Other Things around Albuquerque, NM

This is the end of our great adventure - we may blog a few more times as we make our way across the country, but hopefully, things slow down now! 

In Albuquerque, the balloons weren't the only fun things to do.  We rode on the Sandia Tramway.  It is 2.7 miles long and rises 4000 vertical feet.  I knew that "Sandia" was a spanish word and thought that it probably meant "sandy" (since everything around here is sandy).  Well I was wrong, it means, "watermelon"!!  That's right, supposedly the mountain looks pink at sunset!  Anyway, it is mainly used to transport skiers from Albuquerque to the top of the mountain so they can ski down the other side. 

From the bottom ...

From the top!

Off to Old Town Albuquerque, lots of history about being one of the mission stops along the Santa Fe Trail and also lots of shopping!

We had a lot of music entertainment provided for us.  A Mariachi Band

Spanish Dancers

Indian Pueblo Dancers

And a Western Music Band (which I forgot to take a picture of).  They played the old western music - "They call the wind Mariah", "Ghost riders in the Sky", etc.  It was great entertainment! 

The Indian dancers were at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, which offers historical accounts of the Pueblo Indians and Indian artists.  Also, young people are trained in their heritage.  Below are some young Hopis dancing.

Our last bus trip was to Santa Fe.  It is a beautiful town, has a monument for the end of the Santa Fe Trail, called The Journey's End.

The archtecture of the town is, of course pueblo ...

and there is a famous chapel - The Loretto Chapel

With a famous - unsupported by a central pillar - staircase.

And, of course, there was a lot of shopping that HAD to be done in Santa Fe!! 

There is no way to summarize the experience of this trip - except to say that it was a trip of a Lifetime!