The first day of project week began at 2 am Monday March 7, 2022. We arrived at the coach bus full of energy, even though we hadn’t slept in 7 hours, and we wouldn’t sleep for another 10. The ride to Logan was a blur, and in a blink we were checking in our bags. By this point the energy stated to fade and the airport stress kicked in. We were rushing to get to our flight, due to the airline's computers being down, even though we had had plenty of time to spare.
The first plane ride were made up of power-naps only being awoken when turbulence hit, and our half conscious selves thought our plane was going down. The second ride however was more eventful. We were the last to board, so we could not sit together. While Elena made friends with the man next to her, Abby dealt with a curious woman who seemed to think she was a waitress. When we finally landed our day had finally, truly begun.
We arrived—ravenous and eager, discussions of lunch and schedules filled the air. We got our bags, and hopped into the shuttle bus to take us to the rental place. To our greatest delight we were given the drippiest, white GMC Yukon the world has ever seen. Cramming in the car with all of our gear, we headed off to our first destination.
Our first destination was the Rio Grande Nature Park. Here we observed and photographed the water fowl that is native to the area. The art and trail was beautiful, but it was a bit colder than expected. After spending time learning about how to photograph birds, and what correct settings to use in certain lighting, we were pretty tuckered out, but we still had more to explore. We also had our first introduction to our binoculars and the spotting scope.
We
headed over to the Sandia Peak Tramway, which was about a fifteen
minute drive. On our way we discussed ever negative outcome of climbing
10,000 ft in a small metal box. We were extremely paranoid, but it was
worth it. The view from the top of the peak was beautiful. You could see
for miles, and we arrived just in time for sunset. Though it was cold
we had lots of fun exploring the top and photographing the landscape.
After a while we got a bit too cold and decided to head to the hotel.
Once we arrived showers were taken, photos were edited, and we finally
fell asleep.
