The Other Side of the Mountain Was All That He Could See

Since the house buying process was out of my hands for the most part -- waiting for a response -- I decided to do something fun.  So I went to Walmart and bought me a baseball cap to help keep the sun off my head and face. I'm trying to remember to use sunscreen every day and carry water in this climate.  I got a hat for $2.50 and the checkout lady said it looked great.

My next stop was the coffee shop....still no engineers. What happened? Maybe on a road trip in a rented RV?  Anyway, I got my coffee and headed out.

Out?  Out was the tram ride up to the top of Sandia Mountain. I haven't done that in thirty years so what the hell. Last time there was a lightning storm that knocked out power and we almost had to be rescued. Maybe this time would be better.

What's that ladder for?

 Getting to the tram is no problem unless you have to stop to pee because you had too much coffee...but I digress. The tram was built sometime in the 1960s at a tiny fraction of the cost it would take today (without cell phones!). Back then it was out of town a ways but now the houses are almost up to the property. You have to pay $1 to get on the grounds and then -- if you are old and crotchety, like me, pay $17 to do a round trip. You do want a round trip ticket.  Regular young folks pay $20 but, it is worth the money. This is the longest aerial cable tram in the world and it climbs almost 4,000 feet up to the summit of Sandia Mountain at 10,600 feet.  What would a tram ride be without the snappy patter of the tram guide/driver guy.  He doesn't actually drive anything but he has a walkie talkie so if anything bad happens he can call tram control and say goodbye. At one point we are suspended on a cable 900 feet in the air. He points out interesting rocks and boulders...that one on the left looks like an elephant....that one on the right looks like a golf ball on a tee...those in front look like Easter Island statues. Of course people are going from left to right and back again. I'm holding on to the sissy bar.  Capacity looks like about 20 people but we were not full.  They said they have 250,000 people ride up in a year and during Balloon Fiesta they have had 25,000 in one day. (Note to self...avoid tram during Balloon Fiesta).  They occasionally have folks who fly into town from Florida and go directly to the tram and ride up to 10,600 feet and have heart failure or other things. They get a ride back down right away to EMTs waiting down below. They do have oxygen bottles up on top.

When I got up on top I was feeling fine so I started hiking along a trail that skirts the rim of the mountain top.  This is a wilderness area and there are a lot of trails. Today was the last day that they would allow people on the trails because the fire danger is too high. People will be allowed to ride up and go into the restaurant or enjoy the observation deck but can go no farther.





I walked about a mile and a half along the trail taking pictures as I went. The trail is so narrow that you have to be careful passing people. I was surprised at the number of hikers. Some had hiked up the 4,000 feet from the valley floor and were going to ride back down.

The day was a little hazy to start with but it became clearer as the day went on. The entire city is laid out at the foot of the mountain and you can see how the Rio Grande courses through the valley -- a green stripe through gray and brown.  I figured that I'd be able to see the smoke from the forest fires but there were clouds on the horizon  and you couldn't make out the mountains.



You can very faintly make out Cabezon Peak about fifty miles west of Albuquerque. It is a volcanic plug very similar to Devils Tower in Wyoming (remember Close Encounters...).

HOUSE HUNTING
So after spending a couple hours on the trail I had lunch at the restaurant on top of the mountain and then headed back down.  I had a message from my agent that the seller of the house I'm trying to buy had responded to my offer with a counter offer.  I went to her office and reviewed the counter offer....it was not as good as I'd hoped. We reviewed and talked and reviewed some more. I did  some figuring and head scratching but finally made a better counter offer...my final offer, actually.

So this evening, while I'm working on this blog entry, I got a message that I BOUGHT A HOUSE!!!  Closing is scheduled for August 9th.   It's a nice house.  I'll talk more about it later.

1705 Nez Perce Loop NE, Rio Rancho, NM  87144