Labor Day - day trip

On Labor Day, we drove to the Salinas Missions National Monument (about an hour and half south east of Albuquerque). We saw ruins of two Catholic missions that date back to 1598. Adjacent to the missions are pueblo ruins, but they have not been excavated. These communities were abandoned in the early 1600's after years of drought and famine.

Alex is gazing up at the high walls surrounding us. Like my cowboy hat?

We saw this rattlesnake slithering over the ruins. He didn't seem bothered at all by the crowd of onlookers.

Here is a good picture of his rattle. The rattle was pretty loud and sounded like a baby's rattle. I was a bit nervous after seeing the rattlesnake. I kept a close eye on where I was walking and I kept Alex close.