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.