Albuquerque Metro Photo Thread (school, move, yard)

[desert sun]

great shots, I really like that pic of the hydraulics too.

[abqsunport]

Man I really love this thread. These are real life pictures taken by real life people. These aren't professionally taken pics to skew reality, but rathers these are honest pics to really show what Albuquerque is like and I think that is great! I need to post some more, I have been slacking compared to everyone else!

[Towanda]

Hey ziaAirmac ~ I love the pictures too. Really beautiful! THANKS

[ziaAirmac]

Thanks for the complements guys, I'm motivated by the great shots already posted! Here are some neighborhood shots. I was surprised at just how many trees we keep. I think everyone has a feeling it's wide open, and the trees tend to blend in to the locals, but when you start to look at the neighborhoods, there's quite a few of them. The city was just giving away free trees for the planting this weekend to encourage even more.

Tiguex Park (near old town):




Albuquerque Museum (the missile is in front of the Atomic museum, which is moving), with an old VW van nearby. An old VW van vies with the turquoise fifty-some pickups and the El Camino's for the official state vehicle:




Tiguex park looking east:




The Playground:




Hoffmantown:




Candelaria looking towards the foothills:




Quail (there's quite a few of them in the foothills) in Arroyo Del Oso:

[penelopelp]

Those are beautiful pics! Tiguex Park is one of the places that we fell in love with when we visited last summer.

[ziaAirmac]

Southwest landscaping:




flower in state colors:




Cloudscape:



Sunset from the Crest, overlooking Albuquerque:




Ampetheater at the zoo. They hold a concert series here where you just throw a blanket and enjoy the music/crowd watching. Note the deep blue sky and moon just over the cottonwood:




Colored clouds over the Sandias:




View from the Crest, overlooking Albuquerque during the day:




Adobe, sky and moon:




Storm cell off I-25 near Algodones:

[ziaAirmac]

Here's some shots from special events:

Each December the Botanical Gardens dresses up in lights and opens up in the evenings with a display the call, 'The River of Lights":




Same time of year they hold the "Twinkle Light Parade". An evening parade filled with floats and cars covered in lights and farolitos. This year's parade theme was "Go Green" or "Green it up" or "Q-Green" or "Greenie Weenie". Anyway, I can't remember exactly, but it was a bit ironic because the Muscle car contingent was especially strong this year and they kept leaving room between each other so they could burst down the street in a cacophony of sound and shrouded in the light scent of richly burned gasoline. Those who are fans of the 'hydraulics' shot will note that there's a thing called scrapin' (as in nails down a chalk board) where the lowriders leave room, gun it, shove the front end skyward with the hydraulics and let it come suddenly down. The bottom of the car strikes the pavement in a shower of sparks. Interesting to see at night, but being a parent these days, I kept noting the lack of barriers and control and the abundance of speed and huevos.




Balloon over NE neighborhood. This is near La Cueva high school. Note the park following one of the diversion channels from the foot hills.




Balloons at Fiesta. I'm always amazed at just how close you get to be to the action. This is a picture of a Zebra. The guy in the ref stripes is there to help the pilots:




Proving that New Mexican's can't ever have too much chile:




Special Shapes balloons. Each year they set aside certain times for the balloons that don't have typical envelopes. Here's an example:




Balloon Fiesta time drives my wife crazy because from about a week before till a week after, or when I get thrown out of the house, I do everything I can to incorporate the word "glowdeo" into whatever I'm talking about. I already have a propensity to pick up a word of the day, but this time of year this word just has a way of rolling off my tongue. A glowdeo is when you fill a field with hot air balloons, wait til dusk, then fire the propane burners without launching them. You get to stand in and among them and it feels like you're in some kind of a magical forest. You're not, though. You're at the Glowdeo.

[InTheDesert]

Just adding some more at the top of the Sandia's, near the old cabin and overlooking Albuquerque, this was one of those days where it was 70's at the base and we had sun, snow, and rain at the top and had to walk through 2 foot drifts in the shady areas to get to the cabin...

[ziaAirmac]

InTheDesert, I've never seen the cabin up close! Thanks. Great post.

[norm]

Great pictures. Thanks to eveyone that posted them. I can't wait until next month to see Albuquerque up close and personal for the first time.