Venturing west of the Rio Grande

We rarely cross the river into the Albuquerque's "west side", Rio Rancho, the embodiment of suburban sprawl with cookie-cutter homes, strip malls and a whole lot of concrete. But it is also home to the "Petroglyph National Monument", a large wide open are with an estimated 24.000 carved images and 'the three sisters' volcanoes.

We hiked around for a few hours and were lucky to catch a stunning sunset! The variety of landscapes in New Mexico is just incredible!!

I believe I can fly!!!!



From the rocky cave...


Low desert grasses...



Looks like the aliens are landing (and we're not even in Roswell!!)...


Colors changing minute to minute...

Side-by-side ;-)

I started at my new job at UNMH. I'm still orienting to the organizational and paperwork part and getting to know the people and the flow of the department but I my impressions so far are positive...

And Doug and I are spending our daytime hours on the same campus. Not that we ever run into each other, but at least we can meet for lunch ;-)!!

Dear Santa Fe, I miss you terribly!!!

I miss living in Santa Fe.... a lot! It's hard to define exactly what I miss but although Albuquerque is only an hour from Santa Fe, the difference between the 2 places is huge. So, whenever Doug can be away from the books for a day, we try to get up there; a hike in the mountains, a walk around town, food at our favorite places... When driving back, I'm always a little sad because we're not staying longer but also grateful because we are living so close....

Yesterday, we hiked late in the afternoon and the moon was already out, creating some interesting light-shows and moon-shadows.






Great dinner, a cozy hotel room and a green-chili-brunch later, we were on our way back to Albuquerque for a busy week ahead....

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I was fortunate enough to have a great 2010. I'm hoping for a great 2011 in whatever way, shape or form it might present itself....

I'm wishing everybody the love, strength and humor to enjoy, appreciate and savor the good and deal gracefully with the challenges 2011 might present!!

Bosque del Apache

The Bosque is a birding and wildlife refuge about 1.5 hours south of Albuquerque. As many as 14.000 Sandhill Cranes and 32.000 Snow Geese (and plenty of other migrating birds) make the Bosque their winter home. The cranes arrive in November and stay as late as the end of February. After that, they slowly migrate back to Grays Lake in Idaho, their breeding ground.










We were fortunate enough to see 1000's of snow geese take off all at once. It was a visual as well as an auditory spectacle; a combination of them 'talking' and their wings flapping.




There were lots of people watching and taking pictures, most with fancy camera's with tripods and 2-3-4 feet lenses. I felt a little intimidated as the only one with a tiny point-and-shoot camera. Still, I like all 148 pictures I took ;-)!!

La Luz in DECEMBER!!!

Yes, we knew there would be snow. We thought maybe there might be quite a bit of snow... I think we were both surprised to be in such deep snow ;-)!!!. Luckily, some brave souls had broken trail for us so we didn't sink in too deep or need snow shoes! Polar bear Doug was in heaven!




As we went higher up the trail, the giggling college girls in tennis shoes made way for some serious hikers with ice pics, survival supplies and 4-legged-friends!

It was cold and windy and I was thrilled to finally get to the tramway.... Unfortunately there was a 1.5 hour wait to ride down. I partially de-iced by having some green chili soup and hot chocolate but didn't totally defrost until a hot shower back at the house.

Long legs ...-... Long arms ;-)

Looking for a white X-mas.....

AND FINDING it ON ATALAYA.....

With only one little snowstorm in the area, (which mainly hit Santa Fe and not Albuquerque) and temperatures of high 40's and 50's during the day, it's hard to get into the X-mas mood... Yes, the decorations inside and out are up, yes, the candles are burning and carols are being heard, yes, the X-mas sweaters and accessories are all around at work, yes, the stores are busy with people buying presents,.... yes, I'm eating more cookies than any other time of year,....but what I really needed was SNOW!

Farolito walk

After our hike and an early dinner we went to one of Santa Fe's most celebrated holiday traditions: the Canyon Road Farolito Walk. Small, sand-filled bags with votive candles, Farolitos, line the historic neighborhood streets and adobe walls. Carolers gather around bonfires. Thousands of people, their kids and pets brave the cold (not so cold this year) and celebrate the spirit of X-mas. HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

X-mas on SF plaza