Albuquerque

Our trip between Cortez and Albuquerque on the Highway of the Ancients was long and dusty, punctuated by strange rock outcrops in the otherwise undulating desert landscape. We booked in to the RV park, and the next morning saw us setting our Garmin and Tom-Tom for the Sandia Peak Tramway.

 This cableway is reputed to be the longest in the world, and takes passengers 4.46km (2.7 miles) up the mountain, from the base station at 1999 meters (6559 ft) to the upper terminal, which is 3153 meters (10 378 ft). This breathtaking ride takes 15 minutes, and is an absolute joy, though the rapid change in altitude takes a few minutes to get used to. The view was amazing, Albuquerque  in the distance in one direction, and the mountains of New Mexico in another, enough to make us forget that we had totally miscalculated the weather, warm at the camp, but snowy and really cold at 10 300 ft! As we reflected on the day over a glass of great Californian red wine and barbecued spare rib, we once again concluded with gratitude that life is good, in fact, it does not get much better than this!