7 Las Golondrinas & Sandia Crest

Gary has told us about this living farm museum about an hour north of ABQ so we decide to check it out. Gary will go to Urgent Care to get his injuries checked.
El Rancho de Las Golondrinas (my Spanish Dictionary translates this as The Ranch of the Sparrows) is a working ranch in the style of the ancestors. We are just in time for the next tour. Doug, our tour guide, is informative, a scientist and a historian who is fascinated by the superstitions. We get to see how the well-to-do lived, we learned the women were responsible for applying the adobe to the brick walls laid by the men, we see the cooking area, the live sheep used for their wool, the yarn making building, the chapel and so much more. He informs us about the various people who lived here beginning in the 1300's and how things changed when the Spaniards came, then the Mexicans and finally the US Americans. It's sobering to hear of the coercion to convert to Christianity, the changes in the rights allowed to the Native Americans and how they were all afraid of witches and sorcery. The decorative doors and some iron like a horseshoe placed over the door were to repel spirits and bad luck. The settlement was built to protect against invaders. Today they continue to grow crops and give the food to the local food pantry. They gather wool from the sheep then card it and spin it by hand. Shirley later buys some of that colorful yarn. We also learned that New Mexico is a bilingual state. English and Spanish are both official languages.
Back at the condo Gary has learned he has a fracture of his 5th metatarsal. He get a boot to wear.
Shirley, Gary and I have tickets for the tram to Sandia Crest this afternoon. So along with the large groups of others we finally get our turn to ride to the top. It's a 2 mile, 15 minute ride over three canyons and some minor ridges. We travel some 5,000 feet up to the top which is an elevation of about 10, 600 feet. The view is grand. Our goal is to get sunset pictures. The sun cooperated with a spectacular show. We get our photos then choose to eat at the restaurant. After dinner we see the ABQ lights laid out below and began taking more pictures before returning to lower elevations and our condo.Read more