Saturday, November 23, 2019

Wonderful Awakening, Downtown Truth or Consequences, Making Plans


Elephant Butte Lake State Park, NM
I woke at 5:30 and waited until 6:15 to rise on Saturday, Nov. 23rd. Bill was still curled up and although he stirred when I left the bedroom, he didn’t get up yet. I slipped him a good morning kiss before heading out the door. There was no wind so the 37F/3C didn’t feel too cold at all. I had my crocheted neck scarf on under my vest and my gloves and that seemed to be all I needed. As long as my neck is covered and sometimes my chinny chin chin.

A clear sky and promise of sun from our site

Look at the mist rising from the lake


A tent? Brrr. I spoke later with Dad, Chad and daughter, Mikela
 and they weren't bothered at all by the 36F for sleeping
I’ve been trying to walk different routes each morning yet I understand there are only so many scenarios. Today, I went back on Sumac Rd. but turned off to head south on gravel (Dirt Road). This took me back up to Ridge Road which is the main road you come in on. From there, I walked down to Rattle Snake Beach and back across the sand along Lions Beach and up Sumac to our site. I would guess it was about 2 miles in 45 minutes. Did I lose you in there somewhere?

And another Jack Rabbit sighting
He actually sat and posed for me
Bill was up and having his coffee when I returned and he printed off our bank statements. Looks like we need to buy more paper. With that finished, we set to ‘work’ trying to decide what to do as far as sightseeing in this area. Unfortunately, we are probably in the most beautiful part of this area we can be so unless we are willing to travel 1 ½ to 2 hours away, there isn’t a lot to see here, close to home. We aren’t up for the hot springs although there are certainly a lot offered in T or C.

And at Rattlesnake Beach, another tent
notice the frost on the windshield of his car?


The boat was still there this morning

And when I walked later, the owner returns and takes it for a spin
Later, he opened his sail
The Gambel Quail meeting was at our site today


We made ourselves a second hot drink and walked up Snob Hill to visit Bob and Jo-Anne. That is what Bob calls the sand hill between us, since they are ‘above’ us. He makes us laugh, all good things. We discussed what Bill and I had talked about and as much as it would be nice to see the White Sands, none of us wanted to travel that distance to go see them. Surely, one year, we’ll be in a closer proximity and we’ll see them at that time.

Higgins, of course, had input too
Instead, we talked about sticking close to home and visiting the Veteran’s wall in Truth or Consequences and then there are some shops I’d like to poke my head into. One is called Dukatt ’71, a tye-dye vendor, that could be interesting just for kicks and giggles. We also discussed where we’ll go after we leave here on Dec. 2nd and have all agreed on Huachuca City to our membership park for probably a week.

There are many things we all want to see in that area – some things again and a few things neither of us have done. Bob and Jo-Anne have been to that area, about 5 years ago, and wish to go back again. We agreed to follow up on the rules to get them into parks in Yuma and will go from there. 
After running down between the sites
a coyote had us running to the window to take a photo
Meanwhile, while we were sitting there chatting, Jo-Anne saw a coyote traipse across the hill behind Big Red and down through the site beside us and down the road. She was quick enough to get a great picture and kind enough to share it with me. One good reason to not let your dogs sit outside alone, even on a leash.

A leisurely walk this afternoon
It got up to about 55F

Selfie on the beach

It was 10:30 when we were back home and I decided to spoil my sweetie-pie again with cinnamon buns for brunch. Yah, the diet goes out the window when we do this indulging but we enjoy it so. After dishes, we had until after lunch before we were going to do anything with our friends so Bill relaxed with his book and I went for a nice long walk. I walked down to Lions Beach again, and was pleased to see someone had shown up to re-claim their boat.

A plowed section in the desert
Must be for water drainage?
A lovely proud staghorn cactus
A very big coyote gourd
I moved off to the north and sat on a rock for a selfie and just watched the water and the ‘sailor’. It was a paddle sailboat so probably it was the perfect day to go out with the sun shining and a light breeze. 


Walking back towards home
When I returned to our site, I sat in the back corner of our site again with my book. 


And unbeknownst to me, my hubby got sneaky
Around 1 Bill came out and suggested we go and see if Bob & Jo-Anne were ready to go to town. We disturbed their relaxing sunning but they happily (I think) joined us for the drive into T or C.

First to the post office, which is closed on the weekends, to drop our cards in the outside drive through mailbox. Woops! We went ‘in’ the ‘out’ entrance, no wonder the 2 locals behind us were looking at us with such curiosity. Bill backed out and I shrugged an apology (which was graciously accepted). They were probably muttering “darn foreigners!” in the confines of their own space. We all totally missed the One Way signs.

The walkway

Bob and Bill (& Higgy) check out the old ambulance

The kids went into the museum
while we watched Higgins
We left there and Bill drove to the Veteran’s Memorial and Museum. So, Jo-Anne and Bob could walk slowly and read the memorials of the various wars, I took Higgins’s leash. It didn’t much matter as he wouldn’t go too far without stopping to make sure his Mama was coming. He is definitely loyal as a pooch! Bill took over his leash when they went inside the museum and soon enough, we were on our way.

He would tye dye anything for you while you wait

I didn't quite get the point of the Alabama plates and
forgot to ask
  At my suggestion, we drove to the store I mentioned earlier. Dukatt ’71. Well, we found it and it sure looked interesting but the owner had the gift of gab. We wandered around looking at all the tye-dyed shirts, dresses, hats, underwear (yup) and pants before thanking him and walking out without spending a dime. 


The outside of his store was interesting as the inside
or more


Bill drove back ‘downtown’ (I say that loosely) so the 3 of us could wander and check out some of the town’s attractions. Ha ha, too funny. There was one thing interesting where we got some pictures together and drove home. There is really nothing here to see, with many shops closed for good or the weekend. We’re not sure.

Lots of prickly pear cacti up on the hill
Bob was assigned the job of taking our picture
We poked fun at what the shadows did to our faces
so he took one in the shade and it turned out perfectly
Let’s go home! It was a scenic route back to the park, intentionally, and we said goodbye to them at their site up on ‘Snob Hill’. We were both feeling that it was time for a nap so Bill went upstairs with a movie. I tease him ‘that’ll put you to sleep!’, and I stayed downstairs so I could make a cup of tea.  I read some and then I dozed in my chair as well.

A couple of old 'Airstreams'?
It was private property so we couldn't get too close
At 6, we put Christmas at Graceland on down in the living room and I warmed up our leftover spaghetti. With Caesar salad on the side, it was quite filling. I think we’ll skip the dessert tonight. I caught up on my blog and about the time the movie ended, I had downloaded pictures and got my blog posted. This was a good day, with more outdoor time on my walks. The fresh air and exercise is doing me good!

Leftovers!
Good night everyone from Elephant Butte
Thank you for stopping by, I hope you’ve enjoyed your day as well.

14 comments:

  1. Haha Snob Hill is pretty funny! We would love the hotsprings, we will have to make a visit to that area sometime. Funny about the post office, it’s nice when you can claim tourist status in situations like that ☺ I managed to get two Christmas movies in today which made me a happy camper.

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    1. Bob is a funny guy. :) There are a lot of choices for Hot springs here.
      The locals were nice enough, no bad comments and they stayed back so Bill could drive the big beast out the 'in' easily but we backed up instead. You know, slinking back out. haha
      I actually watched 2 with Bill last night, a new Graceland movie with Priscilla making appearances and one with cats with was different and I actually enjoyed.

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  2. It is a beautiful park, too bad not much to do in the area as that wouldn't last too long for Ken as he doesn't sit still for too long LOL..Still, fun with friends! Dinner again looks delicious and I love caesar salad! I love Snob Hill also...too cute!

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    1. It depends what Ken likes to do, I guess. There is golfing which Bob loves but when he fell, he hurt his hand, putting the kibosh on that!
      We are content to putter around here and that is a good thing!

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  3. I think I just might have to find something to tie-dye if I was there. No, tent camping is not for me. It's too darn cold, not to mention the bed is hard as a rock.

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    1. Yes, I believe you would!!! I might have to buy some more dye colours and get funky at home! :)
      The tent campers had air mattresses but the daughter said, they didn't hold air very well. haha

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  4. I was wondering if all of the names you provided for the roads and areas are your own or the park's responsibility. I laughed at the snob hill, as we had one of those in my hometown too.

    Have a great day!

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    1. ha ha, Maebeme, you are getting to know me too well but they are actually names of these park lanes. :) Even a Ridge Road, imagine that, eh?
      Upper crust, snob hill= same thing, right?

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  5. Take a drive to Hatch to have a green chile cheeseburger at Sparky's. They are only open Thurs, Fri, Sat or Sunday & probably closed Thurs this week. Great food and lots of interesting things to see both inside and outside. They have live music on the weekends so all in all a fun place not too far from Elephant Butte.

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    1. Hi there! Thank you, we've debated Hatch and that was where we had our lunch on our way here. When he told me the green chiles were extra hot this season, I steered away from having any on my philly cheesesteak. :)

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  6. W e have been to Truth or Consequences so we chuckled about the "downtown" remark. Great name "Snob Hill" your friend came up with...lol
    Really enjoyed your pictures. The next time we come that way we have to stop there. Sometimes being in an area that lends to not doing a lot is the best type of place to park.

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  7. Huachuca City and Sierra Vista are some of our favourite areas. There is so much to do and see there especially if you like the mountains and like to hike. We will go back there for sure. We do not belong to a membership park but the small park of K&N RV Park, just down the road suited us nicely. Very clean, good priced, and friendly neighbours. Of course shopping was great there too.

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  8. Glad you're getting out walking so much!

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  9. Love your picture of the jack rabbit. We never see them in our part of Kansas any more.

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