Sunrise & Water

I Feel the Need for Speed

Saturday we went on a little road tour. I thought we were going to find some turning leaves. We didn't. I did get to practice some photographic techniques. This is called panning; you are trying to get a sense of movement. 

 

Here is the only shot I got of turning leaves. I knew this would be a good shot because I had seen it last weekend on our way home from Midland, TX. Luckily Mark was agreeable to stopping. 

Yesterday morning I filled our birdbath. Then I came into the house and looked out and the sun was just perfect and I had slightly over-filled the birdbath and there was another opportunity for a picture. 120 pictures later, I ended up with four, and those aren't exactly what I wanted, so I tried again this morning. Probably close to 200 pictures later, I've learned some things, a few of pictures are good. But I think I will try again tomorrow. That is the nice thing about living here, tomorrow's weather will be the same, no clouds. Yes, I am my own worst critic. 

 

A single drop

Sun Flare

Balloon Festival - Alamogordo

Day One at White Sands National Monument was a total bust. We woke up early planning to leave at 7 for an 8am launch. When I looked out our west windows at 6:30, I saw something different. Not only were the white lights of the runway on (ten miles), but further west was this unusual line of red lights. Grabbing the binoculars, we realized those were tail lights from a huge line of cars waiting to get into the Park.  We ended up in the line at 7 and didn't get into the park until 8:15. The winds were too high and from the wrong direction so they only filled 3 balloons and didn't launch any. I shouldn't say it was a total bust. Driving out to the White Sands in a convertible was fun.

Day Two at the Alamogordo Balloon Park was phenomenal. We weren't too sure if they would launch because of the wind. Once again we used those binoculars. [We keep them by the window just in case.] Once Mark saw one balloon inflate, we headed down to the Balloon Park, which during the rest of the year we call the Shelby Frisbee catching park. The pictures speak for themselves.

Love this guy's tongue!

Flying off to the landing site.

An appearance by local celebrity, Smokey Bear.
The original Smokey was found in those mountains in the background. 

Yes, that is the moon

That's Alamo canyon (where we live) in the background.
You can see why we could use the binoculars to see what was going on.

Playing in the Rain

It's monsoon season here in Alamogordo and I went out and played in the rain. This creek bed has been bone dry since early November. I was trying to capture movement of the water and contrasting it with some stop motion. Water was wet and delightfully chilly. I was happy to sacrifice a pair of running shoes (at least until they dry out).

There are hearts everywhere in the desert. 

Including another one in one of these pictures. Can you find it? 

Hint: The heart is in this picture.

Rim Trail Hike

Two day hike. 22 miles. 9,000 ft elevation.

Just another July 27th in Alamogordo

Dear Friends,
Here are some pictures I took today. For all my drought starved friends in Kansas City, here is the rain pictures I promised. And the butterflies and birds are much better than the scorpions I kept finding last week.

Alamo Peak

We spent Father’s Day hiking down from Alamo Peak to our house. I thought it was only going to be about a 7 mile hike. I was mis-informed. Somebody, and I am not naming names, has now learned his lesson about reviewing websites and leaving with a definite plan not just the vague plan of “just head downhill”.  

7:30 am 53 degrees

As we begin . . .

just head downhill 

Little did I know . . . 

this would be the end of
the easy part.

Anyway, we had a good time. The first part of the hike was cool (53 degrees) and pleasant. At one point, the land was very similar to western Missouri; almost liking we were hiking around Camp Bartle. After we left the Westside road and headed into Alamo Canyon it started to warm up.

Into the canyon

Lunch break

 We stopped for our lunch in an idyllic setting; there was a very little stream and some nice sitting rocks. Then the hike just went downhill from there, literally & mentally!

We got lost. We had to back-track. We found an old abandoned mine and an old abandoned Oldsmobile engine.

Old water pipes

Hey this was one flat, smooth part

Near the end

I can see our house from here!
Good thing, because I couldn't go much farther.

HOME!

By the time we finally we reached our house the temperature was 98 and it was 4:30. We had been hiking for 8 hours.  According to the hiking website, our hike was 10.5 miles. (We won’t count how much more with the backtracking.) We were exhausted and very muscle sore. In fact, we both walked around for the next 4 days like 90 year olds.

Now every time I look up that mountain and see the blinking light on the electronic tower on Alamo Peak I can say “I hiked that!”