blog 01-29-20 Spacex rocket Ginnie and I went to the lake at 9 this morning so we could witness the launch of the latest spacex mission to deliver satellites into orbit. There was a cloud bank in the east right where the rocket would launch and it ended up blocking our view of the event. Darn-it! I did take a few pictures of birds while we were there and we enjoyed the pretty lake. I walked Watson over to Kim's house to see if her dogs could come over to play in our yard. Kim did come over but the dogs just sniffed around and barked at passerbys, no playing. At 2 pm we all went to Outback Steak House and had a delicious early dinner. This is the last day of my stay here that ... read more

blog 01-19-20 Wild horses and bison The day started with light rain showers so I took care of some business inside waiting long enough for the clouds to thin then took Watson for a walk. We went to the lake shore to see who was out and found some critters braving the wind to find lunch. I took some pictures and Watson got a few pats from kids along the way so we were both happy. I dropped Watson at the camper because I was going to the tower and he was not permitted. The tower overlooked most of the prairie so I was able to see part of the wild herds of horses and bison. Apparently before the first European man arrived here bison were a part of the natural environment and the park service's ... read more

blog 04-02-19 Beach Day Lynne had shown me a picture she took yesterday morning of the moon and Venus rising just before dawn, so this morning I woke up hoping to see them. I did and was able to capture their image before the sun rose, but somehow missed Mercury. Then the sunrise was getting more colorful, which is rare out here, so I stayed up for that and caught the colors in the lake. Later in the morning Watson and I walked to the beach far down from the campground and he was playing in the sand and I was taking pictures of our campground when I saw something in the sky. It was a flock of white pelicans circling right over the very place my camper is parked. There must have been 60 of ... read more

Blog 04-05-19 Los Alamos and Bandelier On Thursday I moved from Elephant Butte and headed north on 25 and drove past Albuquerque , past Santa Fe and found my way to White Rock, NM. Lynne had suggested I stop in Bandelier National Monument to see the Pueblo ruins and she also gave me a tip on where to stay, at the visitor's center in White Rock. It's basically a large parking lot with electric hook-ups but right across the street from the whole town. There is a grocery, library, 3 eateries and the post office all within walking distance, get cell service and several tv channels, what more can you want. I went into Los Alamos which was only 6 miles away for some Mexican food but the place was closed but I did discover this ... read more

blog 04-01-19 April Fool's Day I woke up to a red glow on the eastern horizon and frost on my car. The storm blew through during the night leaving the air clear, crisp and cold. But once the sun came out it warmed up quickly. The day started slowly and never did really pick up much steam. After breakfast I headed to T or C (Truth or Consequences) for an exciting shopping trip to Walmart, a camper's heaven. As I pulled up to the parking lot I noticed that the entire lot had covered parking, how strange was that. The covers as it turned out, were solar panels to power the store, which they did completely. The state has a plan to become completely independent of fossil fuels in the next few years so they are ... read more