Robot Claw – Page 505 – “Life In The So-Called Space Age”

In The Mountains

August 8, 2012

Here’s a surprising fact about Albuquerque: it’s about a mile above sea level. Furthermore, it’s surrounded by some impressive mountains, and yesterday we went to this one:

It’s called Sandia Peak, and it’s massive! The photo barely does justice to how tall it is and how monolithic it looks rising above the flat city. Sandia is popular with hikers and skiers and also is home to the worlds longest suspended tram, which we rode yesterday.

That’s from the station at the bottom, right before our car docked. The cables disappeared into the distance as our 15 minute climb began!

This is not a ride for those with fear of heights! Only three towers support the car during the climb, and the distance between the last two towers is enormous as the cables carry the car 1000 feet above the mountainside below.

The weather was beautiful and the views amazing. I was hoping to see the wildlife found on the mountain – elk, mountain lions, bears – but saw only trees and the occasional bird of prey.

Eventually we reached the top, about 4000 feet above the lower station, to a total height of over 10000 feet! That’s the highest mountain I’ve ever been on!

This next photo shows Albuquerque as viewed from the top of Sandia Peak.

A couple more shots taken from the car during the trip back down. The first shows us passing the other car, and the second shows the cables leading down the mountain. You can really, I hope, get a sense of how long this is!

After Sandia we (very!) briefly visited a large Indian Casino and then saw a movie, and then later as we sat on Florence’s porch chatting the rains came in. Check out this sunset rainbow:

And so my brief stay in Albuquerque has come to an end. I’m writing this in the airport waiting for the flights to my next destination, San Jose.

The worst thing about catching up with old friends is saying goodbye again. It’s been great fun sharing laughs with Florence as she showed me the sights of Albuquerque these past few days, and I’m very grateful for her hospitality (and patience!) I wish I wasn’t cursed with friends that all live thousands of miles away!!

Although – if I’m honest – this old man’s already quite tired after only the first half of his trip. Can I keep up my energy in San Jose? Stay tuned!

Take Me Out To The

August 7, 2012

Yesterday we went to Old Town and did a bit of shopping. I got some souvenirs and many postcards (watch your mailboxes!) I also purchased one of these fetching ‘actual rattlesnake’ belts for my brother, which I will present to him when I arrive in San Jose tomorrow. Maybe 🙂

It turned out my post from yesterday about the after effects of Tent Rocks was premature. In the early afternoon both Florence and I were ruined with sore legs especially and we siesta’d away the rest of the days sun before our evening plan, which was this:

Yes friends, I went to my first baseball game! It was between the Albuquerque Isotopes and the Tucson… um, let’s say they were called the Tucson Parameciums!

We had great seats, as you can see, and they were quite inexpensive as well. Florence was a bit nervous of a ball flying into the stands near us, but luckily it didn’t happen. Although I surely would have caught it if it did 🙂

Vittles included hot dogs, glazed almonds and ice cream (possibly sherbet, sold to me by a girl named ‘Piazza’!), and since the game started at 7 the sun (thankfully) soon disappeared.

In the photos the seats look emptier than the game actually was. One difference I found to the cricket games I’ve been to in Australia is more people were up and about buying food or drink, or just chatting with friends, and the number fixated on the game was quite low. In short: it seemed more a social event than a sporting event!

It was also hot, in the high 80s well into the night. During the sixth inning, several hours after the game had begun and with the Isotopes at a healthy lead, one of the light towers failed and the game was halted. We waited for a while, but with no estimate as to when the game would resume, and because of the heat and our exhaustion, it was time to call it a night 🙂

We’ve got big plans for today – possibly the highlight of my trip here. Expect details tomorrow!

Foodie

August 6, 2012

The day I got here we didn’t do anything touristy; just went to some shops and grabbed some food and saw Total Recall in the evening. It’s always fun to be in a new place and catch up with old friends so it was a good time.

Here’s the lunch that day, at a burger joint named Lumpy’s:

That’s of course not our entire lunch. That’s just the potato. Lumpy’s has a gimmick where you pick your own potato they then turn into your fries. Anyway the food was good at the time, but I seem to recall the double-patty burger gave me meat sweats!

Shortly after, in a mall, we played Miss Pac Man…

Now Florence had never played this, and was initially impressed by my (actually not great) skills. Only when I suggested we make it a competition did her game drastically improve even as mine diminished. The final score? See for yourself:

A couple more random shots:

That was last nights dinner, which was barbecue. It was quite delicious!

There’s a patriot just driving his pickup. Not long after this was taken we were cut off by what looked like an Aryan driving out of Chik-Fil-A in a massive pickup with ‘THe world is better because of Jesus Christ’ written on one side and some anti-Obama insult to liberal voters on the back…

There’s me enjoying a Costco hotdog. Florence seemed amused I bought one, since I was only supposed to get a drink and had claimed meat sweats only minutes before 🙂