Glamping Days

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 ...

My drive this morning was just over 2 hours.  West Texas mostly looks like this...  ...but is dotted with heavy industrial sites like this one.  Palo Duro Canyon State Park, which is near Amarillo, has been on my bucket list for a while. I'd planned to spend a week in the area last year, but the combination of very cold weather & electrical issues with the trailer made me bypass it & head quickly westward. I just spent this afternoon exploring the canyon, & that seems like enough for it (though hikers could spend a couple of days), but there are some sites in Amarillo & Canyon (a nearby town) that I'd like to come back to at some point.

I ended up staying a day longer with my daughter than planned, so I'm just getting back to the blog.  The last week has been a wonderful mix of family...   the 2025 Hopkins assemblage                                                   Mer & me                                                                 the Hopkins trio playing for the grandparents ...some assorted wildlife...                         the local prairie dog town                                       ...