Glamping Days

Since I'm staying put for this month & not doing much exciting, I'll only be posting every couple of days.    In the last couple of days, I pottered around the trailer, went into town to run a few errands, took walks around the campground, worked a puzzle, & read online (news, a blog, a forum, a couple of magazines). Most of the rigs here are large fifth wheels or motor homes, but there's one other Escape trailer. Actually, I've  known Jon, who has the other Escape, from the Niagara Falls & Hungry Mother Rallies for the last several years. He too travels more than half the year & keeps a daily blog. I found out about this place by reading his blog.  Here are 4 pics taken on my walk around the campground this morning & 2 shots of the sunset from last night. The sunset was one of those that filled up the entire sky all at once, so even these 2 shots only capture a bit of it. 

I'm booked into a county park here in Parker, AZ for the month of Jan. It's by far the longest for me to stay in one place, so not sure how I'll like it. Today was spent getting registered, setting up camp, taking a stroll, stripping the bed & doing laundry, eating a meal in town, getting a shower, & pottering around in the trailer.  Yesterday was cloudy with rain off & on all day. It was weird walking around this morning dodging puddles here in the desert. The sun came out later in the afternoon as the high reached 67*, & a full moon was rising as the sun was setting this evening. 

Most of the cranes never returned to the main pond here, which is where I was camped. I did hear some around off & on through the night, & assorted groups passed overhead just after sunrise this morning, but most stayed away from the pond - a mystery.  Last year, I took pictures of the buildings in Willcox & inside the museum. Here are a couple of their Christmas decorations... ...and of the murals painted on the walls of the local thrift shop - quite eclectic. This one's for Mer; she'll know why. (The sign says, "For Sale, Dead People's Stuff) From the town to the scenery just a bit west (southeast of Tucson), we move from the ridiculous to the sublime. 

It was worth getting out of bed this morning just to see this beautiful sunrise.   The light reflecting off the mountains was beautiful, & then the cranes took off to go out to feed for the morning.  On the short drive to town was this lovely reflection of the mountains in the pond.. . ... & a border patrol headquarters. On previous visits, the cranes returned mid-day & hung around until sunset. It's now dusk, & they haven't yet returned. A few groups have flown past overhead but haven't landed in the pond as expected. My other two visits were in late February, so does their schedule change through the winter? Is there less food this year, so they are staying out longer to feed? Is there something in the area of the pond today that I'm not seeing or hearing that is keeping them from returning this evening? I'd love to know. Hope they are back by morning as watching them is such a treat, & I want to know that they are well. 

Since I was at an RV park, this morning I took a shower, washed dishes, filled my hot water heater & fresh water tank, & dumped my gray & black tanks - basically got ahead of things going into an extended period of dry camping. Then I did some errands before driving across NM & into AZ. This Oleander in Alamogordo was starting to bloom. Ahhh, warm winter sunshine.  Just past dusk, I pulled into the bird viewing pond on the south end of Willcox, AZ. This has become a favorite winter stop as the sandhill cranes here are endlessly fascinating to me. There's tons of parking right next to the pond with the cranes, & when they are off feeding during the morning, it's easy to run into town. So, while it's less scenic than the more popular White Water Draw, I prefer to watch the cranes here. 

It was predicted to go down to 22* in the town of Canyon, about 1000' higher & 15 miles from where I was camped in Palo Duro Canyon last night. I figure my rig should be good down to around 20*; below that, & the water tanks beneath my trailer could freeze & burst. Well, I woke up to 13* this morning. It seems that I got lucky: my fresh tank was almost full, & it was warm yesterday, so that large volume didn't freeze. My black & gray tanks still had antifreeze in them from winterizing & not much waste had been added to dilute it. "Better lucky than smart every time." This rustic building at the entrance to the State Park really fits in with the landscape.  Near the entrance to the park is America's tallest wind turbine, at least according to Google maps.  Until the last few years, I'd associated cotton more with the southeaster US, but there's lots of it grown in west Texas & eastern New Mexico.  There are at least a hundred of ...