During our 8 day rally at the Balloon Fiesta we had bus trips to several nearby sites. The first was to Old town Albuquerque and the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center. We also took a tram ride to the top of Sandia Peak(10,000+ feet in altitude) to have lunch at the High Finance Restaurant. It is the longest aerial tram in North America and ascends 2.7 miles. On other days, we had lunch at El Pinto which had some of the best Mexican/southwestern food I have ever eaten, visited another cultural center and pueblo and took a bus tour of Santa Fe, which is about one hour north of Albuquerque. In Santa Fe, we visited San Miguel church and Loreto chapel. How the spiral staircase at Loreto chapel was built and by whom remains a mystery. The story was that the nuns contracted with a carpenter named Jose to build the stairs but he left without waiting for payment. The wood was identified as a type of spruce that is not native to the area and there is no structural support for the staircase which has been in place and used for over 100 years.
Besides our bus trips, we were entertained one evening by the beautiful music and songs performed by the four grand daughters of one of our retired wagon masters.
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| SAN FELIPE CHURCH (C.1793) IN OLD TOWN |
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| NATIVE AMERICAN DANCER |
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| STAFF JOINING IN THE CIRCLE DANCE |
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| VIEW FROM SANDIA PEAK |
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| WAITING FOR THE TRAM |
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| PASSING THE OTHER CAR |
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| OUR ENTERTAINERS |
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| CHUCK RINGING THE BELL IN SAN MIGUEL CHURCH |
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| SAN MIGUEL CHURCH |
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| LORETO CHAPEL |
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| THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE |
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| THE ALTAR IN LORETO CHAPEL |
