Chloride, NM

We ended up spending two weeks in Elephant Butte NM while waiting for our holding tank to be replaced.  We managed to do a few little drives while we were there.  One drive we took to Chloride which is an old ghost town.  There are a few people that live there and of those who do they have a family history in the town that goes back a few generations.  This old mining town was founded on silver mining.  The museum was packed with interesting stuff.  The most impressive was a pioneer woman's things.  Everything from clothing to furniture -- she made it all by hand.  She lived out of a covered wagon for many years and then when she settled in Chloride she made everything for her cabin.  The workmanship on the clothing and the furniture was remarkable.

We finally got our new holding tank installed and hit the road.  So far we have made it to Kinsley, KS which is just northeast of Dodge City.  We need to head to Sioux Falls but the weather doesn't want to cooperate.  We hope to be in Minnesota by Wednesday or Thursday -- maybe Friday.  All we hear about is snow and ice up at the resort but we are on our way! 

Elephant Butte

We are at an RV park in Elephant Butte, NM.  We planned on spending a week but have extended our stay.  We had some routine maintenance done on the RV.  The maintenance part was done quickly but then I asked the repair guy to check under the rig for any damage that a packrat might have done.  We had a packrat while at the refuge.  He got in under the undercarriage and could have chewed on wires, etc.  Well, no damage from the rat was seen but he did discover a crack in one of our holding tanks.  Its bad enough that we need the tank replaced immediately so here we sit in New Mexico.   We figure its a mixed blessing having to sit here for a few extra days.  Its a bummer that we have to have something fixed but its good to be staying where its warm for a few more days.

We stayed here in Elephant Butte our first winter.  Elephant Butte Lake had a lot more water in it the last time we were here and they tell us the water has come way up since October.  The mighty Rio Grande -- you can see the trickle of it on the left side of the dam- isn't looking so mighty.   Its still better than seeing white stuff on the ground and ice!      

Cute and Not so Cute

We went to the Sonoran Desert Museum in Tucson.  It is worth the time and money to go because you see everything the desert has to offer.  Birds, butterflies, lizards, snakes, prairie dogs, bobcats, mountain lions, Mexican wolf and the list goes on and on.  I enjoyed all of the cactus and flowers with many of them blooming. 

Our friends had a laundry list of restaurants they wanted to hit while there and I think we hit all but one.  We ate many great meals.

The weather was perfect the whole week we were there hitting the mid 80's during the day and low 60's at night.  We are now in Elephant Butte, NM visiting friends and the weather is equally nice.   We will be here for a week enjoying the warmth a little longer. 

We will be watching the weather this week because a snow storm is supposed to hit Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, etc.  We don't travel in snow or rain for that matter so hopefully it will be melted before the weekend. 

Kitt Peak

We are in Tucson for a week.  The first touristy thing we did while here was go to the Kitt Peak Observatory.    The round building is the usual telescope looking at the stars and the funny building that looks like a 7 that fell over is a solar observatory.  Most of the building is underground.  Not sure how it all works but it was interesting to see all of the equipment they use to study a laundry list of astronomical things.   The visitor center had lots of interesting information and a video with beautiful pictures from telescopes such as Hubble.  Kitt Peak is 6800 feet high and when we got to the top the view of they mountains and valleys in the distance was incredible.

We have also started a culinary tour of Tucson.  We hit a great steakhouse the first night called Lil Abner's.  They grill the meat outside on a big wood fire where you can watch if you want.  Steak, ribs, chicken all very good.  On our way to Kitt Peak we stopped for lunch at Cindy Lou's.  They serve the best liver and onions in Tucson and Jim thought it was pretty good.  They also serve a poptart ice cream sandwich -- did not try.  Someone else will have to let us know if its any good. 

Small Critters

The hummingbirds have been gathering at my little feeder.  Sometimes there are up to 8 at a time plus a few bees all trying to get a drink.  We had small feeders attached to the window of the rig by suction cups and it was neat to see the hummers close up.  The only problem was they made a mess on the side of the rig.  Tiny hummingbird poop dripped down the side.  Yuk! even if it was tiny. 

We also had a visitor sitting on a pretty rock I found.  Its a walking stick (the bug) and he was about 8 inches long but not very thick.  He sat on the rock for a couple of hours.  I came back outside and he was gone and a big old bird was hopping away from the rock.  Walking sticks don't go very fast so I know he didn't get away.  The bird got a meal and then had the nerve to hang around looking for more. 

The snakes are out and so are the scorpions.  Jim met up with a rattlesnake that he thought was dead.  It was coiled up but its head was hanging to the side.  He got close to it thinking he might like the rattle when all of the sudden the snake moved its head.  Jim and the guy he was working with jumped back and ran to their truck.  Scared the daylights out of him and well it should have. 

Hot! Colors!

It's been HOT here all of a sudden.  Close to 100 degrees for several days after only being in the low 70's.  We like it warm but its nicer to get use to the heat while it creeps up from the 70's to the 80's and then the 90's.  Its supposed to be in the 80's after this hot spell which will be perfect.  Of course now its getting to be time to leave and head north.  We are going to take three or four weeks to get to Minnesota where it is still snowy and cold.

The desert bloom has started with the yellow Brittlebush blooming everywhere especially along roadways making it look like a beautiful carpet along the highway.  The Beavertail cactus are putting on a show of bright pink blooms.  The Ocotillo which usually look like a tall group of sticks are green with bright orange flowers on top.   There is Desert Globemallow which is a tall spiky orange blossom plant blooming along the highway and everywhere you look is a pretty purple flowered little plant.  The purple plant is called Scorpion weed.  It smells bad and gives many people a rash but it is pretty.  More new kinds of blooms are popping out everyday.  It should be gorgeous the whole rest of the time we are here. 

Gorgeous Sunsets

When the clouds came in it caused a great sunset.  It seems funny to wish for clouds but having sun most of the time you really notice when clouds finally do roll in and the colors are always great.  There is always dust in the air which is part of why the sunsets and even sunrises are so pretty.   It rained a little bit here just enough tomake the road a little muddy.  It is hard to get the mud off the truck.  It is that really sticky caliche stuff that turns to cement when it dries.  Jim really wants to put the truck up on a lift so he can get all the mud off from underneath.

The truck needs to go in for some work.  The windshield washer isn't working because a packrat ate the rubber tubing that feeds the fluid up to the windshield.  He tried putting more fluid in the reservoir and it dissappeared.  Not sure what all is going on but we need it fixed before we hit the road.