How many days can we be on a trip before it rains? 1 1/2 days. By 1:30 today, we were getting our first sprinkles as we approached the volcanic pipes near Shiprock, N.M. We had some rain before Cortez, but most of the rain came in Mesa Verde.
All the clouds ruined our golden light for photographing the ruins at Spruce Tree House and Cliff Palace, but they provided our most enjoyable activity of the evening. After shooting Cliff Palace in the crumby light, we continued down the loop road to the Hemenway House Overlook where we decided to try to photograph the lightening across the canyon. Although, we weren't that serious at first, it became evident we might be able to catch a lightening bolt if it wasn't too fast. Carol caught the first bolt of lightening, and then we got serious. We shot lots of frames and finally came up with a few good images before we had to leave to ensure we didn't get locked in.
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Today's unusual wildlife sighting? We had two unusual sightings today: turkeys along the road toward Spruce Tree House and turkey vultures in the spruce trees right outside the Spruce Tree House ruins. They were huge and just seemed to be hanging around waiting for something to happen; somewhat reminiscent of the vulture in the Peanuts cartoons.
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