Albuquerque Recap

In Mid October, James and I went out to visit his parents in beautiful Albuquerque. Below is a recap of our vacation! Enjoy!

Thursday: Went to old town and ate at Church Street Cafe. Then we talked around Old town Plaza Vieja and went into the old town square church. We went home to rest up and then we went to the ranchers club for dinner.

Friday: We awoke to Swedish pancakes and then headed into the town of Madrid. We window shopped and talked with the local hippies. After dropping Jackson off we checked out a house on the enchanted homes tour that was on display in Paako Ridge. Our original plan was to head to the balloon fiesta for the Glowdeo but the weather was bad so we opted to stay close and we went to Molly's for a drink and some tunes. We stopped at the Triangle grocery store to pick up some ingredients for schnitzel (and froyo). Nan made a great dinner and we watched the Nationals lose.

Saturday: We rose out of bed at an ungodly hour (4!) to head down to the balloon fiesta! While it was early, it was totally worth it! There were hundreds of balloons and we got to stand within feet of them taking off! I have plenty of pictures to share! I even ran into Kay! Leave it to me to run into someone I know in a huge crowd! We left the balloon fiesta and made a pit stop at Coronado national monument to view the ruins of the Santa Ana pueblo. I was a zombie by the end of our morning and James and I took naps in the back of the truck. We took a long nap when we got back to the house and then we got ready for part two of the day. Our plan was to head down to the Sandia Peak Tram for a ride up the cliffs to view the city and then have a nice Mexican dinner at Santiago's. Since there were thousands of balloon enthusiasts in town that we didn't take into account, the tram was an hour and half wait! We decided to push the tram experience to Monday. We had a yummy dinner and flavored margaritas and watched the balloon Glowdeo from our window seats. After dinner we drove over to Sandia Casino and headed to the rooftop bar to catch the balloon fiesta Glowdeo fireworks! They lasted for 21 minutes! We did some quick people watching walking around the casino and retreated for the night.

Sunday: We got up and headed out to Bandelier national monument for the day. On our drive we spotted a huge show buffalo and took the obligatory photo. Gotta love fenced in wildlife! There was a fire and flood last year so we had to drive to white rock and take a shuttle down into Bandelier. We walked along the main trail and got in a 3 mile hike to include a climb up some serious ladders to Alcove house, which was where the pueblo people conducted their ceremonies.

On our drive home from Bandelier we stopped off in Santa Fe and had dinner with Leanne and Scott at Rio Chama. It is always great to see my Leanne! We got home and in our jammies only to watch the Giant's lose! (Good thing we support two teams).

Monday: the last day We leisurely awoke breakfast quesadillas and Jackson. We packed our suitcases and headed back out to the Sandia Peak Tram foe try two. Luckily, the balloonists had evacuated and we got the best seats on the tram! After taking in the awesome views, we headed into town one last time to the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center. It really is amazing how much history is in the New Mexico lands! After a fast hour in the museum we ate at Rudy's, which is the best BBQ in all of the land! After a filling lunch we made our way to the airport...now sitting on the plane writing this recap I wish we had more time to visit!