Tag: landscapes
Cardinal Points
Panoramic landscapes from the Bernardo Wildlife Management Area looking west, south, east and north by northeast.
Desert Harbor Retreat — The Setting
Our stay at Desert Harbor Resort was a Christmas gift from Laurie’s parents, and we scheduled our stay for our 32nd wedding anniversary. Desert Harbor Resort is run by Raymond and his wife Wesley. Guests stay in a small house up the hill from the main house nestled below undulating cliffs among the juniper and piñon trees. The nightly rate includes breakfast, and guest have the option of ordering dinners as well. Guests can also get life counseling, time in a hot tub, and schedule messages for additional fees. There is a labyrinth guests can walk in and then sit in the center and meditate. On the other side of the cliffs the porch faces is a covered lookout, with a chair and a hammock, overlooking a canyon where one can relax, read or meditate. There are also trails for hiking in the canyon and beyond.
Drive-By from the Fly-Over
As I started up the fly-over driving from Coors Blvd to I-40, I noticed the balloons in the sun. I got three blind drive-by’s as a drove over the fly-over and under the balloons.
Sky at Tierra Del Rio
Another interesting sky caught with a drive-by.
Halloween Landscapes
This year, we are going to do the same things we always do on Halloween: get up, play with the kitties and birds, go to work and school, take some photos, come home, play with the kitties and birds, study, process photos, post a blog, check out other blogs and things on the web, go to bed.
Gilman Tunnels
Twenty years ago, when I was training and racing bicycles with Kent Bostick, Kent would say “let’s do the three tunnels ride!” I would remind him that there were only two tunnels, he would say “Whatever!”, and we would ride from Corrales up to the Gilman Tunnels and back — a little over 100 miles. Back then I remember there was virtually no traffic on NM 485, no graffiti and the pavement ended soon after we rode through the second tunnel and then the road became too rocky for us to ride on — which was significant, because we often rode our racing bikes on really rough roads. Last Saturday there was a lot of traffic, a lot of graffiti and the road looked to be in good shape well beyond the tunnels. However, the road might still become really rough as the 43 mile NM 485 to NM 4 loop seems to be a popular mountain bike ride.
The Gilman Tunnels were blasted out of the rock in the 1920’s to give passage to logging trains. I hear the tunnels were used most recently in the remake of The Lone Ranger that was released this summer. We discovered they are now a popular destination for weekend drivers enjoying the scenery, and bathers who like to relax in the many small pools in the Rio Guadalupe. There is even a Virgin de Guadalupe set on the graffitied rocks at the north end of the second tunnel to watch over the people who park, drink, play in the water, drink some more and then drive on to their next destination.
Landscapes
Landscape and view of the Sandias from US 550 on our way to and from the Jemez.
Magic Mountains
Cézanne made many paintings of Mont Sainte-Victoire. Some people think that was rather strange, but Like the Sandias, depending on the light and perspective, Mont Sainte-Victoire is never the same.
France Day 10 Les Baux de Provence
Yesterday was a free day, so we did laundry, then our hostess drove us to the TGV station where we got our tickets back to Paris on the 28th and where we picked up a rental car for the rest of the week. After talking to locals and getting recommendations of places to see, Laurie and I decided we needed to rent a car so we could get out in the countryside and really explore the area. So we are still going to the same places as the class, but we are going to do a lot more exploring. After we picked up the car, we drove out to Les Baux de Provence, an old fortified city built on top of a rock at a pass in the hills, which was highly recommended. You can only get there by car or hired tour bus.
Baux is a popular village. There were a lot of people visiting the village, a lot of large groups of bicyclists slowly making their way up the hills into the city, and lots of tour buses. We parked in the village in the valley below Baux and walked up on the the stone stairways that brought us to gate 6. Just below the gate there were areas where buildings had been built into the rock that were now just cutouts in the rock that reminded us of the cliff dwellings at Bandelier National Monument. We were going to go into the old fort that would have given us access to the highest points on the ruins of the old fortification, but two or three groups of about 100 schools kids were going in, so that slowed down the process of getting in, and we had limited time as we had to get back by 6:00 at the latest for cooking class.
There are a lot of shops and restaurants tucked into odd shaped places and on terraces. We ate crepes in the narrow, almost triangular building (photos 7, 8, 9). It was pretty late so we and another person were the only people in the restaurant. The crepes were excellent and while were eating, the waitress and cook where busy bringing things in and taking things out the door. When we left, they had set up an ice-cream machine and slush machines and had a soft drinks available on the street. The weather was cool, but I’m sure when all those kids came back through after touring the fort, she would get a lot of business.
We also stopped and explored some of the vinyards and olive groves along the way, and I got my first French drive-by photo of the shark on the truck — the drives can be quite wild in France, but drivers seem quite wild everywhere. BTW we are driving the VW Up! to the left of the Mini Cooper in the second to the last photo.
Off Center & Not Even 