Up, up and away

My dad flew into El Paso last Friday and will be staying with us for a little over a week. It's his first time visiting El Paso so we decided to take a special trip to the Wyler Aerial Tramway. My mom and I had looked into riding the gondolas up the mountain only to find out that the site was closed every day we were in town; Captain Husband had never gone, either, even though he had lived in El Paso for four years prior to moving to Virginia.

I was a little surprised at how tiny the gondola cars are--each car could hold six people--but the 360 degree views that each car afforded as we ascended the one thousand feet to Ranger's Peak was worth the close quarters. 

It's a long way down...but if you're feeling wild and crazy you can actually hike up to the observation decks on Ranger's Peak from the parking lot on the Directissimo Trail. 

The views from the top were absolutely amazing; the stark beauty of the southwest was on display for all to see.  We easily spent the better part of an hour up there, just drinking in the views (and trying to see if we could find our house way down below).  Soon it was time to find ourselves some lunch, but not before setting up the timer on the camera for a nice family photo in front of the Franklin Mountains: