After Winslow as it is getting late already we don’t make any further stops and arrive to our hotel, Fairfield Inn and Suites, which is quite nice and has a well equipped kitchen that we use to make dinner and then crash for the night. Tomorrow we have a full day planned and even though it is really cold we are looking forward to it.
Our visit to the Albuquerque area starts with a short visit to the University of New Mexico (UNM) Campus and then the Old Town area. After that we plan to drive to a nearby wildlife refuge and canyon, so yes a full day.
First we stop at the campus and given that it is Sunday it is relatively empty and the parking is free. The architecture is Mesa Indian and Old Colonial style and quite distinctive and interesting.
The chapel is especially interesting, it looks from the mission days even though it is much more recent of course.
Of course given our interest in birds we are attracted to the Central Lake which is nine tenths frozen but still has a large population of ducks. They are concentrated on the ice free part and likely together with the water fountain are keeping the water from freezing over completely.
Besides mallards there are quite a few American Wigeons that we haven’t seen for a while so we enjoy taking pictures of them as they rest or swim in the water. And then it is time to go to the Albuquerque Old Town area to explore it, our second goal for the day.
