Once arriving in Albuquerque, we had dinner at Geckos Bar & Tapas- delicious food! Cauliflower & cheese quesadillas, & curly fries.

We just walked around Albuquerque afterwards. It was cold and windy. Wasn’t very impressed with the area we were in.

I picked up a new pair of boots at Big 5 Sporting Goods for $35. Something cheap to hold me over while me shoes dried, & something I knew I could wear casually back home.

We then went to the longest Tramway in the US (I believe). It took 15 minutes to get to the top of the mountain. Incredible views!

Once at the top, you can spend as much time up there as you like. It’s a ski slope in the winter, & hiking trails in the off-season. We hiked a bit! Since it’s 10,000 feet above sea level, it’s very cloudy & windy up there. Also about 15-20 degrees colder.

Clouds blowing UP the face of the mountain.

Next stop was Tent Rock Monument. 1 of the most unique parks I’ve ever been to!

Weather was pretty good, warm, but it was looking like rain. We headed to this national park. Half owned by the the government, half by the Cochiti Tribe. We only had an hour till they closed.

They are cone shaped from the way the wind and water have eroded them. The layers are volcanic ash & volcanic debris.

I thought this was a cool road sign in an Indian reservation neighborhood we drove through.

It’s a weird feeling to go to arrive somewhere at night, go to sleep, & walk up surrounded by tall rock faces!

First stop was Jemez Historic Site. It was discovered and dug up in an archeological dig around 1930. Partially restored. Really amazing place. Walking from building to building trying to imagine what life must have been like here.

We saw these in the back yards of many homes in this area, turns out the homes were Indian reservations. The domes are ovens used to make bread.

We pulled over to the side of the road when we saw this formation. It’s called Soda Dam. It was created from geothermal water bubbling out of the earth, slowing creating layers and layers of this rock.

In this photo, you can see the water coming out of that crack. It was warm!

The river running under it reminded me of Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory.

Next stop...The Jemez Mountain Trail. We thought our final destination was a waterfall, boy were we wrong.

A couple joggers passed us & asked if the spring was ahead. We said “...the waterfall is...?” They said “same thing”. \240It got me wondering, so I looked it up and sure enough, we were a LONG ways from the falls. I read that this natural spring we were headed to was commonly skinny dipped in. Steph sounded interested, & the trails were dead because the weather was terrible. So we said what the heck! Let’s do it!

The water was warm, not hot. We stayed in a few minutes, minnows nibbling on our bodies. Very freeing, and beautiful considering it was overlooking the mountains, and 2 hours into the woods!

After we got back, we drove to the falls. A short hike, & we were there.

Steph insisted on crawling down there. “Crazy from the Crib”

Stopped in this saloon for a beer & some appetizers in the tiny town of Jemez Springs.

Just then, the sun came out and lit up the side of this mountain. 😍

You can see all 3 volcanos in this photo.

We hiked to the top of Black Volcano. That one down yonder is called JA Volcano.

And that concluded our trip! Thanks for visiting. I hope it inspires adventure and respect for the nature God gave us to enjoy.