Sunday, June 24, 2012

4 strikes and we're out :(

WELCOME to our newest Follower, turquoisemoon!  She has two blogs, but is not an RVer that I could see.  Since I'm on the road, I didn't go down too many posts, but the posts I read look interesting.   Thanks for following along with us, turquoisemoon, we're happy to have you aboard!  :)

Although we had a beautiful campsite at Navajo Lake, I decided to move on the next morning. 

1.  Really hot - why does The Palms have wheels if we can't move to a comfortable area? 

2.  I couldn't seem to find a site where I'd fit and still face west.  That helps get the maximum from the solar panels, and puts us with our nose facing the hottest part of the day. We've been getting the sun beating down on us in the dinette window in the early part of the day, and then in the window over the couch in the hot afternoons.  It really helps to have the sun start in the kitchen window, go overhead, and end up coming in the windshield. I can control the heat better that way.

3.  This is a super dusty park. Not a lot of gravel or small rocks, just dry dirt that is really dusty.  But I probably would have stayed with those things, at least for a few days, #4 is what did us in. 

4.  I woke up Friday morning and stepped into the most ants I've ever seen.  They were everywhere!  BIG black ants and little black ants.  They were inside my (fake but fabulous Walmart) Crocs in seconds and I was really worried about them getting into The Palms.

I've never packed up so fast.  That was early Friday, and it's now Sunday morning, and I haven't seen any ants inside The Palms, so I think we're okay.

Heron Lake State Park was next on our list, so we headed that way.  It was a beautiful drive.  From the Visitor's Center, they have a telescope to use to see an Osprey nest.  There are three babies.  When I was with a camp host looking for a site (she was so nice, and went way beyond her duties to help me out) we drove right by it and saw two babies peeking out before mom tucked them under her again.



It was a little cooler there, and even though it was a weekend, there were some nice campsites I could get while facing West that were right near the water.  I even drove down to the Primitive Camping area at the far end of the Heron Lake State Park road.  The road was rough, and the turn down to the water was sharp and had large ruts.  I took a chance - wow, what ride! - but we made it.


Our primitive campsite, for about 10 minutes.

It was quiet and beautiful, with two other campers within eyesight. Katie and I walked down to the water, and in the dried mud there were large bird tracks, so I was thinking this would be a great place for bird watching.

I got my phone to check West and the level bubble app, and saw there were NO VERIZON BARS.  Rats! I couldn't stay there with no phone, so we drove out back to the main camping area. 

I was in an Extended Network area, and even if I was lucky to get any bars to allow calls in and out, this extended network didn't allow access to the Internet through my phone, at least I couldn't get it. Other people told me they used their computers, but I was on the phone with Verizon in the Visitor Center for 40 minutes, and we just couldn't get me on-line.

Anyway, I figured I could stay a few nights without Internet access.  We found a great campsite with a beautiful view and also with an easy walk to the lake.

 

I got The Palms set up and we sat outside for a little while enjoying the view.  Then Katie and I walked down to the lake, and I lifted her up and carefully put her back feet into the water.  She didn't fight me, so I put her front feet in, just a few inches - I was still holding her - and she started doing the dog paddle!  It really is instinct, because I don't think she's ever been in a lake before.  We walked more along the lake water line, and then walked back and I waded in the cool water and SO DID KATIE with no prompting from me!   Up to her knees.  I was really surprised.

So we walked back to The Palms and Katie sat down and started licking her stomach.  I laid her down on her back to see what was going on, and she had red bites/welts all over her underside.  Under her armpits, all over her chest and stomach, and down the inside of her back legs.  GEEZ.  I found some black bugs on her and picked them off, then put her in the sink and gave her a bath, thinking it would be soothing and might get any other bugs off her.  I put the 3 in 1 antiseptic ointment that the vet recommended for her nose all over her.  Surprisingly, she didn't seem to be bothered too much.

In the morning her bites looked a little better, and I found some Neosporin cream to put on her.  I decided to move to another site out of the grasses near the lakeside.  The new site overlooked the lake and was also an easy walk, but we stayed away from the lake on Saturday and only walked on the gravel roads.

The camp host in that area said all the little dogs get bit like that.  We had clouds coming in and a storm expected. After the rain, the bugs aren't bad, she said.  Unfortunately, we didn't get any rain and this morning, the sky didn't have a cloud to be seen. It was going to be hot again and I decided to leave and head north and see if we could find an area with cooler weather and Internet access.


 Beautiful Friday Sunset.

Of course, having the phone access is mandatory for me, but so is the Internet.  One thing I realized is that I couldn't even get on-line to figure out where to to next.  I couldn't get the temps in other areas, which was the fastest way to the coolest, closest NM campground.  I finally looked at the Atlas, picked a town over the border in Colorado, plugged that into the GPS and we left New Mexico, heading north. 

We are now sitting outside the Pagosa Ranger Station in the San Juan National Forest. It's in the middle of the small town of Pagosa.   This is a nice town, clean and rustic and lots of little shops.

When I post this, I'm going to do some research on where to go next.  But first I am going to call my son, Tom.  His 45th birthday was yesterday and for the first time ever, I didn't wish him a Happy Birthday.  I walked around the campground with my phone looking for bars, and finally was able to get a call though.  I had to leave a message, so at least he knew I didn't forget about his birthday.

I have no idea where we'll be posting from next, your guess is as good as mine.

From Me and My Dog, have a great Sunday, everyone!  :)

16 comments:

  1. Thank you for the welcome. No, I'm not RVer...just a wannabe. Your posts are so interesting, love following your adventures.

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  2. I can't believe it's so hot up there! When I traveled west in 2010, I never took my sweatshirt off. Usually at the higher elevations, it's cool. Idaho was actually cold!

    I saw another commenter mention this a week or so ago and was planning on asking you to put the state somewhere in your text--however, as I read down I read and remembered you were in NM.

    I stayed in Chama for a couple of weeks which is where the Cumbres de Toltec RR is, and it was cool there. I'm not too sure about boon docking, but I did take Jack to a nearby lake--may have been Heron or one of the others you've mentioned. Looking back at my blog I realize I was very bad about not mentioning names, states, places in each post.

    Angel Fire NM seems to be cooler, and Silverton if you don't mind route 550 is in the 80s-70s by Tuesday.

    I'm glad you got the critters off Katie. She is just so cute. I love the "Katie-I love you" video.

    Bugs are supposed to be outrageous all over the country because of the odd winter weather.

    Seems like it's hard to hide from the heat this year.

    I always enjoy your blog. Pats to Katie.

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  3. Nice looking campsite even though it wasn't your first choice and Katie ran into problems. Poor little thing - glad she is OK. Doris was the same way about water but now she is brave enough to go up to her belly!

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  4. Do you think Katie got the bites in the water or in the grass? Strange your ankles and feet didn't get bitten too. Loved the bird nest photo.

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  5. The beauty of the wheels,they can move when you want to go. Beautiful pic of the Osprey.

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  6. I am assuming you are in Pagosa Springs, CO. Someone else mentioned Silverton. That is one of my favorite places. It is cool, above 10,000 feet, and there is a beautiful place to boondock about 5 miles out of town (toward Ouray on Hwy 550. Take a left at the sign that says South Mineral something. There is pay campgroud at the end of the road, but a great boondock area on the creek before you get there. 550 on to Ouray is BEAUTIFUL!!!!
    I just spent a week in the Lincoln National Forest near Cloudcxroft, NM--south of the fires. It was 39 to 50 degrees at night and 70's and low 80's in the day time. Great boondocking!
    I am not on the road much yet. I retired as a high school principal a year ago and continue as a foster mother to infants. My 2005 LeisureTravel Van (LOVE IT) will be paid for in February. After my last baby placement ends, I will be a most of the time RVer for a few years.

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  7. There is also a great boondock sight north of Chama in Colorado. It is an old stop on the scenic railroad--also above 10,000 feet and cool. You can find both of these on freecampgrounds.com. Hope you and Katie find a great place.

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  8. There are a lot of wildfires in Colorado. You should sign up for text messages from the Colorado Department of Transportation, CDOT. I am in Mancos, CO and there is a wildfire here in Weber Canyon. There was a wildfire that closed Hwy 550 on the CO/NM border yesterday. And Pagosa Springs has a large wildfire.
    Hope you can find someplace cool and nice to stop for awhile.

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  9. beautiful pics...poor katie..glad shes ok..Lilly got into the fire ants in Florida...I used polysporin and found benadryll spray at walmart...it really helped her..(and me)....travel safe where ever that may be :)

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  10. aw poor Katie... great sunset picture again! ... yes... please put where you are I did the same thing... as another commenter...

    oh, Ouray and Silverton are absolutely gorgeous places...

    I'm having a bit of problem with wifi also. The places with them are closed or close early on Sundays ... good ol McDs but it's slowern molasses ... cell phone service is great at my campsite but hard to type with one finger!

    Wildfires are something else! I know you know to check before heading somewhere... we have friends in Colorado Springs ... she just posted on Facebook her son is out there somewhere!! and here's a TV live thing....

    http://www.kktv.com/video/live

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  11. I'm sure you were as surprised that Katie liked the water as I was with Lady. I did fine for the 10 days or so I had no phone connection, but I did get internet at motels in the evening. I'm sure I could do without it for a while, especially if there was a town I could drive into once in a while to get connected.

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  12. Don't know where you ended up but there are several Forest Service campgrounds north of Pagosa Springs at much higher elevation. We decided to stop just north of Durango today at Junction Creek, another FS campground. Managed to get a site with electric as it was over 90 here, too.
    Our friends little dog was covered with bites at Heron and El Vado Lake, also, from those little gnats. Hope you are in a more pleasant place.

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  13. We were in Silverton and Ouray in the past couple days and it was uncomfortably warm even there during the day. The nights did cool off very well.

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  14. This heat is everywhere. It is always so nice and cool here. But it has been awful this past week. Some said they heard on the news Thur. it was 100 here. Today was a little cooler and made our walks easier. But when we hit a sunny patch Fred pulls me to the next shady spot to walk.
    Hope you find some cooler temps.

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  15. Awwww..poor little Katie. And she didn't even complain. What a trooper. Glad you spotted it when you did and were able to resolve the issue. Wonder what bit her???

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  16. Wow great sunset pic. Isn't this a great lifestyle, come and go as you like?

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