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!

2 mice! FotoSketcher results. And...Great Osprey/fish photos!

Yesterday morning I noticed two empty non-electric campsites that I could see from my perch over the lake, and since I was worried about mice, I decided to move.  I got everything together and lastly, picked up the rug runner I had outside in Katie’s fenced area.  The wind had bunched it up, and when I shook it out to fold it, out popped a little fat mouse.  Another of those EEEEKKKK moments from me and from the critter.   He took off and ran away, and I thought, okay, that was the mouse.  Then I opened the hood of the truck engine, and there was a little fat dead mouse in one of my traps.  So we had TWO mice in the vicinity.  I was happy to move on.

So I drove down to the road, turned left, and saw that both of the sites had already gotten occupants.  Rats!!!  There are only seven dry campsites with a shelter, which I wanted, and two are for tenters only - impossible to get level in those - so it's hard to get a regular non-elec site here, unless you're willing to get creative or park in the sand by the lake.  I'm a little afraid to do that, although tons of RV are next to the lake every weekend. 

I feel better going to town or leaving the campsite to dump the tanks when I have a shelter and can leave out chairs, etc. so show it’s an "occupied site."  I wasn’t comfortable leaving our stuff in the “side of the road” site we were in.  So, all packed up and ready to go, I decided to head toward Wal-Mart.  Once the shopping was done, I decided that since I had less than a week to go at Elephant Butte Lake, I'd just head on down to Caballo Lake State Park.

We arrived about 5ish and – as I usually do – I just headed for the boat ramp area and parked above the lake in the parking lot.  There’s nobody else here, so it’s nice and quiet and we again have a beautiful view.

There are multiple campgrounds in this state park, so we’ll probably be here a day or so and then move to a more “designated” campground, Riverside, where there are lots of elec and non-elec sites.  It's along the Rio Grande and a pretty area.  I've had problems there with mice and squirrels getting into the rig and engine, but down along the river at the end of the park, I've been okay so far.  I'll probably head there.

Since my last post I downloaded FotoSketcher, a free painting program for PCs.  So far I really like it.  I don’t know how it compares to Apple’s Waterlogue, but so far I’m enjoying it, and I just started.   I did a little research and found “Tips” and a full Tutorial for the program.  I haven't checked them out yet, but will today to see what I can do to change and enhance my “digital paintings.” 

Here are four samples, the first is my original photo, the second is a watercolor, next a color pencil sketch, and the fourth filter is called emergence.

 

 

Pretty cool, huh?  I like the different versions of this Great White Egret that I snapped at Santee Lakes RV Park a few years ago.

Here’s a couple more of my first attempts.  This watercolor was done from a photo I took on my condo patio:

This was done from a photo of cactus flowers at one of the state parks here in New Mexico:

I love photos of doors - this was a door that I copied from somewhere on-line:

Here's my roadrunner from the other day:

And this is an older photo that I've always liked - I think from Quartzsite - done as a watercolor on textured paper:

So, those are just some quick examples of what I did with no tutorial or tips, just playing around.  Imagine what I could do after I read through those.  I’ll let you know…

I have to show you photos of an Osprey I took a couple of days ago.  I was talking to my neighbors, Carol and Chuck, who are avid birders, and they told me about an Osprey that flew right over their heads with a big fish in it's mouth.  I was wishing I had seen it!  So, I walked on and saw an Osprey again on top of a pole.  Even though I had already taken photos of this exact situation, I couldn't resist snapping a few more pictures.  When I pulled them up on the computer, here's what I saw:

This must have been the same bird.  He just sat there holding onto his fish, looking back and forth, guarding it.

I love the way he's got the fish secured with his claws - showing the face with it's eyes, gills, and open mouth.  How lucky was this shot!?!

"Yeah, and you stay back - this is MY fish!"

I was so excited when I saw the detail in these pictures.  :)

Okay, enough photos for today.  I'm accumulating a bunch again, so hopefully I'll be posting more.  I have a few more from Elephant Butte, too.  I had an up close and personal experience with a Roadrunner yesterday.  I'll tell you about it next time.

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

Power boats on the lake :) and mice in The Palms :(

The other day there was quite a racket coming from down on the lake and I looked out the window to see this speed boat racing around.  It was fun to watch it.  It would sit in the water, then the front would rise up in the air, and then take off, leaving a huge water tail in the air.  I'm not sure what that's called, a rooster tail?

I have no idea what kind of boat this is, but I'll bet a lot of you know.  :)

And you know what?  "Camping" outside of Camping World on the street you can see lots of nature going by, too.  Here are a few critters I snapped while we were waiting for our part to come in.  This first one is one of those black beetles that walk slowly along the pavement, and when they see you coming close, they stick their butt in the air and their head down near the street.  I've tried to get a photo before at Storrie Lake, but couldn't get a clear shot.  This one isn't bad.  They just stay in that position, head down/tail up, until you're far enough away that they feel safe.

Do they think they're hiding?  News flash, beetle: We can see you.

Bunnies!  I haven't seen any for a while.  This little guy was near Camping World's road:

Cute little Mourning Dove sitting on a block fence along the road by Camping World:

And yes, we had another mouse last night.  Katie was sleeping up in the bunk with me and all of a sudden I find myself holding her back.  In the dark, she was going to jump down onto the couch.  Oh, no you don't!  I turned on the light and made her stay and got down, then lifted her down.  She went wild, tail wagging furiously, pointing her nose into the cab of the truck.  Bummer.

I got dressed, turned on all the lights, got the keys and flashlight and headlamp and unlocked both cab doors.  Took out the camp chairs I was storing in the passenger area and checked out the traps under the seat, then checked the driver's seat floor area.  Nothing.  I have baited traps under both seats, and sticky traps, but no sign of mice. I re-baited the traps with fresh peanut butter, closed things up and went back inside.  Katie was lying in her bed on the couch and wouldn't come up with me, so I left her there for the night.

About a half hour later, she's barking like crazy, running into the kitchen, and sticking her nose right on the lower cupboard under the sink, again tail wagging like crazy.   Obviously the mouse was in the cab of the truck, or under the couch, and had just run to the kitchen and slipped under the kick board and into the area behind it. 

There wasn't much I could do at that point, so I just went to sleep.  This morning I emptied all the lower cabinets and drawers, and look what I found under the oven, behind the drawer that holds my pots:

You can see the dryer sheets I put under there, and some cotton balls that I put up in the right hand corner of the photo with Peppermint oil on them.  Also, at the top of the photo is some steel wool that I used to fill a hole where the grey dried foam had a little opening.

And right in the center of this picture - "someone" has gotten a whole bunch of cotton balls from throughout The Palms - I guess the peppermint oil doesn't smell anymore - carried them to this area, fluffed them up and made a nest of them.  There is a nice little hole in the middle that is hard to see in the photo, but it would be perfect to give birth to lots and lots of  baby mice.  RIGHT THERE UNDER MY STOVE.  Geez, thank goodness I found it before it was put to use.  It was still nice and clean and white.  Anyway, I poured a lot of fresh peppermint oil into the nest and covered the whole thing with a plastic strainer I had.  They won't be able to get the cotton balls, but the odor is sure coming through.

Then I went around The Palms and renewed all the peanut butter in the traps, put the flashing solar lights in the engine again, and I'm on guard now for sure.  I guess I'm going to have to set a task alert every week or so to check all these areas.  What a pain!  I haven't heard the mouse today, but if it appears he's present again tonight, I'm going to move The Palms.  That usually works for me.  I guess the mice go out during the daytime. 

I had nice visits from two other solo female travelers yesterday afternoon.  Vermont Chris came by for a visit and brought her dog Edna, of course.  Edna is the cutest little dog, she has just gotten a haircut and her face wasn't covered with fur - she just looked darling, and Katie loved her!  I haven't seen Chris and Edna for - probably - two years.  It's been a while, but they both looked great and it was so nice to catch up.  I wish I had remembered to take a photo.  We were sitting outside overlooking the lake, when a car pulled up, and out comes Patti - remember Patti and her dogs from Storrie lake?   She's been up in Bluewater and just arrived here at Elephant Butte Lake State Park.  We all talked for a while, then Patti drove back to her campsite and Katie and I needed a walk, so we walked Chris and Edna part way home.  I couldn't believe how much fun Katie was having.  She and Edna were running, romping, sniffing, rubbing faces, I've never seen her do all that before. 

For anyone out there who doesn't check Andy Baird's website from time to time, you've got to check out his digital watercolor paintings.  I absolutely love what he's done, and can't wait to try it myself.  I swear, this man is going to make me buy an Apple laptop!  I just love all the bells and whistles he uses with his music, and now his paintings, using programs on his Apple computer.  At the end of his photo gallery, Andy explains how he did it.  I have a PC laptop, but I'm going to search around and see if I can find a program that will help me produce watercolors from my digital photos.  If you know of any, please pass on the info?  (NOTE: I've found a free program that is for PCs - FotoSketcher. I'm downloading it and will let you know.)   I'll post any worthwhile artwork I come up with.  BTW, I think Picasa has something that will do this, but I don't want to load that on my laptop.  I'd rather have a specific stand-alone program.   :)

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

A Gorgeous Osprey

Here's another large bird sitting on top of one of the light poles.  He's a Hawk, I think, but I'm not even sure about that an OSPREY (Thanks Sharon, of The Odd Essay!).  There are two different kinds that I found in my birder book, and I'm not sure which he is.  Look at those big eyes.  After reading Sharon's comment that I should check my book for "Osprey," I could see he's exactly like the photos in my book.  I'm even more excited about seeing this beautiful Osprey up close!

OMG I love getting good clear photos of these powerful birds!  If you're a birder and know what this bird is, please leave a comment.  Maybe it's not even a hawk.  He looks like a great hunter.

On a more delicate note, there are also a lot of beautiful flowering bushes here - the flowers below are pretty subtle and I walked past this bush many times without noticing it.  Then I was looking through it the other day when I was following the Roadrunner around, and noticed the tiny flowers on this delicate bush:

There are so many good bird sightings here. I can see this Great Blue Heron right down from my site - he's usually there in the morning,and then later in the afternoon if there are no people in that area.  He's very intent on the water, looking for his next meal, I'm sure.

One of our newest Followers, Motorhomes N Muttskeys, let me know through a comment that she has a brand new blog - the first post shows her trip home after picking up her new motorhome - a 2000 24' Gulf Stream Conquest with a rear kitchen (sounds like The Palms).   I enjoyed your first post!  Check out her new blog - it's so nice to start following a blogger right from the beginning.

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

More cool bird photos

Isn't he beautiful?

I just happened to look out my window and saw this Turkey Buzzard sitting atop a light pole with his wings spread - you might remember that I love these guys.  So beautiful, except their really ugly heads - well none of us is perfect, right?  He sat there for a while, looking back and forth:

He turned a little and brought in his wings:

Then opened his wings again, even wider.  He must have been cooling off with the nice breezes:

This pose is not his most beautiful, but it's how I usually see Turkey Buzzards perched:

Then a little bird landed on the wire behind him.  He sat there looking at the bird until it flew away.  Probably a good move, little bird, but I don't think he was in any danger.  Buzzards don't eat live animals, do they?

And here he is, soaring away overhead:

Here's another big guy - a Chihuahuan Raven sitting on top of a pole.  These large birds seem to like perching up high and watching what's going on - looking for dinner, maybe.  The Raven and Buzzard are such powerful looking birds.

And here's our current campsite - it's not really a site, just a flat area over the lake.  We have good views, nice breezes, a dumpster close by, and a short walk to the showers. It's my "go-to" spot when the few dry camping sites are all occupied.

I've set up a little fenced area for Katie where she can watch all the little lizards running in the bushes.  She's really in her element here - lots of the little critters:

Not a lot going on - and that makes me very happy right now.  Katie and I are just enjoying our stay here.  The weather has been good and we're in a pretty quiet spot.  I'm starting to take my camera everywhere again.  For a while I stopped taking it on walks because there just wasn't much to snap, but I'm enjoying all the birds here.

WELCOME to our newest Follower, Connie!  Hi, Connie - Katie and I are happy to have you following along with us.  I don't see any information about you or a blog, please let me know if you have one so I can pass along the link.  :)

Also, I just noticed that I missed one of our new Followers - Cheeseheads4theRoad.  They have been married for 43 years and have a beautiful family of  kids, grand kids, and two dogs.  They also have two motor homes - a 35-foot Class A and they just bought a 22-foot Winnebago Class C, which she calls the Granny Mobile.  I like it!  She says, "I love to travel and see new places. My husband just goes along with my dreams because he likes to see me happy (I think)."  They have a Blogger profile, but there isn't a blog listed, so let me know if you do have one and I'll post the link.  Welcome aboard!

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