Short Vac Day IV - Albuquerque to Santa Fe, NM

Saturday - May 28th, 2011

Short drive to Santa Fe, NM

Prior night, I neglect to mention we saw there were a throng of patrol cars parked by the admin office of the motel before going out to dinner. When we got back to the motel, the patrol cars were still there, not sure if they were the same ones... I did notice some questionable characters lurking around the property, not sure if they were the long-term residents the guy mentioned about or they were just passerbys... 

After a good night's rest, we woke up early in the morning ready to explore ABQ, plus we were short on time. I checked the weather, it was going to a warm day at 78F. After loading all our stuff into the car, we checked out and set off around 8AM to Sandia Peak Ski and Tramway which is about 20mins drive from where we were. Parking entrance was $1, found a good spot at the foot of the hill. Read something about the restaurant on the spot called Sandiago Mexican Grill. At the foot of the peak, we could see bird's eye of ABQ. 

Paid $20/person for a ride on the tram. Was able to crank up some penny souvenirs of the tramway and ABQ. Then we started to get in line for the tram. Looked up on the wall, it says current temperature at the peak: 47F and wind was 25mph... I studied the figures again... that's got to be COLD. And we were wearing shorts. Thankfully, I brought my sweater, just in case. But JP didn't have any on her so we went back to the car and get hers and get back into line. By the time we were back, the line has doubled and almost to the entrance of that Sandiago restaurant, which was just right across from the tram entrance.

Another 5mins passed and we saw one tram descending. Waited for the passengers to unload which weren't many as it was still early. So we all crammed into the tram and unfortunately, couldn't get a window view because everyone who were in line earlier than us glued themselves to the window once entered tram... It was a slow ride going up about 13mph. There were about 3 towers that the tram passes through, every time it passes through one, the tram sways back and forth slightly. Ascending took about 15mins and boy oh boy when we reach the peak, as soon as the door opened, we could feel a constant force of wind blowing. Here's a pic to illustrate how much wind was up at the peak:

Taken back from the blowing wind up at the peak, we stayed at the loading deck for a while absorbing the powerful energy and enjoying the view -- and as far as the eye can see, ABQ is all flat and bits of green but mostly brown. No wonder the forecast we saw down below says wind was 27mph! It was windy indeed.

Look at the first picture -- it looks like cables to nowhere, just dangling in the air...

Second picture - to let you see that the tram actually use the same cables to transport passengers back and forth.

After snapping a few pictures, we walked down the deck/wooden walkway which leads us to the ski lift! I guess I didn't realize it was a ski destination even though that's what it says on the brochure (lack of research). It looked inviting plus this was a ride within a ride and what's more the view was truly breathtaking. It was chilly but the sun was sunny and the skies were clear. What a beautiful day it was. So, we down the steps and inquired about the ski lift. We saw the same passengers in the tram already gotten on the ski chair. The lift "assistants" told us we'd have to pay at the bottom and since we were kinda cramped on time, I asked how long will the entire ride be, he says it'll take about an hour. Ride was $7. That would be a nice experience, I thought.

Inexperienced with these ski lifts, we observed the people before us and try to mimic. But, I guess the lift assistants saw confusion in our faces, he actually stopped the lift so we could get on the chair comfortably hehe I was carrying a backpack with camera hung on my neck, so on the seat I go and I now have a 'frontpack'. The chair vibrates lightly as we make the slow descend. It was annoying at first but after a while you kinda get used to it plus it was hard not to notice the marvelous views presented before us -- that was definitely a first class seat, hanging halfway mid-air. What piqued my interest was how does the chair stays upright when it's being held by what seems to be a clamp on the cable. It fascinates me that the chair is not tilted to one side and seems to defy gravity.

It starts to get colder and colder going down as we get more exposed to the open area and less trees and shrubs to shield us from the wind. Thankfully, I packed a light blanket in my backpack so we used that to cover our legs as I only wore shorts and JP wore cropped pants and sandals! At least my feet was warm in my shoes. At one point, there was this passengers from the opposing side who saw us with blanket covering bottom half, smiled at us and asked if she can take a picture of us haha! I guess nobody else thought of packing a blanket in their backpack hehe There was also another incident where a lady who was also wearing shorts asked if the ski people sell blankets down below. Aiyayay... Along the way, we saw mountain bikers and hikers, lots of them actually. Another thing that I noticed is people are incredibly friendly, the passer-bys in opposing chair would greet you. How nice, so we said hi to everyone else that passed by.

All these picture taken while descending. Marvelous weather just windy.

There were no passengers in the few chairs before ours so we couldn't imitate or learn on how to get off the chair. Simple as it may sound but how hard can that be? A moving chair though... Getting off the chair requires good coordination I tell you. Good thing they have markings on the floor, when to get off and where you're supposed to land, etc. As we approach those markings, for some reason, we didn't budge until the assistant down there told us to haha he held the chair back a little to assist us in getting off. I jumped off a little and quickly twist to my left so the chair can pass by me. It all felt weird and so uncoordinated.The guy laughed when he saw that and said that I showed off with my twist! I told him it was the anticipation of not getting hit by the chair.

There wasn't much to do down there, there was a big cabin which I think is a restaurant, but we wanted to get back up to the peak and see what else is there to see. So we paid for the $7 ride and got back on the chair again. This time, we were more confident. But, the girl assistant who was manning the ascend, told us to hang on to the pole in the middle. This time around, they didn't stop the chair for us. When the chair came around, I calculated and anticipate when it was going to sweep us off our feet, but with all that anticipation, I barely got half of my butt on it so I have to quickly scoot all the way back so I don't fall off the moving chair. Definitely will need to ride more often to perfect the skill of getting on and off these chairs.

All these were taking going back up to the peak.

Upon reaching the peak, once again we got ourselves ready. Since we have this guy who's a couple of chairs in front of us who claimed loudly to the assistants that he has experience when getting onto the chair, we watched him closely when he's about to get off. I told JP, I think the trick is to scoot almost halfway off the chair so that'll enable us to get off easier if the distance is shorter than sitting all the way back. True enough, we saw the guy in front of us start scooting forward as he approached the finish line. So, we did the same this time, but the assistant up top recognized us and asked if we would like to have the chair stopped, I told him no because I wanted to try it out again, so before he could stop, I quickly jump out of my chair and land on my toes, it felt really WEIRD landing on the arc of my foot. He ended up stopping the chair anyway...

Anyway, walked around at the top, there is another restaurant up there serving American dishes, wind was still blowing away, lots of people enjoying the wind and sun on the rocky path. We didn't see much to explore so we decided to go back down to as we were starving for lunch. While waiting for tram, instead of standing out at the deck and getting pound by the wind, we went into this gallery that they have of the place. Just a few minutes' wait, the tram arrived. As expected there were not as many people, so we got to the very front to have the best view. At least it wasn't as crammed as before. Pictures are dull due to the tram's extra dark tint to protect from the powerful rays.

Going down:

The host on the tram is a little older than the one going up and is definitely more entertaining and not to mention knowledgeable. He was giving out trivia to passengers so we learned something about ABQ and NM, such as NM is the only state that has a question: "Red or Green" as in chiles and you can have chiles with every meal. Oh, and Sandia is Spanish for "watermelon" -- referring to the coloration of the mountain during sunset as the rocks turn pinkish similar to the bright color of watermelon. The tram brochure claimed to be the longest aerial tramway, however, the guide says that is no longer true as the title now goes to a tramway in Armenia.

Upon exiting the tram, we walked across to the Sandiago restaurant. We looked briefly at the menu plastered on the wall and decided what we will have for lunch. Once seated, we took off our sweater right away. The server brought some chips and salsa, asked if we would like some time, we said no since we've already seen the menu and knew what we wanted. I ordered the chicken enchiladas with green rice (they asked red or green!). JP was smarter, she asked if she can have BOTH (red AND green rice) with her fish tacos. We opted to dine at the patio overlooking city view, it felt much warmer down at the foothills than up at the peak for sure. It's incredible to have such drastic temperature within a small distance. It's all in the elevation, I suppose.

Famished, I started to chomp on the chips and salsa, they were SOOOoo GOOD! Drinks arrived promptly and food followed a few minutes later. YUM YUM, CHOMP CHOMP

And GONE GONE. Within a few minutes, plates were empty. I think the bill came up to less than $30 including tips. It was way past noon, we were off schedule because we were supposed to leave for Santa Fe around noon and we have not visited Old Town ABQ yet. So, we hurried back to the car and drove back to Old Town. I was afraid that we wouldn't be able to explore Santa Fe as much as we wanted to if we wanted to go to Four Corners Monument... after calculating and re-calculating, we may be able to stick on the original plan, will just have to cut Santa Fe's visit a little shorter.

On the way back, we stopped by grocery market to get chapstick for my really chapped lips and some chips, Greek yogurts and nuts for the road. Drive back to the Old Town took only 15mins and drove around to find a good parking spot since it was scorching hot and didn't want to make the car an oven. We found a public parking spot nearby and found a really nice spot but a little further away with shades. Grabbed our hats and went back to the shop we saw yesterday at the plaza and see if we can get a good deal on those vase. I've already had my eyes on the double spouted vase which I later learned that it's called the Wedding vase. I first saw this vase during the first Grand Canyon trip took with mom+papa. Kinda regretted that I didn't get any from the first trip from the Indians by roadside as their prices seem to be much cheaper than these commercialized ones. This time around, I intend to get one more vase and that will be the Wedding vase.

Walking around the plaza, almost 90% of the shops are full with art stuff -- potteries, jewelries and the like. There were also vendors seated at the porch with their stuff laid out on the floor. We went into most of the shops and looked around, most have the same and a few of the shops sell the same blankets we bought the day before at $12.99!!! We definitely got a good buy then. The first few shop we went into didn't have a smaller version of the wedding vase, but there was one small shop that has it and it was sold around $7. I thought we were still early on our hunt, so keeping a mental note, I'll come back to this shop if I can't find one that's cheaper.

The weather was really hot and dry, at times I feel suffocated possibly dehydrated and nauseated. So, we went to the plaza with a gazebo in the center. There was a mariachi band performing, we found a cool spot and sat for a bit. There were a lot of trees so it provided a good amount of shades for the many people taking a break from the sun and most probably shopping as well or just relaxing on a Saturday. The rest helped a bit so we got back on our foot and check out more shops. One building that stood out in this plaza is the San Felipe de Neri church. We went inside and there were only a number of patrons. It feels peaceful and most of all cool inside hehe JP did a prayer while I snapped some pictures inside. The snapping of picture seems louder inside the quiet church.

Snapped more pics of the shops around the plaza and another plaza within a plaza.

After walking/shopping for about 3 hours, we learned a few other things about the potteries... I've seen a few other really nice ones, two that I particularly like is the storyteller -- it usually comes with a figurine and a few other smaller figurines that's huddled around her. They looked so cute! Another one is a friendship bowl -- usually bowl in the center with small figurines holding hands or just sitting around the bowl, making a circle. Didn't manage to snap any of those, but snapped some other crafts they have in the store:

At one of the last shops located next to a restaurant, we asked the shopkeeper to show us some of the figurines, the storyteller and the friendship bowl, he took them out and some of these goes around $90 and up. He says at one point, they were selling by the number of the figurines of the kids because of all the details involved in painting them. Disappointed, I looked around and spotted a wedding vase. This one is baked with horse hair and there's nothing special about it because almost every shop has the same pot, however, most shops have the same pot but with carvings which I didn't really quite like the combination. Just the wedding vase alone with the horse hair baked in looked simply marvelous.

Trying to hide my excitement, I asked the shopkeeper how much is the vase. He says $24, it was a decent medium sized vase. I was thrilled! I wasn't bothered to bargain as I was tired of it and thought that was a good deal and asked him to pack it up hehe JP also wanted to get a small vase for her collection so I told her to go back to the first few shop that we saw earlier, and so far after a few hours of shopping, that seems to be the only shop that has the small vase with a good price. So, we went back to almost starting point and tried to locate the store. I was positive we went into the correct store but couldn't find that particular vase that I saw earlier. Darn, another one slipped. But at the counter, we saw some small vases and determined they looked nicer than the one of the previous store and cheaper by a couple bucks. So, she asked for it to be packed.

Around 5PM, our time was almost up as we had metered parking. Snapped a few more pictures. Definitely glad we parked under the shade as you could easily fry an egg on the hood or any metal part of the car.

We stopped by McD really quick to relieve ourselves, freshen up and ordered some smoothies and iced-mocha to go. I started drinking coffee on this trip in attempt to keep myself awake during drive! So, we departed for Santa Fe close to 6PM. It was a fairly short drive with the same landscapes and we passed by many pueblos (towns/village).

As we exit the Freeway for Santa Fe, we saw toward our right this mass of adobe houses. I was excited to see so many of them all bundled in one location. So, we made a stop and drive toward that location. It was behind a mall that we parked to take these shots

Not really satisfied with the pictures taken as it does not justify the uniqueness of these buildings and especially with so many of them. JP looked at them closely and stated that these are not the traditional type of adobe houses and that they are modern buildings. Looked at them again and yes, she was right. These definitely are more modern, still cute nevertheless.

We resumed our journey to look for our motel for the night. It was on the same road and a few more miles later we pulled into the motel grounds and checked into our room. After the night's stay at a newly renovated property, and now back to the typical motel setting... we felt kinda bummed out. We reminded ourselves it is only for one night hehe Actually it wasn't as bad as the one in Flagstaff, so it wasn't that bad after all.

Once again unloaded most of all stuff into our room and the same routine of putting the our sheets and pillow cases one, etc. I started to look for potential restaurant to go for dinner fretting that shops/restaurants close early in Santa Fe as well as ABQ. After browsing on my phone for a while, I found one with a number of good reviews and most importantly, an authentic Mexican restaurant, we agreed that's where we will have dinner in Santa Fe based on the items they have on their menu. About half hour later, after refreshing ourselves, we set out to search for the restaurant which thankfully is on the same road and not too far away.

Los Potrillos it was called. Looked empty, well, there were a few other patrons in the restaurants, but outside where we parked looked empty. Probably because it was after 9PM. We were shown our table right away and take a look at the menu. From the review earlier, I wanted to get the Cabrito -- goat stew while JP got Bisteak Ranchero (steak, ranch style) and also from the review, we decided to try the Chiles En Nogada which is another version of Chile Rellenos.

We were served with chips and three types of salsa -- two of them were really really good. Two red and one green hehe and we had melon (honeydew juice). Our food takes about 10minsi to arrive, it looks sooo delicious and appetizing although I kept on munching and dipping on the chips and salsas. Their complimentary handmade tortillas were really good too.

Alas we ordered too much food and didn't even touch the stuffed Chile so we had it boxed to go. The goat stew was really good not to mention the accompanying salsa plus the lime, onions and cilantro make the taste pops even more. It was really delicious but could strain out the floating fats hehe

By the time we were done with dinner, we were stuffed and could barely move anymore. We drove ourselves back to the motel and climbed into our bed and relaxed for a little and planned out attack plan for tomorrow. Once again, we'd have to start early so we can cover as much as possible as the drive to Four Corners Monument will take 5hours from Santa Fe... PLUS from Four Corners, we will have to drive another 6hours to Kingman, which is an hour East of Needles where we will stay for the night... This will definitely be the longest driving day we will have throughout this whole trip.