New Mexico to Home

International Anglican Church in Colorado Springs is an interesting church. It was actually started by a church in Rwanda. It was also interesting to me because it was my first time at an Anglican Church. It was good even though it was a bit different. Afterwards the Sellers' and I ate at a reception for a missionary family moving back to South Africa. Later that afternoon I left for Bosque Del Apache in New Mexico.



These Sandhill Crane silhouette shots above were taken either just before sunrise or just after sunset.



The rest of the shots I got there were within a couple hours of sunrise or sunset since the light got pretty harsh around midday.



Cranes are the stars of the show down there, but Snow Geese are more common, at least when I was there.

I thought I would be there at a good time, and it wasn't all that bad, but it wasn't what I hoped for. I'm told that later on they start flooding more areas and there might be as many as 100 times more birds. When they're that thick they come much closer to where you can get good shots of them. They say it's quite a spectacle. I'll have to try again some other year.


Other areas of the refuge had Western Grebes.


Neotropic Cormorants like I had only seen in Texas before.


And ducks like these Pintails.



Along with the water birds I found Road Runners. I didn't expect to see them again this trip.




And these White-crowned Sparrows were very common.

After my last morning at the refuge I talked to one of the staff people there He told me about some nearby areas that had Harlequin Quail. I didn't expect to be in their territory again either. These guys are about as hard to find as Ptarmigan but I figured it was worth a little detour. I didn't find any of these dreaded birds whose name shall be used sparingly, but it was a nice drive. And, it's good to have birds to go back for.


The loop I drove brought me past some real live cowboys doing real live cowboy stuff. I don't think they minded me taking pictures since one guy stopped to wave. You might expect a cowboy to give some subtle nod or tip his hat or something, but this guy waved more like
he was on a float in a parade or something. It was sort of disappointing. I hope he doesn't read this. I wouldn't want him to feel self conscious.


This guy and his dog fit the stereotype much better. He didn't wave at all and he even spat once.


The road also had some appropriate signage.


After I finished the loop I decide to take some of the back roads toward home. I saw a sign for the Abo Ruins (I think that's what they're called) so I stopped in . They are what's left of a Spanish mission set up near an old Indian pueblo.


These photos show some of the old stone and what looks like mud with straw in it (adobe?) construction.


This much more recent "ruin" was further up the road.


Much further up the road I came upon some much more recent ruins in the town of Greensburg Kansas. Back in May of this year the town was almost removed from the map by a tornado.


I believe this area was once a neighborhood. You could see quite a few trailers and other temporary housing here and there. You can also see the trees trying to stay alive even without most of their limbs.


And you could see some new houses going up.


About the only older structures I saw were the grain silos which looked OK and some commercial buildings like this one and a couple other that looked even worse. You can imagine what the place looked like before all the cleanup. It must have been really devastating for the people who live here. I'm sure a lot of them just moved away.


I didn't stop much on Friday. I was close enough to home that I could make it there in one day so I pretty much just kept driving. I did spend an hour or so in Hannibal, Missouri. It was interesting with all the Mark Twain history. This is taken from a spot called Lover's Leap. You can see the Mississippi River off to the right. I stuck to the interstates from there, and I made it home by about 10:00 PM.


I was greeted by this reminder of the good friends I have back here in Michigan.


So here I am, back home in Byron Center, MI. It feels pretty weird but in some ways it feels like I never left. It actually feels weirder as time goes by and I start to get back into some of my old routines. That includes going to my old church again this morning. It's all good, but it just feels a little strange. It's like it's reinforcing the fact that the trip is over.

If all goes well I will be back to work next week. I'm sure that will have a weirdness all it's own. I will at least be glad to start making money again instead of just spending it. I spent much more on this trip than I first intended.

This week I need to work on getting my life back together. I Have to get my insurance, telephone, internet... back in order (I'm typing this from my parents' house). I have to get all my traveling gear cleaned up and put away. I guess that includes washing the New Mexico dust off the truck. And, I need to start digging into the thousands of photos I have on my hard drive.

I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with all those photos. For one thing I would like to do a slide show, but I'm not sure if I want to put together one big one or a bunch of smaller ones. If you would like to see whatever I come up with, email me, and we'll come up with a time and place. It was suggested to me today that we could reserve the chapel at church. Or Maybe you have a smaller group that you would like to get together some time. Just let me know. Whatever I come up with I wouldn't expect it until after the New Year.

Aside from all the work I have to do now, this adventurer is starting to learn to once again love his old enemy, comfort. It's great to sleep in a bed and have my own bathroom, heat, electricity, hot and cold running water... It's also good to not have to look for a place to sleep every night and I don't think I'll be taking any long drives for a while. Time will tell what adventures the future holds for me, but for now home is good.

Thanks for being faithful readers and commenters. This blog has been a lot of work, but I'm sure glad I did it. It really help me to feel like I wasn't all alone out there. Thanks again and take care.

Steve