We six - We're just one big happy family most of the time. New Mexico, Arizona, California

This blog is difficult at times. We have been off the grid for days now and I have no word processing program on my computer so nothing has been written down since the last post going to New Mexico.
  We spent 7 days in Deming/Rockhound State Park. It was wonderful. We got to see my brother Jeff, his wife Trina and nephew Josh.
 I settled into a routine with Pata. Every morning I woke up at 5:00 or so. I would drink a cup of coffee then before sunrise Pata and I would walk the trails up the mountain or out over the valley overlook and then up the mountain arriving back at camp usually just as the sun was breaking over the mountain. Not good photographing light but great for walking. The mornings are cool and refreshing and we would put in 3-5 miles of walking.

In the morning shadows looking across the valley to where the sun was shining.

We spent 3 nights up at the top of the campground with great sunset views and  views of the city lights after the sun went down.

Sunset from Rockhound State Park

The lights twinkling in the valley below.

  We explored the area a little. Just up the road across the valley in the Florida Mountains is Spring Canyon Park. It's a day use only park that has hiking trails that lead up into the mountains surrounding the park. Some Persian Ibex were gifted to the park back in the 1970's when we were still friends with Iran and the herd has since grown to more than 200 head. I was hoping to see them but luck was not with me. It was still a great hike in some beautiful scenery. I didn't see too much wildlife but on the way back down I did see a Western Tanager go past me. I saw him a little further down the trail but he never landed where I could photograph him. 

Looking back down the mountainside to where the truck was parked.

Some shots from the top.

Back at camp we would spend time with the animals and watch outside or sit outside looking at the scenery and watching the birds and various critters that came by.

Black chinned sparrow takin in the shadows of the morning.

Cactus wren

Carpenter bee

 

Tarantula hawk wasp

House finch

Parry's agave

 

Tree cholla

Thrasher on her nest

June 4th Rio Vista California.

We are finally settled in for a few days where we have electricity water and internet so maybe I can catch up on some of this. I need to get a word program. Problem is my computer is also FULL. I have more than 700 gigabytes of photos alone. I have 11 gigs of free space, not even enough for 1 or 2 days worth of shooting photos let alone being able to process them. I will have to get an external hard drive here in the Sacramento area. I have photo's going back to Arizona that need to be processed as I shoot in RAW format.

 Anyway back to New Mexico for a brief moment. We visited with Jeff, Katrina and Josh as we could. Josh had to go to Carlsbad to pick drop of and pick up some equipment on Wednesday. Denise Jeff and I went to a park called City of Rocks. Katrina stayed in Deming and minded the shop.

City of Rocks gets its name from the incredible volcanic rock formations found there. The park encompasses a one square mile area in the scenic Chihuahuan desert region of southwestern New Mexico at an elevation of 5,200 feet. The “city” is a geologic formation made up of large, sculptured rock columns, or pinnacles, rising as high as 40 feet and separated by paths or lanes resembling city streets. These rocks were formed about 34.9 million years ago when a very large volcano erupted. Then, erosion over millions of years slowly formed the sculptured columns seen today, creating a stunning, otherworldly landscape.

 The rocks are dotted with campsites and would be a neat place to camp. We just took a day trip there as it is only about 40 miles from Deming.

We all took a short hike up the trail. Jeff's back is messed up and Denise can't do long hikes anymore either but it was relatively flat here and we were able to walk around and see some of the sights.

Say's Phoebe they had a nest on top of a Coke Machine at the Visitor's center.

 

 

 

 

Rock squirrel, they were all over the area.

 Agave Bloom

Black throated sparrow

 Gambel's quail, Male

 Gambel's quail Female

 Sonoran Raven

 One of the odd rocks there

 Apache plume

 A rare photo of Jeff with his eyes open.

 Cactus wren

I have more photo's showing the rocks and surrounding area but cannot process to JPEG until I get some hard drive space. I will add them to this space when they are ready.

Friday of Memorial day weekend we packed up and hit the road for Arizona. Thankfully the truck is now running smoothly and before we left Deming we put new tires on the trailer. We then stopped by Katrina's Rock Shop and bid a fond farewell to Jeff and Katrina.

 All the animals have settled into traveling mode and for the most part they get along well. The cats usually come up to the front of the truck and sit on the compartment between the seats. Mister Zigs likes to go on the floor at Denise's feet also. Kazumba is content in her cage and will sing along as we listen to music or toss in (in)appropriate comments here and there. She is probably the best traveler, she's certainly the most seasoned of the bunch as she has taken trips with us before. Miss Pata's just happy to be where we are although she does bark at the cats once in awhile when she feels they have invaded her territory. She has effectively taken over about 3/4 of the back seat. She will let the cats back there but only for a short time.

 We had hoped to stop in Tucson and visit with Mike and Debbie Ostrom but they were going to Silver City, NM for the blues festival. We passed each other somewhere on the road I'm sure. I hope to see them some other time.

 We made good time getting down to Organ Pipe National Park and pulled in there late afternoon. We didn't know what to expect for campground availability on Memorial Day weekend and were pleasantly surprised to find that the campground was nearly deserted. After the trailer was set up Denise went back to the visitors center to pay and I poked around the campground for a bit. She didn't return right away and after some time I got anxious. Three hours or so passed and she still hadn't returned so I started hiking to the visitors center a half a mile or so back up the road. About halfway there here she came and I hopped in the truck and rode back to camp with her. She asked at the visitors center if there was a gas station nearby and they said sure it's just five mile down the road in Lukeville. So there she headed to get gasoline for the generator only to find herself in a line of traffic two miles out of town. Lukeville is the port of entry for Mexico and that's where all the Memorial weekend travelers were going. Denise got stuck in line just to get to the gas station. 

 I was relieved and all was well. We fired up the generator, cooked dinner and watched the sun go down before we went to bed. This will have to be all for this blog, I will continue later........

 

Six on the road to adventure - Off to New Mexico.

Texas did not want to let us go.

We finally go on the road again Saturday morning. We got an early start, I was up at 5:00 and Denise got up soon after. We got the trailer hitched up to the truck and dumped the tanks, got the animals situated and got on the road by 7:30. The GPS unit gave us an arrival time in Deming, NM at 4:21. 

 About 20 or 30 minutes on the road and the truck began to make squealing noises like a loose belt or maybe the turbo. It was only when I accelerated so I chose to ignore it and we kept going.

 Shortly after that the truck and trailer began to vibrate and Denise asked "Do we have a flat tire?".

 I pulled to the shoulder of the road and she and I both hopped out to have a look. Sure enough the rear tire on my side of the truck was a smoking wreck. It had shredded down to the steel belts and looked as though we almost had a fire. It shredded the covering on the floor behind it also.

 We began gathering tools and the jack and pretty quickly had the truck back on the road. No spare but that's OK we figured we could get that replaced once we got to Deming. 

 I didn't see a tire place in Del Rio as we went through there so we pressed onward. We were still making good time and the arrival time in Deming was now around 5:00 so not bad. We stopped once for fuel and another time for bathroom break and to make a couple of sandwiched. The arrival time was now 5:30 so still not bad.

 We made it to the interstate and were cruising along when I heard another tire explode. I pulled onto the shoulder and we did the check again. Rear tire on the passenger side this time. This time too we had no spare. Not only that but we had no cell phone service here. Denise got here phone to call 911 and she was able to talk to an operator there. The operator transferred her to the local sheriff and he said he would send a deputy out. Denise also gave him all of our insurance info for roadside assistance. We waited for a few minutes and Denise discovered that we had like a half of a bar on the hotspot so she went online to Facebook and first texted my brother Jeff to let him know we were struck and then she found a place in Van Horn, that did roadside tire repair. She then messaged our son Uriah on Facebook and he answered right away. So Uriah called the guy in Van Horn. He didn't have the correct size tire so he called Napa Auto parts and luckily they had tires. He messaged us back that he would be there in 35 minutes and true to his word he was there in a flash.

 This guy was good and very fast. He had a hammer and tire irons and had both tires off and the new ones on in about 20 minutes. We were soon back on the road and looking for our last fuel stop to get us to Deming.
 The arrival time was now 7:38 so we had lost 2 plus hours there on the side of the road but hey we were moving an would get there before dark so YAY!
 We weren't quite down with delay though. When we go near to El Paso the signs on the side of the road informed us that there was a detour at mile 26 and that through traffic had to detour to a Loop Road. That road took us up into the Franklin Mountain on a steep pass. A real test for the truck. It did great, I even passed a few cars. The truck pulled like it was no problem at all.
 The rest of the trip to Deming was pretty smooth. Just past El Paso we crossed the State Line and said good bye to Texas for awhile. Hopefully we left our problems there.

Hello New Mexico!

 

We got in Deming right at 7:30 and headed to Rockhound State park to find our spot and get setup. We are up on the mountainside and had to back uphill to get into the space. Not bad though and the views are incredible. We quickly leveled the trailer and hooked up the water and electric. In the back corner of the trailer there was a thick pink liquid dripping onto the pavement. Denise pointed it out and said  "Something is leaking." "I don't know what would be pink like that though. It was dripping on my hand when I raised up the leveling jack. I sniffed it and it was sweet smelling. When we go into the trailer we went back to the bathroom and looked and there was a bottle of Oxyclean detergent that the cap had come off of and that was the pink. Whew! Nothing serious.

 It was no 8:30 or so and getting dark. So we headed back to Deming to grab a hamburger as neither of us felt like cooking.  

 That was a long tiring day. I usually enjoy driving but driving tensed up waiting for the next explosion is draining. Even so I was up at 5:00 am and ready to take Miss Pata for a little exploring. It was brisk, temps in the lower 60's I would say but it felt good. Because we on right in the mountain side the sun doesn't peek over the top until 8:30 so we spent our walk in the shadow of the mountain, looking out over the sunlight across the valley on the other side.

Eagle Pass Day 5 - The NeverEnding Story

Hoping for a better day was what I posted to Facebook this morning after taking Pata for her walk and checking out some of the local sights. That may have been the highlight of the day.

Black Chinned Hummingbird

Pipevine Swallowtail

Fatal Metalmark

Rougeplant Rivina humilis

Brown-headed Cowbird
 We went back to the trailer after the walk and Denise had breakfast started. Blueberry pancakes! Yay, good choice and tasty too. According to Denise they were perfect, the best pancakes ever.



 After we ate I was sitting at the table and watching Mister Zigs as he was talking to the birds out the window. I heard the short blip of a siren and watched as an ambulance turned into the RV park. I thought maybe they were just cutting through to the Casino parking lot on the other side but no. They stopped at the trailer across from us and began to unload a gurney.

The EMT's arrive at the RV park

I didn't go over there as there were enough people there to get help to the guy. He apparently fell down the stairs of the trailer and smashed his head on the concrete pad at the base of the stairs. After he was taken off to the hospital I went by there  while taking  another walk I looked over to see that there was a large puddle of blood on the pad. I hope he's OK.

All this and it wasn't even noontime yet. The Service Advisor had told us that they wouldn't likely be done before 5:00 pm so I was getting antsy. I fixed us lunch and we ate, that killed a little time but didn't do anything for my fidgets so finally around 2:00 I decided to take a walk and see what was around the area. It was the hottest part of the day so I put on my straw hat and pocketed a bottle of water, grabbed my camera and took off to explore.
 I headed to the neighborhood directly behind the RV park and headed toward a street that I had seen while walking Pata the previous couple of evenings. There was a STOP sign in the middle of the road and I was curious what that was all about. Turns out to be the check-in station for the Kickapoo Tribal land area.

Sign in the office doorway.

I didn't want to go and check in as I was on foot and had no idea where it might go so I turned around and headed up the road the opposite direction. Pata and I had gone up that way last night but I turned around after we walked a half a mile or so and didn't see a cross road. Today I kept going. There was a 20 mph turn in the road and once I got past that I could see a cross road up ahead. As I got to the curve I caught a flash of a red head as a bird flew from a tree. It was a vermillion flycatcher. I saw it but did not get a good shot of him. At the crossroad which was Rosita Highway I turned left heading back toward the road to the casino I hoped. About a quarter mile up there was a gravel road on the left so I went down it. It was a fairly wide road, not a driveway, and there were no NO TRESPASSING signs so I was good to go.
 About another quarter of a mile and a truck came up behind me. I turned around to look and it was the police. He stopped and seeing the camera around my neck he asked "Are you taking pictures" I said yes and knowing he was wondering what I was doing told him that our truck was broken down and I was going stir crazy waiting for it to be repaired so I went for a walk. He then told me that the road led to Tribal lands and that I was welcome to walk it but I could not go off the road and go exploring. I told him that I was fine with that and did the road connect up with the road back to the Casino. Yes it did he said. He then told my to watch out for feral hogs. I pointed to the camera and said that I would welcome seeing them. He chuckled and told me that illegals go through there also and if I saw and activity to please call the Tribal Police. I said sure and he handed me his business card.

I continued walking in the heat. It was probably 100' or so. It was hot, I was hoping to see some lizards or snakes or maybe a roadrunner or a pyrrhuloxia. No such luck though. Just waves of head and a few wildflowers.

As he said I soon saw a sign indicating that I was going onto Tribal lands.

Along the road.

Some poor horse threw a shoe. I collected it hoping for good luck.

Some of the Tribal lands are used for processing gravel, there was a little activity there but not near the road I was on. Other than the cop I saw no one along the road.

Yucca seed pods

A big ole rock, something we don't have in the Rio Grande Delta.

Vermillion Flycatcher, this is another one.

Female vermillion flycatcher.

I think that I walked somewhere around 5 miles. It was hot but it sure felt good to get out and stretch my legs. I was hoping that when I got back we would get a call from the dealer telling us that the truck was ready.
 Not to be. Shortly after I got back they called but it was not good news. We they ordered the parts for the truck they did not notice that they were for a 2009 model and that ours, a 2008, needed a couple of additional parts to complete the repair. They are getting the additional parts from and dealer in San Antonio, hopefully first thing in the morning. This is getting very discouraging. We have been here for the better part of a week now and still don't have a firm time for when the truck will be ready. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr. More later that's enough for today.

Eagle Pass Day 4 - The waiting is the hardest part.

Wednesday and we're still here in Eagle Pass waiting for repairs to be completed. 

We got a call yesterday telling us what was needed, cost and that they needed to order a part in. One day was the turnaround they gave us. I don't like to bug people while they are working so we will wait until a little later to ask for an update.
 Yesterday was spent mostly in the trailer. We did walk around a little in the morning, exploring the area adjacent to the Casino. On the south is the Rio Grande behind a fence so we cannot access it. What a shame, I would like nothing more than to wander up and down the banks. In the afternoon we went into the casino just to see what it was like. Lots of lights and machines. We didn't see any poker tables or craps tables. We did register and they gave us a scratch off chance at winning some gambling money. Denise won $10 and I got $20. I don't like gambling so I gave Denise my card and she gamble it. She cleared $15 or $16 so I guess it was OK. It paid for the RV spot for the night. We got an ice cream  bar and walked back to the Trailer.
 This morning I took Pata for her walk over by the road the fronts the river. We went down a driveway and got back to close to the river. The bank was blocked by cane growing up there so we didn't actually get to see the water.

 This Cactus wren was singing away up on the wire.

 Black chinned hummingbirds were all around the blooms planted in front of the Casino.

Most likely Fatal Metalmark (Calephelis nemesis). 

  
 I just called the dealer and got an update. 2:00p.m. Central time. They didn't get the part until 11:30, were expecting it at 8:00 or 8:30 so they won't finish until 6:00 or 6:30 or possibly tomorrow morning. So here on pins and needles again. It's HOT outside and no vehicle so we're kind of stuck here until they finish.  I'll be happy when this chapter is done, I'm ready to turn the page.

 

Six on the road to adventure.

We six on the road and heading for the next adventure. Denise, Pata Blanca, Kazumba, Mr Ziggy and of course Peanut the precious purple Princess. Oh and me the blogger. That's six packed tightly into the Dodge ram and hauling our house on behind us.
 Day one started off good with a decent start after everyone got their seating assignments. In no time at all the Peanut moved up front and claimed the space between Denise and me. This will probably be her spot for the duration of the trip.

Ziggy and Peanut sharing the space.

Things went well and we stopped at a historical marker to fix lunch as we had not seen a picnic area yet on the backwater highway we were on. We were getting ready to leave when a lady pulled in behind us and walked up to the passenger side of the truck. Hello she said and asked us if we needed any assistance. She then went on to say that many people pull in there needing gas or they're broke down.

We told her that we had just stopped for lunch. She then told us that her great grandfather was the guy talked about in the historical sign. She gave us a brief description of her family history and we went on our way.

About 100 miles out of Eagle Pass the check engine light came on, I checked the gauges but everything looked good and the truck was humming along so I kept going. We pulled into Eagle Pass to get fuel and the truck began to overheat. I got fuel and checked the fluids. The water was a little low so I added some and onward we went. The truck immediately began to overheat again so we pulled to the side of the road and let it cool off. We then turned around and went back to Eagle Pass for the night and on to a Dodge dealer tomorrow. 

That's all for day one. I'm beat and stressed out. More later. Happy Mother's day!