We’re fried right crispy after getting up at 4:12 AM, flying all day, arriving in Albuquerque, renting a car, driving another hour to Socorro NM. A little snafu at the motel meant we couldn’t get into our room, so we flogged onward to the Bosque del Apache NWR. The wind was kicking a steady gale of at least 35mph, and the air was full of sand, which filled our eyes and optics. The ONLY thing that could have fixed my now advanced state of crankitude is birds, and lots of them. The wind died down, we watched cranes and pintails, and I felt my blood pressure dropping precipitously. We hooked up with Jeff “Pretty Boy” Bouton and, when the light died away and the birdwatching was over, filled our empty tanks at the famous Owl Bar in San Antonio. The green chile cheeseburgers were fire-hot and good; the kids had a wonderful time drawing on dollar bills and pinning them to the walls; the company was stellar, and we began our vacation.
Jeff knows, being a dad himself, that birding nonstop is tough on kids, so he launched little lizard-spotting expotitions, and developed the sport of chunking rocks into mud (making the most wondrous flump when they imbed). Liam can be a bit of a tough sell where birding is concerned, but there are just enough trains in New Mexico, and they are close enough to the good birding, to keep him in Nirvana while we visit our own private heaven with the sandhill cranes and snow geese.
Thank you, Shila, for loaning me your fabulous Real Camera, a Camera that Listens to Me and Does What I Want When I Want it To. Blogger won't let me post any bird or habitat pictures; must be a stricture I don't know about. So I'll bid you adieu and try again tomorrow. Jeff Bouton, you rock for letting us camp out in your fancy room and use yer internet connection. Blogger, you do not rock.
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