My sister and I arrived in Albuquerque about 1pm, met up with our cousins, Bill and Heather, and rented a Mini-Van to spend the rest of the day driving around town. We went to a restaurant that I had found on-line called Fork & Fig – A modern Eatery. https://www.forkfig.com/
Everyone was happy and it was so good, we recommended it to the group and returned the next evening for dinner. After our late lunch we drove around the city – up to the foot of the mountains and went to Rio Grande State Park for a quick stop. We saw lots of Canada Geese and a few scattered Sandhill Cranes - just enough to whet the appetite for tomorrow. After a little confusion we checked into the hotel. Bill & I returned the rental and hopped on the van back to hotel for an early evening.
The van was a hybrid and I'm sure it had lots of features that I didn't not have the time to learn. I was a little shocked when I was driving one handed and the van told me to put both hands on the wheel. Honestly I don't ever want a car to be monitoring my driving like that -- I can only assume it is because it has some kind of automated driving function and it was "concerned" I wasn't paying attention. I assure you I was. Automation -- Sheesh!
I should mention that this trip was more about spending some quality time with my Sister & cousins to celebrate my 65th birthday & a significant one for Heather too. I picked the trip because it was more about the spectacle of the Snow Geese & Sandhill Crane's landing and liftoff and less about the species count. I won't lie, I would love it if they became birders, but I'm not counting on that. I just hope they come away from the trip with an appreciation for why I love birding, birders & birds.
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