Sweetheart's Birthday Weekend Part 2.5

For Sweetheart's birthday dinner we made reservations for dinner at the High Finance Restaurant and Tavern located at the top of Sandia Peak. We made reservations for 5:30 pm so we could catch the sunset and then the view of the city lights. I had read of the 11,000 mile panoramic view from 10,358 feet up and was excited about it!

The restaurant offers a unique mode of transportation, the tramway:

source

We rode the tram to the top of the mountain - 2.7 miles in diagonal length; 4000 feet climb to the top. 

Me and Sweetheart inside the tram

The tram cables are supported by two towers between the terminals.  

Here's the first one:

The climate changed as we elevated.  After about 7 minutes into the ride, everything turned white. 

See the "Christmas" tree I spotted?

It was a winter wonderland up there:

As we approached the second tower, we got closer to the clouds:

You can barely see the red marker on the cable that indicates a half way point:

More snow covered trees:

As we approached the base, we were told it was 20 degrees and very icy:

Once, we got there we went off to one of the trails to play in the snow!

Sweetheart's a master snowball maker:

I've never been in snow (like that) before so Sweetheart was amused by how I was behaving like a 5 year old kid playing in snow for the first time:

I had to wear Sweetheart's leather gloves because I was wearing knit gloves and Sweetheart wanted me to make a snowball.  He made me put his gloves on so mine wouldn't get wet.  That's why my hand look so BIG:

My unsuccessful attempt to make a snowball and throw it at him:

I didn't bring my camera with me because we were just supposed to have dinner; I didn't realize we were going to have fun time in the snow!  

The weather instrument over Sweetheart's head confirmed the reported 20 degree temperature:

Once we made it inside the restaurant we were able to shed our coats, gloves and scarves.  And what's better than hot cocoa (with whipped cream) to warm the body:

After dinner, the waiter bought Sweetheart a cheesecake with a birthday candle.  I offered to sing Happy Birthday but we decided it could wait :)

By the way, the reservation at 5:30 and the request for a window seat was for not.  The clouds and snow blocked the view of the city lights.  But  I wasn't disappointed, it was such a wonderful time.  When we were finished with dinner, it was dark and so much colder! 

In the tram on the way down, it was pitch dark -- except for a few flashing lights on the equipment inside the tram.  We were still in cloud cover so we were basically riding in a small box, suspended in the air with no visual of where we were going.  It was pretty cool!  It was pointless to take pictures because it was literally pitch black. 

On our drive back down to the city, I opened the moon roof and took a picture of the city lights we had hoped to see at dinner:

At dinner I told Sweetheart that "this is the best birthday weekend ever"!  He laughed and said it's his birthday and he should really be the one making that statement.  Ha!  Well, we both agreed it was a great time and I now refer to it as "the best birthday weekend in March, ever!".   I say that because I've had some pretty awesome birthday weekends -- so I throw in "March" so he knows I really appreciate my past birthday weekends. :)

Almost done.  Next up is our trip home! 

Sweetheart's Birthday Weekend Part 2

This could go on for ever.  I took A LOT of pictures.   On Saturday (day 3) of Sweetheart's birthday weekend we went to the Rio Grande Bio Park and Zoo in Albuquerque.  The Bio Park consisted of the aquarium and the botanical gardens.   Here's some of the pictures we took at the Aquarium:

The aquariums were filled with amazing creatures -- it was pretty fun to see the different exhibits:  fresh water, estuarine and ocean.  The shark tank was fascinating!

After the 30 minutes we spent walking through the aquarium, we hopped aboard the train that took us from the Bio Park to the Zoo.  It was about 50 degrees out and it took about 10 minutes to get to the zoo:

So at the zoo is where I took the MOST pictures!   I have a picture of every single animal I encountered, but I will only post a few (my favorites):

This is Chopper.  He's a rhino calf that was born a few months ago.  He's a baby! :)

Sweetheart's mad camera skill:

What the?  It's a digital camera...couldn't he see it wasn't in focus???

Sweetheart, this is how you do it:

The Mexican Wolf.  A popular attraction since we were in Lobo country:

I took this picture from inside the cave that has the glass where you can see the Polar Bear as he is in and out of the water.  He'll make another appearance later:

The majestic bald eagle:

I

The Golden Eagle:

It was starting to snow when we first got there and a majority of the animals were in their cubbies on our first walk through.  But as we walked back towards the entrance, we doubled through areas we had already been through and found the animals had come out. 

The King of the Jungle:

As everyone is snapping pictures of Leo as he made his appearance, the Polar Bear decides to steal his thunder.  He climbed to the top of his rock formation and was trying to get at the bird that was perched at the very top.  Of course, all attention went to the Polar Bear:

The Mrs. :

 The Bengal Tiger was just as impressive:

My MOST favorite of all animals, the elephants!!

Oh and a random picture of my Sweetheart with his new Hard Rock baseball cap (from our visit to the Hard Rock Casino the previous night):  

( I just love this guy!!)

And this was just the first part of the day.  Saturday was Sweetheart's actual birthday so we had special plans for dinner that evening which will need to wait until next post.  :)

Sweetheart's Birthday Weekend Part 1

We decided to take a little road trip to celebrate Sweetheart's birthday.  He wanted to go back home to Albuquerque, NM to visit his old stomping grounds.  We made a long weekend out of it. 

We started our trip on Thursday morning.  We dropped Grievous and Boo-boo at the Pet Hotel and then started our journey:

We took the flagstaff route.  The air in Flagstaff is so fresh and clean (at least it seems that way to us because we are used to the city smog).  We had lunch at our favorite spot in Flagstaff, took some quick pictures of the snow covered mountain peaks and then got back on the road. 

We both LOVE road trips because we talk, laugh, sing, etc at will.  We don't have to watch our language or topic of conversation.   When we travel by air we have to be on our best behavior, which by the way, is sometimes hard for us! Ha!

It's such a beautiful drive.  Sweetheart tends to disagree because it's a seven hour trip and he's driven it many, many times.  This is only my second road trip to NM so I thoroughly enjoy every minute of it.   I always have my camera ready to snap a photo and I kept an eye out for the New Mexico sign.   Sweetheart didn't mind because it kept me quiet for a while......

When we finally reached New Mexico, it was about 5:30 -- right in the middle of rush hour.  I didn't think it was so bad, but Sweetheart, aka Mr. Impatient, had me using the imaginary breaks in the passenger side of the vehicle.  We stopped to have dinner at a Los Cuates Mexican restaurant -- one of Sweetheart's favorite childhood eating spots.  New Mexico has the best food -- they are famous for their green and red chili and our first meal in NM certainly didn't disappoint.  It was delicious!  

We stayed at the Double Tree in downtown Albuquerque and got our chocolate chip cookies at check-in. Once in room, we just relaxed and watched TV.   We planned on taking the train to Santa Fe very early the next day so we decided to just stay in the first night.    We look spent, yes?

We were up at 5 a.m. the next morning and took the shuttle to the train depot.  Turns out the train depot was about 2.5 blocks away.   As we sat and waited for the train, I spotted our hotel:

The temperature was 40 degrees.  I know this because, well it was really cold, and because I kept checking and reporting the temperature to Sweetheart as I looked it up on The Weather Channel app I have on my phone.   He was loving the weather but it was too cold for me.  I'm not used to that type of cold.  I'm from Arizona after all. 

We got to the station about 20 minutes early so we did our best to keep each other company.  Sweetheart kept asking if the train was coming.  I told him I was pretty sure we couldn't miss it if it were, but I would check anyway (insert sarcasm here).  Just in case I checked -- nope, no train:

So we decided it was good photo opp time.  

And because we both behave like 12 year-olds, we decided we would do a cute shot:

Then a shot of me looking at the camera and Sweetheart looking in another direction as if something was coming at us:

Then this:

check out Sweetheart photo bombing my Zombie shot

Just then the train arrived!  

Just in time too -- did I mention there were others waiting for the train?

It was a two hour trip to Santa Fe.  It was a nice ride and we actually got to see some Indian Pueblo's which was really interesting!

When we got to Santa Fe we walked through the square. I'm bummed that I forgot my camera.  So the few photos I did take were with my iPhone.  It's such an old and beautiful place.  Full of history and old charm.  We walked through the part of the square where the native Indians sell their hand made jewelry and trinkets.  We also walked to the old churches.  This is a picture of the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis.  It was built in 1869:

We ended our Santa Fe trip at The Palace Restaurant and Saloon.  We had lunch in restaurant then headed over to the saloon.  The saloon where Billy the Kid frequently gambled and drank:

After the saloon it was time to make our way back to the train station and head back to Albuquerque where we walked back to the hotel.  Later that evening, we drove out to the Hard Rock Casino in Belen to buy our collectibles and have dinner. 

Good times in Santa Fe!

Next stop:  The Rio Grande Zoo and Bio Park