Zoie - First Kiss/Setting

Rio Grande River Area -- Riverbank near Central Avenue -- Albuquerque

Just a few steps away from the cars zooming along Central Avenue is a different world. This riverbank overlooking the Rio Grande is rich with vegetation, quite a contrast to the desert landscapes one might expect of New Mexico. Suitably named the "Great River," the Rio Grande is 1,878 miles long, extending from the foot of Stony Pass in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado to the Gulf of Mexico. In North America, it is second only in length to the Mississippi/Missouri combination.

Brown muddy water laps gently against the shore and a variety of insects buzz near the water, snapped up by the occasional toad or even turtle. There is a large flat rock near the shore that might provide an excellent view of the surrounding area. Cottonwood and Russian olive trees dominate the banks of the Rio, and the bosque (the Spanish word for woods) they form is considered a wetland.

A riverside trail leads off to the northeast, one of the many restful walks available in this section of a park known as the Rio Grande Nature Center. Not too far from here is the Albuquerque BioPark.