Southwest Family Adventure

greenpea · July 15, 2008

Last week my I took the family to New Mexico for our big vacation. Since the vacation was in the Southwest I thought this would be a good practice run for the dgrin shootout; turns out small children and any serious attempt at landscape photography does not mix well (but I already knew that). I still managed to get a few okay shots.

From Seattle the trip required a VERY early flight to Albuquerque

then a 3-1/2 hour drive to the tiny town of Eagle Nest New Mexico where our family cabin is located (at nearly a 9,000 ft elevation!). The high points of staying at the cabin were the daily hikes up to the old gold mine,

and popping bubbles from the bubble machine
.

My wife and older daughter took an overnight side trip up to Mesa Verde National Park while the little one stayed with her grandparents. Mesa Verde is one of those places I’ve always wanted to go to, and I hope I can return next year for a longer visit.

After Mesa Verde we enjoyed the big Independence Day celebration in the small town of Eagle Nest New Mexico. They have a classic small town parade and completely shut down the main highway that goes through the town, backing up traffic for a couple hours.

Later in the evening is the fireworks display, which I’m pretty certain the town dumps a good portion of its annual budget into.

The next day at 6 AM was the annual hot air balloon festival in the nearby town of Angle Fire. This is always the highlight of the trip.

Then after one more margarita, it was time to return home.

aktse · July 15, 2008

Thanks for taking us on your journey

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My favorites are the Mesa Verde shots, the firework (outstanding) and both balloon! Well done!

swintonphoto · July 15, 2008

I think the balloon shots are great! Nice colors and use of space.

jziegler · July 15, 2008

Looks like a great family trip. I really like the photos of Mesa Verde. Not a place that I know much about, but looks very interesting.

greenpea · July 15, 2008

aktse wrote:

Thanks for taking us on your journey

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My favorites are the Mesa Verde shots, the firework (outstanding) and both balloon! Well done!

Thanks April!

More Mesa Verde shots here, more fireworks here, and more balloon pics here
The second balloon shot was actually Kathy's photo. I went wide angle she went telephoto (I think she got the better picks).

swintonphoto wrote:

I think the balloon shots are great! Nice colors and use of space.

Thanks! This was my second time to get to shoot the balloon festival and something I hope to make an annual family event.

jziegler wrote:

Looks like a great family trip. I really like the photos of Mesa Verde. Not a place that I know much about, but looks very interesting.

Mesa Verde National Park is an amazing place to visit! Well worth a visiting during any summer tour of the National Parks of the Southwest.

Awais Yaqub · July 15, 2008

These are so beautiful !

ian408 · July 15, 2008

I bet the hikes to the mine are pretty cool.

Looks like a great time.

greenpea · July 15, 2008

Awais Yaqub wrote:

These are so beautiful !

Thanks Awais!

ian408 wrote:

I bet the hikes to the mine are pretty cool.

Looks like a great time.

Living at sea level I am use to breathing nice thick air, so a daily mile long hike from the cabin (at 8800ft) up to the abandoned gold mine (at above 9000ft) helps me to acclimate.

When I was little my cousins and I use to play in that gold mine, now they don't let people very near it for fear of some getting injured in the 90 year old structure.

cj99si · July 27, 2008

Very nice set! I know how hard it is to get the shot sometimes, I have a couple little girls myself. The first reminds me of what I go though myself(I love it) the rest are great and I like the close up of the balloons.

greenpea · July 28, 2008

cj99si wrote:

Very nice set! I know how hard it is to get the shot sometimes, I have a couple little girls myself. The first reminds me of what I go though myself(I love it) the rest are great and I like the close up of the balloons.

Thanks for the compliments! The flight there was a bit of an ordeal, my girls were both being pretty wild. I was half tempted to offer to buy everyone around me a drink (unfortunately I was short on cash).

I miss the old days of flying Southwest when they would let the parents with small children board first, then all the parents with kids would sit up front and all the business travelers would be in back (and be left alone). Now the parents with little kids get mixed in with everyone else.

Southwest Family Adventure

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