Albuquerque and Sandia Peak

It looks like the car may be ok. I still don't know exactly what happened, so I call Ronnie at the Honda Doc in Monroe and ask his opinion. He says it may be a sticking thermostat, and as long as the temp gauge is ok, keep some water handy and keep on going. I filled a gallon container with water and we move along. I decide to stop by one of the mechanics that the RV park owner recommended just for safety.

George, the mechanic, was happy to provide some consultation on the subject. He listened and said it didn't sound like anything internal and concurred with what Ronnie said. So we moved on to Albuquerque.

Albuquerque is quite different from the areas of Santa Fe we have seen. We stopped at a Subway for a sandwich for lunch, and decided to check out the Sandia Peak Tramway.

The Tramway is the worlds longest and highest arial tram. It travels from the valley where there is a visitor center and resturant near the parking area, up the mountain to nearly 12,000 feet at the top of Sandia Peak. The Sandia Mountains overlook the city of Albuquerque to the west and also have a ski area that is accessed from the east side of the mountain.

We purchased our tickets and waited about 20 minutes for our boarding call. The tram carries 50 people each trip. There are 2 cars going opposite directions: one going up, the other going down, and meeting in the middle.

Pam ususally does not like altitude or motion, so was a little concerned about getting on the tramway, but she really enjoyed it and had no problems. Here is a picture of Pam taking in the awesome view from Sandia Peak.

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We walked around the peak for about 45 minutes then got in line to go back down. Standing in line, we talked to a local Albuquerque couple. They had WALKED up the trail from the valley to the top of the peak. It had taken them 3 hours and 45 minutes. They said that there were several trails to the peak and a number of people actually run up the trail a couple of times each week.

We also talked to the wife of an artist from Colorado that was selling her husbands watercolors at the Albuquerque Baloon Fiesta this week. It attracts a large crowd and was the reason we had to wait in lines for the tram... so many folks from the fiesta sightseeing.

Back toward Santa Fe, we decided to eat in tonight. We had planned to ride up to Taos tomorrow, but I am still worried about getting stranded in the Civic. I think I'll get up and get to a Honda shop and get it resolved one way or another. If we have to rent a car for the rest of the week here.. then thats what we'll do.