Friday, June 24, 2016

Goodbye to Elephant Butte State Park

Here's a photo of our site at South Monticello, where I got all the photos of the lizards.  It was getting really hot, and even though we had an electric site and could run the air conditioner, it was just too hot to stay longer.


When I was backing into the site, I could see something weird in the back-up camera display.  I stopped The Palms and got out to see what it was.  Someone before us collected a lot of rocks and organized them according to type, and they were pretty cool to see.  I enjoyed seeing them every day and left them for the next camper to enjoy, too.


First there were regular rocks, probably river rocks?  They were pretty and all different colors.  They were arranged from smallest to largest. 


Next were flat, slate type rocks.  You could make a nice slate patio with these.


The last group were the largest, and they all had  fossil impressions.  (From CSUS, Lab #1: Fossil Preservation:  Imprints are left when an organism is pressed into soft sediment. The original hard parts may be gone, dissolved after burial. Very shallow imprints are called impressions, as of the fern leaf. Larger organisms may leave molds or casts. A mold is the imprint left by the organism, and is a negative of the organism. Molds may be external - of the exterior of the shell, as on the slab of snail and clam external molds.)  

I've never seen these on our walks, whoever left this collection must have taken a LOT of walks in the area.


You just never know what you're going to come across!

Below is one of our last sunsets.  Looking east it was pastel colors,


and looking west,  the sun had just gone down, leaving us with a beautiful sky.


And that's it for Elephant Butte State Park, South Monticello Point Campground for this year.  Onward to the north!

From me and Katie, have a great Friday, everyone!  :)

15 comments:

  1. Way too warm down your way. Any problems with fires yet? That's a lot of rocks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Sandie - yes, there is one fire that was burning a bit ago. It think it's out now, it was called the Dog Head Fire. The sky was grey from the smoke. :(

      Delete
  2. We loved Elephant Butte when we were there last fall, hope to go back again soon.
    Travel safe and keep cool.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I've enjoyed Elephant Butte before but it was in the early spring. I think it would be too hot for us at this time.

    ReplyDelete
  4. That was really interesting about the rocks - even more so because someone wanted to share their joy with someone else, even if that person was unknown to them. ;->

    Virtual hugs,

    Judie

    ReplyDelete
  5. A huge amount of things scattered over a large area to check out from South Monticello. I loved going across the interstate up into the mountains and wander around. Have fun.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hot, yes. Mom and I bailed out of New Mexico 2 weeks ago to higher elevation in Colorado. Nice and cool at the 9500' level around Buena Vista. Loved the rocks.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hot, yes. Mom and I bailed out of New Mexico 2 weeks ago to higher elevation in Colorado. Nice and cool at the 9500' level around Buena Vista. Loved the rocks.

    ReplyDelete
  8. As someone who loves to organize her sock drawer (not kidding!) I adore the ordering of those rocks!

    Looking forward to seeing where you and Katie end up next...

    ReplyDelete
  9. What a nice collection. Collecting rocks has always been a favorite with my kids. I'll bet whoever found them had a great time rounding them up. We'll be waiting to see where you land.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Just beautiful! Looking forward to seeing where you are next!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I finally got to watch your video with Cheap RV Living. I enjoyed it. My concern is the frig. What brand do you have and does it run off propane or solar?

    Looking forward to hearing about your new site. Stay cool.

    Cat Lady

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Judy - my fridge is a Dometic - and it runs off propane or electric. It can also run off the solar as long as the batteries are charged, but that tends to deplete the batteries, so I run it on propane unless I'm in an electric site. :)

      Delete
  12. July 2: it's been awhile, Barbara. How about an update so we won't worry about ya'll. Safe travels and hope it's cooler where you are.

    Cat Lady

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for your comments - we LOVE them!