Blacktop camping, and wet t-shirt time

We've been spending time in Gallup, NM, waiting out our time until we return to Bluewater Lake State Park.  I have to say it's interesting to watch what goes on in parking lots.  The nights are quiet, but the days are busy, for sure, and for three days in a row there were police involved activities. 

This was down the street from the Wal-Mart; I was spending some time in a parking lot  when I noticed a police car. I watched them for a bit, then up comes this Gallup Community Service Aid van, and then the police started arresting someone.   He was a very large man, and they checked him out, then put him in the van.

There is a locked cage inside the van, and the prisoner was put in the cage.  When it was all buttoned up, the van drove off, and then the police car left.

The next day, late afternoon, I was in The Palms in Wal-Mart's parking lot when I noticed a Gallup Police car in the lot, with it's lights flashing.  I never did learn what was going on, but we ended up with three police cars, one sheriff vehicle and one security car, all with lights flashing.  A lot of activity was happening, and they were getting things out of the trunk of one of the police cars.  One man wearing street clothes was talking on a large sat phone.

I would have loved to know what was happening.  I'm very nosy, but from afar.  I don't want to appear nosy, you know?  So I never get close to the action and usually don't find out what happened.

Then today, a series of sirens sounded close-by. I looked across the street, and there were emergency vehicles in front of Wal-Mart.

I've had people knock on my door twice so far, asking for a handout.  Both pretty early in the morning.  The first time I had the generator running and was blowing my hair dry, so I ignored it.  That was at Wal-Mart.  The second time was at Home Depot, and the woman saw me through the windshield, so I couldn't ignore her.  I just asked through the closed window if I could help her.  After she asked for money, I told her I didn't have any to spare.  There were two women and five or six men sitting under a tree in the corner of the parking lot.  They were pretty close to the front of The Palms.  I saw them yesterday, too, but they were closer today. 

After a few hours, I started being a little nervous as more people came, and I drove around the block to the other corner.  Home Depot has blazing fast free wi-fi for it's customers, so I like parking here.  I figure:  1. my son-in-law is an assistant manager at Home Depot; 2.  my son is a general contractor and spends a fortune at Home Depot; and 3. I've been a customer for many, many years.  So I'm really happy to take advantage of their free wi-fi as a "customer," even though I'm not buying anything this week. Thanks, HD! This is the fastest Internet connection I've had for months and months.

It's been hot during the day. I was working away at my computer yesterday on a project for a friend.  I "get in the zone" when I'm working or playing on the computer and don't notice how hot it's getting.  Katie jumped in my lap with her paws on my shoulders and stared at me.  She had been out, had food and water, and her treats were up to date at that point in the day. Then I looked at the clock and noticed the temp in The Palms.

99.6 degrees?  Holy cow, time to get out the neck wraps.

Katie in her neck wrap and wet t-shirt Princess dress.

She's happy now - nice and cool - with a madly wagging tail.  Sorry, guys, that's the best wet t-shirt photo I can provide today.

Oh, yeah, I also turned on the A/C.

In addition to the hot days, we've been having furious storms on and off since we arrived in Gallup.  Loud, rolling thunderclaps, very close by and almost immediately after the huge lightening flashes.  Pouring rain. Very cool... I love it - as long as the lightening doesn't hit The Palms. 

From me and Katie in the hot blacktop jungle, have a great Monday, everyone!  :)

We've had visitors - 3 were welcome, 1 was NOT!

Hazel  and the Greyhounds came to visit yesterday.  Fleur and Power are such well behaved dogs, and my little Katie is a terrible hostess.  She growls and shows her teeth periodically - usually when they MOVE.  They just ignore her.  :)

Beautiful Fleur, so graceful.

Power is such a cutie.  I always put up Katie's food and keep the water down for them. See the little bowl next to Power?

Hey, Mom, look what I did!  Boy that water was good, and the paper towel under it, too! But that bowl is waaaay too small for Greyhounds.

Wednesday night and yesterday morning Katie was acting like we had a mouse again. She wasn't barking or wagging her tail, just looking at the cab area.  I kept telling her, "Mouse all gone."

When we went to bed Wednesday night, I blocked off that area, I didn't want her to get aggressive and put a paw under the seat.  I might catch a paw instead of a mouse.

Katie said, "I swear I can smell a mouse."

After Hazel and pups went home yesterday, Katie was still checking out that area and so I went outside, opened the doors to the cab, and guess what I found?  Yup, another dead mouse in the Tomcat Snap Trap.  It must have visited us during the storm Wednesday evening.

BARBARA AND KATIE: 4   -   MICE: 0     (3 Tomcat Snap Trap, 1 butcher knife) 

Wednesday was cloudy all day. It was a hot day, so the cloud cover and breezes helped a lot.

Our campsite at sunset with cloudy skies.

I went to bed around 11:00 pm, and we were having quite a thunder and lightening storm.  The thunder rolled and rolled and the lightening just lit up the sky.  I got up and brought the TV antenna down and unplugged the TV again.  I don't know if lightening would hit the antenna or not, but I'm not taking any chances. 

Visitors can camp for 14 days in the New Mexico State Parks this year, then we have to leave for six nights.  Katie and I are leaving this morning and will be Wal-Mart camping for our six nights out.  We'll drive around the Gallup area and find some nice places to day camp, then return to Wal-Mart or Home Depot, etc. at night after it cools down for the day.

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

Happy 4th of July… and the Horses are Back!

I hope everyone has a safe and happy 4th of July this year.  We have fires in New Mexico and the states around us; I hope no one starts any new fires with fireworks.

We have a lot of smoky air today, the smoke is coming down from Colorado, but there are no fires near Bluewater Lake State Park.  Thank goodness.  There are still some good campsites available, and it's already after 3:00, which surprises me.  I thought we'd be full to overflowing by now.  Maybe we will luck out and have a quiet 4th.

The horses were back yesterday.  Following are some of the photos I took. The sun going down as I was shooting caused different colors in the horses and surrounding area. 

Horse waving his tail was neighing loudly - sounded like he was barking orders.

A scuffle broke out among the adult horses.

Things calmed down, and the baby started nursing.

These eight horses were in one area, moving together. Five adults, one yearling and two foals.

Horses with the dam and house in the background.

BABY PICTURES:

Our time is up again here at Bluewater Lake, so Katie and I are leaving tomorrow to do some blacktop camping.  We'll be back.  

From me and Katie, enjoy your holiday and stay cool and safe!  :)

Wordless Wednesday - warning - dead mouse photo ahead

And the rest of the story...

Put a dab of peanut butter on the yellow center circle and place trap. When mouse is caught, it kills it instantly when the trap closes on it's neck. Carry trap to disposal site, squeeze the ends together and the mouse falls out. In this case, into a plastic bag that was sealed and taken to the dumpster.  Sorry mouse, but you can't be in my house.

Tomcat Mouse Snap Trap - Best little mouse trap I've ever seen. 

Barbara/Katie 3, Mice 0.

(See sidebar on right for link to Amazon page with Tomcat info. I've bought a bunch of different kinds of traps, but this Snap Trap is the only that that has worked.)

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

The Cliff Swallow Tree

 The other morning when Katie and I went outside for her first walk I heard a LOT of birds singing.  I looked across the street, and this tree was filled with Cliff Swallows.  They come out in the afternoon and fly back and forth, all over the place, fast.  I’m always trying to get shots of them flying overhead, but they are too fast for me.  That morning I had what seemed like unlimited time to take as many photos as I wanted.

The tree was just alive with birds.  They were constantly coming and going, landing on a branch then flying off.  They were also doing a lot of grooming while perched.  It was hard to get shots of them sitting nicely or flying on and off, but I managed a few.  Here they are. 


All I knew about these birds was that they were fast and flew overhead every afternoon, and had white undersides.
 

I got some close-ups and found they are really pretty birds.  I didn’t realize they had the rust color on their heads until I saw these shots.

I couldn’t find them in my field guides, so I showed the above photo to Hazel, and she identified them for me.
 

Hey, find your own branch!

 

 
I was happy to finally get some good shots of these little guys.  I love “bird trees” and was pretty excited to see the Cliff Swallow Tree.

Still no horses in the campground, they have been staying on the other side of the lake, but this bull has been around.  We saw him down by the boat ramp the other day…



… and yesterday evening we saw him by the road, munching his way up the “Private Road” to the Rangers house.   This is the one that was outside Hazel’s rig waking her Greyhounds up at 2 am the other night.



He seems to travel alone, because so far we haven’t seen any cows with him.

Well… I haven’t yet gotten under The Palms to fill in the holes the mice are using to visit us.  Late Monday evening Katie was asleep and I was starting this post and I heard some rustling noises under the driver’s seat in the cab.  I looked at Katie and she didn’t move.  Then I heard a click noise and Katie raised her head and we looked at each other.  S**t, another mouse.  I got out my flashlight and went outside, opened both doors and checked under the seats for the traps I had set there.  I was actually hoping to find a dead mouse in one of the traps since there was a click.  No such luck.

Look what I found:



It almost worked.  The mouse went right past the two kinds of traps I had set and stepped on this glue box that was baited with peanut butter.  He took one bite out of the peanut butter, but maybe it was too old.  He didn’t want more, and was able to step off, leaving only muddy footprints.  Now, don’t you all be telling me how cruel these glue traps are.  I have about 6 different kinds of traps, and whatever works is what I’m going to use. I have three different kinds of traps under each truck cab seat.  I think mice are cute and they are definitely God’s creatures, but if they are in my house, I’d rather catch them in a glue trap than stab them with my butcher knife and impale them to the kitchen floor.  Besides being cruel, that definitely puts holes in my kitchen floor!

I got out the bag of traps, etc., and baited a couple more plastic traps with peanut butter and renewed the bait in the traps under the cab seats. I put  two under the couch and the rest under the cab seats.  I was sooooo hoping we’d get him during the night.  Katie and I were awake on and off all night with Katie barking whenever she heard a sound, going up to the cab area, which I have blocked off so she can’t get up there, and growling and wagging her tail.  Jeeeezzz – what a night.

Check back tomorrow – Wordless Wednesday - for the second installment in photos.

WELCOME to our newest Follower, Dawn Fine!  She writes that she and her husband have been full-timing since 2001, and they love hiking, birding, mushrooming, shelling, rocking, and hanging out in the great outdoors and spending time with family and friends.  Her newest blog post has many pictures of a rare bird, the Red-necked Stint.  There’s something about water birds - whether they are at an ocean, creek or lake - that I love.  Great photos, Dawn.  That must have been fun.  I’m enjoying reading your blog, and love your photos.  Thanks for following me and Katie – we’re happy to have you along!
From me and Katie, have a great Tuesday night, everyone!