On our trip out to Colorado and Utah to visit five National Parks we made a stop for the night in Albuquerque. When doing the research for the trip, the one thing I contributed to our trip planning was our evening in Albuquerque. I did a simple search on http://www.tripadvisor.com to see what ranked as the top things to do in this city. #1 came up as the Tram ride up to Sandia Peak. I did some research and found that we if we left early in the morning from the Dallas area we could complete the nine-hour drive with plenty of time to ride the tram. The tram had new cars installed within the past year and were very nice. The ride was amazing with views that went on for miles and miles across the valley. This tram is the longest tram in the United States. Well worth the trip if you are ever in the city! It doesn’t take long to get to the top- maybe 15-20 minutes. Once at the top they have all sorts of walkways and viewpoints to get some breathtaking views of the mountains and valley below. There are also two restaurants on premises, one on the bottom of the mountain and the other at the top. My husband and Phillip grabbed a drink together at the restaurant at the bottom before we headed up to the top. If my children were civilized enough to do dinner in a decent restaurant we would have done dinner there. However, since they were already in the car for nine hours I knew it would not be feasible to even think that they would sit in a chair for dinner. Good decision, since they were wild once out of the car, but I can’t blame them. Thankfully the tram wasn’t too crowded and they got some views right up against the windows. They had a great time, as we adults did as well. I love to see God’s beautiful creations. No man can create the majesty he has created, which is why I love these adventures where we get to see and appreciate all that God has created.
Prices for the Tram were reasonable too. Children under the age of 5 are free! Children ages 5-12 are $15, 13-20 years of age are $20, adults are $25, and seniors are $20. In the summertime they are open 9am- 9pm.
Albuquerque is known for their hot air balloon festival, as it is the largest hot air balloon festival gathering that happens in the world. It is the perfect location in my opinion, with clear views across the entire valley and city of Albuquerque. The mountains frame the valley perfectly with the surrounding views, which are ideal for a balloon festival. If you ever visit Albuquerque you will personally see why it is the prime location for the best balloon festival in the world. We even saw hot air balloons in the air as we were departing!
You definitely have to watch your children if you take the Sandia Peak Tram. There may not be Gorilla pits to fall into, but they can climb the rails once up on the mountain and fall off sheer cliffs. Our little climbers were closely watched.
Below are the photos I took of our Tram adventure. I had rented two lenses for my camera and was using them for the first time. I was pleased though that I got some great photos, all while chasing my kids the majority of the time. I had not mastered use of the camera or lenses…but they worked in spite of my lacking expertise.
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