New Mexico Road Trip

anwmn1

Well believe it or not but this week my son is on spring break so we decided to get another father & son road trip in this year. This year we decided to hit some of New Mexico and Northern Arizona.

Come along for the ride-

Saturday I finished loading the rental suv and loaded my little guy in for an early start. Our first destination was one I had seen pictures of but never realized its location. Now I will be making some return trips for sure.

Here is the elusive and hidden Grand Falls of the Little Colorado River with fairly high water from the snow run off.

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2. The first camera duel of the trip


3. These falls are comparable to Niagra Falls in size- Look at the top - those are people


4. Oh how I love the 7-14mm :lust
Notice the white speck on the left side of the canyon and two dark ones to the left of it? Those are cars!


5. one more of the falls


6. The Geographic Relation- The mountains are the San Francisco Peaks in Flagstaff and the Red Mound is Sunset Crater.


7. Leaving the falls I couldn't pass up shooting this


Rest of Saturday was pretty boring - just trying to make El Morro New Mexico before it got too late.

Sunday we headed a few miles over to the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary to see some wolves and wolf dogs.

Shooting through fences sucks :cry so I will pay for a photo tour on a return trip to actually get inside the enclosure with the wolves.

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9. This is Raven- we were able to get him to howl which in turn got all the wolves to howl! That was a pretty sweet feeling - to be surrounded by 59 howling wolves. :wink


10. On some dirt back road I had to stop for another old car


11. A couple hours later and we were down near Soccorro New Mexico to check out the Very Large Array.
The 7-14 paying off again :deal


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13. From a long ways off - look at that


14. Wait for it - Wait for it.

Oh yeah baby! :barb


Spent the rest of Sunday trying to find a place to get gas- something to eat- and get back to our little cabin.

Monday brought seeing one of the famous Tourist Traps- The Ice Cave.

Formed from a colapsed lava tube the cave never gets above 31 degrees and has a large ice deposit in the bottom.
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After the ice cave we headed down to Sky City- the longest inhabited city in the United States

Oh some quick portraits of my son first
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Okay now Sky City- very strict photography policies. :deal The people live in houses past down from generation to generation on top of a Mesa with no running water or power (though some cheat with generators).
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A stop for dinner and that was it for the day.

Tuesday we checked out of our Cowboy Cabin and made our way to Farmington New Mexico with a couple of stops along the way.

Chaco Canyon- words cannot describe this place and the light sucked so the photos don't do it justice either.:cry So much to see you could easily spend a day or more visiting all of the sites and even climb to the top of the cliff to get an aerial shot. My son was not up for that o this day :rofl

Pueblo Bonito
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Rock Art

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Next stop before Farmington was Bisti Badlands- much like the Grand Falls it was easily missed and much like Chaco Canyon the lighting while there really sucked!

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28. The little guy having some fun


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Wednesday was time to head home but first wanted to see Ship Rock and make a stop at the Four Corners

Ship Rock from a distance
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Some fun shots at Four Corners Monument
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A few hours later we were glad to be home.

5 Days

10 Unique Places seen

1800 Miles Driven

Endless memories of an Awesome time with my son :barb

leaforte

This is a very cool series. The one of your son riding the 'stone board' (?) is pretty darn original.

slodave

Very nice pictures! Looks like you two had a good time. I visited a few of those places with my parents many years ago.

BeachBill

Hey Aaron, looks like another nice and rewarding trip with your son. How old is he by the way?

NeilL

Enjoyed these very much, thanks!

Tango

great trip, love #12
and also
i didnt know there was such good surf conditions this time of year:D

anwmn1

leaforte wrote:

This is a very cool series. The one of your son riding the 'stone board' (?) is pretty darn original.

Thanks- Leaforte

He is a bit of a goof ball- I have no idea where he gets it

anwmn1

slodave wrote:

Very nice pictures! Looks like you two had a good time. I visited a few of those places with my parents many years ago.

Thanks for the comments Dave

anwmn1

BeachBill wrote:

Hey Aaron, looks like another nice and rewarding trip with your son. How old is he by the way?

Thanks Bill

The little bugger is 8 going on 16

His journey thread will be up in a day or so

anwmn1

NeilL wrote:

Enjoyed these very much, thanks!

Thanks Neil

anwmn1

AaronNelson wrote:

great trip, love #12
and also
i didnt know there was such good surf conditions this time of year:D

Surf is always up if you know the right locations

Tommyboy

Looks like a great trip.

I especially like the portraits, the surfboard, and the cartwheel. All nice photos, though. Those falls are spectacular.

Dogdots

Wonderful photos -- and a time alone to share with your son....thats the prize memory of all

Awais Yaqub

Hello Wonderful series i felt connected with each of the photo

Moogle Pepper

Awesome!

I liked that stone surfing picture too! Some really good stuff!barb

greenpea

Amazing pictures! ...And #14, I can't get enough of that one, WOW!

I've already got 2 trips planned to the Southwest this year, your pics make me want to plan a 3rd. Thank you for posting.

anwmn1

Tommyboy wrote:

Looks like a great trip.

I especially like the portraits, the surfboard, and the cartwheel. All nice photos, though. Those falls are spectacular.

Thanks Tom

anwmn1

Dogdots wrote:

Wonderful photos -- and a time alone to share with your son....thats the prize memory of all

You are so very correct in that. We had a great time even though as he states - "The drives were soo boring!!"

anwmn1

Awais Yaqub wrote:

Hello Wonderful series i felt connected with each of the photo

Thanks Awais

anwmn1

greenpea wrote:

Amazing pictures! ...And #14, I can't get enough of that one, WOW!

I've already got 2 trips planned to the Southwest this year, your pics make me want to plan a 3rd. Thank you for posting.

I know what you mean. I have a lot of places on my list to hit but then once I go to some I cannot wait to go back under different conditions.

There were four from this trip alone that I want to re-visit

ChrisJ

Wow, what a great Journey! I hope I can have that kind of fun with my sons in a few years! Looks like you had great weather timing. The colors are incredible.

anwmn1

ChrisJ wrote:

Wow, what a great Journey! I hope I can have that kind of fun with my sons in a few years! Looks like you had great weather timing. The colors are incredible.

Thanks Chris. Actually I only had good weather (at least good photography weather) for the first two days. Most of the stuff took hours to get to and with a little one in tow 4 am starts just don't happen. Most of the stuff was mid day and in the Southwest unless there are some clouds to help filter the sun- the lighting is very harsh.

I compensated by shooting ISO 100 and F11 to F22 on a lot of occasions and then a little PP work like Exposure, Shadows, and sharpen.

Get your kids out as soon as they are walking so they will enjoy it later. Mine has been going with me since he was 3 and though he hates the drives in between locations he loved seeing these places.

squiddd

Very nice pictures.
Especially those of wasteland.

anwmn1

squiddd wrote:

Very nice pictures.
Especially those of wasteland.

Thanks!

rpcrowe

Great Shots...
I enjoyed viewing your lovely images. The images also gave me some new ideas regarding areas to shoot.

I love New Mexico and hope to return there around Christmas Time, this year, to shoot in the festivities in Santa Fe and also to shoot at the Bosque Del Apache NWP. Last time I was at the Bosque; the timing of my trip was to coincide with the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta and my granddaughter's wedding, so I was about a month early for the wildfowl at the Bosque.

I can understand frustrations regarding the lighting in that area. The angle of the sun can transform an absolutely stark und uninteresting image into one that is vibrant and exciting. I wanted to shoot the Acoma Pueblo at dawn and sunset but, there were rules against that. There were also rules against shooting the people (mostly vendors) and their merchandise. Even the guide had restrictions on when he could be photographed - only in his back yard. Additionally, I enjoy shooting with two cameras, I only used one camera at Acoma because the required camera pass was $10.00 per camera per day, not per photographer.

My Acoma Sky City Album:
http://rpcrowe.smugmug.com/gallery/4016055_KVVAn#234968981

My Balloon Fiesta Album:
http://rpcrowe.smugmug.com/gallery/4023261_REVgu#235523400

My Carlsbad Caverns Album:
http://rpcrowe.smugmug.com/gallery/4049278_FgGzh#235794607