Even the building itself was built to look like a hot air balloon inflating. Can you see it?
This wasn't the most kid-friendly museum, but there was lots to see and do; including this hot air balloon simulator game.
As competitive as he is, Kevin could have spent hours here attempting to master the art of flying a balloon. Thankfully I pulled him away after 15 minutes!
Corynn seems to be having fun riding in her own balloon
There was so much to look at including actual balloons from historic flights around the world
This balloon was hanging from the ceiling and was Corynn's favorite - "the fruit lady balloon" as she called it!
Flying away before we left the museum
Our last stop via the rental car was the top of Sandia peak. Since the tramway to the top was closed for maintenance the week we were in Albuquerque, we had to find another way to get to the top for a view of the city. Initially our goal was to be at the top for sunset which we thought would be great since looking west would be looking right over the city's downtown, but after encountering numerous icy and snow packed spots on the 14 mile curvy road to the top, we decided traversing that in the dark (after sunset) may not be the safest idea!
So we arrived at the top well before sunset and had some good views of the surrounding mountain ranges (looking south)...
(looking east)
and a very sunny view of the city of Albuquerque, New Mexico
It was pretty chilly at the top, so we only spent about 5 minutes outside, took a quick walk around the gift shop to warm up, and then headed back to the car for the slow drive back down.
At the bottom of the pass we had an incredible view of the mountains and moon. We were told earlier in the week that Sandia is Spanish for watermelon, representing the red color that the mountain range gets just before sunset. All week we'd been inside sightseeing during the 5 minute window when the mountains turn red, so we were excited that on our last day we caught at least a little glimpse of what they were talking about.
For our last meal in Albuquerque, we once again at the Old Town Pizza Parlor (where we also ate at for our first meal) and enjoyed sharing one large plate of spaghetti.
After Kevin returned the rental car back to the airport, we ventured out (perhaps past Corynn's bedtime) to the Village Inn Restaurant, just a block from our hotel, for Free Pie Wednesday! If you know Kevin, he can't pass up pie, much less FREE pie!!
Thursday morning we spent packing up our things to head back to the train station for a 12:30pm departure. Since we had a few minutes to spare before our 11am hotel check out, we decided to walk down to the Rio Grande River, since we had yet to actually see it (except from the top of Sandi peak).
Only a 5 minute walk from our hotel, found us on the shore of the mighty river. OK, it really wasn't that impressive where we were, but it was something to see.
Several sand bars were visible making the river look a bit dried up. I have no idea if this is normal or not for this part of the river.
Corynn was being pretty silly this morning, perhaps enjoying the sunny, fresh New Mexico air once last time
After checking out of the hotel and grabbing some Subway sandwiches to-go for lunch, we headed to the nearest bus stop to wait for the bus to take us back to the downtown transportation center.
Waiting patiently. Corynn was trying to hide in the stroller, I guess
With plenty of time to spare we found our seats on the Amtrak train, settled in and tried to get psyched for the 14 hour trip home. This trip we were seated just one car behind the observation car, so we quickly claimed a booth in that car so we could enjoy the better view and table space.
We literally spent the first 9 hours of the trip home in the observation car - eating lunch and supper, watching movies, reading books, putting together puzzles, cross stitching, talking to other passengers, and just enjoying the view out the windows (when it wasn't just desert and sand)!
We arrived home on time and safe and sound! We would recommend travelling by train to anyone - especially if you have young kids who don't like to sit still in the car! We had a great time exploring a new city and region of the U.S. and loved being transported by rail!
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