Yesterday Laurie and I with Susan and Lois took an excursion down south of Albuquerque to look for Sandhill Cranes for our birthdays. After photographing cranes we headed east behind the Manzanos where we visited two of the Salinas Pueblo Missions, Abó and Quarai, and then continued north, around the mountains, and back to Albuquerque. Along the way we photographed landscapes, saw several trains, and had an interesting, uniquely New Mexico, encounter with a local couple along the way.
Off Center & Not Even 
Great shots!
Thanks, Rajiv!
It was a beautiful day. The time we all spent together enjoying it was a gift, and a day I will not soon forget. So many things were so perfect and unforgettable. My mom and I are both grateful for your and Laurie’s friendship.
You must have stayed up late to get these shots posted!!! I went to bed 🙂
Great shots from a perfect New Mexico day with friends. Thank you. And, Happy Birthday again!
Thanks, Susan!
Great shots. I’m particularly fond of the ruins.
Thanks!
Beautiful shots! I had to do a double take because there is rental company here called Sandhill Cranes and thought “a construction site!?!” You live in a beautiful part of the world!
Thanks! In this case it’s the birds 😉 It’s called the Land of Enchantment!
Apt name! 🙂
Beautiful photos, Timothy. I like the head on view of the cranes. Coming in for a landing or taking off? I’m always amazed at all the hand-work that went into placing stone in those old Mission ruins. If walls could talk quite a tale they would tell!
Thanks, Lavinia! The cranes were coming in for a landing. The park rangers like to tell tales of what stories they think are in those walls.
And happy birthday! 🙂
Thanks, Lavinia! Susan shares a the same birth date as me, so we’ve try to do photo excursions for our birthdays.
Happy October birthdays! We have a lot of them in our family as well! Have we discussed my love of trains? Well anyway I love that first shot! Wow so would my nephew! I also love the birds they look like a painting or drawing to me at first.
Also the structures are amazing.
Hope you had a super weekend!
Thanks, Michelle. There were a lot of freight trains out. It was fun. We have the old rail yards in Albuquerque which was the largest steam locomotive shop in the country. My neighbor, who is now retired from the railroad, started working on steam locomotives that were still in service at that shop after he graduated from HS in the late 1950’s and worked through the transition to the diesel-electric locomotives. He has a lot of great stories about it years with the railroads.
So beautiful! Happy Birthday, Timothy! Glad you all had a great day out there…
Thanks, Herman! It was so much fun.
You’re one awesome Photographer! I’m in awe
Thanks, Adam! You are too generous.
The train brings back memories. As a child, I saw the SF RR cars go through Gallup all the time. (Played near the tracks, too… it’s a wonder we didn’t get hurt!) Beautiful photos – I like the birds in flight.
Thanks, Jana! We can often hear the trains clearly like they on the ditch bank behind the house, but they are across the river.
The Pueblo Missions, Abó and Quarai are so beautiful 🙂 and Happy Birthday.