First off, as you probably know, New Mexico is a dry place.
The architecture frequently uses the adobe look ("pseudobe" as my friends call it), as with these houses:
...and there is a Southwest Native American flair added in many places, as this road shows:
The landscape is frequently very colorful, as with this red rock area. Gloria got a real close up view.
There were Momoko-sized nooks worn into the side of the cliff. Here's one photo of the cliff face:
Wildflower growing nearby:
Soda Dam is a beautiful natural water feature a short drive away from the red rock area. This tourist stop even contains miniature caves.
Water flowing under the natural "dam":
Here, the water flows away from the "dam":
Close up of the rock in the area. It's porous - from volcanic activity of some kind.
There are many many different types of minerals throughout the Albuquerque, New Mexico area, where many ancient volcanoes sleep. Throughout my stay we picked up fossils in sandstone, chunks of shiny obsidian, chert, quartz, black hardened lava chunks and so on from places where it was legally OK to do so. There are also Native American arrowheads lying around on occasion.
Apparently September is the tail end of the monsoon season. Here, it is raining at one tiny corner of an ancient volcano (what you see in the background is just a tiny piece of the whole):
A rain storm approaches Albuquerque as it dumps water on Native American reservation land:
New Mexico is a place of open skies and stone and earth. It's a beautiful place and you should check it out if you get a chance!
It looks so amazing.
