The Tram, finally!

After our Santa Fe trip, I thought we might have a more relaxing, laid back day on Sunday.  Little did I know...
I played in the church band Sunday morning, so Stephen and Doug and Katie came to church.  It was cool to show Doug the set-up and that I landed in a good place after having to reluctantly leave One Achord.
We returned to the house for lunch, then drove up to the tram.  First we walked a short distance on the trail that starts at the base of the tram.

 After that, the plan was for Doug and me to ride up in the tram while Stephen and Katie (who are not fond of heights) drove up to meet us at the top.  I had wanted to ride the tram since we moved to Abq, but Stephen wouldn't go with me, and it was closed for maintenance when my parents and brother were here.  Doug and I bought one way tickets and waited for the next car to arrive while Stephen and Katie got a head start on the drive.

 Here is the car docking.  We boarded and began our ascent.  I had to take pictures through the tram windows, so there are a few reflections.

 The operator warned us there would be a bump and sway as we passed over the first support tower.  It wasn't bad.

Our Shadow!

Here comes the descending car.

 At one point, we were 900 feet above the ground.  Here we are nearing the top.

The view out the side window.

Approaching the top.

 Here is our car docked at the top after we disembarked.  Next is the view from where I was standing.

The docking platform.

 When we got off the tram, Doug called Stephen and Katie who had discovered that they couldn't actually drive to where we were!  As it turns out, there are two restaurants on top of the mountain, who woulda' figured?  Doug and I were at the one by the tram, and Stephen and Katie were two and a half miles away at Sandia Peak.  While they tried to figure out what to do, I walked along this little trail on the side of the mountain.

 This is Doug standing next to the restaurant talking on the phone.  Behind the restaurant is the top of the ski lift.  Doug wasn't keen on hiking to the peak where our spouses were, so we decided to ride the ski lift down the mountain to the lodge, where there was access by road.  It was 3:55 and the lift closed at four o'clock.  We were the last one-way passengers they allowed on!  I had never ridden a ski lift before, making it the second "first" for me that day. 

 It started out fairly close to the ground, so even though my feet were dangling and there was only a flimsy chain to keep me from falling out, it was not scary.  Then we got to this drop-off.

 The photo below shows our shadow, with Doug waving.  Above, mountain bike trails.

 Katie had no cell signal at the lodge, and Doug had put his phone away so he wouldn't drop it.  We were all hoping the other pair was in the right place to meet up!

 We didn't see a parking area or my Volvo as we approached the lodge, but we soon saw Katie and Stephen waving to us.  We got a little more adventure than we bargained for, but it was fun!  By the time we were reunited, we were more than ready to go to El Pinto for a delicious and relaxing dinner. 

Santa Fe Indian Market

Katie and Doug arrived in their rented Prius in time for dinner on Friday night, Aug. 16th.  The next morning we headed out to drive the Turquoise Trail to Santa Fe.  We stopped first in Madrid, which is a small, hip artist colony established in the 60's in an abandoned mining town.

This is where they filmed the movie "Wild Hogs."

We had a delicious lunch in Madrid before going on to Santa Fe.  Although we didn't know exactly where to go for the Indian Market, it was not difficult to find.  It's a huge festival that seems to encompass all the streets in the old part of town.  We could not have seen everything in one day, but fortunately we were just there to soak up the atmosphere and browse.

There were some paintings, but lots of pottery and jewelery.

 Each tent had a sign explaining the type of art or craft displayed and what tribe the artist belongs to.  There were artists from tribes all over the U.S., not just the Southwest.  Many of the tents featured similar things because they were traditional crafts of the Southwestern tribes.  There was a lot of turquoise and silver jewelry, and pottery.  However, there was some more modern and unique art.  I fell in love with a large stone sculpture, but it cost more than my car, so I passed up the opportunity to purchase it.

Alas, much of the crafts were not vegan, like these drums.  Very photogenic, though!

 There was entertainment with singing, drumming, and dancing on a main stage, and there were also various demonstrations at street corners.  The performers would just walk up and start drumming or dancing and soon a crowd would form a circle around the area to watch.

 This young man demonstrated a Hoop Dance that was pretty amazing.  His sister explained the origin of the dance and said that her brother dances competitively. 

 These dancers were raising money for the Santa Fe Indian School.  I think it's interesting that their football team is the Braves.

 There were lots of food tents.  If I hadn't just had a huge lunch in Madrid, I would have tried the roasted corn on the cob available at several stands.

 The group couldn't resist resting on the fish sculptures before heading back to Albuquerque.

The Desert Comes Back to Life

I am starting to learn the weather patterns here in Abq, and it is very different from the East Coast.  I saw what I expected to in the spring; plants became green and bloomed.  But then in June it seemed like everything was dead or dying and the city closed off all the trails and open spaces for a few weeks.  When it rained an inch in July and the trails were opened, I was shocked at how bad the desert plants looked.  I thought that the drought had taken a horrible toll.  But then "monsoon season" started.  That term sounds so strange to me when applied to the desert, but it just means that there is a rainy season.  Not MUCH rain, and the small amounts (under an inch) that come all at once in a downpour can cause a lot of chaos in the city from flooding.  But I soon noticed an amazing phenomenon.  There are weeds and grass springing up in the desert, my rose bushes broke out in new leaves and then bloomed again, lots of native shrubs and flowers are reblooming, and there are wild flowers in the desert!  Both types of cactus native to this region are producing new segments!  It's awesome to watch it happen.  New Pattern: Spring, Dormancy, Reawakening, Fall. 

a puddle immediately after a storm

Serious erosion.  See the "floating" fencepost?

cactus having babies!

rebloom

It's like a meadow!  With cactus!

Wild flowers.

Wild flower.