Thursday, October 31
Wow, was it cold last night! It was -12C (10 F). I also have a thermometer inside our utility cabinet where the water lines connect. It showed -2 C (28 F) this morning. We had loaded the on board water tank so we didn't need the water spigot. Good thing cause it was froze.
When we left Alberta I had been using my heated water hose. When we were packing the trailer to head south I figured I would save some space and not bother bringing it along. I mean....we were heading south to get into some warm weather, right? We dragged that dang hose with us last year and never used it! This year, we have had freezing night time temps for the past two weeks!
It has been abnormally cold around Albuquerque. Last night 13 communities around the state set record low temps. On average it is about 20 F below normal around New Mexico. We're not really helping the situation. The RV park we are at is in the hills. Albuquerque is roughly 5,000 feet. We are at roughly 6,500 feet. Definitely colder here in the hills than in the valley. Things are looking up though. They expect to be back to normal temps by early next week.
Anyway, after a very cool start to the day the temps were rising and the sun was shining and we wanted to take a drive up to Sandia Crest which is the highest point in the Sandia ridge that overlooks Albuquerque. At 10,630 feet it provides an outstanding view.
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| Lots of switchbacks. |
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| We saw a half dozen small dark deer on the way up and back. |
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| Hard to read. The Crest is about a mile above Albuquerque. Seen from the valley floor at sunset the Crest has a red-orange hue that the Spanish referred to as watermelon color. |
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| The city of Albuquerque |
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| A half-million people live in ABQ. |
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| A string of dormant volcanoes to the south. |
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| A forest of radio antennas on the top of the Crest. The first antenna was placed in 1945. |
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| The view to the Northeast. Santa Fe is just below that large mountain range on the horizon. |
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| View to the West. |
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| A long twisty road down. |
We made it safely back down the hill and headed into Albuquerque (ABQ) for a bit of shopping. On the way home we took Hwy 333. Not just to keep us off the Interstate but to try and find the Musical Highway. Well, we didn't find it today but some further Google research under our belts and we'll have another try tomorrow. Stay tuned to see how we made out!
....and that was Our View From Here!
Oh I hope you enjoy the musical highway, we missed it when we were in Albuquerque. We have had some low overnight temps on our travels south but not anywhere near -12! Stay warm and safe travels.
ReplyDeleteHope you succeed in your search for the Musical Highway! I've heard of it but will have to Google to read about it.
ReplyDeleteBrrr, you are right. That is darn cold!!! Lovely blue skies though and beautiful views from the Crest.
Awesome views from up there! I sure hope it warms up so, this cold weather is getting seriously old!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tour. We did not make it up there when we were there 3 years ago. Very curious about this "musical highway". Weather has started to warm up here at Elephant Butte SP too. Above freezing this morning finally at 37F.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to our temps lately! haha. I don't think i've ever heard of the Musical Highway there...looking forward to those pics. We took the drive to the crest and agree it's beautiful!
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