Home At Last

Now I know where all the water in the Rio Grande goes. There are a series of lakes from Las Cruces to Santa Fe and probably more upstream. Our last night was spent on Cochiti Lake 17 miles south of Santa Fe. Cochiti is a corps. of engineers project and a beautiful camping area. Cost the Golden Agers $7 for E/W for a night. Wow, can't beat that. Part of the area is on the river and looks like good kayaking. Fox and I had a restful night preparing for the flight home.

Always a pretty drive from Santa Fe to La Veta via LV Pass. Just as we were traveling through Wild Horse Mesa country there they were. . . a herd of wild ones. Seeing the horses is always a thrill for me. The roads were fine all the way and we pulled into LV around 2:30. My drive was covered in more than a foot of snow so I dropped the Casita in front of friend Janey's house. Then I was off to the hardware store to pick up some antifreeze then back to the Casita to winterize, clean out the fridge and load the car with food and necessities. The Fox was having an anxious time during all of this and indicated by his glare that he wanted to be home!

We finally made it 1/3 of the way up the drive only to bog down in the deep stuff. Fox was thrilled to jump out and struggle up the hill. He loved it, me, on the other hand, huffed and puffed under my load of essentials to the house. Needless to say, I made a few recuperative stops along the way. Wow, the house looked so clean and bright, like a welcome beacon. I put down my bags and flopped down to catch my breath.

Good to be back. And just in time because the next day we got dumped on again. Another foot of snow. I have every hope that today I will be able to extract the old jeep from its white grip and begin to get back to normal. Figuring out what normal is will be a challenge. Next trip, Route 66 and Little Plastic Trailers starting in May. Until then, we remain:

Judy Colorado and the Travelin Fox

Thinking About Home

Here we are in Caballo State PK north of Las Cruces. Spent last night at Rock Hound St. Pk and the Fox and I did some rock hounding. I found some pretty rocks but have no idea what they are. Fox would sniff around then point to a rock as if to indicate that was the one and I would pick it up. Cracked a few open but nothing exciting inside. Another one of those beautiful state parks, NM seems full of them. You get water and electric hookups for $14 and a beautiful, private camp site. Can't beat that.

J, Denny and I had a great time in Naco. At least, I did since I ate dinner with them for two nights. Please note the picture of J and I. She and I are now members of SINs (suffers in silence), a group dedicated to curbing the verbal complaints of one's aches and pains for at least one year. Small caveat. . . we can complain to eachother. Something we got into instantly when Denny wasn't around. I won't go into the sorid details here, but suffice it to say that J and I are in terrible shape aches and pains wise. You can certainly tell from the picture, it is written all over our faces!

With all the picture taking going on the Fox insisted that he and I have a shot taken together. As you can see, several shots really didn't show off our best side. I promised him we'd have professional photos taken after we get home. He has made a few friends on this trip he'd like to send some to. Although he really likes Pete, I think Larry is his favorite.

The latest report from La Veta confirms at least one foot of snow and still snowing. My ETA is Saturday and I may move that up to Friday given that another snow storm is expected on Saturday. My, My, and the beat goes on. Ah well, we are warm and snug here in the Egg. Darkness has fallen and that means bedtime for Fox and I. We are thinking of driving to Albque&^%$#$%^^&&*( you know, that hard to spell city, tomorrow. The wind is howling off of the lake here so I don't mind leaving. Boy the Rio Grande is really up in this area. Must be a lot of spring runoff starting. Of course, that is a mystery to me since winter isn't over yet, at least in this part of the world.

Naco, AZ

Here we are in Naco having a nice visit with J and Denny. Had dinner with them last night and the night before and very enjoyable conversations. Yesterday, I joined them for church in Bisbee. A very charming Methodist church and wonderful black pastor with a booming voice. I leave this am for somewhere. Bonita campgrounds in the "something" national monument. If I could spell I'd write it down for all to read. Man, these Indian words are hard! From there I will camp at City of Rocks State park in NM then on to a lake near Las Cruces. My plan is to leave between snow storms, that would be Thursday, and make tracks for home arriving on Sat the 27th. Kind of boring in Naco unless you play golf, which I am not doing at present.

Sun City West, AZ

Two calls this morning from Haley, then Deb asking where I am. Deb scolded me 'cause I haven't written in the blog for several days. Turned out I was visiting my high school best friend, Bee. We hadn't really seen each other in a long while and I had never really gotten to know her husband. Bee lived with me during the last semester of her senior year in high school. She had been living with her sister and brother-in-law who was a doc in the air force. When he left the service it was agreed that Bee would stay with us until she finished HS. We were great buddies and it was a very special time in my life to have her living with us. The first pic I added is of Bee, hubby, and her sister and brother-in-law. Such a wonderful reunion and I couldn't believe it when I looked at the clock at 11:15. Wow, what an evening. We said our goodbyes yesterday and vowed to keep in touch. Life has a way of wrenching us away from those we care for and it is so easy to loose dear friends along the way.

When I left I decided to stay in Casa Granda only 88mi away. I was so tired from the night before that I had to pull into a McD to catch a nap. Even at that I couldn't wait to get into bed for the night at 7pm! You might wonder why I chose McD's to stop. AZ is struggling with its budget and, therefore, has closed many of its rest stops and over half of its state parks. Really a shame, hopefully, they will get their problems resolved and re-open the parks.

I am staying at an Escapee's Park (a club of which I am a member). Well, they charge you to take a shower so I was back in the Casita Powder Room. This time, I not only showered and washed my hair I SHAVED my legs. I will think twice about that next time, remember the shower scene in Psycho???? Blood Bath!

I've done my chores and I am ready to go so I'll just unhook, and take off for Parker Lake Complex in the Coronado National Forest where I'll meet up with J for a couple of days. Too cold and snowy yet to travel north. Oh, some of my family will like this. . . The first thing Jeane said when she saw me was "You look just like your Mother!.

Sonoran Desert

Quite simply, the Sonoran Desert has captured my spirit. The stillness of the morning is so deep it is as if you can experience a solid atmosphere of clarity holding you close. . . a sound wave slowed by light years, too weak to continue its journey has settled around you whispering of the past. This is a connectedness not often experienced on anything other than an ordinary morning. A day's beginning laid out as a gift for the taking. I am so moved by this gift that I just stand motionless least the whole universe disappears in the blink of an eye. Every where my eye is drawn brings with it a new brilliance, a new depth of feeling deep in my soul. A desert varmint scurries from under a Joshua tree, stops, and gives me a slanted eyed look as if to say "If you think you can describe this lady, then you don't know what you don't know!" Ah, poop! I know he is right. The Fox looks up at me with his "let's get going, it's my walk" look. So we get going. But I decide right then and there that we're staying in this place at least 2 more days.

I suppose you could say that I had a lilt to my step as we walked through the desert back to camp. This would be a wonderful day. And, so it was complete with a little book reading, relaxing in the sun, walking the Fox and trying to capture this beauty on camera. Alas, not doing so well in that category.

At this moment the sun has collapsed behind the mountain and the bats have come out to play. The bats in this area are so tiny and they make these little darty, zig zaggy moves. You know they are eating something, but what? I don't think I've seen an insect since I've been here, certainly not a mosquito.

The evening ends as the morning begins. . . the wonderful stillness that defies explanation and can only be felt, that is, if you are noticing.

Kartchner Caverns

This is a lovely state park. Very nice camping facilities and hiking trails all around. The weather has been perfect, today in 70s. This morning was a big first for me! Unbelievable accomplishment. I lit the hot water heater and took a shower in my Casita for the first time!! Boy did it feel good and it is kinda nice to have something to sit on while in the shower. I've enclosed a picture so everyone can live vicariously. The water stayed hot while I washed my hair and took a complete shower. YES! Indescribably marvelous! Oh, I should make it clear that this was not my first shower of the trip. I have been doing that on a regular basis in the park showers.

The Fox and I went for a long walk on the Loop Trail (2.5 mi) down by a running stream. Very pretty and he loved it, of course. By the time we returned to the Casita I was tired and beginning a relapse. I ate lunch and we took an hour and a half nap. Oh glorious. I did run up to the Caverns and will try a tour tomorrow morning. They were sold out for today. It must be spring break because there were quite a few school buses and kids running around. It is 72 deg in the Caverns with 99% humidity so that should make my cold feel better.

The rest of the afternoon I lounged in my chair under the awning. It is almost time for dinner and as usual at this time I am thinking "cereal". But no, I will fix a baked sweet potato and maybe a steak.

Leaving Greater Deming

The last 4 days have been less than desirable. My allergy turned out to be a full-blown cold and I have felt like an old lady. Sneezing, coughing and fever. Ahhhhhh! I keep taking sudafed to keep the nose faucet turned off. I did manage to make my final dental app't before leaving Deming. Friday seemed like a good day to move on despite feeling so bad.

Before saying goodbye to the LoWs I did snap this shot of Slim walking his Sausage. He told me that she did weigh 32# (quite a lot for a daschie) then he put her on a high fiber diet and she is down to 25. The problem seems to be that Slim really doesn't walk her out of his RV "front yard." Consequently, he and baby dog don't get a lot of exercise. Slim is hoping he can slim down, too.

Kartchner Caverns State Park is near Benson, AZ and only 170 or so miles from Deming. Seemed like forever and I was ready for it to be over before it started. It was all I could do to park the trailer, eat some peanut butter and bread and get into bed (4pm). I slept for about an hour and a half, took Fox for a short walk around the Casita "front yard" then got back into bed. This morning brought a little ray of sunshine into my live.