A Very Nice State Park

Wednesday, Nov. 2 in the park was a pretty nice day for relaxing in any way we wanted. I know for me it meant walking, reading and snoozing. Bill was able to catch up on some bookkeeping, sleep and also got some exercise with me along the park roads. There are miles to walk and when it isn’t stifling hot, we both feel more like exploring.

Unnamed road to the beach

Comfort stations are pretty nice

After a toasted bacon sandwich for breakfast we headed into Truth or Consequences to find an ATM and their Walmart. Nice and easy to find, got some cash and picked up our groceries. Now we can have eggs again, yay!

It is certainly nice here in the U.S. to shop for our liquor at the same time. We were getting to the bottom of a couple of bottles so stocked up at unbelievable prices. Even though they are in American currency, we still don’t come close to our Canadian prices. We’ve promised ourselves not to fret about the exchange rate while we are south. It is what it is and as long as we are careful, we are fine with it.

One of the nicest of its kind that I've seen

So, we took our cameras out when we went for a walk heading towards the lake. Realizing that it was not a very direct path, and the sky was darkening we turned and headed back towards camp. We’ll take the truck on Dirt Road Thursday and go see the water close up.

Unusual fir tree of some kind

Clemson and I walking in the sandy path

Clemson loves this area; the sand is soft on his tender tootsies and there is oh so much to sniff!                                     

I managed to catch some rays while sitting outside with my chair nestled in the warm sand. I was getting very close to finishing my book “The Associate” by John Grisham and had plans to have it closed for good before bedtime. Excellent, nail biting read.

When dinner hour rolled around, we fired up the Q and Bill monitored the potatoes and his pork loin chop while I cooked my stuffed chicken breast in the convection oven. This is no problem when we are hooked up to electrical in the park. Not sure if I would be able to cook this breaded breast on a bbq, George? It needs 25-30 min. in an oven. Anyway, because I really do not like the taste of a pork chop, for some reason, we compromise on our meals occasionally.

We sat after dishes and Bill was able to find the channel to watch the 50th American Country Music Awards together. I can’t believe we (I) watched the whole thing!

Hosts Brad and Carrie, a few years running

Love Tim McGraw.........take or leave Faith Hill
her dress this time was gaudy!It IS all about the dresses, dontcha know!

Dolly Parton accepting her Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement
Award

Entertainer of the Year, Garth Brooks

We love our country music even though some of the new talent from this past year are unfamiliar to us. It was a great show but I missed seeing my favourite cowboy, Willie Nelson.

I was in bed by 10:30 pm with my pooch and finished the last chapter of my book. Now that I know how it ends, I can sleep. Lights out and I doze off to the sound of a soft rain on the roof of the Suite. 

Thank you for reading, please feel free to comment.

What Can I Say? It's All True!

Waking up Tues, Nov. 1^st in the park at Hidden Valley put us through the rituals for moving. It is getting easier and we are getting our routine down ‘pat’. I showered the previous night so this morning, Bill had his and we ate our bacon and eggs before closing the Suite up and hitting the road.

Our site #16

Lovely new friends

 We exchanged contact info with Mike and Jill and headed out around 11 and Clemson continued to avoid beautiful Charlie. 
We would definitely come back to this park but only for a 2 or 3 night stay. I enjoyed the area and got a lot of reading done outside even though it was a small site. We would like a bit more room on our site if we were staying any longer, but it was still a nice place with beautiful views.

I had an opportunity at H.V. to walk some trails with my walking stick and see the plentiful cacti in the area. I love cactus and wish they would grow outside back home but alas, just another reason to come back and enjoy them here!

Our beautiful home at the bottom of this hill where the upper
sites are

Bill gives the route we took in his post on On Our Way so I won’t go into that. I will just do my thing and include pictures from the route.

This car transporter passed us with precious cargo

Tigers

Eagles

Beautiful overpasses, they sure know how to spark my interest

Interesting Rest Areas with covered picnic tables

Another nice Rest Area with amenitites

And then to see my own Gas bar is doing well!

We arrived at Elephant Butte Lake State Park around 2:15 pm and were able to pick our own site in a 50 amp area called Quail Run. We soon found out where this area got its name, funny little and bigger quail were running around the vacated areas.

                            Our site has lots of privacy, space and even a covered cement picnic table.

You might have to squint to see this fella skittering across.
They scurry really quick.

I’m going to have to get my zoom lens out if I want to catch one of the little guys, they move fast.

The view up here on the hill, 4500’ a.s.l., is certainly not a disappointment. Thank you again, George and Suzie, Our Awesome Travels,  for the recommendation, it is all true.

The sun is beautiful on these ridges in the distance

 I was watching the quail out the window of the Suite when I noticed something larger move and it had me out of my seat to grab my camera. Bill laughed because I cried “It’s a kangaroo!” Yes, I know they are only in Australia but I was freaking out and my common senses were gone.

I don't know if you can see his black tail right in the middle
of this photo. I'll get him in a better shot if it kills me! ha ha

I wasn’t able to get a very good picture, he was also very quick, even though I followed as far as I could. This is his back end as he dodged me yet again but now know it is a Black tailed jack rabbit. Holy cow, he had to be 3’ tall when standing on his back legs with big ears.

Found this picture of him in Wikipedia

Later on, Bill directed my attention to the more common ‘Peter Cottontail’ who was not skittish at all as he let me advance quite close while he was having a snack.

This size I'm used to!

I’m sure there are more things to see and capture on my lens and can’t wait for them all. The skies were cloudy when we arrived but it was a warm 72F when Bill fired up the Weber Q to bbq supper.

Gorgeous sunset last night.

Clemson and I were in bed by 10 and off to sleep in no time. I sure sleep well, but then always have been able to get my 8 hours at the best of times.

This morning, the sun came up and there are blue skies in amongst the white fluffy clouds. Let’s get at this day! Time for a jaunt around the place.

Thank you for reading, comments are welcome.