Moon Rise over White Sands part 2

Just some more photos from Thursday's trip to see the full moon rise over White Sands National Park. These are all iPhone photos, so don't judge the quality too harshly - many of them were taken in dim light.

This first one is just a quick selfie I took after we had walked out into the dunes and staked our claim.

Leah and I did a tiny bit of exploring, so I grabbed a photo of her.

After I took Leah's photo, I turned around and saw this lone yucca with the last of the sunset coloring the sky behind it.

This panorama is one that Leah took.

And this one is also from Leah, closer to where our chairs were sitting.

Here is one that Catherine took, pretty much as soon as we staked our claim.

Ian sent me one photo. It looked good on his phone, but when I got it onto the computer, it was noisy and pixelated - he zoomed in tight on the moon, and the contrast between the bright moon and the dark sky was just too much for that iPhone sensor to resolve.

Cheers,

Marc

Moon Rise over White Sands National Park

Catherine and the kids arrived on Tuesday, so what better way to spend a Thursday night than to drive to White Sands National Park and watch the full moon rise over the desert floor?

We learned that this was a strawberry moon - the fullest it will look all year.

It was dark and a corner of the clouds was lighting up, when we finally realized it was the moon making its appearance. I really didn't change the colors on this - the moon was low to the horizon so it was quite warm colored.

Cheers,

Marc

Late Father's Day

Hey everyone - late Father's Day entry here.

Since Catherine and the kids were still on the road, I made my way to a cherry festival (they only had u-pick, and I didn't feel like picking cherries by myself), and then on up into the mountains to get away from the heat.

Right before you get into Cloudcroft, there is this old train trestle across a canyon/ravine. It is pretty photogenic, I'd like to be here for a sunset sometime when the tracks will catch some warm light.

From there, I drove south into Lincoln National Forest, trying to find some aspen trees for fall (found some!) and locate some camping spots. The below photo is from Bluff Springs, which is a small camping area.

It is hard to tell from the photo, but there is a waterfall dropping from the edge of the bluff - it was a small stream, but still pretty, and a world away from the desert 4,000 feet below.

Catherine and the kids arrive later today - can't wait to be reunited.

Cheers,

Marc

PLEASE RESPOND! Updating our email contact list.

 Hi Everyone!

The email program we were using to send messages through from our blog, feedburner, is being discontinued.  I'm merging our email mailing list into a new provider.  Please, please reply to this message so I know it's gone out & you still want to receive our notes & pictures from our Skinner Sightings. I will be deleting everyone's email from the list whom I haven't heard from by the end of June.

I added a new widget to the blog so if you know of a family member or friend who doesn't get the emails & would like to receive them, they can be added. 

Thank you! 

Catherine

Adding a recent pic I took of a rose just to make sure the pictures will still come through. Thank you!

Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument

I got up this morning to go check out a local park, the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument. I got there a bit before sunrise, which gave me plenty of time to set up the camera and just enjoy being in the outdoors.

The prominent mountain peaks are the Rabbit Ears, and are visible (almost as prominently) from the back porch of the new house. It is a 20 minute drive, I feel like I could walk there in the same amount of time.

I saw a bobcat carrying it's breakfast, a couple of deer, roadrunners, and loads of rabbits this morning - the desert is surprisingly full of wildlife. It was a great way to start the day - now to finish unpacking!

Cheers,

Marc