City: Albuquerque, NM
Distance travelled: 365 miles
Total distance: 6,111 miles
Theatre: Popejoy Hall

I woke up early on our first morning in Albuquerque.  I had left the curtains open and the light came streaming through the windows and I was wide away by 7 am.  I went over to the large sliding patio door and opened it up and I was immediately happy.  It was warm! We had spent so much time in the freezing midwest in the last few weeks that to see blue skies and feel actual heat on your face first thing in the morning was an incredible feeling.

I jumped in the car and was at the grocery store by the time it opened bought a bunch of stuff for breakfast.  Aside from the weather and the massive windows in my hotel room which allowed me to enjoy it, another welcome surprise was having a full kitchen.  I invited the boys over and they bought coffee and I made breakfast sandwiches. It was a great way to start the day and our tenure in ABQ.

The weather held for the entire time we were there and it meant we were able to check out some of the beautiful scenery which surrounds the city.

One morning I got up before dawn and drove out to the foot of the Sandia Mountains to see the sun rise up over the mountains and light up the city below us.  It was so peaceful.  I had tried to record a time-lapse of the event but unfortunately I suffered a rare equipment malfunction and did not end up getting the footage I wanted.  In a way it made it more special as, aside from a few photos I took, I have that view ingrained in my memory.

After seeing the sunrise, Sarah, our production stage manager who had joined me that morning, drove to the Tramway, a couple of miles further round the mountain.  The tramway is America’s longest aerial tram and has the third longest single span in the world.  It gives you some breathtaking views down the mountain and across the plains below out to the mesas to the west or Albuquerque.

You ascend the west side of the mountain and the rocky dessert like terrain stretches out behind you and past the city as you climb to the top.  Once you alight from the cable car and walk across the peak to look out over the other side of the mountain it is like you enter another world! The east side of the mountain is covered in snow.  There are chair lifts ferrying early morning skiers up after they have wound their way through the trees down the slopes to the bottom.  A little to the north you can see the highway wind its way out to Santa Fe in the distance.  I am glad we went up on one of the first cars of the day.  It meant that we had the peak almost to ourselves.  We we able to walk around and take in the view undisturbed.

Albuquerque continued to be good to us right up until our last day.  We had the good fortune of having a ‘golden day’ where we do not or travel.  Our wardrobe supervisor, Katie, organised for us to use the grills outside in the communal areas of the hotel grounds and we all bought food and drinks and hung out late into the evening.  We brought out the instruments and had a jam, it gave everyone, particularly out crew a great opportunity to relax for an extended period of time for the first time in a while.

Thanks ABQ, you did not disappoint.