Trip Report, Part 2

Our second day in Portland was forecast to be a good one before the Nor'easter rolled in, so we took advantage of the sunny skies and headed north to Booth Bay.  Guided by a trusty navigation app that actually worked, we made our way to the Coastal Maine Botanic Garden.  

Straight away we found the bus loading lot but finally made it to a convenient parking spot near the visitor center.  We had earlier gotten tickets online and quickly made our way out into the gardens. 

Wide pedestrian bridges over the bogs connect the VC with the gardens

Fountains, flower beds, and sculptures were tucked into the Maine woods to great effect.  There was some color change*, but nothing stunning.  Still, one could tell that the season was winding down.  By mid-October they'll close except for Christmas light displays. 

The dahlia display was stunning

Dahlia profusion

Panorama

We toured the central gardens and eventually caught one of their little carts and got a narrated tour of some of the backcountry beyond our reach.  We saw 3 of the giant wooden trolls and now are officially hooked on them.  Sadly, the nearest ones to ABQ are in Colorado, at least 6 hours away.

A Damso troll

A second Damso troll

A third Damso troll (out of 5 total)

Afterwards we drove into Booth Bay itself looking for a late lunch.  Our guidebook suggested The Boathouse and we chose it because it had oysters on the menu.  

My lobster sandwich (shared with little Schlepp)

Caro's blueberry pie (ditto)

We had checked my botanical box and Caro got her oysters and blueberry pit.  Mission accomplished.  A splendid fall day! 

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* Stay tuned for Day 3 and the fall colors in the mountains.  

Trip Report, Part 1

I'm back from New England and now able to post on the events of the past two weeks.  But first a little background...

Hurricane POLO was churning towards Baja as we left for Maine with forecasts showing tons of rain headed for New Mexico.  Meanwhile, on the east coast, a low-pressure system was shaping up as a rare Septmember Nor'easter.  Either way, precipitation looked to have a significant effect both on the garden at home and our activities our east.  

As it happened, we made it out of town before the atmospheric river driven by POLO arrived.  In fact, we made it to Portland, ME before the Nor'easter arrived, too.  That gave us a golden opportunity to shake off the jet lag with a stroll along Portland's waterfront. 

Portland Pier with unknown fishtails

Maine State Pier with ferries

Number 5 Eastern Promenade 

We returned to the Portland Pier for an early dinner/late lunch and had our first lobster roll.  As luck would have it, it was also the best lobster roll.  Believe me when I say that we searched and sampled many to be able to make that statement.  

Lobster roll at Luke's

Day 2 was a botanical day and deserves it's own section, so I'll save that for my next installment. 

Wet, Continued Wet with a Chance of Wet

Much to our surprise, the New Mexico monsoon* fired up on Sept. 15th.  In a few days inches of rain fell and the Rio is flowing again.  

Technically speaking, several trillion gallons of rain fell over the entire state during this last round of storms.  More moisture powered by a hurricane off the west coast of Mexico are expected in the days ahead.  

Happy Equinox, everyone!

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* Yes, we really have a meteorologically defined monsoon in New Mexico.  About half the year's precipitation falls between June and September, driven by moisture streaming northward from the Gulf of Mexico or the Gulf of California.  

 

Dry, Continued Dry with a Chance of Dry

A consortium put together a release of a couple thousand acre-feet of water into the 90+ day dry Rio Grande middle reaches.  The thirsty sands absorbed so much water that it took several days to reach the Central Bridge.  I don't even know if the "flood" made it to the gauging station at Valle de Oro.  

Sept. 3 waiting for water at the Gail Ryba Bridge

Within a few days the river bed was dry again.  On the prowl for lunch I crossed the Rio from the Botanic Garden to the west side and the cottonwoods in the bosque showed serious trouble.  Some had completely brown, dry canopies.  I suspect those trees will not survive.  Just a one shot estimate:  I'd say we could lose 20% of our trees.  

Sept. 7 looking north from Tingley "Beach"

On a brighter side, the water lilies and lotus at the BioPark have been flourishing.  With shorter days, they are flowering less prolifically, but they are still putting out a few spectacular blooms.  

Water, Water Everywhere (not)

While running errands this afternoon, I ducked down to the Open Space access at the west end of Gabaldon Pl.  I continued on foot across the little Gail Ryba Bridge, which crosses the Albuquerque Lateral.  It was flowing bank to bank.  

From there a short but hot and sunny walk up the ramp beyond took me to a river overlook.  I had hoped to find water in the river bed or, if I was incredibly lucky, actually see its wave front coming down the channel.

As it turned out, I saw neither.  The Rio is still as dry as ever.  The USGS website reports 248 cfs at the Alameda bridge and 212 at Paseo del Norte.  At the Central bridge and at Valle de Oro the flow is zero.  Only at Isleta is there a trickle, 48 cfs.  I think that value is the water from the lateral, which is delivered to the Pueblo, since they have priority.  

Your Occasional Daily Hibiscus

The Hibiscus blooms have been off and on this season.  The 'Midnight Marvel' had a good first flush of flowers and then a pause.  Now it seems to be gathering pace for another show.  

 The unknown apricot variety that was gifted to us has been puttering along with a few blooms at odd moments.  It doesn't seem to produce large masses of buds, but its double blossoms are remarkable.

Caro has just returned from visiting her sister in Pennsylvania.  Now the house can go back to its normal routines.  She  reports on cooler temperatures in the Northeast, while back here in ABQ we are still in the mid-to-upper 90's.  They had thunderstorms that snarled air traffic.  ABQ is still suffer through a dry monsoon and the Rio is still not flowing.  Riparian vegetation is definitely hurting. 

As fall approaches, you 

Late Summer Blooms

The heat continues to break records.  The drought continues to break records.  The Rio is still dry.  Cottonwood leaves are yellowing and falling10 weeks early.  Only about 1.5" of rain since May Day.  

But a few things are still in flower:  Alstromeria, Rudbeckia, Dahlia, Salvia, Oenothera and Pedilanthus, to name a few.   Lagerstroemia is finishing up and even the fall-blooming Chyrsanthemum and Ceratostigma have come and largely gone.  

Pedilanthus flower and fruit

We did some sciency stuff during Monday morning's Nature's Notebook observations.  We've been watching cholla fruits go from green to yellow, back to green, or at least greenish-yellow.  How to score ripeness in Cylindropuntia imbricata has puzzled us.  Some say yellow color is diagnostic.  Others say the loss of spines indicates ripeness.  

We collected fruits at several stages and cut them open longitudinally.  Managed to avoid the spines and glochids.  Still haven't resolved the ripeness issue.  

After all, what does ripeness refer to?  A good definition would be "a condition of fitness for purpose."  

More to come...