Scenic drives, lost Engle, and more state parks.....

Our Location: Elephant Butte State Park, Elephant Butte, NM

Awake this morning at 4:30 am, no going back to sleep. Other days I've managed to turn over and get some more sleep but not today. The coyotes were having a yapping good time and continued off and on until about 5:30 am. They sound pretty close to the loop here in the park. 

Cactus grow everywhere here....much like dandelions back home.

I finished reading the blogs I follow about 6 am and was outside looking for pics of a sun rise, in a pair of heavy track pants and a fleece sweater. It was definitely chiller this morning than it has been so far here. A few pics but nothing spectacular in the sun rise department. 

A couple of house boats in the Rio Grande on the opposite side of the island as Elephant Butte State Park.

The temps only reached 62F/16.6C for a high and the low tonight is supposed to be 39F/3.8C. So much cooler than it has been. 

The water is muddy but the scene is inspiring.

Back inside I decided to do something quietly productive. I cleaned the inside of the windows in the main part of the Igloo, and washed the screens as well. That leaves three more windows and screens, along with 2 vents (all inside) that need to be washed  before I can say I'm finished. 

Elephant Butte Dam which is on the Rio Grande River.

By the time I was finishing the windows Riley was awake and heading off to the shower. I managed to get the screens back in and things cleaned up before she got out. 

The Rio Grande just past the EB Dam.

We then discussed lunch, and made a new weekly menu for the upcoming week, along with a grocery list for the upcoming week. We find it much easier to plan for the whole week. 

Our first tumbleweeds.

That accomplished we decided we'd head out for a drive and check out the east ridge we can see from our front drive. We've been seeing a sign that says Engle just past the cutoff for T or C and decided that was in the right direction to find this ridge and the views. So we turned left and off we went. We found a small park which allows dry camping and provides covered shelters for picnic tables, etc. It's right on a little river and has about a dozen sites. I would definitely park there but the turn seems to be a bit tight in my opinion, but I think we could make it work.  This area is called the Elephant Butte Dam Recreation Area and according to Patricia is part of the state park we are currently in.

Heading toward the town of Engle, or so the sign said.

A bit further on we took a different road with the same name as the one above and after a bit of a hair raising road we came to a restaurant, which over looked the Rio Grande River and at least a half dozen house boats. We could also see the marina from this vantage point. A small RV park is located off to the right of the parking lot, and while I'm sure the views are nice, the park itself is very small, hanging on the side of a mountain with a very steep drop should one take a wrong step. It had a dumpy, shabby feel to it and there appeared to be some permanent trailers at this location. There are numerous places with no guardrails of any kind and they make me very nervous. 

The mountains surrounded us at this point in our drive.

From this spot we ventured further around to find the Elephant Butte Dam. We managed to get some great pics of the area, except we missed taking a picture of where they've cleaned the rock slide off the roadway. You could see the marks on the pavement but everything was pushed to the side.

This cut away river bank beside the road we were taking to find the elusive Engle, NM.

We followed this road around, over, between and pretty much everything except under, a number of smaller hills, mounds, or very small mountains. Take your pick. ~laugh~  It was a very scenic route with steep guardless drops on the passenger side. We did note the many cactus, yucca, mesquite and other forms of growth up and down the sides of the roadway. Deep chasms and slashes in in the hillside made the few miles very interesting in deed. 

We were near Caballo State Park.

We reached the end of the snake like road and came to a long flat area on the valley floor. We followed it thinking it would take us to Engle. We found the road to the some trail heads, and a ranch but we never did find Engle. Not sure if it moved because it knew we were coming or if we managed to miss a sign but for whatever reason, we couldn't find it. We didn't get the GPS out to look for it either. Instead we opted to head back to T or C, or at least in the direction.

I think this is the same home made 5'er that George (Our Awesome Travels )might have seen. It's now in Caballo State Park.

We headed thru town, getting on I-25 at Williamsburg, which we both thought was T or C, but turns out it buttes right up against it. We journeyed south even though we are heading that way on Monday, we wanted to have a peek at a couple of parks a bit down the highway. 

I thought this was an odd shape, like the back end had been cut off and it was made smaller. It was at Percha Dam State Park.

We found Caballo State Park just off of the interstate and did a little tour of it. Great views but the sites have no privacy of any kind. Some sites had full hook ups, others just water and electric. The rates were $18 and $14 respectively. In what looked like a parking lot we noticed one older RV with solar panels set out, and I believe it would be a boon docking area. We chatted with a couple that were there and inquired about things to do at the park. The answer was fishing, boating or hiking. So we can at least enjoy some good hiking if we decide to go there. 

Heading home from Caballo State Park.

Next we toured Percha Dam State Park. I must say it is the first state park that I would consider to be shabby. It just looked unkempt. I can't really say why but it's the impression I had. The sites were fairly big and all pull thru but no privacy of any kind. They were quite literally one on top of the other, no space between entry and exit of each site. The entry and exit driveways literally touched the one next to it. They also had a boon docking area off a bit from the rest of the park. It was also shabby in appearance with only a few spots. Not our kind of park.

I believe that might be T or C in the distance.

From there we went back past Caballo (pronounced Cab-i-oh) State park along a back road toward T or C. We enjoyed this drive immensely with the spectacular views. It was a short drive to T or C, about 25 minutes. Since we hadn't used the GPS all day we decided we could find Walmart with out it. We did, eventually. ~laugh~ I can tell you we enjoyed seeing some beautiful homes in a variety of neighbourhoods in T or C. We knew the general direction we needed to go and proceeded to make the appropriate turns. Some streets dead ended, some were just too rough, and others appeared to go in the wrong direction but we finally found the street we were looking for and knew exactly where we were. Good for us. So after a quick stop at the Walmart to get some moisturizing cream and face wipes for Riley, a few groceries from our list and we were off home. 

Some views from the back road we took to T or C from Caballo.

Back home we managed to put the groceries away, prepare, cook and eat lunch by 3:15 pm. Lunch today was a green salad, beans-mushrooms & asparagus, and stuffing. I can tell you I haven't eaten a bite since. ~laugh~

This morning's sun rise.

A walk around the park after lunch brought us to Lions Beach where we managed to get invited to sit down and chat with a couple of ladies who had just recently arrived. I am so sorry but I can't recall their names, I think one was Julie but I don't recall the name of the lady from Texas. We discussed things to see and do in the southwest area, chatted about various places to visit, and so on. We chatted for about a half hour. Very nice ladies.

Some southwest flavour in this house...

Riley and I kept going on our walk, finishing the loop at Lions Beach and heading along the gravel road that leads across the park to the boon docking areas along the entry road. From there we turned on Sumac Road and came back home, checking out the dump station near by for our Monday departure.

Are you tired of seeing the mountains yet?

We were home about 4:45 pm, and I grabbed the camera , headed to the handicapped spot that is empty and proceeded to wait for the sunset. I knew it wouldn't be much since there wasn't a cloud in the sky anywhere. I called oldest daughter Courtney but she didn't answer, she did however call me right back. Seems she had just walked in the door and hadn't taken her phone. We chatted for about 20 minutes. Son in law Matt will be home from Switzerland on Nov 29, only a week and a half away. She is very excited as she came home in August. Courtney is working at upgrading her teaching certificate  as she's been away for a year and Matt has received a research grant from York University to continue his research in the neurology field.  So we are looking forward to seeing them both in the spring when we get back to Ontario. 

Cactus growing through a fence in one of the neighbourhoods we drove through today.

After that it was back to the Igloo and time to settle in, edit some pictures, write my blog and so on. So as you can see it was a full day for us. We enjoyed it greatly. 

What long ears you have......Mr. Rabbit.

Thanks for stopping by, feel free to leave a comment.

Until next time..be safe, take care....

A litlte productive, a quick visitor, and feeling welcome....

Our Location: Elephant Butte State Park, Elephant Butte, NM

This morning dawned wonderfully warm, since we had closed all the vents and left a couple of windows open just a bit. The amazing blue skies and fabulous sunshine certainly are the best way to start any day. 

Dryers, whole wall of 'em.

Sorry for the fuzzy pic, washers at the T or C laundry.

We had big plans for today, lots of things we wanted to get accomplished. We made an excellent start at least. ~laugh~ 

Not sure what these are but they are very abundant heading toward the lake.

The list went something like this: change of linens as we knew we were going to do laundry for certain. My list also included a good sprucing  up of the inside of the Igloo and the windows are looking more like films of dust than panes of glass. The beetles and flies have been hard on them as well, they definitely need attention. We also wanted to go to the bank in T or C to get some cash. On top of that was of course regular things such as cooking lunch, and getting a walk in as well. 

Walking down to the water of the Rio Grande.

So you see we had good intentions, good plans, and a long list. We did get the linen's changed and the laundry sorted. The Dogsled was eager to get going this morning and so off we went to T or C with me holding him back to keep him from getting us into trouble. Guess what? We managed to get the laundry washed, dried and sorted in just a bit over 2 hours. The nice little laundromat is connected to the U-Haul building, very clean, very reasonably priced and lots of front load washers and plenty of dryers. The big machines are $6.50 for a cold water wash. The medium size machines are $3.50 a load, and the smaller washers are $3.00 per load. Dryer costs are 7 minutes for $0.25, or if like us you use the bigger dryers, it's 40 minutes for $2.00. More than enough time to dry the entire load with no damp corners at all. 

A closer look at the Rio Grande.

From there we headed to the Walmart for a couple of little things that we needed, having forgotten them yesterday. We found the few things we wanted, paid and left the building. We headed home. Of course the bank is in T or C not at home. Hmm...oh well, we'll catch it another time. 

Pretty isn't it?

Unloaded the Dogsled, brought our groceries and laundry inside, put them all away and started to make lunch. Now as you know the kitchens in these rigs aren't very big so it's usually a one person job, while the other person sits around and watches. ~laugh~ Today I was head prep chef and Riley got to laze around.

Our green salad

A nice green salad, orange zest mixed veggies (mushroom, sweet white onions, mushrooms, carrots, celery, peppers, green beans, asparagus, and spaghetti squash), garlic dill potatoes, and turkey burgers on English muffins. I'm still full. 

My potatoes always come from the bottom of the packet, and they almost always need to be pulled off the foil.

We enjoyed our salads while the rest of lunch was cooking. Sitting in the shade reading our books was an excellent way to pass the time. We were eating lunch just before 3 pm inside with a nice breeze coming in the window.  Time to clean up after lunch and one would think now would be the perfect time to get those other chores accomplished, right? Wrong. As of the writing of this post they still aren't even started. Instead we took a very long walk down to the water of the Rio Grande and made a circle by taking the other road back home. Very nice walk, not too hard walking as most of the way was packed well with just a little bit of loose sand closer to the beach. 

Rock art on the walking path

We didn't know you could dry camp down at the beach. I wouldn't do that because I'd worry about getting stuck in all that sand, but it would be an amazing spot to park. We noticed at least one tent, two vans, and one travel trailer  in various locations on the beach. No hook ups of course but some johnny's were evident for their use. 

A tree along the walking path

So after our walk I was too tired to work and decided it was time to start my blog. Now I know some of you would get to work when you finished writing and get those chores accomplished but I'm lazy. ~laugh~ I'm going outside in a few minutes to catch the sunset and then I'll work some more on this post. I will not be doing chores tonight, I assure you!!!

Taken tonight while watching the sun set off to the right of this tree.

So we've pushed our 'to do' list back a bit, but not to worry, we'll get them finished tomorrow. Really, we will. I see you aren't convinced but you will be. ~laugh~ And if we don't get them finished tomorrow, well there is always Saturday, right? ~laugh~ 

The temps reached about 80F /26.6C today. A nice cooling breeze kept things perfect. I'm telling ya folks, I could get used to this weather. ~laugh~ It wouldn't be hard at all. I'm already thinking...when I come back next year....~laugh~ 

We did talk to a fella (we were both looking at the RV goodies in Walmart) today that has a house in Albuquerque, and another here in Elephant Butte, only two hours between the two of them. He also has a motorhome, that he said they were taking to Tuscon tomorrow for some party with some friends. He gave us a few ideas of things to see, complimented us on our 'gutsy nerve' in doing this kind of adventure by ourselves, and told us to come back often! You just have to love folks, always helpful and interesting to talk to as well. 

  The sunset was less than spectacular but still nice. In a different part of the sky tonight as well. I can tell you I will never tire of the sunsets out here. 

Back inside I returned a call to my best friend Linda. We chatted for a half hour or so and then said our good byes. Always enjoy chatting with her, she's truly a gem!! I'm fortunate to have such a wonderful woman to call my best friend. 

Now it's time to finish this post and get to bed early tonight. I'm tired. Not sure why but I'm truly weary. The time zones are playing havoc with me and waking up at 4 am MST is fine, except I don't go to bed until 10:30 MST either, which means I'm not getting enough time with the sand man. I may have to resort to an afternoon nap one of these days. ~laugh~ 

A quick note to add. Today we had a visitor, Mr. Road Runner walked casually past the tree in our front yard, up our little driveway and was heading for the open front cubbie door when Riley drew my attention to him. He didn't seem one bit concerned that we were sitting less than 10 feet away. When I moved my feet he sauntered slowly off while still strutting his stuff. This guy was bold. ~laugh~ I've always had the impression they were kind of elusive and hard to catch for photo's. This guy must be a model or something. ~laugh~ He seems to love his picture being taken. 

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you've had an excellent day where ever you may be. Feel free to leave a comment. 

Until next time..be safe, take care...

Tour day, meeting a crafty lady, and a road runner.....

Our Location: Elephant Butte State Park, Elephant Butte, NM

A coolish night with the vents and windows open but not cold. We had the big outer door opened by 8:30 am and found it very comfortable. We're loving this weather. 

According to Riley I didn't do a good job of setting the table...~laugh~ 

Since today was a tour day we decided we needed to have something to help us get thru until we were back to make lunch. I made my version of a breakfast burrito. It was excellent. Mushroom, green onions, celery, asparagus, peppers, garlic, salsa, Tabasco, eggs, shredded cheese, all wrapped in a tortilla, with freshly grated Parmesan cheese. It did the trick. 

Heading into Truth or Consequences, NM

We decided to head out to the small town of Truth or Consequences, NM just a stone's throw away. I don't know what I expected but I was surprised. It is a mixture of old and new, with some original southwest architecture of rounded roof lines, adobe with colourful frames around doors/windows, fake facades, some wrought iron grill work, and bright colour. Mixed in were the new modern clean lines and standard well known signs for MacDonalds, Walmart, Shell, etc. The 'old' part of town had the buildings very close to each other as well as to the street, they were squarish, squat, and brightly painted. The newer part of town was more spaced out, with bigger distances between road and building, the colours were more muted than colourful. The buildings were taller, with bigger windows, and bigger doors, giving the feel of space. The streets while not narrow gave the impression of being 'cozy' in the older part of town, with the newer part being more open and visible. We found only ONE stop light in the areas of town we travelled. A unique little town with a flavour of the old world charm but an air of the modern commerce. Truly a very cute and inviting place. 

Very brightly coloured Bistro.

We toured down the Main Street for a long distance, then came back to the stop light and turned left, taking the street to what looked like the end, turned around and went the entire length of the same street back past the light and to what seemed like the end of town. Added in a couple of smaller back streets and enjoyed the tour. 

This is what I think of when I think of the southwest.

We stopped to give the Dogsled a well deserved drink of diesel for $2.75 a gallon. Washed the dirty windows and got directions to the local laundromat as well. We took the return street (part of old town has two lanes going each direction but they divide for a while before coming back to run beside each other) and tied the big Dog to a pole while we got out and did some walking. It was an interesting little stroll, the buildings were close together, brightly painted, the window displays were interesting and some were inviting, while others were more guess work about what kind of shop it was. 

This is the memorial wall, the black you see running along this wall is full of names of those that have given the ultimate gift to their country. The picture does not show it well but there are thousands and thousands of names on this wall. 

Stopping at the bank to use the ATM before we untied the big Dog and headed out to find the laundromat. According to the lady at the gas station it was located in the U-Haul building. We took two turns around before we actually were able to see it. Parking we went inside to find it very clean, reasonably priced and all front load washers. Bonus!!! We will return to do our duds probably tomorrow. 

Wave, entirely covered in pennies.

We stopped at the Veterans Memorial Park for a while. We didn't go into the museum but did walk around the outside yard. It was very well done, extremely educational, and very moving. A wall stretches for a long distance in an 'L' shape with thousands of names on each placard. I can't describe to you the immense feeling of loss one gets standing there looking at this memorial wall. Nor can I describe the feeling of pride that one feels emanating from that wall either. It shows in the grounds, the displays, the thoughtfulness that went in to this tribute. Also on display is huge purple heart, the last medal a fallen soldier receives, I believe. A very moving tribute, very well done. 

A small section of the pottery on display at the Museum.

In old town we stopped at the Geronimo Spring Water Museum (?? might not be the proper name) for a quick tour. It was a very crammed and packed museum with many artifacts, and displays about the local area and it's history. It had a small display about Geronimo and an educational children's interpretive section. The admission was very reasonable but I don't think we'd tour it again. Too many items made it too hard to see anything or concentrate on any individual display. They had a number of pieces of pottery made by various tribes and peoples over many years, it was an interesting display. Also arrow heads, lots of them, displayed in framed patterns. Personally I thought there was too much for the small space. Still interesting if you're interested in the local history. 

The 'legs' are horseshoes.

A quick trip to Walmart for some groceries and we were off home. An interesting idea at Walmart, the parking lot appeared to have shade covers over the parking slots but in fact it was solar panels, lots of them. Raised to a clearance height of 13', must have 6 or 7 rows of them covering the entire parking slots in the middle of the lot. Outer edges didn't have any panels. Neat idea, they offered shade from the sun and protection from the rain, while making electricity. Not sure if it fed back to the grid or if Walmart used it exclusively. Very neat idea though. 

Nice flower box outside of a little shop

A quick trip through the town of Elephant Butte but we didn't find anything to stop and explore. Perhaps another day later this week we will return and check it out a bit better. 

Solar panels covering the Walmart parking lot.

Back home we put away our purchases, and set about making lunch. Riley bbq'ed today. A green salad, Hawaiin chicken breast, Italian spaghetti squash, and dilled potatoes. Good stuff!!

 

This roadrunner is just sort of ambling along.

After cleaning up we were heading out for a walk when the lady next door dropped by. Her name is Patricia, she's a Native and an extremely talented, and friendly lady. She's new to her 2008 Cougar travel trailer and as we too have a Cougar she wanted to ask a couple of questions. It seems this nice lady has lived in a 1947 travel trailer, I forget what brand she said it was, for 17 years. It had no kitchen, no bathroom and she used some kind of stove to heat it. She had some pictures, it was certainly different. So this new to her trailer that she's had for a week is a big step up for her. We showed around the Igloo and explained a few things such as water pump use, water heater use, and so on. She then took us to her TT and gave us a tour. It's nice and she's getting things settled. She does a lot of craft work with beads, paints and buffalo hides. So we gave her the little bits of information that we had and answered her questions. She was very enthusiastic and appreciated our willingness to talk and answer questions. 

He's moving a little faster now.

After Patricia left we headed off for a walk, remembering our walking sticks this time. We took the small walking trail behind the campground which basically went in a big circle but covered a quite a bit of ground. We didn't time it but the walking was a good work out in the rolling sand. 

Green Salad

Yummy Italian Spaghetti Squash, Dill Potatoes, and Hawaiin Chicken Breast.

Back home we sat down to read for a bit, and I managed to snap a few pics of a Road Runner that was ambling along the way. At one point he was less than 10 feet from our picnic table. Had plenty of time to get some good pics of this fella. Although the click of the camera made him move off a bit quicker than his original stroll pace. 

Patricia's hand painted boots.

I slipped over a few sites to an empty site which allowed me to catch the fiery sunset. Truly an amazing sight, the sky turned from yellow to fire yellow, then to a pink and finally a bright red. A perfect end to the daylight hours!!

This was earlier in the day, see the sun peeking between the clouds?

Back tucked safely inside the Igloo once more, editing pictures, getting ready to write but a knock on the door brought those things to a halt. Miss Patricia from next door was here and wanted to remind herself of a few of the answers we'd given earlier to her questions. She came prepared with a pen and paper. We chatted for about an hour but very little about the 'questions' and 'answers'. She's an interesting individual with unique thoughts, ideas and beliefs. She brought a pair of cowboy boots over to show us, she hand painted them. Truly a work of art. 

No enhancements, this is the actual colour, a bright fiery yellow.

I've been working on editing, and writing since she left. It was a great day, we enjoyed it a great deal. Tomorrow looks like a return to Truth or Consequences to do our laundry as I think the baskets are about as full as we can get them. 

 

Next came the fiery reds, no enhancements.

Thanks for stopping by, feel free to leave a comment. Always nice to hear from folks. 

The last red of the night, no enhancement.

Until next time...be safe, take care.