Goodbye to the fur, feathers and frustrations at Bluewater Lake

I always enjoy myself at Bluewater Lake State Park.  This time was a little stressful.  The first 14 days were really nice, then we had to leave for 6 days out of the park, so we drove to Grants where there's a Walmart and some truck stop gas stations, all of which I use to overnight while in town.

There's a nice park in Grants with a lake running through it that has some cool metal sculptures and beautiful ducks and geese.

I had an odor coming from my fresh water and my whole house water filter was filthy (I must have gotten some bad water somewhere - Storrie Lake, I guess).  So I had to sanitize my fresh water tank when I returned to the park, and when that was done, had to switch out the whole house water filter.

I put the correct amount of bleach into the tank the night before returning Bluewater to let it do it's cleaning magic.

It was really hot, of course, and while I was doing all the filling, driving around the campground to slosh the bleach around in the tank, then dump it out, fill with fresh water and dump again - over and over until the bleach odor was gone.  Actually I couldn't get it gone, and ended up the last time filling/dumping adding some baking soda to get rid of the bleach smell.  Then a final dump and all was well, bleach odor gone, and I filled up with clean water to keep and use.

With all the fresh water fill-ups and dumping, I left my sewer outlet cover at the dump station and when I went back it was gone, so I lost it.  Bummer.

When I finally had clean water again in the tank, I needed to switch out the whole house water filter - it was FILTHY!  While doing that I got water on my solar inverter that was near it in the same area, which wrecked the inverter.

That meant we had no solar power.  (I couldn't turn on the TV and when the charge was gone from my phone and computer, I had to run the generator to charge them up.  The only good thing about that is that I could run the air conditioner, too while the generator was running.  I tried that for one day, but luckily the next day found a non-reservable electric site that had just become available and moved there for the duration.) Whew, that was a long, hot, frustrating day.  I felt like I was running around like a chicken with it's head cut off.

I talked to my daughter afterward and told her all the stupid things I was doing - all the running around, leaving things, losing things, breaking things, forgetting things, etc., I didn't put it all down here, there was more. 😟 She's a therapist and said I was acting like I had ADHD.  That I needed to settle down and concentrate on one thing at a time.  Boy, I sure feel for people who have ADHD - it must be hard.

Anyway, I ordered a new inverter and made an appointment to have it installed the following Friday in Flagstaff, AZ.  Then a couple of days later I got the call from my brother about my mom.

The day my mom died, after hanging up the phone I got out of bed and saw a dozen or so horses around The Palms.  It was so calming.  Usually they stay a while and move on to graze in other places, but that day they stayed all day, in front of The Palms, across the street in the field, alongside the rig, it felt spiritual, somehow.  I've never had a full day's visit from the horses before.  I like to find meaning when strange or different things happen and thought there was some meaning to their all-day visit.

Hey, No Parking!  I guess these colts can't read:

Lots of sleeping going on during the day, the colts would play, nurse and sleep.  So cute.  I'm glad I got to see so much of them this year.

And there were some squirrels, too:

We had a couple of Hairy Woodpeckers and I got a few photos - here's one pecking away at the tree:

Some of the prettiest sunsets I've seen while full-timing have been at Bluewater Lake.  Here's the last one from our visit there this season:

We left on Thursday and headed to Flagstaff, where we over-nighted at one of the local Walmarts.  Then up early Friday morning to head into the repair shop, where we had excellent service by a crew of very nice people.

I would highly recommend this shop, they squeezed us into their busy, full schedule since we had no electricity, got to us quickly, took the inverter that we brought with us, and charged us one hour service charge to install it.

We were soon on our way to the next gorgeous camping spot.  I think we're up to date now, and the next post I'll be sharing where we are and show you some beautiful photos.

From me and Katie, have a great Thursday, everyone!  ❤☺❤

❤ Rest in Peace, Mom ❤

Wow, it was a rough a week during our visit to Bluewater Lake.  I received an early morning phone call on August 2.  When I saw it was from my brother in California, I thought my dad had fallen again, but this time it was my mom.  She passed away in the early hours of the morning.

Kathleen (Kay) LaVerne Ferreira Musser - 1922 to 2016

People always say that even when it's expected, or a long time coming, death is still a shock.  I never understood that, but now I do.  My mom was a super strong, healthy person physically, but she had dementia for many years and was in a facility for dementia patients for five or so years.  It seems longer than that...

Mom and Dad before they were married, San Francisco, CA

She was on hospice care a few times and always rallied.  But this time she didn't.  She would have been 94 on September 8.

I think the family is relieved as well as sad.  My mom's condition has been very hard on my dad, Frank, who will be 94 in November.  They've lived apart for more than five years and my mom didn't know him, didn't react at all when he visited.  He had already lost his wife, but couldn't mourn her because she was still living.  It wasn't an easy situation.  I think it's a good thing that he can stop worrying about her, and finally go through the mourning process.

Dad and Mom showing home movies at the San Mateo, CA house

My mom and dad were married for more than 75 years and were one of those old-fashioned couples who loved each other and did everything together.  I never heard them argue when I was growing up.  My dad worked and took care of the outside of the house, mowed the lawn, washed the cars, etc, and my mom stayed home while I was growing up and took care of the kids and did the shopping, cooked the meals, did the washing, ironing and the housework.

Mom and Dad at the Trevi Fountain, Rome April 1970

She always said, "I wait on your dad hand and foot."  And she did.  He was the boss, but looking back, I think she actually had most of the power.  You know how that goes!

They had a good life together, and three children who are all doing well, eight grandkids and even great-grandkids.  They have a lot to be proud of.

You were loved, and you will be missed.  Rest in Peace, Mom.

Back in Beautiful Bluewater Lake State Park, NM

Sure is nice being back at Bluewater. 

My favorite thing about this place is the horses.  I always love seeing the "wild" horses at Bluewater Lake State Park.  The last two years I missed them, but this year I really got my fill.  This post is all about the horses.

They come and go, hang out down by the lake, grazing and drinking the water.  There were a dozen or more, with quite a few babies.  I saw them bathing, mating and nursing, they just live their lives right there in the park while they are visiting.

THE HORSES

These pictures were all taken while Katie and I were parked by the lake.  We sure got there at the right time.  It was like watching a movie. 

Look at those TEETH!  Was he smiling at us?

THE BATH

There was a large male and a younger horse who took baths, maybe I should say mud baths, because they were pretty muddy!  They looked sleek and shiny afterward, though, and they sure had fun.

GETTING THE GIRL

After his bath, the larger horse took off running across the field to a group of three horses who were grazing together. 

He walked around a little looking at them, then started doing the "cutting horse" thing.  He herded them together, 
 

moved them into a row,

then stood beside the horse he wanted.

He then moved her away from the others and turned her in the opposite direction.

He kept his eye on them, warning them off.

Then he stood next to her, nuzzling - isn't he shiny after his bath?
  

After a while, he chased the other two away, and he and his lady grazed and nuzzled until we drove away.

And that, folks, is how it's done!   💕

AND A FEW BIRDS

One morning I saw a Great Blue Heron flying across the canyon near by campsite.  This was a lucky shot.

And, of course, there were hummingbirds, too.  

This guy is a Rufous, I don't see many of these:

They are tiny little things, and really pretty.

That's it for this post - lots of pictures, but I do reduce them before they go into a post.

From me and Katie, have a great Monday, everyone!   ❤❤❤

Goodbye Storrie Lake - Moving North...

Here are some of my favorite photos from our stay at Storrie Lake.   

A couple of lizards, the first one was a pretty blue and the second one was really fat:

 A couple of the campsites we had:

The lake was really up, I've never seen it so full.  That's probably why there were so many Canada Geese there, many with goslings.

And there were a few Clark's Grebe's, too, swimming around in the lake.

Last time I was here, Gallinas River - that runs into Storrie Lake - had a small ribbon of water, this time it was full, and rushing:

We were there when the Dog Leg fire was burning, and the smoke was pretty bad for a bit.  The sunset was really pretty, though, casting beautiful color on the lake where the sun was reflected.  This is a close-up of the photo below:

 

One of my favorite shots was this sunset from our campsite over the lake in the North campground:

Storrie Lake has lost most of it's luster for me, there's just too much rule breaking by the locals, and the people who work there ignore it.  Every time I'm there, I leave before I'm ready because I'm stressed out at some of the locals parking their rigs in the best spots, then going home and leaving for days at a time.  It's a small park, and they store their rigs there, saving the best sites.  They come to check on their rigs from time to time, then spend a night or two during their 14 days.  Makes it hard for travelers to get a good spot sometimes, and this time I just couldn't get it to work for me.  There was a child's birthday party one day at the site next to mine (this happens a lot from what I've seen), and there were ten trucks and some cars there, lots of people and lots of noise.  Walking through my site, etc.  That kind of celebration is what the group shelters are for, and if they are already booked, they should go down to the lake, where you can have a large group.

This is the second year in a row that my camp host left in the middle of the season.  "Tired of fighting with the Ranger over locals doing whatever they want, and taking over the campground.  Not worth the aggravation."   I don't know if I'll visit Storrie Lake next summer, we'll see... 

So we left and headed northeast to Bluewater Lake State Park in Pruitt, NM.  The people in charge there have good control of the park, and if you take a campsite, you'd better be there enjoying it!  If you have a large group, you have to pay for a group site.  I do better in that kind of atmosphere.  I'll have photos of our time there in a couple of days.

From me and Katie, have a great weekend, everyone!  ❤❤❤