Albuquerque Adventure Part 2: We went to the Zoo!

It was a warm Saturday, with wind fresh from the desert. We packed up our lunch, got in the car, and headed down south towards Albuquerque downtown. This was our theme song (Peter Paul and Mary "Going to the Zoo"). And we went! Wish you could have come too!

Greg with some tortoises

Greg and I with beautiful tropical birds exhibit 

This is a better picture of the gorgeous birds

Here is a picture of  some tiny monkeys who were animated and interesting. Their features are so well defined - they look like tiny, wise, ancient, guardians of their nest. Greg really liked these monkeys.

Guess what we didn't see? Snakes. Snakes are what I am most afraid of in the world - but we did take a picture outside their house, just before we headed to see the alligators.

Isn't this alligator amazing? They can stay submerged for hours on end in the water, waiting to strike their prey. They are huge too - this one was atleast 7 feet long. I felt so bad though, as they were housed in a cement building, and in a solitary cell with sand, a small pool of water, and cinderblock walls. Then again, where would you keep an alligator?

This is us in front of the bald eagle's cage ( the bald eagles are behind us here)

And here they are! Magnificent creatures - and symbol of our country. Aren't they astounding?

This is a picture of Greg with the Polar bear. Seeing these real life large and stunning creatures was one of my favorite parts of going to the zoo.

This reminds me of the large and cuddly polar bear that Gma and Gpa Cummings gave me for my birthday once - and how I loved having such a big warm cuddly bear. Recently, I think my polar bear has been used for giving rides through the air to adventurous nephews and nieces ;)

This polar bear is not quite so cuddly - but still amazing.

This is the lazy king of the jungle - I don't blame him for being lazy - it was hot! I think we just caught him in the middle of his afternoon nap.

This is a kangaroo (in the shadow).

Sleepy mountain lions - guess how close they were to the exhibit window?

This close! We were excited to be that close to these impressive animals. 

We were trying to get some beautiful small, Australian green birds in the picture too (thus Greg's concerned look :)

Here they are!

"If you stray, on one fine day, to a warm and sunny place" - don't sit down, instead stand up! "If you look with all your might, and squint your eyes so very tight," you'll see the koala in this picture with me :) (Do you remember where those phrases are from?) !

I thought of Aaron who served his mission in Australia as we looked at these animals. We also saw a kookaburra! "Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree, eating all the gumdrops he can see..."

I think this is a wallaby in the picture with Greg - I am not sure - I am sure that Greg is handsome :)

Trying to get pictures with the giraffe :)

Did you know that the tallest giraffe recorded was over 19 feet tall? 

The elephants had the nicest exhibit I think - with a nice big pool for cooling off. The trees were protected against being torn or picked up by these great animals.  We really liked seeing them.

Hippos! Seeing these made me think of Kristan L. These guys undoubtedly had the best swimming pool - deep and cool and big. We walked on a bridge right over it! They shared their pool space with the warthogs nearby.

Greg with the gorillas! These are amazing animals - it is easy to see a resemblance between mankind and apes - their fingers and feet are nimble and they use them like we do. You might not be able to see, but there was a gorilla nearby playing with a newspaper - it looked like he was reading it! Greg wanted to get a picture with the gorilla reading the newspaper, but I wasn't quite quick enough. These primates move fast!

That was our trip to the zoo. We saw many wondrous creations of God. Beautiful plants, stunning animals, and a best friend to see it with. We had a great time! 

Albuquerque Adventure Part 0.9 (before the Trucks)

This is a long overdue pictorial sketch of our first field trip in Albuquerque! Greg and I went to the Petroglyphs National Parks Monument in Albuquerque. Petroglyphs are rock drawings - made within the last few hundred years, or even thousands of years ago by native Americans living here. The drawings record information, legends, and stories. Some point to water, or recount the tale of a great hunt, or suggest a good hunting place. We couldn't discern what they meant exactly, but we had fun interpreting them to ourselves and had a good hike. Only things which didn't immediately meet my satisfaction were the frequent (too frequent to be comfortable) rattlesnake warning signs, and it was an adventure in itself to be in this place where there was no shade and we were in the desert.

One of the rock drawings/carvings

The Panorama (almost) from the top of the mesa

We had a good time :) As you can see behind us, the mesa is covered with rock, most all of it is volcanic. The Indians carved on volcanic rock! This area has some very interesting geological history. We got the feeling that this is a veritable playground for anthropologists and geologists.

This is on top of the mesa. We were sure glad we lathered on the sunscreen!

As we were hiking along, keeping an eye out for snakes under the rocks, we were glad to find this little fellow! Thankfully, this fellow was the only wildlife we saw besides insects and birds. Phew!

One of the neat things about this park is how close you can get to the petroglyphs! Here we are with some - we interpreted this to be an eye - maybe a "watch out - rattlesnakes ahead"? I am SO glad we didn't see any!

One of our other favorite parts of this park was how peaceful and still it was. Though it is situated on the edge of Albuquerque suburbs, and is very close to traffic, etc. Once you get up into the hills among the Petroglyphs, it is almost like you can hear the hills tell a story, with the birds singing, the sand blowing, the sagebrush growing as it's done for years - so different from the dense suburb feel of Albuquerque. It was a great trip!

The Albuquerque Adventure Part 1: The Trucks

 Greg and Michelle love their family, and want to let their family know that they love them. So, Michelle wrote this story about their trip and their adventures for their family - especially Spencer, Emma, baby John, Reuben, Isaac, and baby Lily. We love you!

Once upon a time, in a land far away called Utah, two redheads who were best friends and married decided to go to Albuquerque, New Mexico for the summer.  Their names were Greg and Michelle.

So, they packed up their car, and drove down to New Mexico. Now, this city they were going to has the same name as a well-known turkey. Have you ever heard of the song "Albuquerque was a turkey" ? Well, Greg and Michelle had heard this song, and so they wondered if they might see alot of turkeys in Albuquerque.

 (http://www.netstate.com/states/symb/gamebirds/images/wild_turkey.jpg)  

But, after a long car ride in the desert, they did not see a single turkey! What they were glad to see, after their long trip, was this (this is a sideways picture of the door to their apartment).

After they unloaded everything from the car and moved in, this is what their front room looked like:

Do you like to build things? Do you like to use a hammer, and a saw, and other tools? Greg and Michelle like to use tools. Do you see a bench in this picture? Greg and Michelle built this bench, and stained it so that it would look like dark wood, and match the dark wood of their table. Do you like it? Greg and Michelle like it.

After Greg and Michelle moved in, Greg went to work during the day, and Michelle stayed in their apartment. Each morning, when Michelle says goodbye to Greg, this is what she sees from the balcony in front of their door:

One morning, after Greg went to work, Michelle heard a strange noise outside (HONK! HONK!) What could that be?

She looked out the window, and, excited, she ran to open the door and stand on the balcony.

What do you think she saw? Did she see this, as usual?

No! She saw this:

http://www.atlastows.com/Truck%20Towing.jpg

Now Michelle knew what had been making the loud noise! Do you see what made the loud noise? It was the tow truck! It honked its horn to wake people up.

What is happening at the place where Greg and Michelle live? 

Tow trucks are towing the cars that are still parked in certain areas, so that other people with trucks can do pavement repairs. If someone didn't read the warning that was sent to their door, or they forgot to move their car, then their car was towed! Thankfully, Greg and Michelle's car was not towed - Greg took it to work. 

And that is Part I of the Albuquerque Adventure - and the mystery of the noise.

Love,

Michelle and Greg