After exploring the Sand Dunes Saturday afternoon, we continued on our way to Albuquerque.  Along the way we stopped in Alamosa, Colorado for lunch at San Luis Valley Brewing Company.  Kim and I shared both the Chicken Hot Italian Sausage and the Chicken Skewer appetizer. I washed it all down with a Grande River IPA. I definitely enjoyed the beer more than the food, but it is still worth a stop if you are in the area. We eventually arrived in Albuquerque in the early evening and checked into our hotel for the night, the Hyatt Regency Albuquerque. I had won it on Priceline for $42 and it was well worth that price. We had a room on the fifteenth floor with a view of the city. I would have preferred a mountain view, but the room amenities were still great.

For dinner on Saturday, we decided to venture to Sadie’s, a local institution that serves up simple but spicy New Mexican food. We arrived close to eight in the evening and there was still a wait for a table. We found the self-service chips and salsa station and make a basket to hold us over. Immediately we were hit with spiciness from the salsa, and that was just the beginning. Once seated we feasted on a variety of enchiladas, tacos, and chile rellenos. The green vegetarian chile was very spicy as well, but oh so good. We don’t have much to compare it to in Albuquerque, but I would highly recommend Sadie’s.

After dinner we drove over to the area of town known as Old Town. By this time it was getting late, and most of Old Town was pretty deserted. This area of town is famous for its adobe building dating back to 1706. Though most of the shops were already closed, we took a leisurely stroll through the streets of Old Town and enjoyed the nice weather. We were back at the hotel and in bed by eleven.

To start off Sunday morning we drove over to the University of New Mexico and walked through the adobe filled campus. Once we had worked up a good appetite we crossed over the street to the Frontier Restaurant. This restaurant must be packed when school is in session, as it was very crowded on an otherwise quiet Sunday morning. The line wrapped halfway through the long rectangular restaurant. I decided to just sample one of their enormous cinnamon rolls and Kim had a breakfast burrito of some sort. It’s an interesting place, but was dirt cheap and pretty good. Breakfast for the both of us was under $10 total.

On our way out of Albuquerque we stopped at the Sandia Peak Tramway for a ride on the world’s longest passenger aerial tramway. It is a fifteen minute ride from the base to the top, covering 3,819 ft in elevation gain. The slope of the mountain is very steep and picturesque as viewed on the ride up. Once at the top, the Sandia Peak Ski Area offers both winter skiing and summer mountain-biking. There is also acres of forest with many trails to hike along. We hiked for around five miles or so, and then decided we had better get moving on to Santa Fe if we wanted to enjoy our time there.

Albuquerque on Dwellable