Caballo Lake State Park

Katie and I moved from Percha Dam to Caballo Lake State Park on Monday.  It's a large park with different campground areas.  I wanted to dry camp, of course, and there are some different options for that.  This time I again parked in the parking lot, right above Caballo Lake, so I could look out the window and see the water.

Here's the view out the window:

Beautiful!

I noticed some Turkey Buzzards flying overhead - I always try to get good clear photos of them in flight.  They have such ugly faces and heads, but are so beautiful in flight.  At one point I counted 12 of them.

Three of them landed on the shoreline below us, and I was watching them.

Then I noticed a Great Blue Heron right next to them, walking along the shore.  I always love seeing these graceful birds.

There were also flocks of American Coots floating along in the river:

There are different kinds of Gulls here, too, and this was one I saw flying past The Palms and then landing in the parking lot.  Not a good picture, but it's the best one.

We spent one night there, and then decided to move down to the river.  On Tuesday morning we drove over to Riverside Campground.  In the afternoon there were some cyclists here, sitting at one of the campsite tables.  Then I saw them ride past our site, and again and again.  I thought they were just getting some bicycling exercise.  When Katie and I went out for a walk, what did we see?

Lots of small tents covering a bunch of campsites right near us.  At first I thought it was a girl/boy scout troop or Indian Guides/Princess group.  Then I noticed all the bikes leaning against trees and adults sitting at tables having their dinner.

I stopped to talk to the group at one table and they said they are members of Adventure Cyclists.

They said they are riding from San Diego, CA to St. Augustine, FL in 58 days - 3,069.5 miles!

 Photo by Dennis Coello

These cyclists looked very fit; I guess you'd have to be pretty healthy and strong to be able to cycle over the mountains they face during this trip as well as just peddling all day long.   Good luck to you all - have a good trip!

We headed over here from Percha Dam State Park because of the goathead stickers.  On Tuesday I ordered a dog stroller so I can walk with Katie in areas like Percha Dam.  I remember last year I had a problem with the sand trail along the Rio Grand being so hot it burned Katie's feet and I had to carry her back to The Palms.  Along with the fluid filled sac on her ankle that comes and goes with walks, I'm looking forward to the stroller arriving, which should be by the end of next week.  I want to be able to walk more than we're doing, and I don't enjoy walking alone, especially when there is no one else around, it just feels safer with Katie along.

I have a mystery duck photo I shot - I'll post it next time and hopefully the birders out there will identify it for me.  I also hope to get more photos of the ducks here.   

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

Wordless Wednesday - is this a Parrot?

Is this a parrot?

Nope!  Click here to see:  http://www.johannesstoetterart.com/

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

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!  :)