Of course the annular eclipse on October 14 was the highlight of the trip, and we also happened to see the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta from a few miles away the same day. I attended the Fiesta in 2004 as part of a tour and remember loading onto the bus long before dawn to get there. This time I just rolled out of bed shortly before dawn and caught the mass launch from our hotel parking lot. Then I got out my telescope and observed the eclipse. Later that night I caught the drone light show, something they didn't have back in 2004. The next morning I got up hoping to catch the dawn patrol on the last day of the Fiesta, but all launches were called off for the day.

Just before dawn

Drone light show

We also made plenty of stops along the way including the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, Petrified Forest National Park, Bosque del Apache NWR in Socorro, Roswell and Santa Fe. Bosque del Apache was a bit of a disappointment as there were very little water, no cranes, and no snow geese. There also was little water at Bitter Lake NWR near Roswell. The ranger there said there is an ongoing drought, which seems odd for an area that gets very little precipitation to begin with. At Bosque, the wildlife highlight probably was the flock of quail that was hanging around the arboretum near the vistor's center.

Quail

Painted Desert, Petrified Forest National Park