Visiting with fellow bloggers and photos of Katie and Jakie

 I thought Katie looked so cute, folding her paws.  I've never seen her do this before:

I met Amanda and Tim while were were both at Rock Hound State Park, and on Sunday they pulled into the area near where Katie and I were camped overlooking Caballo Lake.  They have a very cool spot all by themselves across the little inlet. 

After they got settled, they rode their bikes around the area and stopped for a while to visit with me and Katie.  Thanks for stopping by, you guys!  I sure enjoyed our visit.   How's the mouse situation?  (They picked up some furry visitors at Leasburg Dam, it must be a bad year for the critters.  Stock up on traps, folks!) 

On Wednesday a meet-up was planned with other bloggers, and after picking up my UPS delivery of Katie's stroller, we headed down to Riverside Campground again and met up with Roxie and Annie and I met Suzanne.

We had a non-stop talk fest and a ton of fun.  I totally enjoyed our time together, and decided to camp where Roxi and Annie were along the river for two nights.  We've had coffee in the morning and another afternoon gathering on Thursday with Annie (who went into Elephant Butte and got us all pizza!!), Roxi, Suzanne, and me.  Suzanne works full time during the day, and after work she walked down to meet with us - 3+ miles in the heat after a full day's work.  AND she walked back home, too.  Wow, atta girl, Suzanne!!

On Wednesday Annie helped me put Katie's stroller together, and I think I'm going to love it.  Katie is completely comfortable in it, and the second afternoon I brought it down when we all met up again and Katie stayed in the stroller the whole time.   I think all this socializing is wearing her out, and it looked like she was sleeping for a while.  I'm glad she's so contented and relaxed in it.  Katie is quite a trooper; she just seems to go along with whatever I decide for her.

Katie and the girls:

Annie's dog, Jake, is the cutest, quietest, calmest dog I've ever met.  Katie was not very nice to him, she growled when he came near me and he was afraid of her after that.  He stays very close to Annie - could he be any closer than this?  Leaning against her with his paw on her foot:

He'd come outside with us for a while, then want back into the motor home.  Here he is, waiting for someone to open the door for him.  :)

So cute!

Katie was looking like she wanted to play with Jake:

But Jake wanted IN!  Katie was off her leash and I yelled RunRunRun and she started running back and forth like crazy.

I put her leash back on and she proceeded to take a dust bath.

She had a blast!  Unfortunately her little back ankle now has a huge fluid filled sac on it, so I think all that running made her ankle worse.  I'm really glad we have the stroller, I think she's going to be taking a lot of walks with me in the stroller.

Jake taking a drink down by the riverside:

Katie is wondering what that wonderful smell is - Annie was getting Jake his dinner, half dry food, half canned.  I'm sure Katie could smell that canned food.

Below are some bird shots I've taken in the last few days - still not a lot of activity in the birding area.  I'm heading to Elephant Butte tomorrow and will probably be back in two weeks.  Hopefully there will be more of our feathered friends here by then.

Blue-winged Teals:

American Coots:

Great Blue Heron by the boat ramp/dock:

Gull flying over Caballo Lake:

Northern Shoveler:

Female Ruddy Duck:

And finally, Katie's favorite critter, a lizard in Annie's campsite:

Goodbye for now, Caballo Lake - we like it here and might be back soon.

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

RVillage - are you a member?

There's a new social media website just for RVers, and it's brand new - well, a month or so old.  It's called RVillage.  I joined a couple of weeks ago and find it easier to use than Facebook, which I don't use.  I have a Facebook page, but it's not open to the public, I just have it to "friend" my kids so I can follow what they are up to.

When I heard about RVillage, I checked it out and decided to join.  At this point they already have close to 5,000 members!  It's gaining members like wildfire.  One of the things I like about RVillage is that when you arrive at an RV park or campground you can "check in" on the site and post which campground or area you're in, and if other RVillage members have checked in at the same place, you'll know it.  That makes it easier to meet people.  There are tons of groups to join within RVillage, which gives members another way to meet RVers with similar interests.  I've joined two groups, Bloggers and Singles on the Road.  Not much of a joiner, I guess, but some of the people have joined many groups.

Check it out and see if this new RVing website might work for you - RVillage.

Below are photos from Riverside Campground. It was very quiet there, but over the weekend (before the mice drove us back to the main campground) there was a lot of activity - the Group Area was full - I think were scouts.  At least that's what someone said.  They and their leaders, though, were wearing kilts.  I never did go over to talk to them and find out who they were, I was being lazy, sitting inside most of the time because of the wind.  I snapped this photo of three boys coming up from the river and walking past The Palms to the Group Area. I thought it was so cute, I had to post it for you.  I love the three variations of the kilt outfits.

There was also some drum music, it sounded like Native Americans were performing, and later I saw a man in American Indian dress standing in a group.  They were all very well behaved and even though they were near me, I hardy heard them.  And I really got a kick of seeing them all in their kilts and Native dress.

The male House Finch is nothing new, but this guy was so brilliantly red up in the tree I took some photos.  At least I think he's a House Finch.  Sure is brighter than others I've seen - maybe the males have more red feathers during mating season?  See the white "cotton" on his chest from the cottonwood tree he's sitting in and on his claws?

There were a couple altercations outside The Palms.  I didn't see them, but I heard them.  The first one involved a squirrel, and when I looked outside, this squirrel was running up the tree branches to get away:

He climbed up pretty high.  Then later I heard another strange noise, and when I looked out I saw this bird, all fluffed up sitting on the ground in front of The Palms.

I think he's a Robin, but I'm not sure.  He sat there for a while, then scurried under a bush.  Do you know what kind of bird he is?

And lastly - as you can see from these photos there's not a lot of wildlife in the area right now - I tried for three days to get a shot of a white butterfly/moth and finally one landed long enough for me to get it's picture.  There were a lot of these guys flying around, but they never land for long.

That's it for now - and the end of the Riverside Campground photos.  Katie's stroller should be delivered tomorrow and we'll be able to walk around the campground more.  I'm looking forward to that.

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

Riverside Campground and two ducks and three mice!

Katie and I moved down the road to Riverside Campground, which has nice dry camping sites.  There isn't a lot going on - lots of squirrels around, playing, chasing each other, etc. and they are fun to watch. 

Here are two of them, running around the campsite.

This is the view of the river out my dinette window. 

Katie and I walked down to the river and checked up and down river to see if there were any water birds there.  I don't know if we're too early, but there don't seem to be any exciting birds here yet.  We are a month earlier than last year, so maybe some will be flying through soon.

Katie actually walked down to the water and waded in.  I was surprised.  She did this a few times. 


There are some beautiful trees here.  Lots of Cottonwoods which - true to their names - are shedding tons of white cotton-like tufts that blow around all day long in the wind.  In some places it looks like it snowed.  Also lots of trees like the one below.  They are beautiful with their pink flowers.

The campsites all have trees - see the table in the photo below?  Really nice for tent camping. 

And finally, this water bird below, I'm assuming a kind of duck?  I've searched everywhere for a brown head, black beak, buff chest and grey back and wings.  Nothing.  Do any of you birders out there know what he is?  He sure is pretty.

Judi, of Travels with Emma, guessed that he's a Northern Pintail without the long tail feathers and I think she's right. I found the photos below on-line (gallery.usgs.gov and bird-friends.com).  If our guy above was stretched out and we could see his long neck, he would have the white of his chest continuing up the back of his neck to his head.  And, as Judi said, mine is missing his long tail feathers.  See the pictures below that look like the duck here at Riverside Campground.  Thanks, Judi, I never would have figured it out.  :)

And guess what?  There's another famous bird in the campground!   It's an American Roxi Duck:

I thought I noticed Roxi when Katie and I were walking, but I wasn't sure.  She was camped about 4 or 5 sites down, so I sent her an e-mail and said "I think we're neighbors, do you want to sit and talk, or take a walk?"    She e-mailed back, "No way!  How far do I have to walk to visit?"  She came right over that afternoon, and then we had morning coffee together until the mice arrived.

Katie has a new best friend - lick, lick.  Check out her wagging tail.

We loved meeting Roxi and spending time with her.  She is so sweet and pretty and has the gentlest voice.  Come visit us, Roxi!

We got to meet Annie, too.  She came by to check out Riverside Campground to see if she wanted to come here as her next place and Roxi was showing her the different places to dry camp.  There is also Percha Flats Campground right below the dam, and I've never seen anyone there.  Annie, since you like lots of space, you might like that campground.  It's on the road in to Riverside, but you turn left right after the Ranger's "yard."  You'll see the sign - check out that one, too.

THE MICE

Sunday morning around 2 am Katie and I woke up to a noise I recognized.  Something was caught in a trap under my driver's seat in the truck.  Damn, and we were doing so well.  So I got up, pulled on shorts and a jacket, got a flashlight and my "grabber" tool and went outside.  I unlocked the driver's door and there he was.  A mouse looking up at me caught in a trap.  (The only good thing about this is that it wasn't a squirrel.  That's what I thought was making all the noise.)  Thank goodness I have that grabber.  I grabbed hold of the trap and bashed the trap against a pole, killing the mouse.  He flew onto the ground and didn't move.  Then I baited the trap and went back to bed.

In the morning, I opened the driver's door again, deciding we were going to move back to the parking lot overlooking the lake.  Once I get mice in a campsite, it doesn't seem to stop, so I just move.  When I opened the door, there was another fat little mouse.  I disposed of him, re-baited the trap and shut the door.

I went inside and put some things in my garbage bag under the sink and noticed the Wal-Mart bag holding the garbage had been chewed - a mouse has been in the cabin, too.  I tore everything apart, drawers, cupboards, under the couch, everywhere.  There was evidence of mice everywhere, not a lot and no nests, but still, here and there little bits of evidence, and they ate some of my potatoes in a bag under the kitchen sink.  I can't believe Katie and I hadn't heard a thing.  It all had to have happened Saturday night, because that was a new garbage bag, so I'm hoping I got them all and there aren't any more left inside The Palms.  I disinfected everything, packed up and was ready to leave.

We stopped at Roxi's campsite on our way out to tell her we were heading back to the main campground and drove off.  I'm tired of posting photos of dead mice, so here are some photos of mice that look much happier than the ones I found in The Palms.

Much, much better.  Aren't they cute?

After we got settled in our new spot overlooking the lake, I started thinking about the trap under the passenger seat.  I have my small table and chair and other things on the floor in front of the seat, so I couldn't see what was going on under there.  I moved everything out, and sure enough, another fat little mouse in a trap.  I totally cleaned that area and re-baited that trap and stowed some of the things back in front of the seat, and put others inside the cabin to store inside.  I want to be able to  check under there easily.

We haven't had a mouse for a while, and I thought we were okay, but obviously they've found a hole.  I'll have to go over the rig again and try to find the hole they're using to get in.  Bummer.  :( 

On a lighter note:

WELCOME to our three newest Followers:

Welcome, Gail K!  Her blog, Vagabonding with Gail is so interesting, I spent a lot of time going back into the past posts and really enjoyed them.  Especially the cruise posts.  I love cruising, but it's been a while.  She is in the process of selling her house and downsizing from a 2,000 sf house to a 21 foot RV.  Oh, how I remember those days - Gail, I feel your pain.  But before you know it, you'll be done and on the road.  I'm looking forward to your future posts!

Michael Werk and lesdoll are also new followers, but they show no information to share with you.  Let me know if either of you have blogs I can share with our readers.

Thanks to you all for following along with me and Katie - Welcome aboard!  :)

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

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!  :)