Albuquerque Part 1
We spent our first week out west in Albuquerque and loved it! We were there at the end of September through beginning of October, and the weather was beautiful; 80’s and lots of sunshine. It was our first time being in the desert and definitely felt really dry, especially coming from south Florida! The views everywhere were stunning; it’s so flat and you can see for (what feels like) hundreds of miles. I remember stepping out of Target one day and being in awe of the parking lot views of the massive mountains behind me and then the desert stretching out endlessly in front of me!
Albuquerque has a really cool vibe – to us, it felt Western, funky and laid-back. Albuquerque sits at 5,312 feet above sea level so it was a good first intro to living at elevation. I immediately noticed that our coffee tasted different and learned that at elevation, water boils at a different point (usually closer to 200 degrees instead of 212) so adjustments need to be made to the amount of coffee used when brewing. And of course, it was much harder to breathe while working out! We found the beautiful Paseo del Bosque Trail and went for a couple of runs there.
We did a spin class at their local Cycle Bar, which I think had just opened. It was the biggest Cycle Bar I’ve been to but the class was pretty empty (surprising given it was a 5:30pm Monday class). The instructor killed it anyway and it was a great workout.
Tennis on the road is definitely challenging. I can usually find a wall to hit against, which isn’t the most fun but gets the job done and keeps timing and footwork at least somewhat sharp. However, while in Albuquerque, I called the local tennis club which was a part of the University of New Mexico’s athletic facilities, and got a hitting lesson scheduled with one of their teaching pro’s. As usual when playing at altitude, the ball FLIES but I had a blast. She had graduated in 2021 and played #1 and she missed 2 balls (literally) the entire hour we were hitting. So much fun!
We went on the Sandia Peak Tramway at sunset, which is the longest aerial tram in the Americas and the second longest in the world. It was built in 1966 and goes up to 10,378 feet at the top. It takes about 15 minutes and you have to get off at the top; there are tons of hiking trails there as well as a restaurant and bar. The restaurant and bar are closed on Wednesdays, which is when we were there, so can’t comment on the food and drinks but would have been fun to do! The temperature can be up to 30 degrees colder at the top so definitely bring layers!!
In the next post, I’ll share the beautiful hike we did and the whole reason we came to Albuquerque: the Balloon Fiesta!
