Hitch Itch!

It's been almost a month that I've been parked at the LoW-Hi RV Ranch, and I'm ready to move on. I've about exhausted things to see in the area, and it's getting a little chilly for my old bones. It's also been about two and a half months since I've had a volunteer assignment, and I'm getting bored.

So, today I began my preparations for hitting the road. Mainly, that consisted of defrosting the freezer. I think the last time I did that was in August or September, so it was about time. RV refrigerators are not frost free. Being in a very low humidity area like New Mexico, it hasn't been necessary until now. I always like to get this chore done before I get back on the road.

Since I'm paid up here through Saturday night, I've decided to head out on Sunday morning. I was thinking of leaving on Friday, but I've decided to avoid most of the holiday traffic by waiting until Sunday. That means I should arrive at Anahuac NWR on Wednesday or Thursday. It's close to 1000 miles, but almost all of the travel will be on I-10, so I'll probably average a little more than my normal 200 miles per day.

Thanks for stopping by....talk to you later, Judy

The Sunday Blast from the Past

It's a short trip from Zion National Park to Bryce Canyon National Park. I checked in at Ruby's Inn Campground, and prepared to tour Bryce the next morning.

I left early in the morning to avoid all of the crowds.

It was an uphill drive all the way to Rainbow Point, but what scenery along the way.

The air is certainly a lot thinner at this altitude. :)

The hoodoos of Bryce are some of the most spectacular natural formations I have ever seen!

This raven was at one of the overlooks. He would wait until folks got out of their cars, and then he'd glide down to pick the bugs off of the front of the vehicles. How's that for learned behavior? Since it was May, there were plenty of bugs stuck to the front of the cars and trucks.

Of course, I took tons of pictures of this magnificent national park, so it was hard to choose just a few for today's "blast."

In my opinion, Bryce Canyon National Park only ranks behind the Grand Canyon National Park as the most awesome national park that I have visited. Yellowstone would probably be a close third for me. Your opinion may vary. ;)

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Thanks for stopping by....talk to you later, Judy

What's the weather?

When I left Minnesota in September, I neglected to peel off the outside thermometer from my window. I'm sure it's located along US 14 somewhere near Claremont. :) So, when I got down here to New Mexico, I decided to purchase another thermometer. I do like to know how cold it gets at night.

I bought the first new thermometer at a hardware store, suctioned it on the outside and waited. It didn't work. I took it back, and none of the similar thermometers worked either. Later, I went to Walmart and bought a digital indoor/outdoor thermometer. It worked for about a week. Yesterday, I took it back and put out a few more bucks for a different digital indoor/outdoor thermometer.
So far, it's working fine with both temps, but this is not all it is supposed to do. The bells and whistles on this model include inside humidity, date, time, sunset/sunrise, predicted weather, and a figure that indicates what kind of clothes to wear outside! The figure is a male, and is clothed in different layers depending on the outside temp. He carries an umbrella if rain is in the forecast, and gloves and a hat if it's cold outside. I'm just curious to see what happens if it gets over 100*!!! What will they think of next?

Anyway, setting up all these additional features is my latest challenge. Just trying to change the time zone has me stumped. Sometimes I wonder who writes the directions for these electronic wonders. So far, the directions say that the appropriate light will be blinking so you can change it. Well, guess what? They don't tell you how to get the appropriate light to blink. I've pushed all the available buttons and don't seem to be getting anywhere. Considering that all I originally wanted was to know the outside temperature, I'm going to let it be until I get to Texas. I think I can still figure out what to wear outside just by knowing the temp and seeing if the trees are swaying in the wind. ;)

Sometimes, more isn't always better.........

Thanks for stopping by....talk to you later, Judy

Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument

As I headed out this morning to go to the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, I took US 180 heading northwest out of Deming. It's about a 56 mile drive to Silver City, and then you take NM 15 for 44 miles to the monument. During the first ten miles north of Deming, I decided this should be called the Chili Pepper Highway. Both sides of the road were strewn with red chili peppers. Many 18 wheelers come north from Mexico with truckloads of peppers. Apparently, one of these trucks had a little problem with his load. Can you imagine how surprised the trucker will be when he discovers that a good share of his load has mysteriously disappeared when he gets to his destination?

The drive on NM15 was a surprise for me. It is barely a two lane road through the Gila National Forest with many twists, turns, and steep grades up and down. That 44 miles took two hours to navigate!

The scenery through the National Forest and mountains was spectacular, but slow going.

It was noon before I arrived at the monument, which meant I was about a half hour too late to go on the ranger led hike of the dwellings....dang! I had packed a sandwich, so I ate lunch in the parking lot at the trail head before heading up to the ruins.

The trail is a one mile loop, and begins with a rather steep climb up to the caves.
The trail is not paved and includes many steps, but is a very peaceful hike criss-crossing one of the forks of the Gila River.

There are six caves that were used by the Mogollon (pronounced Muggy-own) culture over 700 years ago.

The Tularoa Mogollon built inside these caves with rock, mortar, and timbers. These people combined hunting and gathering with farming.

What a view these people had out of the caves. While I missed the ranger led tour, it turned out that I had a private tour of the dwellings by the volunteer stationed at the caves. How nice that was! I'm sure she knew as much as the ranger and we took our time exploring the area. What a difference from the tour at Casa Grande.

This was the exit out of the caves, which I navigated without disaster. The biggest problem was how hot the ladder was to the touch. It is made of pine and was really hard to hold onto as it sits out in the afternoon sun.

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From there, it was a half mile walk down to the parking area. I'm thinking it's really harder to go down than up! My legs were a little stressed from all of the steps down.

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Then it was the twisty, windy, slow going drive back to Deming. I didn't get back until 4:30. Emma was more than happy to get out of her crate. We have done several walks around the park since then to help burn off her energy. ;)

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All in all, this was a fantastic day. The monument is well worth the visit, even though it is way off the beaten path.

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Thanks for stopping by....talk to you later, Judy

Taking care of business

When I checked the weather forecast this morning, I decided that I would make the trip to the Gila Cliff Dwellings on Friday instead of today. The weather for today wasn't bad, but tomorrow looks even better.

I was running low on food for Emma, so I made a trip to Walmart and picked up that and several other food items for myself. The New York cheesecake was calling my name, and I had to listen. ;) It's also been rather chilly at night here and I decided to get a new pair of flannel pj pants. The pair I have been wearing has several big bleach stains on them...not sure how that happened. Anyway, you can never tell when you might meet someone after dark (while walking Emma), so it's essential that I have acceptable attire. It's kind of like what my mother used to say "make sure you are wearing clean underwear in case you end up in the hospital."

This afternoon, I did a couple of loads of laundry, walked Emma several times, took care of some bills online, and checked my propane level. I think I'll call the propane company next week for a fill up. I want to arrive in Texas with a full tank so I won't have to unhook and drive somewhere to get it filled. Because I'm in an RV park here, they will deliver the propane, which is so much easier.

Many folks in the park are going out to dinner tonight. I will pass. Eating out at night always results in indigestion for me. I also like my own cooking, so not going was a no brainer for me. Not a very exciting day, but I got a lot accomplished. I'm looking forward to tomorrow's trip.

Thanks for stopping by....talk to you later, Judy

City of Rocks State Park

About 35 miles from Deming, is the City of Rocks State Park.

These rocks were formed by a violent eruption of volcanic pumice, ash, and hot gas that occurred 34.9 million years ago. This eruption was 1000 times greater than the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, if you can imagine that. That's the visitor's center in the middle of the picture to give you an idea of the size of the rocks.

Because the volcanic material was very hot when it was deposited, the volcanic fragments compacted to form this dense rock.

Freeze-thaw action, wind, and the effects of vegetation continue to erode the rocks. If you come back here in several million years, the City of Rocks may just be a plain!
As I walked through these rocks, I got a nice view out onto the desert with mountains in the distance.

If you can live without hookups, the campsites are located amongst the rocks, and are spectacular. Notice the picnic table under the tree for this campsite.

What a great state park this was. So far, I've been favorably impressed with the state parks in New Mexico. I'm thinking I'll have to come back to this state and take advantage of a couple of months camping in the state park system.

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I'm going to check the weather forecast for tomorrow and Friday. I'll pick the best day to journey to the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument. It seems to be warming a little. I was able to hook up the water connection again today since the low overnight should remain above freezing.

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Thanks for stopping by....talk to you later, Judy

A Turkey for your day

Well, my plans were to upload an excellent picture of a turkey that I found at the Texas State Parks site and am presently using for a seasonal twist to the background of my laptop. But you know that Robert Burns saying: the best laid plans of mice and men.....

So, instead, I'll just provide you with the website where you can see three excellent turkey pictures. You can use them as a computer background, but apparently you can't send them to anyone.

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/exptexas/turkey/backgrounds.phtml

I can't say that I did anything very productive today. The wind finally died down some, the sun was shining, and the temps made it into the upper sixties. I think I'll go visit the City of Rocks State Park tomorrow. It's too easy to get into a rut of doing nothing. ;)

Thanks for stopping by....talk to you later, Judy