As many of you know, we’ve been in Albuquerque for some weeks now.  The part we were waiting on is in, but since Carl’s flight is coming in this week we just decided to just wait so we can move on to our next destination together.

So what have we been doing you ask?

There are a ton of cultural places to visit, and many of them are in the wild outdoors.  The first place we decided to go visit was the Petroglyph National Monument.  We started at the visitors center where we bought some freshly baked bread (heavenly) and had a chat with one of the rangers.  We learned that the Monument protects one of the largest petroglyph sites in North America.  It features designs and symbols carved into volcanic rock by Native Americans and Spanish settlers.  There are three places to hike to/around that vary in length.  We decided on one that would be worth our time and yet not a difficult walk for little feet.  Here are a few pics of the petroglyphs:

 

We also went to the Pueblo Cultural Center.  We couldn’t take too many pictures here because of the preservation requirements of the displays.  But we saw some beautiful artifacts and there were stations for the kids to participate in.  Here is one of them putting puzzles together and coloring:

The walls were all covered with amazing paintings depicting Native American life.

It’s hard to keep the kids interests when we are looking at museums.  They tend to run from exhibit to exhibit and it really prevents Grace and I from stopping and reading and absorbing what we are looking at.  I try to reign in the younger two and we tend to get a good hour of looking before we need to call it quits for the day.  This museum was nice for us because it was National Museum Day and the entry fee was waived 🙂

One thing that I keep meaning to take advantage of is about being a Bank of America customer…they offer free admission to certain museums once a month.  You can check it out here if you are already bank with them.

We’ve also been doing some hiking.  With these gorgeous mountains so close, how can you not?  Otero canyon is close and a good fit for us.  Sometimes we’ll go out for a couple of hours, and sometimes we’ll just squeeze in a thirty minute walk.  However long we go out for, we always have a good time!

 

 

The most recent place we decided to go was to the top of Sandia Peak.  It’s a gorgeous 30 minute drive that climbs from our current 6500 ft up to almost 11000.  It was a pretty drive and during it we decided to listen to some books on tape.  Black Beauty (and the kids loved it!).  At the top, there was a little cafe we had some lunch in, and a cute little gift shop that we perused for a bit.  They also had a walking trail that guided us through the hilltop to see the views from that height!  It was beautiful, but windy!

On the way back down the mountain, we decided to stop in at Tinker Town. (it’s on Carls list!).  It was a very interesting museum full of little hand carved characters and displays of eccentric Americana.  I’m glad we went!  We also picked up our solar eclipse glasses while we were there!

We’ve had a very enjoyable time while here in Albuquerque.  Today is going to be quite an event considering that the city was listed as the best place to view the solar eclipse that will be happening today!  It’s supposed to be the “ultimate astronomical event” because it’s the first annular eclipse visible in the US in 18 years! (that means a total eclipse)  So, we’ll be viewing it from an event hosted by the local astronomers club!  It should be a very memorable event!

*if you are able to view the eclipse, PLEASE be safe and wear the right kind of protective eyewear!

I’ll be sure to post some pics of it later on!  Have a wonderful week everyone!