A Day in Albuquerque

A friend of mine from Dallas was driving in to Albuquerque with a friend of his. His friend was coming to participate in a rodeo at Tingley Coliseum and my friend came along for the ride to come and visit me. So after a few errands this morning I headed down to Albuquerque for the day. I decided to do a little letterboxing and visit some places that I have been meaning to get to. I arranged the boxes in the order of how I arrived at the places so I wouldn't have to backtrack and I would be done for when my friend arrived. So my first stop was at Sandia Casino which is on the north end of town. There was a box hidden in one of the parking lots. I found the lot quickly and parked and while sitting in the car I read the clue and figured out the hiding spot. I looked around and didn't see any security or maintenance people. But there were a couple of cars heading into the lot. So I waited until they passed and got out of my car with camera in hand - I walked around a bit and slowly made my way to the rock. I sat on the rock and pretended to take pictures while reaching in the spot to retrieve the box. I then took it back to the car to stamp in so I wouldn't draw attention to the area. When done I looked around again and the coast was clear so I went out and rehid the box. I then left the casino and headed over to The Anderson - Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum. There was a box hidden in this parking lot as well. It was easy to find and was at the far end of the lot. I didn't have to worry about anyone seeing me because it was away from any buildings and there was absolutely no one around. I also took this one back to the car to stamp in. Once it was back in place I decided to go into the museum and have a look around. I had been wanting to visit ever since it was built but never made the time. I spent about an hour enjoying learning about the history of ballooning and of the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. I thought the museum was put together very well and I had a great time.

From here I drove to Corrales to look for The Climbing Tree. This is a box hidden by a huge old cottonwood tree. When I arrived at the tree there were two cars there and my first thought was are these people letterboxers. But I didn't see any sign that they were - they were just taking pictures of this grand tree in its glorious fall foliage. I read the clues and looked around and wasn't quite sure where the box was. So I studied the clues and then set the paper down on the car seat, grabbed my camera and went out to take pictures and see if I could spot where the box was. So I took a couple of pictures and then the other two people left. That gave the chance to look for the box. I spotted the landmark and walked over and retrieved the box. I stamped into the box in the car again and then rehid the box. I took a few more pictures and then decided to climb the tree a little. It has been quite a long time since I have climbed a tree and I really had a great time. I needed to get a move on to find one last box and I wanted to walk around the area where this last box was hidden. So I headed over to The Albuquerque Museum. I had to find a specific sculpture and then find a plaque and then the box. The statue was La Jornada and is a very large sculpture with lots of pieces so it was easy to spot. I quickly found the plaque and the box and again headed back to the car to stamp in. After I was done I went right over to the hiding spot and replaced the box because there wasn't a person in site and I knew I could get it in place without being seen. I then took some time to walk around the sculpture garden and take some pictures. I was sitting on a bench taking some pictures of one of the statues and I looked at my watch and decided that I should head over to Tingley Coliseum because if I had timed things right I knew my friend would be arriving soon. And as soon as I got back in the car to drive away I got a text message that they were going through Tijeras Canyon. I arrived at the Fairgrounds but wasn't sure exactly where they would be so I just parked and waited for their call. It was a bit confusing where they had to enter and park but eventually we worked it out and I met my friend. So we got his luggage into my car and returned to Santa Fe. I had a great day in Albuquerque and found four great letterboxes - thanks to the boxers in Albuquerque for planting them.