The Arc of New Mexico is excited about hosting the 2008 National Convention of The Arc.  We look forward to people visiting our city and enjoying our state.  We want to share information with you about your visit to Albuquerque that you might find interesting.  Maybe it will entice you to come!  Here is our top ten list of things about Albuquerque that you probably don’t know:

10. Albuquerque was founded in 1706 and is 302 years old.  It is a mile-high city.

9. Early settlers stayed in Albuquerque because they found an abundant supply of pinto beans growing here.

8. Albuquerque was originally spelled “Alburquerque,” but Anglos had trouble pronouncing all the “r”s so the first “r” just sort of disappeared.

7. Albuquerque hosts the Festival Flemenco Internacional de Alburquerque each June.  http://festival.nationalinstituteofflamenco.org/

6. The University of New Mexico ski team was the overall NCAA champions in 2004.  UNM is a perennial power in this sport.

5. Race car drivers from Albuquerque have won more times at the Indianapolis 500 then any other city and they are all Unsers. Back in a day, Jerry Unser Senior was the proprietor of the “last filling station” between Albuquerque and Gallup.  His sons learned to drive on the West Mesa.  The Unsers opened the Unser Racing Museum in Albuquerque.  http://www.unserracingmuseum.com/

4. Speaking of the West Mesa; there are extinct volcanoes and hundreds of petroglyphs.  http://www.nps.gov/petr/

3. The Academy Award winning movie this year, “No Country for Old Men,” was filmed in and around Albuquerque.  http://www.abqstudios.com/

2. The famed “Albuquerque Box” makes Albuquerque one of the greatest hot air ballooning venues in the world.  That is why Albuquerque is home to the International Balloon Fiesta every October.  http://www.balloonmuseum.com/ and http://www.srh.noaa.gov/abq/feature/abq-box.htm

1. In April, 1975, Microsoft was founded in Albuquerque by Bill Gates and Paul Allen.