UNEXPECTED ALBUQUERQUE : NEW MEXICO CITY A STOREHOUSE OF ANCIENT, MODERN SURPRISES.

Byline: Susanne Hopkins Daily News Travel Editor

The face peers out of the cracked trunk of the cottonwood tree: a woman with a prominent forehead and thick features, her hands clasped prayerfully, a crude gold crown atop her bright blue mantilla.

She is La Virgen, Our Lady of Guadalupe, a carving created more than a decade ago by a man named Toby Avila, who died just days after completing the artwork.

Not many tourists see her in this tree growing in the walled, private parking lot behind San Felipe de Neri Church. She is one of Albuquerque's many secrets.

For many, Albuquerque is just a brief stop on the road to somewhere else.

Sprouting from the adobe-colored dust of the New Mexico desert and sliced through north to south by the muddy Rio Grande, this city of 480,000 residents has a history of being a gateway to elsewhere. In the 1500s, Coronado passed through on his search for the Seven Cities of Gold. In the 1930s and '40s, it was the first indication to travelers on legendary Route 66 that they had arrived on the brink of the West; most moved on to Arizona or California. Now, it's the jumping-off point to arty Santa Fe and Taos.

But for a traveler keen on history, culture and science, it is worth lingering for at least a day or two to discover what Tom Garrity, vice president of communications for the Albuquerque Convention & Visitors Bureau, calls its ``surprises.''

Garrity cites several: the city's historic sites that stretch back centuries (San Felipe de Neri Church, for example, dates to 1706); its restaurants, both funky and fine (`You can eat your way through Albuquerque,'' Garrity promises); theatrical and musical offerings; a wealth of museums; and the New Mexico stretch of Route 66, which passes right through the city's downtown. Along the route, you can visit some of the original businesses that plied their trade back in the days when hordes of folks from the East came through on their way to new lives in the West.

On a one-day, whirlwind tour, I came across other surprises, as well.

Petroglyph National Monument: Out on Unser Boulevard Northwest, there's West Mesa, where basalt boulders are prominent reminders of volcanic eruptions that occurred 150,000 years ago. Atop the mesa are the volcanic cones called the Five Sisters (Garrity tells me later that there were six cones, until a contractor in the 1950s bulldozed one). But what entices me out here are the rock drawings etched on the rust-colored lava rocks by American Indians as long ago as 1000 B.C.

There are said to be 15,000 images along the 17-mile volcanic escarpment. Visitors can see about 4 percent of them along three easy to moderate trails: the five-minute Macaw Trail, the 30-minute Mesa Point Trail and the 15-minute Cliff Base Trail.

Armed with an explanatory booklet, I clamber up the carefully cut stairs on the face of the mesa to view an assortment of images ranging from human figures and animals to inscrutable designs whose meanings are long lost.

Most, I learn, are of the intricate Rio Grande style dating to between the 14th and 17th centuries. The etchings were made by chipping away the rock surface with a stone chisel. Man has always had the need to create art; this has endured.

Indian Pueblo Cultural Center: The drums are beating and I hear the rhythmic chanting as soon as I walk through the door of this lively place, a blend of museum, art gallery and performance hall that represents New Mexico's 19 Pueblo Indian tribes.

``You're just in time for the dancing,'' says the receptionist.

Outside the entry hall in the large round patio, Pueblo Indians in native dress are doing the traditional vase dance, a blend of intricate footwork and balancing act, since the women carry large vases on their heads. They perform against the vivid background of giant murals - colorful American Indian scenes painted on the brown stuccoed walls.

Traditional dances are performed here each weekend, open free to the public. This day, too, there is an arts and crafts show; I weave through the stalls admiring the works as a flute player's hauntingly beautiful ``Amazing Grace'' is carried on the wind. Arts and crafts galleries, a snack shop and a restaurant featuring traditional American Indian food rim the patio.

There's an underground museum, too, with films, artifacts and narrative signs detailing the lives of New Mexico's Pueblo Indians over 20,000 years. Here, each pueblo has a voice. On handsome wall plaques, they tell of their beginnings and, while each varies somewhat, ``At its root, the story teaches about respect - respect for the Earth, respect for all human beings,'' says the San Jose Pueblo plaque.

Old Town: The heart of Albuquerque beats in Old Town, where the city began in the early 1700s, settled by Spanish colonists. Drawn here by that historic, old Spanish feel, the shops and restaurants, most visitors to the city don't miss Old Town. But while many of its pleasures are obvious - the tree-shaded plaza; the hallmark, twin-spired San Felipe de Neri Church; the artisans spreading their wares on colorful blankets beneath the La Placita Dining Rooms portico - there are some hidden delights, as well.

One of the most pleasurable is the free walking tour of the area offered by docents of the neighboring Albuquerque Museum.

The tour starts in the museum's west hall with a short history of the area: how Albuquerque sprang up around a much humbler version of today's San Felipe church as colonists clustered their homes and farms in defense against the American Indian tribes; and how the focus of the city changed when, in 1880, the railroad was routed a mile and a half east of the plaza. Now, the city sprawls east to the Sandia Mountains, away from what was once the lifeblood of the village, the Rio Grande.

The walk itself is about an hour long and comes complete with a pamphlet detailing the architectural features of the older buildings, which our guide, Patti Cole, points out as we wander lanes that weave behind some of the oldest buildings, including the adobe church.

``It was considered a tradition and an honor for the ladies to do the mudding,'' Cole says of the days when the walls needed frequent restoring. Now, the church is stuccoed.

The walk over, I make a beeline for the Rattlesnake Museum, a quirky place where about 60 kinds of live rattlers are on display - behind glass, of course.

There's the eastern diamondback, the world's largest, sometimes reaching 8 feet; the Mojave rattler, which has the strongest venom; an albino diamondback, which has a pearly look; and in one glass case, the shed skin of a rattler. Run the gantlet of cases and you'll be rewarded at the end with a ``Certificate of Bravery.''

Across Rio Grande Boulevard from Old Town, I seek out the family-run Turquoise Museum. It's in a plain, strip-mall storefront, but inside, it's a treasure trove of information and fascination. Katy Lowry and her family, including son Joe Dan, have built the museum around the turquoise collection of her father, J.C. Zachary Jr., a lapidarist. Considered the largest private collection in the world, it includes some fabulous specimens, including white turquoise (surprisingly, the most common) and a piece that bears a striking resemblance to George Washington in profile.

Entry to the museum is through a replica of a mine tunnel, devised to show the formation of turquoise. It's important, Joe Dan Lowry says, that people know where turquoise comes from - 100 feet below the surface, mostly found in veins, crevices and pockets of rock. The tunnel exits to rooms of turquoise displays, from the raw material (which is often pumped with plastic to harden it) to items made of turquoise.

``It's an educational museum,'' says Joe Dan Lowry. ``It's set up so anyone can go into any store anywhere and know what they're buying.'' Toward that end, this is the place to visit first if you're planning to buy any turquoise jewelry when you're in New Mexico. You'll be a more knowledgeable buyer when you leave.

There are lots of fascinating stories of history and culture to be found in Old Town; just talk to some of the longtime storekeepers. Like Medardo Ortega, for example. He manages Ortega's weaving shop in the rear of the plaza on San Felipe Street. It's a branch of the original Ortega's in the small northern New Mexico village of Chimayo. ``I am eighth generation; that means our ancestors came as weavers from Spain in the 1700s,'' he says.

Ortega is a descendant of the original Gabriel Ortega, who came to Chimayo in the 1700s. He was trained as a weaver by his father and even made his own looms before leaving the trade to work in other fields. Now retired, he delights in talking to the people who come into the shop and admire the colorful, often intricate weavings.

Happily, he shows the difference between Spanish and American Indian weaving: ``The Indian craft uses 45-degree angles, little stair steps,'' he says, pointing to an example on a blanket. ``The Spanish - we are Spanish - use diamonds.''

He shows, too, how individual weavers sign their work within the design. ``The very experienced weavers have a code,'' he says, pointing out a broken line in a design that an inexperienced eye might consider a flaw.

The work can be so distinctive, he says, that decades later, its maker can be identified. A woman needing money once came by with a weaving to sell. He bought it immediately. ``It was my father's work,'' he says.

From Ortega's, I walk a few steps to the Albuquerque Museum, which nudges up against Old Town. It's a handsome complex of restful gardens and striking statuary outside; inside, you can take an interesting tour of New Mexico's past - and its present (but take heed: This is not an easy museum to navigate because there are unexpected dead ends). Art and maps, films on life along the Rio Grande and Albuquerque's many cultures, and exhibits ranging from Spanish occupation artifacts to a typical home of the early 1800s are engrossing enough for youngsters and adults alike. And it's free.

New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science: This is the place for people who ask how and why a lot. Just a few blocks from the Albuquerque Museum, the natural history museum is where dinosaurs reign and you can get answers to questions such as ``How do sand dunes evolve?'' and ``What do you mean New Mexico had a seacoast?''

You can walk through three types of caves and see a Dynamax film on the giant screen. But what I like best are the dinosaurs and the Evolator. There's Spike, the pentaceratops, and Alberta, the albertosaurus, life-size sculptures who stand guard at the front of the museum; inside, there's a life-size skeleton of an allosaurus and a camarasaurus - and the left leg of a brachiosaurus. There's lots of other Jurassic-type stuff, too.

And you can get on the Evolator, a time-travel adventure that takes you through 38 million years of Earth's life in six minutes.

Stepping onto an elevator-type contraption, we watch monitors and see our guide, Charlie, in all kinds of predicaments, including an encounter with an angry duck-billed dinosaur.

``This is great,'' says a woman experiencing the Evolator with me. ``It's great for kids' imaginations. They'll want one in their living rooms.''

Sandia Peak Tramway: I'm swinging in a tramway car on a thin cable over a canyon a long way down when a little boy along on the trip asks his father: ``What if the cable breaks, Dad?''

Well, it never has, so get the idea right out of your mind. The ride from the desert floor at 6,559 feet to Sandia Peak at 10,378 feet is exhilarating. Along the 2.7-mile route (this is said to be the world's longest aerial tramway), we pass over canyons and forests and spot wildlife. I saw a deer; one woman thought she saw a bear.

If you want to catch your breath at the top, you can wander through the redwood trail with its commentary on wildlife and the view from the top. The latter is 11,000 square miles of vistas. You can even see the Rio Grande threading its way through Albuquerque.

Lots of folks on my car were headed to the High Finance restaurant, where they could wait for the lights to come on below.

And when Albuquerque lights up, it's like diamonds sparkling in the night.

On Location For information on Albuquerque, call the Albuquerque Convention and Visitors Bureau, [phone], or the New Mexico Department of Tourism, [phone].

Also:

Petroglyph National Monument, 6900 Unser Blvd. N.W.; open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily in winter, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily in summer; $1 weekday parking, $2 weekends. Las Imagines Visitor's Center, 4735 Atrisco Road N.W., [phone], is a few miles south; stop there for information and publications. A booklet can be picked up at the Boca Negra entrance guard office and returned or you can keep it for 50 cents.

Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, 2401 12th St. N.W.; [phone]; open 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily; free admission to center; admission to museum $3 for adults, $2 seniors and $1 for children.

The Rattlesnake Museum, 202 San Felipe St. N.W.; [phone]; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; $2 for adults $1 children 16 and under.

Turquoise Museum, 2107 Central Ave. N.W.; [phone]; 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday; admission, $2 general, $1.50 seniors.

Albuquerque Museum, 2000 Mountain Road N.W.; [phone]; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday; free admission.

New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, 1801 Mountain Road N.W.; [phone]; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily; admission $4 adults, $3 seniors and students, $1 children ages 3 to 11. Dynamax is extra, or there's a combination ticket for $7 adults, $5 seniors and students, $3 children ages 3 to 11.

Sandia Peak Tramway, 10 Tramway Loop Road; [phone]; 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily Memorial Day to Labor Day, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily Labor Day to Memorial Day (except Wednesday, 5 a.m. to 9 p.m.); admission $13 adults, $9.50 seniors and children 5 to 12. Parking $1. High Finance Restaurant reservations: [phone].

Outtakes If you've got a little extra time in Albuquerque and like oddball kinds of things, drive out to Tinkertown Museum (Interstate 40 east to Highway 175 north; follow the signs). This bottle house filled with moving, hand-carved Western towns, circuses and other scenes is the brainchild of Ross and Carla Ward.

``I'm a potter, he's a painter, and we thought we'd make a place we'd like to visit and live right there,'' Carla Ward says.

The place, inspired by Watts Towers in Los Angeles and Grandma Prisbrey's Bottle Village in Simi Valley, has ``sort of evolved'' over a dozen or so years, Ross Ward says. Now, in a warren of rooms, there are, in addition to the various scenes, a large doll collection, walls lined with old license plates, even a display of wedding cake toppers. And of course, there are the many colored bottles poking out of the cement structure.

One of Albuquerque's best-kept secrets is the National Atomic Museum at Kirtland Air Force Base. You'll learn all about nuclear weapons, see an original hydrogen bomb and a variety of aircraft. And you can see ``Ten Seconds That Shook the World,'' a 55-minute movie about 1942's secret atomic bomb mission called the Manhattan Project. Admission is free.

Just want to look around? Take a drive down Central Avenue, Albuquerque's original main street. Between Washington and Girard streets, you'll find Nob Hill with its melange of shops and restaurants (Double Rainbow on Central Avenue is a busy neighborhood spot with inventive breakfasts and lunches) and its unique 1930s buildings in what is known locally as ``Southwestern deco'' style.

Eighteen miles of Central Avenue double as Route 66. You can tour some of the remaining high spots like the KiMo Theater, a lavishly decorated movie palace with a Southwestern flair, and eat nearby at Lindy's, one of the original diners along Route 66. It still serves malts and shakes and good, old-fashioned hamburgers and fries.

CAPTION(S):

Drawing, 2 Photos, 2 Boxes

Drawing: (Color) no caption (Indian, S andia Peak Tramway)

Jon Gerung/Daily News

Photo: (1) The handsome bronze sculpture of a caballero reigns over the Albuquerque Museum.

(2) Tinkertown's Monarch Hotel comes to life with hand-carved moving figures.

Susanne Hopkins/Daily News

Box: (1) On Location (See Text)

(2) Outtakes (See Text)