Rain! Clouds! Thanksgiving on the road

We haven't had any rain or for that matter seen many clouds in the sky for way over a month -- as long as we have been here. The sky has been bright blue every day and the sun quite intense so even if the temperature is only in the sixties it feels like the high seventies. We could plan fishing, hiking, etc. without worrying if it was going to rain which has been great. It was starting to get a little dusty -- not bad - but just enough to notice.



The weather forecast started predicting a 30% chance of rain for the Thanksgiving holiday. Well it did start raining in the middle of the night -- on Thanksgiving. It was nice to hear rain on the roof -- waking up-- and just enjoying the sound. We left Minnesota driving through a heck of a rainstorm and thought we hadn't really missed rain. I guess we kind of did miss it because afterward when it was done the air smelled so fresh and the sky was also a lot clearer. We could see mountains in the distance we hadn't been able to see in awhile and the sunset on the lingering clouds was beautiful.


Thanksgiving at the park was very good. The owner of the RV catered a buffet and provided turkey, ham, potatoes and vegetable and everyone brought a dish to share. The park has a small clubhouse that was set up as a dining room. It was a very nice treat.



Most people in the park at the moment are moving on to Arizona to spend the rest of the winter but we hear that after Christmas the people that come, stay here until April.

Military Manuevers

While we were fishing we were entertained by a military jet on manuevers. The picture on the left shows the "Osprey" a plane that flies like a helicopter or a jet -- very cool. It landed on top of this butte on the east side of the lake. It took off and buzzed us and then came back an hovered over the butte some more --kicking up lots of dust. It also came down and hovered over the water across the lake from us. It looked like it was giving itself a bath after the dusting because of all the water spray that was kicked up. There are lots of military bases around this area so we get to see jets come through fairly low every once in awhile. I guess the Rio Grande valley is an easy landmark to follow.

The picture on top is the view from a box canyon that we were fishing in while on the lake. Both sides of the lake - - but mostly the east side -- are full of canyons. Its amazing how far in to them you can go and fish --- usually right up to the walls. We've seen fishermen bounce their jig off a canyon wall and let it plop into the water. We've been trying every kind of fishing technique we know or hear that locals use but still haven't caught much -- usually one fish a day if we are lucky. We have been feeding the lake some expensive lures in the process. I'm going to buy nightcrawlers next to try. Whats really funny is the nightcrawlers they sell down here are imported from Canada.

Elephant Butte State Park

We spent some time checking out the state park that surrounds Elephant Butte Lake. If you look at this picture to the left you can see the "elephant" the head and and trunk that goes down to the water are on the left of the butte. The marina is open year round. If you click on the picture above -- it will get larger and in the middle of the picture is a "houseboat" actually it looks more like a fishhouse on top of a raft.

We see lots of wildlife in the park. The picture at the top has a roadrunner in the center of it. Again if you click on the picture you will see it. We have seen hares with giant, tall ears and mule deers which also have huge ears. We've seen flocks of quail with the funny little "wattle" on the top of their head. I'm trying to get pictures but they are fast. We've seen lots of coyotes but none chasing roadrunners. When the roadrunners cross the road in front of us they really do zoom. I can see why Wiley Coyote couldn't catch him.

There are still flowers on a few of the plants in the desert. We are still enjoying being in shorts. Tomorrow is supposed to be in the seventies and we will be trying to catch some fish!

Exploring - Mountains and Ghost towns

When its too windy to fish (not too cold) we've been doing some day trips to the mountains nearby. We've driven into the Gila National

Forest up in the mountains and driven in the foothills toward the Black Range mountains.

There's gold in them there hills. We've been checking out the BLM maps and they show where gold has been found. You can pan for gold on public lands -- can't wait to try it -- what the heck!

The top left picture is a ghost town -- population 1 ( a BLM employee) not sure that really counts but the town had one phone and was occupied until the 50's. They mined manganese here. We have driven through many towns that used to have large populations but when the mines played out they went bust. You see old adobe walls and houses made of mud and straw that are really pretty. Not sure how they survive the rainy season. Lots of signs that when it rains -- its a big problem. All the creeks overflow and run across the roads and deposit huge amounts of gravel on the roadways. They have to plow the gravel off the road. There is a good side to this -- in the right areas these are good places to pan for gold.

Caballo Lake Expedition

Dave, one of the workampers here at Lakeside RV park where we are staying took us to Caballo lake Friday, October 31st. He had caught two walleye earlier in the week. He offered to take us there and let us fish out of his inflatable boat. This lake looks like the color of chocolate milk or one of those mudslide drinks. You can't see your lure except when its on top of the water.

This lake is 20 some miles from where we are camped inside of Caballo Lake State Park and is also part of the Rio Grande river system. The Caballo mountains line one side of the lake -- you can't see it but there is a mine close to the top of one of the mountains.

This lake has a large walleye population. We originally thought about staying at an RV park by this lake. Glad we decided on Elephant Butte Lake instead because this lake is only about 17 feet deep in its deepest part right now. Unfortunately, the only bite we had all day was one I had on the line and lost. I got ribbed for the rest of the trip for jinxing our fishing.

The top left picture shows a huge flock of sand-hill cranes standing along the shoreline. Huge flocks flew overhead all day. They are huge birds and the most we've ever seen in Minnesota was a group of four or five. These birds are wintering down here with the rest of us "snowbirds".