2024 Festival of the Cranes Last Hurrah

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This is the last post about our road trip to the2024 Festival of the Cranes in New Mexico in December! It is mainly about our trip home. My husband was driving again so I could take pictures!

We left after the morning with the falconer (peregrines and Harris’s Hawks) so the sun was almost overhead when we passed through Albuquerque NM. I hadn’t noticed the big pots between the two directions of the interstate when we can through in the other direction. I did remember the big aloe/yucca sculpture perched on a ledge above the highway – and was pleased that I managed to photograph it.

Santa Rosa NM was our stop again for the night and we left early the next morning for the long drive back to Missouri. We were near Tucumcari for the sunrise. The clouds and the vegetation along the highway made for a great photographic opportunity.

We were lucky that the clouds were thick when the sun popped above the horizon – no painfully bright sunshine in our eyes!

We saw the wind turbines in the panhandle of Texas again and a Route 66 mosaic in the rest stop bathroom.

Later in the day, there was Tulsa highway art.

We were glad to be home again but are still savoring our December time in New Mexico.

Previous Festival of the Cranes posts

Ten Little Celebrations – July 2024

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4th of July. The holiday was full of the poignancy of the First Americans Museum and the Oklahoma City National Memorial (site of the Murrah Building bombing)…and then fireworks observed from our hotel window. It is probably going to be one of the most memorable 4th of July celebrations for me.

 A neighborhood walk before the rain. There is always something to notice on a walk around our neighborhood…I celebrate our robins and dandelion puffs and magnolias in bloom…relatively common things that brighten my day.

A protein drink that already has lactase enzyme in it. I was pleasantly surprised that the protein drink that I can find easily at the truck stops along the way to Dallas includes lactase so that I don’t have to remember to take a Lactaid….and it tastes good. Celebrating!

 Philbrook Museum and Gardens.Celebrating finding a ‘favorite place’ in Tulsa.

 Planting orange daylilies. I ordered 25 daylily roots and planted them around the two maples in my front yard. I am celebrating that maybe I can reproduce the ruff I had around my oak tree in Maryland.

 A robin’s egg. Celebrating finding an eggshell…and realizing – from the color – that it was a robin’s egg.

Springfield Botanical Gardens daylilies and pollinator gardens. Celebrating one of my favorite places in Springfield. There is always something worth seeing there.

Out to lunch with my daughter. My daughter and I are exploring locally owned restaurants for brunch or lunch. All of them have been good experiences….celebrating my daughter and the food.

Friends of the Library. Celebrating my first volunteer gigs in Missouri. I got some additional training this month so I can do more tasks. I enjoy the work and the other volunteers.

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.