Day 20: It’s better to be lucky than good

After hitting Grand Canyon in the morning dad and I drove hard to New Mexico.

New Mexico was one of the briefer stays on the trip but I will say that without a doubt it was absolutely worth it. Initially it started off as a layover stop much like Spokane was. The drive from Arizona to OKC straight would have been 16 hours so Albuquerque was in the middle and seemed like a perfect place to stop for a day or so. I did some research one some of the top attractions and things to see and came across Sandia Peak Tramway. So that was the plan.

We left from Arizona and got to Albuquerque at about 5pm. We checked into the motel and headed over to the Sandia Peak Tramway. Let me just say, with no expectations going in whatsoever, this was one of the top stops of the trip so far. The tram ride is a 2.7 mile ride that brought us up to 10,378 feet in elevation and it is absolutely breathtaking. As was witnessed at both the Hoover Dam and Grand Canyon, dad is awful with heights. He thought he’d be okay because we were completely enclosed but the views throughout the ride up were something else. The tram goes between three towers. As you approach the second tower you’re at about 8,750 feet in elevation and you cross over a mountain. It’s at this point that you’re able to see your destination clearly for the first time. Even though the third tower is only another 1,628 feet away from the second one it looks unbelievably far away. As we looked around out the windows of the tram as the sun was shining we could literally see Albuquerque for miles. We got to the top of the mountain and the view was even more remarkable. We took pictures in front of the sign that displayed the 10,378 elevation mark just to document that dad was actually up that high. I noticed though that as I looked out over the city it looked very similar to when you first take off in a plane. The houses and buildings looked small and the streets looked very grid like. We, I should say I, took in more of the views from the top of the tram before we boarded and headed back down.

Once back at the bottom we decided to grab dinner at the restaurant that was part of the tramway building. I was a bit skeptical because the restaurant was actually attached to a tourist attraction but the food was delicious. I got an enchilada with cheese, shredded beef, green chile, beans, and rice and dad got roasted chicken with summer squash and rice. I wholeheartedly expected nothing fancy at all from this restaurant and I was thoroughly surprised as was dad. Our meals were absolutely delicious. Not one to typically eat spicy food I loved my enchilada and even indulged and got a house special strawberry margarita.  We finished up our meals and headed back to the motel.

As I said New Mexico was initially just a stopover location that I had no expectations for and I will say by the end of our brief stay there dad and I both agreed it had become a highlight. I would strongly urge anyone in the area to check out the Sandia Peak Tramway as well as Sandiago’s restaurant. Both of them were so surprisingly awesome. We rested up and prepared for our 8 hour ride out to OKC the next day.