Sunset at Pilot Knob our second night.
Katie and I left Pilot Knob on Tuesday morning on our way to New Mexico. We stopped in Yuma to do some shopping at Wal-Mart. Another stop was made at PetSmart to get some food for Katie and have her nails clipped. Then on to Sam's Club. I was not a member and wanted to check it out. I belong to Costco, but I don't see many Costco stores when I'm on the road. There are many more Sam's Clubs. I decided to join Sam's and did a little shopping there and filled up the gas tank, too.
Then we took off toward New Mexico, and made it as far as Gila Bend, where I pulled over at a Love's gas station and parked in an end spot next to all the truckers. I was too tired to drive further after walking around all the stores for hours. Wednesday we hit the road again and drove for five hours, I think. We passed the Continental Divide - I always like that, for some reason.
We finally arrived at Rockhound State Park in the afternoon. I thought it was 3:30, but it was actually 4:30. (All those time changes.)
There are only six dry camping sites, and just two were taken, so I had a good choice. I decided on Site #4, which I haven't camped in before.
There was a BIG AWFUL THING that almost happened on Friday. Super scary! We had been here a couple of days and I wanted to get a different view and maybe get a little closer to level, so I moved The Palms. I slowly turned The Palms and kept getting out and checking the corner of the shade structure that you can see in the photo. I wanted to be parallel with that side, but didn't want to hit that corner. As I was slowly driving forward I heard a scraping noise and got out and looked - the corner of the structure was right on the side of The Palms.
WOW! That would have been really bad if I hadn't been driving really slow and immediately stopped at the sound. I got back in and drove slowly backwards, got out and checked for holes in the side of The Palms. Nope, only a slight colored line from the paint on the shade structure. Needless to say, I moved out a bit and decided I'd better be happy with the current view. Whew, that was a close one. Can you imagine if I had punctured the side of the motor home? I would not have been a happy camper. Even thought I have duct tape I could have used to cover the hole - Beverly Hillbillies, anyone? LOL
Anyway, when we arrived on Wednesday I pulled in, opened the door and was immediately bombarded with the sound of birds singing and the sight of birds everywhere. Sitting on the cactus, flying alone and in flocks, scratching in the dirt - it was so welcoming. I had forgotten about the birds here. Here are some of them - this bird is a Cactus Wren - they sing a lot and are very photogenic!
The bird below landed on the side mirror and startled Katie, who was sitting up front in her car seat. She didn't bark, but got very alert and watched the bird until it few away. We've had a few land on the hood of the truck and come up around the windshield wipers and hang out. They also land on the roof and sit on our antenna.
We also have Curved-bill thrashers:
and White-winged Doves with their "small black dash under their cheeks... bright red eyes and vivid blue eye rings," from my field guide. I don't remember noticing the blue eye-ring on these guys last year, isn't he beautiful?
And here's our beautiful sunset our first night here at Rockhound State Park:
It's always such a satisfying end to the day when we have a nice sunset. And guess what? I saw another "first" bird - I'll post his photos next time. I was pretty excited - and he's beautiful!
From me and Katie, have a great Monday, everybody! :)
Great photos, sucks about the scrape, good thing you were going slow!
ReplyDeleteAlways worried about branches on my motorhome more than anything, cause you can't usually see them in the mirror.
Once took an electical power cord with me for a while, not sure where I picked it up on the A/C unit. Someone had to replace it I suppose at some point!
You are there at a good time for singing birds!
ReplyDeleteReally, really great bird photos!!!
ReplyDeleteI know how it feels to scrape your RV. I just did it to mine a couple of weeks ago. Still waiting on the adjuster.
ReplyDeleteSure happy to hear there wasn't any damage. That would be sad. I'm enjoying your beautiful bird pictures.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear where you are and see the photos. I can "hear" the birds singing in my imagination ear!
ReplyDeleteI meant to mention that I really like your bird pictures. I can't ever seem to get good pictures of birds. I can't get close enough to them. My little pocket digital camera doesn't have much of a zoom. What type of camera do you use.
ReplyDeleteHi Dizzy-Dick - I use a Canon PowerShot SX500 IS with a zoom lens of 30x. I can actually zoom out to 60, but it isn't as clear at that distance. I have the camera on the right sidebar of the blog - I don't know if the price is still accurate, but you can see what the camera has and a current price on Amazon.com. It's easy to hold and walk with, and I like the pictures it takes. Thanks for asking. :)
DeleteI think I would really like Rockhound State Park. Your pictures today are so interesting to me - love the birds especially.
ReplyDeleteGypsy, you would like this park - there's some great hiking right from the campground. :)
DeleteLovely sunset, lovely birds, i've had some of those near-misses too.
ReplyDeleteI'm new to your blog so I dug back into some of your 'history' and find your story very inspiring! I do get excited when I read about your lifestyle.
ReplyDeleteHubby and I are 60 somethings and 'snowbird' in a tiny Casita. Both of us want to go full time but we don't want to be out of the real estate market; our 14 acres, home, and solar array are our long term investments. It's difficult to have it both ways.
As a woman I do have to say that you are very brave to travel alone. Are you ever afraid? Alone in the dark in the desert...!!!
I'll be following your blog with great interest!
Ohhh, the birds are gorgeous! New Mexico is such an amazing place--so glad you're back there! Great photos, Barbara! Enjoy NM!!
ReplyDeleteLove Rockhound. Great views, and it's always nice to camp just a few miles from a winery :-). Have they finished the rest room building construction yet? They were hard at work when I was last there in October.
ReplyDeleteHI Barbara:
ReplyDeleteI loved my visit to Rock Hound State Park last April. This time heading west I didn't stop there but do remember the good time I had before. I met some really interesting "rock hounds;" quite an interesting 'hobby!' I loved the cactus plantings around the restrooms. Are they still nice this year?
I passed some nice time with our mutual friend, RG Bond (Fred) over the weekend while I parked at Cotton Lane RV Park in Goodyear, AZ. Tonight I'm in Blythe at Hidden Beaches RV Park on the Colorado River - the only RV here in this section so it's pretty nice. Lacy loves the grass; the trees don't offer much shade but it wasn't too outrageously hot today so we've just been relaxing and enjoying some real quiet.
Changing the subject - I'm new to the RV world and have a C-Class -- the A/C is so loud!! I don't recall seeing anything in your blog about this. Regardless of the setting it is LOUD and it never kicks off; it runs constantly until I turn it off. Is this the way yours operates? Cools great.
ReplyDeleteHi Audrey - I seldom use my A/C, but when I do it can be kind of loud. I guess it's a large fan blowing the cold air into The Palms right above my head, so it would be loud. My on/off switch is a thermostat where I set the temperature, and then choose "heat" or "cool." When the temp at that thermostat reaches the setting it stops running. I don't know if you have a thermostat - I actually usually turn mine off before it reaches the temperature I've set. Hope this helps. :)
DeleteWow. So many birds. What a fun place and beautiful sunsets.
ReplyDeleteI forgot to say that we're birders too. It's such a marvellous hobby because there are birds wherever you go! We find that it gives a real focus to travelling. Your bird photos are fantastic!
ReplyDeleteNumber 4 is a nice spot, I've stayed in that one. Waiting to see your new bird :-)
ReplyDeleteI spent some time this year (for the first time) at the Pilot Knob LTVA and I must say I quite liked it. I drove waaaaay to the back though and it was very peaceful and quiet there. I'd definitely go back.
ReplyDeleteThere's a great boondocking spot in Gila Bend that I always stop at. Away from the Truckers !!
LOVE your new campsite.
Wonderful birds shots! Love them! Can't wait to see your "new" bird photo. We have stayed at Rockhound and we like it there very much! Enjoy the rest of your time there.
ReplyDeleteLove the bird photos. We are finally starting to warm up, above freezing during the day so the birds are starting to slowly return. I could hear them outside the window this weekend, and I thought...finally spring is going to arrive! Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteWhat wonderful pictures Barbara....I especially like the cactus wren.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear nothing bad happened! That was a close call.
ReplyDeleteThe bird shots are so beautiful! We were in Yuma yesterday. There was a "burrowing owl" in the parking lot, 3 feet from our van. It had chosen a rain spout hole for a nest opportunity and was guarding it. It was not shy at all.
Of course - I had left my camera at home!!!!!
I guess I need a small pocket camera for these kind of moments.
I believe Al calls those scrapes desert pinstriping . Let's see, what could we call yours???? Maybe structure striping? Whatever....I am just glad you have very little damage. Maybe it will buff out. Let's hope anyway.
ReplyDelete