Ah, this gives me some great ideas. Thanks! I'll be arriving into Albuquerque around 5PM, so no time for any daytime exploring. But I am looking forward to a good dinner.

Chele, what kind of food are you interested in for Friday night, and what is your budget?

Your itinerary looks fine. TravelAddict's itinerary looks good to me, too, and you can always switch his/her plans for October 7th and 8th if the 7th is rained out.

Laurieb - wow, that is one packed day for Albuquerque!

Lee Ann

The Acoma pueblo is wonderful, well worth a visit.

Before you go to Acoma, I suggest familiarizing yourself with different pottery styles and prices, so you can see the pottery sold there with a knowledgeable eye. Prices for Acoma pottery sold in Acoma are often much lower than what you would have to pay outside of Acoma. This is because you can buy directly from the artist, instead of having to also pay middleman prices.

Acoma can be visited only via a tour bus, which you board at the bottom of the Acoma mesa. Call ahead before going, just to verify the tour bus is running that day.

I actually prefer Taos to Santa Fe so I would opt for more time there (+ its cheaper) other then that, I think you have it covered. Have you considered the Sandia Tram thingy up the Mt. ? www.sandiapeak
.com.

Lee Ann -- we got it done though & saw the Taos Dancers at the Cultural Center also. We loved ABQ!

ElendilPickle ~ thanks for the offer! I would love to try food that is unique to New Mexico. My mother is far less adventurous with food - "picky-eater" is how she describes herself, and it is right on the mark. Our budget is mostly on the cheap (mom's on a fixed income), however, for an especially nice place to eat, I won't mind splurging a few times on the trip.

Funny, I hadn't even considered the Acoma Pueblo originally. I've done a little homework and am setting aside time for it. Thanks all for the tip!

SAnParis ~ I'm beginning to realize that Santa Fe is, by far, the more expensive place to stay/visit. I'm also getting a feel that Taos may be more in line with what I generally like about a place. Hard to say, as I haven't been to either place, yet. However, I get the feeling my mother is probably going to like Santa Fe more. We're complete opposites in that way!

Don't get me wrong, I like Santa Fe, & I love looking at the art there. But there is a certain snobbishness (?) there, or something. In Taos, it is much more laid back (+ I can actually afford to buy some art).

If you decide to take the Tram in ABQ...go up just before sunset and watch the sun go down from the top! It is really neat. However, I would discourage you from eating at the restaurant at the top [is it still called "High Finance"? as it has never had particularly good food as it is more about location than food].

The city lights from the top of the Sandia are really nice.

If you go up during the day, there are some trail to walk but they can be arduos at that altitude. Speaking of altitude, where are you coming from? It may be difficult for your mom [and you as well] in NM due to altitude, so please take that into consideration.

If you go to Taos be sure to eat at Michaels...any meal is great there and they have terrific bakery items to go.
Also, Butterfly Cafe for breakfast is delish.

And a nice place to stay in Taos at a reasonable price is El Pueblo Lodge. It is near Taos Pueblo and has a real traditional feel to it.

Hope this helps...
Debi

Debi ~ Thanks for the recs on the restaurant and hotel. I am definitely interested in taking the Sandia Tram. It sounds like the views are just awesome! Mom gets a little weird with heights....okay, a lot weird with heights...but I can usually talk her onto these things as long as I promise her I won't have her look down.

As to the high altitude, I've discovered in the past that it seems I'm more affected after an extended period of time. I'm from So Calif, so it's pretty low altitude. I spent a week at Mammoth a few years ago and felt okay until the end of the week so I'm assuming the same would be true for NM.

Be sure to drink A LOT of water, it helps with altitude adjustment.

If the tram is unnerving, there is a road that you can drive up. It is a nice drive, going through some pretty forest areas. It is a bit curvy, but not steep. You get to it off of RT 14 which is the Turquoise Trail. {And RT 14 is off I 40}

Pack some appetizers and have a sunset picnic!

Hope this helps...
Debi

I don't like heights either, and I had no problem with the tram when I finally took it in July. We had family in town who wanted to go; we ate lunch at High Finance, which was good but not great.

I haven't tried the restaurants in Taos that Debi mentioned, but a friend and I had an excellent lunch at the Apple Tree restaurant, right by the Plaza, about a month ago.

Sadie's on 4th Street has really good, reasonably priced New Mexican food, as does Garcia's (locations around town). I haven't eaten at Los Cuates, but my oldest daughter likes it. I imagine all these places will have "gringo specials" for your mom.

Lee Ann

I am going to piggyback on this posting. I have a question about the Acoma Pueblo. Thinking about visiting there after landing in ABQ, before heading north. Would have all our luggage in the trunk. Would that be safe? Also concerned about things getting too hot in the trunk. Would hate to pass up visiting Acoma but not sure if I would get another opportunity. Any thoughts?

Wanderlust -- I would have said that luggage would be ok but with all the warnings on here about leaving luggage in trunk in "tourist" frequented areas...I am not sure. The parking lot [where you get the bus to pueblo] is kind of out by itself. Not sure how busy it would be this time of year [visitors coming and going] which might make it more risky to leave stuff in car. Not sure what you would have in there that heat would affect [not sure I want to know ] but it will get hot.

What time are you coming into ABQ? The tours leave on the hour and last 1.5 hours. And you have to take bus,no other way to get there and you must take tour. And it will take a good hour from airport. It is still summer hours there, last tour leaves at 5pm and the place closes at 6:30pm.

Hope this helps...
Debi

Thanks, Debi. Our flight gets in before noon (Oct.3). Figured we could get out to the Pueblo by 2PM. Not sure how hot it will be next week (forecast is 80), but with the Balloon fiesta traffic, felt it might be better (less crowded) to go on Tuesday vs. Saturday or Sunday (7th and 8th). However, we would not have our luggage on the weekend. In the car besides luggage on Tuesday -- medical equipment (CPAP), etc. Also wondered about how much I can carry with me for the tour. I have a camera backpack bag (full of camera equipment) that I don't leave anywhere.

You can take the camera bag but will have to pay a fee to use/take the camera.

I think you can go on either Saturday or Sunday [without luggage] and not worry about it being too crowded.

An idea I read to try and safeguard luggage in trunk...take a cable lock and connect all the bags together thru handle. It would keep them from taking all, but could still cut open.

Not sure what to tell you Tuesday vs. weekend. I'll leave that one up to you.
Debi

Just thought I would let folks know that the Acoma Pueblo is closed the first weekend in October and closes early on Friday October 6.