science & History which - among other things - told the story of the development of the atomic bomb and the Manhatten Project.  Very interesting displays and a great look back at some pretty horrific times in history.
We also took a hike at the Petroglyph State Monument
which is a huge area just on the outskirts of town.  The hike we opted for was a 2.2 mile hike that took you out into the desert and past over 600 petroglyphs - some they estimate to be over 2,000 yrs old!
We took a day trip up to Jemez Springs and on the way visited the Coronado State Monument and the Jemez State monument with various ruins from the 1600's Spanish incursions.  Very interesting.  The town of Jemez is very quirky and we had a fabulous lunch on a patio with the sun shining and a goat to greet you as you came in!  It was so cute and wagged it's tail like a dog!  You gotta like that kind of a restaurant!

How high up are we???

Made it to the top!

Another day we took the tram up to Sandia Peak which they say has the longest, highest unsupported tram lines in the world ... but we found out that Whistler peak-to-peak gondola is longer/higher.  Nevertheless it was an awesome ride up and we had a great hike around the top of the mountain.  Good thing I'm not afraid of heights ... or am I?

Lunch after biking

The last day in Albuquerque we went on a fantastic bike ride on one of the many, many trails around the city.  This one goes for 16 miles all along the Rio Grande and is all paved and pretty level.  Great for us as we haven't been on our bikes in months!  The sun was out and we stopped for lunch before heading back to camp.

Margarita Time!

The weather has gotten warmer - in the 70's - although it may get colder before too long.  We arrived in Santa Fe this morning and the wind is blowing again and the temps are somewhat cooler ... but we are over 7,000 ft!  Had a nice wander thru Old Town and then back for the obligatory Margarita!  We had to stop in at Costco to buy Tequila and limes as we were going thru so much ... oh well ... alcohol doesn't count when you're on vacation ... right?