About Me

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1964: after high school life begins. Asked to consider not returning to OSU after the first year. 1966 drafted; grunt, door gunner, HU1 pilot. Out in Dec '70. 1972 married, joined fire dept and bought first house over a 6 month span. 1980 moved family (which now consisted of wife Teri, daughter Amy and son Ryan) to CO. 1990 moved all to bush Alaska to work for the dark side (the FAA). Started Blog to keep family and friends up on our whereabouts. Retired in March 2010. In Feb 2012 sold house in Alaska. By May had bought in Redmond and completed the move. Still nesting in Redmond and loving it!

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Yet Another Beautlful Day

Went on a 200 mile jaunt covering 2 scenic drives.  First, the Jemez Mountain National Scenic Byway.  It starts at Hwy 25 north of Albuquerque and wanders northwest before returning to Hwy 285 north of Santa Fe.  Surprisingly varied and beautiful terrain.  We only took a few short walks but there are many good hikes along the way.  Here are just a couple of pics.

Called the Valles Caldera, this enormous bowl was created when the magma below vented nearby and the, well it's a long story that took place a long time ago.  The geology lesson explaining all of it is at this link: click here right now it is one huge  Elk pasture.

This small stream is dammed by the ridge of rock on the right, called Soda Dam, the whole place reeks of sulfur.  The downstream side of the ridge, below, shows very fluid looking strata of crystal strewn rock.


The Aspens in the area are mostly done, but the Cotton Woods and other shrubs are still in the first or second quarter of their fall colors


The second half to our driving tour took us south of Santa Fe to Albuquerque on the Turquoise Trail.  Rather disappointing unless you were looking for art galleries and trinkets.

Tomorrow I try to talk Teri into a tram ride up to the top of the Manzano Mountains East of Albuquerque.  Then we turn north, stay tuned!

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