Shepherd’s birthday! Learned this morning from dad that Shepherd shared a birthday with John Prine, a massive 2020 loss.

We decided to get on the road to make it to Albuquerque by lunchtime. The drive was similar to the previous but with increasing elevation until we reached roughly a mile-high in Albuquerque. Closer to the city we saw more interesting landscape and were able to put S’s social studies lessons on landforms into action.. what’s the difference between a Mesa and a Butte 😉 ?

We drove straight to lunch at Rio Bravo Brewing Co and had a solid lunch along with local beverages, including sodas for the boys made at the brewing co.

We were able to check in early at Hotel Andaluz — the first hotel built in ABQ and by Conrad Hilton (later sold and then repurchased by the Hilton chain).

After vegging a moment, we planned to take the Sandia Tramway to the top of the mountain— apparently the longest tram in the states – nearly 3 miles BUT we arrived to two hour lines and decided against the trip. We were all feeling the altitude a good bit and after driving around the Old Plaza (down old town road – ha!) we called it a day. Hydration and some rest needed by all. The birthday boy requested room service and we ended the day with a birthday treat.