Back to Elephant Butte - Goatheads, Squirrels, Boxers and Roadrunners

We've moved a little bit in the last week or so.  We were at Caballo Lake, up in the parking area overlooking the lake for one night, then moved to Riverside Campground, just down the road.  I really like parking up there, and every time I do I love it until we take our first walk around the area.  Here's why we don't last long up there:

Goathead stickers.  This is my shoe after a short potty walk with Katie.  If we take a longer walk, the bottom of my shoes are covered.  You can imagine Katie trying to walk on these things.  I always forget, then the next day we usually move down to Riverside Campground along the Rio Grande.

We were the only campers in the Riverside Campground along the primitive area.  We had camped here in the spring, and I chose a large site that I had last time.  Right on the Rio Grande.  The developed sites in the campground have TONS of squirrels, so I don't park in the regular campground any more, but this area along the lake didn't have squirrels in the spring.  WELL...   this time, they were all over the place.  Here's our campsite - that's the river behind the trees:

It's just beautiful there.  When we went to bed, it was warm, so I opened the window in the overcab bunk.  I could smell the damp fields right across the road from our site.  It smelled so good.  I was happy to be there - and no goat heads.

We went to bed that night, and the next morning we had a whole crowd of squirrels.  They had built a huge hole in the ground 20 or 30 feet from The Palms during the night.  When I first went outside in the morning and saw this huge hole, I couldn't imagine what had built it.  Something big, for sure.

Here's Katie next to the hole, sniffing the dirt - she could have fit in the hole:

A bit later, here come the squirrels.  I don't know if they are the critters who dug the hole, but they were going in and out of it, and there was another smaller opening across from the big hole.  The squirrels were coming in and out of both and seemed very comfortable:

I was afraid of having a hoard of squirrels popping in and out of that tunnel and running all over the place near The Palms, and I was also feeling a little isolated, so I decided maybe we'd better head back to Elephant Butte, and we did.  We'll be back - but maybe further down toward the end there won't be as many squirrels, and hopefully there will be more RVers in that area.

We were extremely lucky to drive in on a Saturday morning and snag a non-electric campsite.  Someone must have just left - SCORE!   And so here we are, settled in for a bit.

We had a visitor yesterday - I don't know if he's a stray dog, or a pet who is off the leash, but he was back again today, walking through the campsite, and visiting our neighbor, Ellie and her son, Justice, who are next door.  I thought he was a Pitt Bull, but Justice said he's a Boxer. He is a beautiful dog.  I put out some food, he seemed so needy, and then gave him a treat, but I kept away from him, just in case.  As much as I hate people leaving their dogs off leash, I'm hoping he does have a home. He keeps going back up to the spot where we were on the little loop over the lake, so maybe one of those campers owns him.  And here he comes:

Eating a little of Katie's food - he finished the bowl and then had some water from the other bowl.  They are paper bowls, and I was surprised he didn't knock them over:

Yum - thanks, Katie!

See ya next time!

And away he went.  He seems like a sweet dog, I hope he's okay.  Katie was keeping a close watch on him.

I mentioned in the last post I'd tell you about my close encounter with a Roadrunner.  It was the best.  Short, but very sweet.  I was in the first campsite here at Elephant Butte, along the loop overlooking the lake.  I noticed the heron down by the water and went outside to snap some photos.  I was standing there, watching the bird through the close-up lens of the camera when I heard a weird noise.  It was kind of a double sound - a chirping and gurgling at the same time.  Weird.  I thought it was one of the weird insects that fly around making weird noises.

It kept making that sound, but it wasn't flying away, so I lowered the camera and glanced to my right, and there - right there - was a Roadrunner looking up at me.  A big guy, looking right at me.  I think I was in his way, blocking his path to get down the hill to the lake.  Up close and personal - he looked very soft and fluffy.

Here he comes:

Rushing by:

Heading past me on his way to the lake.  That was a pretty cool few minutes.  I've never been that close to a Roadrunner before.

WELCOME to our newest Follower, Leslie Alpen!  Hi, Leslie - thanks for following along with me and Katie.  I don't see any info about you, but if you have a blog, please let me know, and I'll share the link.  Welcome aboard!  :)

From me and Katie, have a great Wednesday, everyone!