Day Eighteen

Got annoyed by breakfast TV this morning. With all the current goings on here in the USA, policemen shooting criminals, policemen shooting innocent people, criminals shooting policemen, criminals shooting innocent people who are trying to help them, mental people going in to cinemas and shooting/hacking and an 11 year old shooting and killing a 3 year old, it was good to see the American media addressing the undeniable gun problems by having segments about Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner getting divorced and how people's arse implants are going wrong.

Soon got over my frustration by remembering that if we got through the last twelve days unscathed we could go back to seemingly normal England.

We headed south out of Santa Fe down the Turquoise Trail, a scenic byway which goes to Albuquerque winding between various mountains on its way. It gets its name from the mining that occurred in the past.


Ain't it cute

Our first stop was the town of Madrid. It was the reason we took the trail. Once there, we parked up and headed to the most recognisable building in the town, a building which didn't exist until it was built by the film crew who used the town for their film. When they left, they left the building for the town, who turned it into an actual proper building. Now it is a gift shop selling movie based merchandise to tourists. Needless to say we bought stuff, including more stuff for the kitchen.

Maggie's Diner

Madrid was the setting for the denouement of Wild Hogs, and the diner was the major location. We had a look around the rest of the town. We went in one place to get a drink, but there was a horrible smell in it, so we left quickly.

We crossed the road and went in here http://java-junction.com/ instead. We got a drink and shared a piece of cheesecake. We sat out in the small garden area. It was very nice, the temperature at that point was not to bad and the road was not as busy as you would think.

We then had a look in some other places as Ann wanted to spend more money, but luckily she couldn't find anything that she wanted.

We decided to carry on south to look at a bit more of the trail. After a while we stopped at a garage to get another drink. We sat in the car and had a look at the trail leaflet. We noticed the Sandia Crest was near by. It is the highest point on the trail at 10,678 feet and has views over 11,000 square mile area. There is a cable car that goes up it and also ski lifts which you can drive up the mountain to reach. We drove up, only to find the ski area is only open at weekends. We did, however, see our first wild animal, a deer, although it ran away before we could get a picture.

At this point we nearly gave up, but instead we found the cable car location on the sat nav. It was 29 miles away from where we were, in Albuquerque. We thought 'what the hell', so we drove to it. And what a good decision that turned out to be.

http://www.sandiapeak.com/

We parked up, got tickets and got straight on the 'flight' which was about to leave.

It took fifteen minutes to get to the top travelling over two and a half miles and rising four thousand feet. The views from the top were astonishing. We've been up mountains before, in Grand Teton and Mount Washington, but the difference here is that most of the surrounding area is so flat, meaning you can see for miles all around.

Albuquerque down below

We got a drink and sat down outside to take it all in. Got very excited by this sign.

Bear Watch might change

As we were sat opposite each other, we made a pact to watch for bears behind the other person. I then pointed out to Ann that if I said a bear was behind her, and it really was, she wouldn't believe me anyway. She agreed. Unfortunately there were no signs of bears.

We took a fair load of pictures of the views, but the final one was the best. Caught one of the cars coming up the mountain. Boring you might think. You are wrong!

Not sure that is how you are meant to ride it!

It was reminiscent of the bit from Moonraker with Bond and Jaws, except these blokes weren't fighting and didn't have metal teeth. We discussed if we would ride it like that if we had the opportunity. Ann said she would if she was sat on the roof. I said I preferred the inside.

Eventually we headed back down the mountain. Found out on the journey that a TWA plane crashed into the side of the mountain in 1955. The tram passes over near the crash site where a lot of wreckage still is. Presume that due to the terrain they just couldn't be bothered to collect it all in those days. They did collect all the bodies you'll be pleased to know. Originally investigators thought the two pilots had a suicide pact, but eventually they left an open verdict due to some evidence that the compass was faulty. The fact the plane took off from Albuquerque you would have thought even in poor visibility they would have known there was a mountain there.

Reached the bottom, went in gift shop, bought fridge magnet as ever.

Got back in the very hot car and started the long journey back to Santa Fe. Took a photo of the mountain from a distance.

Ain't no mountain high enough

Got back to Santa Fe. Realised we hadn't had lunch, so went straight for dinner. Tried this out having not been before.

http://www.firehousesubs.com/

It was good. Headed back to the hotel. Thought about a swim but couldn't be bothered. Heading off to Colorado tomorrow. looking forward to it.

Bears seen - 0

Moose Watch - Deer

States Visited - 14