Monday, January 01, 2007
Summary
Trailer miles 4,284; Truck miles 14,432
Parking $2324.04; Gas $4028.24
Parking $2324.04; Gas $4028.24
Saturday, December 30, 2006
SKP Saguaro Co-Op, Benson, AZ - Dec 17-29
We arrived just after noon and got settled in for what we anticipated to be about four weeks. That evening, we got a phone call from Doug's daughter Erin who was visiting Gayle (Doug's dad) in Tucson. Gayle was in the hospital after falling earlier in the day and cracking his femur. Surgery the next day successfully inserted a "pin" into the bone -- the surgeon said that while no break is minor, this was as easy a break as could be, and that Gayle's bones are still very hard. Gayle was released from the hospital on Thursday & went immediately to a nearby rehab center.
We visited him numerous times, including Christmas Day, driving up from Benson and usually spending the night (with 2 of the 3 cats) before driving back the next day. When they informed him that he would be good to go on Saturday, we decided to move the trailer up on that day and then zoom over & drive Gayle home from rehab.Sunday, December 17, 2006
Ft Willcox RV Park, Willcox, AZ - Dec 16
The drive from Las Cruces to Benson is just a little too long for us to do in one day, so we always stay overnight in either Bowie or Willcox. Willcox is farther, but cheaper, and it makes for a shorter drive the next day. It is cheap ($9/night), far enough from the freeway that there's not a lot of traffic noise, and far enough from town that there's no light pollution. Stopping here always is restful and allows us to arrive at Benson with much less stress.
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Paul & Stephanie Bernhagen's, Las Cruces, NM - Dec 13-15
You don't get any cheaper or friendlier than this. Paul & Stephanie are long-time fulltimers who have recently quit the lifestyle and gone back to a house without wheels. They designed this house(berniehouse.blogspot.com) and did most of the building themselves.
It is very attractive and well-furnished, with a lovely roomy place for RVers to park their rigs. Stephanie is the author of "Take Back Your Life: Travel Full-Time in an RV", a how-to guide for beginner (and often not-so-beginner) RVers. They are both fun people and we enjoyed our stay very much.We also played bridge twice in Las Cruces and found them to be also a very friendly group. Our truck "project" here was the purchase of new front tires. It has been an expensive two months!!
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Hueco Tanks State Historical Park, El Paso, TX - Dec 11-12
This was our second visit here, the first being in Dec 2000. Texas State Parks are expensive ($14/night + $4/person/day) if you don't have a pass, but they are always well situated & well maintained.The site of this park is a large igneous mountain protruding from the surrounding flat desert.
Because the volcanic rock contains numerous hollows (huecos), prehistoric hunter-gatherers frequented this area, drawn not only by the water that collected here, but by the wide variety of plants & animals living off that water. These archaic people left rock art -- thousands of pictographs & petroglyphs scattered throughout the park. 
Among the most intriguing are masks -- drawings of exotic faces. We were able to visit rock art that we hadn't yet seen, and also return to some of our favorites.
The park is also a popular for rock-climbers. Because of the quantity & fragility of the rock art, there are numerous areas that are only accessible with a guide, and are off-limits to all climbing. Today's rock scramblers carry large pads (in case they fall) the size of beds on their backs, and it is quite a sight to see them hiking up the trails looking like some sort of alien creatures.Monday, December 11, 2006
SKP Co-Op "The Ranch", Lakewood, NM - Nov 11-Dec 10
The Ranch considers itself the friendliest of the SKP parks, and many visitors agree. We enjoyed a yummy Thanksgiving dinner here -- The Ranch provided turkey, stuffing, and gravy, and each table (of 10-12 people) got together ahead of time and agreed on what everyone was to bring. At every other park when we've eaten a big dinner, there are usually a number of cliques that get together & reserve all the room at their table (heaven forbid they would have to sit with a stranger!). Here, the largest group that can request to sit together is 4 -- groups, singles & couples names get assigned to tables randomly. It's a good system & makes for a fun afternoon. We had a great "hostess", which made the day especially festive.
We heard about "Christmas on the Pecos" while playing bridge. This is a "must see" in Carlsbad at this time of year. The Pecos River winds through Carlsbad, and homeowners along a 2-mile stretch of the river decorate their yards with brilliant light displays, which can be viewed from the river by boat. 
If you don't have your own boat, the city runs passenger boats for a reasonable fee. We picked a perfect night, clear and warm, to glide up and back down the Pecos. Three other couples from The Ranch also happened to be on our boat, and we all enjoyed the quiet serenity of the boat ride illuminated only by the holiday lights. The calm was disrupted when we were 2 minutes from the dock by a sudden windstorm. We were barely able to dock before the rain started. As we were dashing to our vehicles, the four couples agreed to meet for dinner, adding further enjoyment to a wonderful evening.
The storm turned out to be the head of a cold front that plunged The Ranch into winter for the next two weeks. Icy winds, sleet & snow were the order of business. During that time, we played lots of bridge and visited the Living Desert Zoo & Gardens in Carlsbad and Carlsbad Caverns Natl Park west of town.
The Zoo specializes in native species of the Chihuahuan desert and was truly enjoyable.Click here for More Zoo Pictures.
Carlsbad Caverns NP was overwhelming, even though this was a repeat tour for both of us. The Big Room alone is 8.2 acres of unimaginably beautiful formations.Click here for Cavern Pictures.
We drove to the Caverns in a rental car -- our truck was in the shop having major front-end work done. Our plan was to leave on Sat, and when we took it in for regular maintenance on Thurs they checked out a shimmy and discovered the bad news. 
That gave us an excuse to stay for the bridge club's Christmas party on Sunday, and everyone was pleased to hear that we'd be attending. The Carlsbad bridge group is as nice a group as we've ever played with, and the local newspaper prints their results, so we got our name in the paper 3 times (two firsts and a second) for November alone, and it will be there more times for December.
We have spent many months in various parts of New Mexico. It is truly a wondrous state, with many different and enjoyable areas. There is much beauty and also a lot of "dumpy" areas. There is one really quaint law here for state elections that end in a tie. After the courts certify that the election is truly a tie, the election must be decided by a "game of chance", the game being determined by the two candidates. Thus the mayor of the small town of Edgewood was decided by the highest card drawn. At least it's better than a duel. On a more disgusting note, cock fighting is still legal here, and there is a place where it occurs close to The Ranch.Sunday, November 19, 2006
SKP Co-Op "The Ranch", Lakewood, NM - Nov 11-??
We're now parked on our newest co-op lot, #66 at The Ranch in Lakewood, which is little more than a post office between Artesia & Carlsbad. For those who don't know, The Ranch is one of 11 Escapee (SKP) Co-Op parks. These parks were built by Escapee members and govern themselves under the guidelines of the Escapees. Each park has its own rules and its own "flavor". Lots are owned by the co-op and leased to the members; members own any improvements made to the lot (like storage sheds), and can stay on "their" lot as little or as long as they like. An unusual "feature" at this park is that SKP member friends can stay on our lot (when we're not here of course!) free for up to a month per year, paying only for the electricity they use. At 8c per kwh, it's a real bargain!
The drive down here was made interesting by the profusion of grass seed in the area -- either spike grass or spider grass (we've heard it called both). The seeds were blowing across the highway like pale yellow snow, sometimes completely obscuring the road. When we got here, the lee-side of the clubhouse had a pile of grass seed probably ten feet high & thirty feet long beside it. 
Shifting winds have blown the huge piles away, but many still remain. Some days we could not get into our shed because the porch was completely filled. The next day they would blow away. They have a sharp spike on the end, which sticks into EVERYTHING, so you often have to hand remove them. They can also be slippery (think pine needles) on roads and pathways.
We used to have to drive to Carlsbad for any decent shopping, but Artesia is now home to FLETC -- the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center -- and is experiencing a major growth spurt. Unfortunately, we still have to drive to Carlsbad for bridge. They have reasonably priced duplicate games 4 times a week at the Senior Center (which we had to join for the whopping fee of $1 each for a month). We plan to play 2-3 times a week. It's a very pleasant & friendly group.
The cats are doing well. We got Rainbow a new collar, which suits her immensely, and she is quite proud of it and poses often. We are taking her to a vet this Wednesday to get her blood pressure checked -- that should be interesting. Amber seems to get even more vocal every day. She is either sleeping or meowing! 
She sleeps too much in the daytime, leaving her awake for meowing when we want to be sleeping -- but she's too old to train. Trixie, our "baby" who will be 12 years old this December, continues to be the mellow and most "normal" (is "normal cat" an oxymoron?) of the three. They are all quite happy to sleep in the sun puddles, especially if there are enough that they don't have to fight over them.Saturday, November 11, 2006
Sumner Lake SP, Ft Sumner, NM - Nov 9-10
This is a quite pretty campground by Sumner Lake, which is a nice enough stop for a night or two. The park has water & electric sites for $13/night, "improved" sites (shade shelter & fire ring on a numbered site) for $10 -- these were all closed for the season, or "unimproved" (go down a dirt road & find a level spot) for $8. We would have been quite happy in an unimproved area, but the ditzy campground host made it sound so unpleasant that we set up in a hookup site and didn't check out the other areas until the next day.Birds were plentiful around this whole area, and we spotted our first northern waterthrush. There were also abundant Mule deer grazing everywhere at all times of day.
We visited the town of Ft Sumner and found it to have a fairly cute downtown area with many attractive murals. We had planned to visit the Bosque Redondo Memorial, about 5 miles southeast of town, which marks the site of the former Bosque Redondo Indian Reservation. In 1864 Kit Carson marched a group of about 9000 Navajos from Fort Defiance, AZ, to this reservation, a grueling ordeal that is now known as "The Long Walk". 
This 400-mile forced march was very hard on them and many died either along the way or at the fort, where they were held for 5 years, enduring not only disease & crop failure, but attacks by other Native Americans. They were finally allowed to return to their homes in 1868. The admission price of $5/person seemed a bit steep for something that we already knew much about, so we passed.
We did visit the grave (supposedly the REAL one) of Billy the Kid and several of his cohorts. After reading his bio, you have to wonder why so much attention is paid to this psychopathic little punk.Thursday, November 09, 2006
Hidden Valley RV Resort, Tijeras, NM - Oct 31-Nov 8
This is a less-than-perfect (but okay for the money) Passport America park about 15 miles east of Albuquerque. They limit you to 7 nights at the PA rates, but since some parks relax this during the off season, we called ahead and were told we could stay a second week at the half-price rate. When we got there, however, we were told we could not. They relented a bit, allowing us to stay two extra days. This worked out fine, since we were tired of Albuquerque anyway. There was construction between Tijeras and Albuquerque, which made our frequent visits to Doug's brother Bob & his girlfriend Paula quite tedious. We enjoyed seeing them a lot and had many delicious meals together.
The main reason for this stop was so Willie could visit her mom in MS. It is fairly convenient to fly from Albuquerque to MS. Willie flew to Columbus, MS, this time and spend 3 days visiting. Ann is doing well at Winston County Nursing Home. It is providing exactly the type of care that she needs. Ann had just celebrated her 87th birthday and seems to be looking better than when she moved in. Willie's rental car was a very sporty red Chevy Neon. It's a good thing she didn't need to do anything practical in it! No room for hauling or elderly riders. Willie enjoyed seeing the fall colors, both from the airplane and on the ground. In addition to visiting Ann several times a day, Willie also enjoyed visits with other family friends and relatives. Since this trip was using a "free ticket", Willie was routed through Atlanta (not exactly the direct route) where she had a 5-hour layover on the return trip. 
Luckily, her former college roommate, Lucy Hinman, lives in Atlanta and was available for lunch & visiting at the airport. It made the time fly and was a great visit. After re-entering security, Willie walked instead of taking the train and was rewarded with a lovely display of African sculpture along the walkway.
We went to Petroglyph Natl Monument for a day of hiking. There were several short hikes that we hadn't done before because it had been too hot, but the weather was perfect the day we visited, almost too hot even. We hiked to the top of one of three small volcanos on the West side of the park, then drove around to the East side and hiked the Rinconada Canyon trail, which has an abundance of rock art, some of it quite unusual, done on tumbled & scattered boulders, not on large canyon wall surfaces.
Another nice outing was a drive to the top of Sandia Crest. We had considered taking the tram to the top but found it was closed for its yearly maintenance. The drive was lovely, and we enjoyed a couple of short hikes at the top. We had hoped to get our first sighting of brown-capped rosy-finches at the feeders, but we seemed to have missed them by about 10 minutes.
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Chaco Culture NHP, Nageezi, NM - Aug 1-Oct 30
Our stay at Chaco this year did not seem to have the same "magic" as in previous years, and we're somewhat unsure why. Perhaps it was just that the novelty has worn off, but we never really felt like we were part of "the group". 
Willie's Mississippi trip & the ongoing uncertainty about her mother's health definitely had an effect, as well as being incommunicado for so long at such an inconvenient time. 
Plus, they installed screening software on all the park computers (we're unable to connect to the Internet on our own computer at Chaco) which made it impossible to access many websites, including our own blogsite! 
All these factors & more conspired to create an environment that, while not negative, certainly was not hard to leave when the time came. In addition to all these factors, it actually seemed like WORK this time, and we have learned that we are definitely not interested in working!
For the first time, we were in the park for the Autumnal Equinox (it's just too cold in March, so we will not attend the Vernal Equinox), which we thought didn't generate much public interest, but this year it filled the campground. There were many special visitors who gave talks and on-site presentations and also several large school groups. The cg has several group sites, and while the ability to camp with a group is a plus for their educational experiences, it is pretty much of a nightmare for cg hosts -- especially when we're the hosts! September and early October had way too many of these groups for our enjoyment.
We certainly enjoyed it when we had visitors, however! And we had quite a few, starting with a surprise visitor -- the librarian that we met in Abiquiu! She brought her niece up for a night of camping and astronomy based upon our recommendation. 
They were not disappointed. We had so many visitors from the Boulder area that we are afraid to name them, in case we leave someone out. 
You all know who you are, and we LOVED having you visit. We even made new Boulder-area friends when "friends of friends" stopped in for a few days. We love seeing friends along the road wherever we happen to be, but having them to share Chaco with is especially pleasant.
Once the weather cooled off, we were able to do quite a bit of hiking. We did all the "standard" trails and were also fortunate enough to go on several outings to places that were off-limits to park visitors. 
Willie was happy to have no hip & back problems to limit hiking. We were able to go on hikes of over 6 miles, which is good for us. We still prefer hikes in the 3-4 mile range but can go longer if there is something special to see.
Our time at Chaco was filled with the usual pot lucks at the housing area, special dinners with friends, and wonderful nights of Astronomy. We even got to see the planets Uranus & Neptune, as well as poor Pluto. They're none of them that impressive a sight, it's just amazing to be able to see them at all. We got some very early evening glimpses of Mercury low on the Western horizon. Of the two "biggies" -- Jupiter and Saturn -- only Jupiter was visible in the evening, and those views were for shorter & shorter times during the early evening, at the end too early for the programs. Saturn was visible in the early morning, but we are not good at early rising -- especially as the temperature gets so much lower.
Our last day there, we and a group of about ten other volunteers were treated to a special outing with the Chief Archaeologist. 
We drove to the far eastern boundary of the Park and then hiked to several interesting sites named The Fortress (for the unusual walls built on top of a mesa), 
Turkey House (for the abundant rock art of turkey tracks nearby), and Long House (a very long Great House built along, and being eroded away by, a tributary of Chaco Wash). 
We also saw some very interesting rock art panels.