Moving on again - and Kennedy's Launch Party

On Friday the WINs moved to Leasburg Dam State Park and will be there a few more days.  Katie and I were camped with them for two days at Leasburg, and then decided to continue on by ourselves.  I have a loose itinerary, heading north to other State Parks I especially liked last year, so we are again on our way. 

I didn't take many photos at Leasburg, none worth posting unfortunately; I've gotten some good bird shots here at Percha.  We were here in late April last year, so we're a month earlier right now.  I don't know how the birding will be now, but the Robins are out and singing up a storm this morning.  We are parked along the Rio Grande, but we're above it, so I can't see it from our site, but it's super close.

Katie and I walked down the path going along the river and there is definitely more water than last year.  Thank you, Monsoons! 

There is a small amount of water coming into the river through the pipes below the dam.  Not a lot, but it's something.

I snapped a few bird shots that are below.

Eurasian Collared Dove:











White-winged Doves:

Yellow-rumped Warbler



One of the problems here are the goat heads - I think that's what they call these stickers.  Katie isn't too excited about walking very far because she keeps getting these stuck in her pads.  I've been taking my shoes off outside The Palms and carrying them in to pull out the stickers. 

Can you imagine stepping on these with your bare feet?  Poor Katie!

I'm ordering another little dog stroller like the one along the left sidebar, but I want the 3-wheel style which will be better for off-road walking.  Not only are there lots of stickers, but Katie's ankle keeps swelling, too, like it did last fall.  She'll start out walking just fine, then stop and won't go any further.  I check her ankle and it's swollen.  She always walks back fine; she seems to know the half-way mark.  So if I want to walk and not leave Katie home, a stroller will be the answer.  That purple running stroller I got at Quartzsite would have been great for Katie here because the path along the Rio Grande is sand, but it was just too big to carry around and I think the dog one will be easier to travel with.  This is what I ordered today:

I'll let you know how it works out when we've used it a few days.  It should arrive by the end of next week.

I wanted to show you a few pictures from my granddaughter, Kennedy's, Launch Party for her jewelry business, Touched by Charms.  It was last week and they had over 20 guests and did quite a bit in sales.  This is really cool jewelry, for kids, parents and even seniors like me, but even so - Kennedy and Trish were quite surprised at how successful the first party was.  They are flying to Sacramento and Vacaville to host two more parties in the next couple of weeks.

Below is a "candy bar" they had set up - nice, huh?  My kind of party!

And the next two photos show the display area where they set up a large and two small mannequins showing how the necklaces look, and trays of charms to put in the lockets.  They now have earrings, too.  This is only part of the display, and I think Trish and Kennedy did a great job.

Here's Kennedy before her party started - she looks a little nervous.  I would be, too!

Look at this cake!  Isn't it beautiful?

I ordered by e-mail  - a medium sized plain gold locket and five charms.  I don't need a chain, so I didn't get one.  My daughter is hosting a party, too, for Kennedy and I'm going to order the small gold locket with crystals around it, and a plate to put inside that says, "Love."   I can't wait to get my first locket!  When it arrives, I'll take some photos to show you.  :)

That's it for now - from me and Katie, have a great Tuesday, everyone!  :)

Moving from Rockhound to Pancho Villa

I moved on Monday to Pancho Villa State Park, but I wanted to post final photos from Rockhound State Park.  I snapped some photos at the Visitor's Center and we had a couple of gorgeous sunsets that I didn't want to toss into the "not used" file.  Here they are:

Large rocks spelling out the name of the park:

This is the Visitor's Center:

This is the park - there are only 29 spaces, the six on the right are dry camping spots, and the others are hook-ups.  All the spaces have nice views of the valley and mountains.

Here are a couple of our sunsets - the first one was during high winds and lots of sand/dust in the air.

And then the next evening, this gorgeous, clear sunset:

Katie and I arrived at Pancho Villa State Park, just three miles from the US/Mexican border on Monday and pulled into a nice dry camping site.  It turned out we are right next to Trish, the gal who leads the Sundowners group of WINs.  I walked over and was invited to join them, and also participate in the dance lesson after happy hour.  I did both, and had a Merengue dance lesson - thanks Bill!

The next day, Tuesday, the group was driving over to border to The Pink Store in Palomas, Mexico for lunch and a little dancing.  I don't have a passport, and said I couldn't go, but they said you can walk over and get back into the US with just your driver's license, so that's what I did.  It worked out fine, no problems getting back across the border.  They did type my info into their computers, though, so don't try this if you have any outstanding issues connected to your driver's license.

I brought a small camera, but I forgot I took the SD card out of it, and I didn't have much memory left, so I only got two good photos.  So, here are the two photos from inside the Pink Store:

Room with pottery for sale that was right behind my chair in the restaurant:

This is a wall of frogs that was behind our table:

A lot of you have been here and know all about this place - everything is pink, including the outside of the building - hence the name The Pink Store.  Lots more photos on their website.

On Tuesdays they have a special - the first Margarita is free with lunch - so most of us got the freebie.  Lunch was good and reasonably priced, and their water is filtered.  I had some and felt fine, so that was good to know.  I was able to dance a little - I haven't danced in - probably - 20 years, and I did pretty well considering.  We had a small group of WINs, but the LOWs were there, too, and they had a huge group.  The LOWs have an RV park in Deming, nearby, and I guess a lot of their members come every Tuesday for lunch.

It was fun - hopefully I'll get a chance to go back another day.  :)

Today the WINs are out on a road trip to a ghost town/mining camp and tomorrow they are geocaching - these guys keep pretty busy and have a variety of activities.  Non-members can attend some activities to see if they'd like to join the WINs.  They seem like a great group, and it's something to think about, that's for sure!  They are leaving on Friday and if my mail arrives tomorrow, I'll be joining them.

From me and Katie, have a great Thursday, everybody!  :)

Wordless Wednesday - more creative people

Playful diversions on the street by very creative people:

From me and Katie, have a great Wordless Wednesday, everybody!  :)

Making new friends - Catholic Mass in the Campground

I've met a bunch of new people here at Rockhound.

First I met Rob't and Diana - they are camped here, too, and have their own traveling library.  They put a "book box" on a stool by the road in front of their site, and when Katie and I were walking one day and I stopped to look at the books, Rob't came out and then Diana walked over, too, and we talked for quite a while.  Since our first meeting, we've visited a few times and shared happy hour at Donna and Bob's.

Here's Bob and Donna, Diana and Rob't during our happy hour:

Next I met Donna.  She and her husband, Bob, are parked up the hill from me, and I met Bob the next day.  Super nice couple.  They have been full-timing for years, and belong to some groups, so they know a lot of RVers and have been to a lot of places.  Bob put up a neat wind machine on their Class A motor home - it looks pretty cool.  It's wireless and looks like something I might want to get.  It tells wind speed and direction, outside temps, and I don't know what else.  I'm going to research these gizmos and see what they cost.  Anyone have recommendations on one of these little machines?   Donna and Bob are also avid Geocachers and are approaching 4,000 finds!

Bruce and Ellabeth were driving back to their site the other day and pulled up my road while Katie and I were outside.  They stopped to say, "How's Katie doing today?"  I didn't know them, and walked over to their truck and said, "How do you know Katie?" (Weird - like Katie was a person.)    Bruce said they recognized me and Katie and also The Palms from the blog.  We talked a little bit and then I asked if I could take their picture for the blog - and they agreed. Here are Bruce and Ellabeth:

They are not bloggers, but obviously read other peoples posts!  It was nice meeting you both, Bruce and Ellabeth (I hope I spelled that right).  Thanks for stopping by to say HI!

Then on Saturday I met Sherry and Jack.  They are camped right next to me and we've said "Hi" as Katie and I walked by, but on Saturday Sherry and Jack came over and we talked - and wondered what in the world was going on in the Group Site across from us.  A huge catering truck was there, lots of people, chairs set up, Vestments hanging from the shade structure.  We had a good conversation and then Sherry went home while Jack checked out what was going on nearby.  Here's Sherry and Jack and that's their site behind them.  They don't have a blog, so I can't provide a link for them, but they are also avid Geocachers.  Geez, these Geocachers here at Rockhound really have me interested in trying that hobby again.  :)

It was really nice meeting so many people - and I enjoyed the time I spent with them all.  Hopefully we'll meet up again down the road.

The goings on in the Group Site?  Well, this isn't something you see every day while hanging out in a State Park.  It was a Youth Lenten Walk in honor of the Lenten season celebrated by the Catholics in the Deming and Luna County area.

Paraphrased from the Headlight Deming News:  In honor of the season — and to reach out to young people — Father Enrique Lopez-Escalera has organized the Lenten Youth Walk over the past five years on behalf of St. Ann Catholic Church in Deming. "The walk is for the youth, but everyone is invited to join."  The walk began at 8 a.m. from the intersection of McCann and Rockhound Roads and was seven miles.

Walkers were led to Rockhound State Park where a Holy Mass was conducted at 11 a.m. at the group shelter in the park.  Leading the mass was recently appointed New Mexico Bishop Oscar Cantu of the Diocese of Las Cruces.  "It's a very special occasion to have the Bishop here in our presence," Fr. Enrique said. "He is our shepherd and the successor to the Apostles. To have him here to celebrate the Eucharist and address our young people is a great honor, indeed."

Following the mass, a cookout of hot dogs and hamburgers and refreshments were provided for the congregation.

I was raised Catholic, but I'm what they call a "fallen away Catholic."  I have my own faith, but seldom attend church services of any denomination.  I really enjoyed watching the kids walking up the long road to the park - there were a LOT of them.  Cars were parked all over the place, on all the roads near the group shelter site.

There was a float with the Virgin Mary and potted plants, etc. leading the walkers, who followed behind it and you could see them coming up the long road into the park. They walked into the Group Site, which had been set up with a huge catering truck, large bar-b-que, and an alter for Mass and lots of rows of folding chairs.  It took quite a while to set it all up and then the kids arrived.  Most of the parents had already arrived in their cars.

Katie and I walked down to see the service - even though I went to Catholic school, I don't remember ever seeing a Bishop, so this was pretty cool for me.  Even though I'm not a practicing Roman Catholic, I still have great respect for that faith. I watched the Mass and listened to the Bishop's sermon, and after a while we walked on around the park.  It was very inspiring and uplifting and luckily it was a beautiful morning with NO winds. I suspect more than a few prayers were sent up asking for a calm morning.

After the Mass, they ate and drank and visited and then people started leaving.  Before long the Group Shelter was cleaned up and empty again.  I was glad to have experienced this event, and have to hand it to all the kids and adults who walked seven miles to get here.   Here are some photos I took:

I think Father Enrique Lopez-Escalera celebrated the Mass and Bishop Oscar Cantu gave the sermon and spoke to the congregation.  The men looked similar and I was too far away to hear everything:

Father Enrique Lopez-Escalera celebrating Mass:

There were two Sheriffs there who helped control traffic for the walkers.  They are members of the Church and donated their time.  I talked to the officer in the photo below and he explained to me what was going on and the history of this walk for the youth of his church.  Later I found more information on-line at the Headlight Deming News website.

Beautiful setting for the service.

Bishop Cantu with his Staff addressing the congregation:

One of the last vehicles to leave - I'm guessing this is the Bishop's transportation:

Lots going on here, between visiting, lots of walks, birding, and attending Mass. 

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