Just thought I would share some of the pics from my vacation this year. We stayed in state this year and spent 5 days in Albuquerque, our state's largest city. There is so much to do that we may go again next year to do all the things we missed.
Enjoy!
Heading down the highway:
Nubreed taking a break while we have lunch:
Our fist excursion was to the Sandia Tramway. Here is the info on it:
SANDIA PEAK TRAMWAY
Albuquerque, New Mexico USA
In the Cibola National Forest
World’s longest passenger tramway
Total Horizontal Length: 2.7 miles
Total Vertical Rise: 3,819 feet
Elevation of Lower Terminal: 6,559 feet
Elevation of Tower One: 7,010 feet
Elevation of Tower Two: 8,750 feet
Elevation of Top Terminal: 10,378 feet
Height of Tower One: 232 feet - leans at an 18 deg angle
Height of Tower Two: 80 feet
Hourly Capacity: 220 passengers at 4 trips per hour
Average Number of Passengers Per Year: 275,000
Normal Speed: 12 mph or 20 feet per second
Maximum Clear Span Between 7,720 feet or 1 1/2 miles
Tower Two and Top Terminal: This is the 3rd longest clear span in the world.
Number of Tramcars: Two
Capacity of each: 55/50 with water tank
Weight of each tramcar empty: 8,000 pounds
Maximum Payload of each tramcar: 10,000 pounds
Water Tank Capacity: 1,000 gallons
New Tramcars Installed: May 17, 1986 for 20th Anniversary
New Track Cables Installed: April, 1997
The tramway was manufactured by Bell Engineering, Lucerne, Switzerland in 1964-66 at
a cost of 2 million dollars. It is a Double Reversible Jigback Aerial Tramway. Five
thousand helicopter trips were made during construction of Tower 2 and cable
installation.
Track Ropes: 4 each with a diameter of 40mm or 1 5/8 inches
Weight of Each: 52 tons
4 Track Cable Counterweights: 47 tons each (located at lower terminal)
Depth of counterweight pit: 70 feet
Haul Ropes: 1 haul rope and counter rope
Diameter of Haul Ropes: 32mm or 1 1/4 inches each weighing 17 tons
Main Power Unit: 600 HP DC Electric Winch Motor
Auxiliary Drive: 250 HP Ford Gasoline Engine
Approaching the Sandias. You can see tower one in the distance:
Watching others board the tram and their ascent:
And the landing:
Here we go on our way up:
Golf tee rock:
Looking out over the city:
This one's for the gearheads!
The Raglins atop the mountain:
I'm sure it's lovely up here in the winter, but summer shots are all you'll be seeing from this kid. LOL!
My youngest blossom, Aysia:
My oldest blossom, Michaela:
At least I thought so........:
........but she showed me the real deal! LOL!!:
What else would expect to find at the top of a mountain?!?!??! LOL!!!:
Cable sizes:
Perfect ending to a perfect day:
Next up, Pics from the zoo:
This one is for DL, Rebel, and Petey:
Capibara:
I was howling and got this wolf to howl back! Caught him mid howl!! HOWL cool is that?!??!?!?!
Man we must've hung out here for about 30-40 min. The polar bears are soooo cool and so was their habitat! (At least a 20* difference from the ambient air.)
My two desert blossoms riding on a camel:
Typical cats. LOL!
Wouldn't want to run across that out in the wilderness:
It's good to be da king! LOL!!
The one on the left is practicing be da stuff!
This caboose derailed while we were on it. It was taking us across town to the Aquatic/Botanical park, and Boom! We were derailed. When it happened the tension was pretty thick in the air, so I defused the situation by saying: "You know they're gonna blame it on the black, 400lb, giant that was riding in it!!" Everyone was laughing so hard that when the crew got back there one of them asked what we had been smoking!
Back on track. This is part of the botanical gardens. It struck me as odd that there were grapes growing on one side and cacti on the other:
She's in there feeding all the water breathing creatures; including the SHARKS!!!!
Wake up Poomba!! LOL!
Contemplating the philosophical side of life. LOL!!
Another beautiful sunset to cap another beautiful day:
These were taken while at Uncle Cliff's:
Yeah, you're sitting there all calm and serene for now:
Where's all that serenity now?!?!?!? LOL!
Who's cryin' now?!?!! LOL!
About to hit the coaster:
They got the first car:
From atop the log ride. Those are the same mountains we were on earlier in the week:
Right before the drop:
It was fun trying to time the shots just right:
On the way up:
And down we go. Everyone else looks so calm. My wife left her stomach at the top! LOL
She's gonna looks so good driving her Safari!
And some shots headin' home:
We also drove up to Santa Fe and that was fun, but most of the shots I got there are artsy-fartsy so I won't bore you with those. But doing the in state vacation was great! The cost on gas was way reasonable and there is so much to do in Albuquerque. There is also the Atomic Museum, Old Town, the Petroglyphs, and loads of other stuff. I want to go back up for the Balloon Fiesta, but it may have to wait until next year.
Hope you guys like the pics as much as I liked captioning and sharing them with you all.
Late,
trybe
Great pics James. Glad to see you and your family out enjoying a summer vacation. I have to ask though....where are the rainy day(s) shots? Was it sunny like that all week?
Current rides:
2013 Toyota Tundra DC 4x4
2008 Dodge Nitro 4x4
2005 Nissan Sentra 1.8S Special Edition
Vans owned:
1986 Safari 2.5L 4 speed manual - scrapped
1995 Astro 2WD conversion 4.11 posi, shift kit, DHC rock rails - sold to Skippy
1998 Astro 4x4 D44, D60, NP231, full hydraulic system with 9k# Milemarker winch and snow plow - sold to Lockdoc
2003 Astro AWD all stock - traded for a 3/4 ton truck
2005 AWD, 4.10's - sold to skippy
Dean the only rainy day shots I have are the ones my daughter took of me and Rick (Boxdin). It did rain twice while we were there. The first time was when I met Rick and the second was at the end of the day at Cliff's. So we weren't hampered at all by the rain. Luckily I found a good coin wash while there so I could wash my ride.
And don't forget Dean; this is New Mexico. Not a lot of precipitation here! So it's always sunny like that out here.
I knew you meant to post more than what you did at A.S lol
Great shots of the Tram and info on its build,also nice to see pics of your fam as well.Great KING of the Mountain pic
I'm betting you were glad the caboose derailed instead of the Tram,lol.great comeback for why it derailed.
Looks like alot of fun was had by all, thanks for taking the time to post them and share your trip with us.
Great post, James. It does my heart good to see families doing things together. Cherie and I do the balloon fiesta every year. Last year we went to the Carlsbad Caverns. What a wonderous place. We stayed under ground all day. And watched the bats fly out that evening. There's also some old indian ruins just north of Santa Fe in the Bandelier Nat'l Monument. Well worth it if you are into that sort of thing. If you do the balloon fiesta this year, look us up. We're the "H" row family.
astrozam wrote:I knew you meant to post more than what you did at A.S lol
Great shots of the Tram and info on its build,also nice to see pics of your fam as well.Great KING of the Mountain pic
I'm betting you were glad the caboose derailed instead of the Tram,lol.
Yeah Zam, derailing trams are NOT good!
smiliesafari wrote:Great post, James. It does my heart good to see families doing things together. Cherie and I do the balloon fiesta every year. Last year we went to the Carlsbad Caverns. What a wonderous place. We stayed under ground all day. And watched the bats fly out that evening. There's also some old indian ruins just north of Santa Fe in the Bandelier Nat'l Monument. Well worth it if you are into that sort of thing. If you do the balloon fiesta this year, look us up. We're the "H" row family.
You were less than 45 min from my home last year when you were in the caverns. Too bad you didn't say anything. We could've met up then. That's probably the next thing we do as a family; is hit the caverns before the year is over. If I do make the Fiesta I will be sure to look you up.
As as far as Indian ruins go, I grew up here in NM and could show you some things outside of Gallup that are not on "the map". We explored the desert areas all around there when I was a kid. Found some really great places.
Reminds me that the Mead family needs to take a road trip!
Matt
Selah, WA
-96 GMC Safari AWD Hi-Top Conversion -->Stalled 5.3L swap & 5" lift
-74 Ford Bronco -->Far from perfect but mine!
-99 V-10 Ford Super Duty Super Cab 4x4 -->Stock with 285 Cooper ATs
-00 Ford Focus Wagon -->The Red Turd
-95 Ford 24' Class C Motorhome -->My big block sleeper
-07 Can-Am Outlander XT -->My yellow 4x4 quad for work & play
-04 Ski Doo REV Summit -->Still several chassis behind!
Next time we're in your area we'll definitly look you up. I'd love to do a month in NM. I'm sure there are some awesome places. Cherie has a real job that just won't let us do any more than a month and that time has to include travel.
Well, don't I have mud on my face now? Absolutely gorgeous pics, and I'm not one to drool over pictures at all.
As far as not wanting to meet up with the wildlife in these pics, my money woulda been on you, big boy
I noticed that you were the one who was not dressed in the same colors or hats as the more important family members.
I was told getting my beauty sleep was a waste of time.
1990 Astro (Z motor) mostly original @ 343,584 miles (552,944.8488960001 Canadian) (03/2008). Bad startup puff. Starting to spray for skeeters. Gone 06/07/08.
1993 Astro with a bad W motor. Parked next to a chicken coop in Talking Rock GA
I'm 'tween Canton and Holly Springs (North NorthWest of Atlanta GA)
I haul bottled water everyday- between 500 and 2500 pounds (226.796185 and 1,133.980925 Canadian) INSIDE the van.
I was told getting my beauty sleep was a waste of time.
1990 Astro (Z motor) mostly original @ 343,584 miles (552,944.8488960001 Canadian) (03/2008). Bad startup puff. Starting to spray for skeeters. Gone 06/07/08.
1993 Astro with a bad W motor. Parked next to a chicken coop in Talking Rock GA
I'm 'tween Canton and Holly Springs (North NorthWest of Atlanta GA)
I haul bottled water everyday- between 500 and 2500 pounds (226.796185 and 1,133.980925 Canadian) INSIDE the van.
Good eye on the color coordination there, Waterboy. My wife wanted me to wear blue as well. I said "NO WAY!!" I wasn't going to look like a tourist that let his wife dress him!! [-X
And if they ever taped the toilet seat down I would just pee on it I guess! It's just as easy for them to put it down as it is for me to lift it!! =D> =D>
You and your family had a great holiday by the looks of it! Did you ride that camel James?
Lots of contrasting colour in the first 3 pics. I like pics like that. What do you mean by arsty pics? Were you getting creative? Let us see a couple please.
I heard that there are a lot of caves to explore or go on tours down in the southern states. Have you been to any?
Next time we're in your area we'll definitly look you up. I'd love to do a month in NM. I'm sure there are some awesome places. Cherie has a real job that just won't let us do any more than a month and that time has to include travel.
It's just as easy for them to put it down as it is for me to lift it!! =D> =D> 
