mamabear
tamara Joined: July 27th 2009
Logged in: February 17th 2012
Logged in: February 17th 2012
Travel Blog Posts
On West Mesa
Work days continue to be varied and interesting. Our reason for volunteering in the first place was to have a new experience. We were certainly content with our travels in years past - but felt that a change would be good for the spirit and the intellect. After a month here in Sevilleta we are finding that to be true. We are leaner and keener. Our latest outing was again as tour guides and drivers - only this time we each had our own vehicle. This was my first time as a driver but I didn’t tell that to my 4 passengers since I wanted them to feel confident, even if I didn’t. We were driving on refuge roads which are closed to the public. The roads are very rugged, and after a few bouncy areas ... read more
Laying the erosion snake
Our time here has been busy and exhausting - in a good way. Wednesday was a typical day. When we checked in we found there was going to be a meeting set up by the refuge biologist. We were asked to sign people in and take money for a lunch order. Once that was done we took one of the official cars and headed into town to go to the bank, the post office, the car wash and finally the restaurant to pick up the lunch order. After lunch we picked litter on the entry road to the refuge and finally finished the raking, seeding and pegging. It was a full day. On Friday we were drivers for a field trip to the east side of the refuge since we had been there ONCE before. There ... read more
Mesa Trail
We have been at Sevilleta for a week now and feel right at home already. Our campsite is about 100 yards from the visitor center where we check in for work. We are officially part of the Fish and Wildlife section of the Department of the Interior. Ron gets to drive a big truck , not just a little golf cart, with an official logo. Three of our work days have involved touring the refuge. The first tour was with Jeannine as she showed us the area called the wetlands along the Rio Grande River and the small town of Socorro - especially the post office and ACE hardware where we will be sent to pick up stuff. We than went to a different section of the refuge and hiked Lorenzo Canyon. This area was very ... read more
Shredded tire
We arrived at Sevilleta (pronounced Sev-ee-eta, no L sound) National Wildlife Refuge today, January 4. We met Jeannine the Visitor Services manager and got our official T-shirts. We start tomorrow at 7:30!!!!!! We haven't seen 7:30 am in a long time. Anyway we are all set up and enjoying the beautiful sunshine and blue skies. If you have a need to mail us something the address is Ron and Tam Milostan PO Box 1248 Socorro, NM 87801 It did take a while to get here though. We left Lake Bob on Dec. 28 to continue our trip across Texas. After 2 hours on the road a car pulled up next to us with a woman frantically gesturing that something was wrong with our camper. We slowed down and took the next exit off the highway thinking ... read more
White Heron
We are on the road heading to New Mexico for a very different kind of adventure this year. We are going to be volunteers at Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge which is about 50 miles SE of Albuquerque. The nearby towns are Socorro and Magdelina. The volunteer coordinator said we should expect to be doing something different every day. That sounds like just what we are looking for, except for knowing what kinds of clothes to pack; nice stuff in case we are in the welcome center and gift shop , or grubby stuff for working outdoors. Then there are the temperatures to contend with. Three weeks ago it was -2 at night in that area. We have packed a lot of long underwear! The N.Mexico tourist info says they have sunshine 364 days a year, but ... read more
Escalante-Petrified Forest State Park
We arrived at Escalante, Utah on March 30, and set up at Petrified Forest State Park. There was a great trail right in the campground that was loaded with huge pieces of petrified wood - tree size pieces - BIG trees. This area was once a flood plain and also located near the equator, a VERY long time ago. It was tropical then with ferns and palms and huge coniferous trees - and that is what we were looking at - seems incredible. To get to one of our hiking areas we took Hole in the Rock Road for about 27 miles to Dry Gulch Trail. This was the beginning of two slot canyon trails. The first, Spooky, got so narrow between the canyon walls that it was too spooky for us. We did hike through ... read more
Us
We had two great adventures in Page , Arizona, and wanted to share. There are lots of pictures which is always best. Ron's sister, Carlene, invited us along on a trip that she was taking with friends Lee, Holly and Wayne - from Alpena. We met them in Page and started right in trying the top rated restaurants in the area. The two favorites were Bonker's and Fiesta Mexicana - for anyone heading that way. Our first trip was to the Glen Canyon Dam to board a raft for a float trip down the Colorado River. We had a great weather day for our 3 hours on the river. The current did most of the work with an occasional use of motor power from the guide. The canyon is in the Vermillion Cliffs area and was ... read more
Doe Mtn Tr.
We have been going at a slower pace since Ron broke his toe. Not much to do for the piggy that cried wee wee wee all the way home, but ice, rest and tape. We did an afternoon at the Fort McDowell casino in Fountain Hills. Ron won $40 on a penny slot machine so that kept us going for a while. We moved on to Cottonwood, AZ, to Dead Horse Ranch State Park. The old part of Cottonwood is a great little town. It considers itself old since it has been around since the late 1800's. There are several good restaurants and cafes and crafty type stores. On the weekend we went to the local Fair Grounds to see the Flywheel Engine Show - there was also a tractor parade! From our campsite we can ... read more
Quiet time in Tombstone
After leaving New Mexico we headed to Tombstone, AZ, for 4 days. We stayed at Wells Fargo RV Park right in the middle of old Tombstone on historic Allen Street. This is quite a tourist town, as you might imagine. They don’t do the gunfights on the main street anymore, but the stage coach rides came by our campsite every 15-30 minutes. Our plan was to have a beer in every saloon during our stay, but we ran out of time. Our favorite saloon was Big Nose Kate's Saloon. They had live entertainment and lots of old timey stuff. The most historic building, which is in original condition (including the dust), is the Bird Cage Theatre. It was famous for 8 years from 1881-1889 as a Honky Tonk. In those 9 years it never closed its ... read more
cool picture
We are the new owners of a 5th wheel camper and truck to pull it with!! Our plan was to go to the botanical garden in San Antonio, and on the way stop to check out a 5th wheel we had seen at an RV show. We never got to the garden and by the end of the day we had traded in our Jeep and camper for a big white truck and 30' 5th wheel. Parting with the old was kinda sad, but living in the new is awesome!! We stopped for a few days in Kerrville, TX ,and stayed at the state park there. Kerrville is the city my family lived in when we first immigrated to the US from Austria in 1952. Our point of entry was New Orleans. We were sponsored by ... read more
