Thursday, October 29, 2009

Snow Bound


10/29/09
Whooeeee, lots of snow here in Trinidad. Trucks line the frontage roads along the freeway and fill up the large gas station parking lots. Originally we thought we would leave today as weather was 'supposed' to clear by noon. HA! Now they say it will be about 50 deg. on Sat, with a little sunshine tomorrow when it is supposed to be in the 40's. Meanwhile we are living in a Christmas card.

We did make it to Walmart, which is just across the highway overpass. Sheriff's car was blocking the onramp to the freeway. Word in Walmart was that they were about to close it down (I-25). So we picked up supplies and I got a haircut. Now I'm making baked oatmeal (cinn., apples, raisins, walnuts and oats) and we'll have hot taco soup for dinner. Fortunately we have big fat books to read and cable tv .... This town is prepared for this kind of weather though... big snowplows out on the road and everyone has some kind of
snow plow to clear their parking lots. However, nothing much can help at the 7800 ft Raton pass. TV has lots of crashes and overturned trucks to show us... so we are staying put for the time being. Thank goodness the Jeep can get us where we need to go.
Stay warm and dry out there..
happy trails.....
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Snow Bound


10/29/09
Whooeeee, lots of snow here in Trinidad. Trucks line the frontage roads along the freeway and fill up the large gas station parking lots. Originally we thought we would leave today as weather was 'supposed' to clear by noon. HA! Now they say it will be about 50 deg. on Sat, with a little sunshine tomorrow when it is supposed to be in the 40's. Meanwhile we are living in a Christmas card.

We did make it to Walmart, which is just across the highway overpass. Sheriff's car was blocking the onramp to the freeway. Word in Walmart was that they were about to close it down (I-25). So we picked up supplies and I got a haircut. Now I'm making baked oatmeal (cinn., apples, raisins, walnuts and oats) and we'll have hot taco soup for dinner. Fortunately we have big fat books to read and cable tv .... This town is prepared for this kind of weather though... big snowplows out on the road and everyone has some kind of
snow plow to clear their parking lots. However, nothing much can help at the 7800 ft Raton pass. TV has lots of crashes and overturned trucks to show us... so we are staying put for the time being. Thank goodness the Jeep can get us where we need to go.
Stay warm and dry out there..
happy trails.....

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Snow time in CO 10/24/09





What a difference 24 hours can make! Went from 76 to 36 deg. in 24 hours. Here are some photos of what Trinidad CO looks like in snow, very different from previous photos! The photo of Roger was taken through the window of the jeep, as he brushed snow off. We hand icicles (?) hanging off the coach. However, snow now is almost gone. But what a Christmas card view we had.
We had a little adventure yesterday, Friday. Coming back from town, we were stopped at the last stop light before the park. We heard a big screech, and were rammed from the rear. No one was hurt, and the Jeep seems ok... but the kid who hit us sure made a mess of his car. We were very close to a gas station so pulled over to exchange insurance info. When we were ready to pull away, Jeep wouldn't start! So we called AAA, I walked back to coach, and Lance and Roger waited for the tow truck. They got a "jump", crossed the overpass and bought a new battery. Roger doubts the rearender had anything to do with it, but it sure made for a crummy couple of hours. BUT, the kid's dad walked over later (seems they all worked at the resturant/gas business) and said it WAS a bad day for his kid. Police were on their way to pick him up for some other charge. Guys didn't stick around to hear the details. We celebrated surviving the whole mess later that evening by going to an Italian resturant in Trinidad, Rhino's. If you ever get to this town, be sure! to eat there, wonderful food and singing waiter/waitresses! We had a great two hour meal and entertainment. Who would have thought it in this littlel place. See, we are having life experieces on the road!
happy trails....



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Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Trinidad, Co





Here we are Oct. 16, 2009 in Trinidad, CO. Beautiful weather, a little windy, very warm afternoons. Lance and Roger took a drive to Simpson's Rest, where the big Trinidad sign is atop a high mesa. They also visited the Kit Carson memorial in town. Unfortunately, all of the museums in town were closed for the "season"... guess we missed the season! But the old town has brick streets, and many old buildings. The heart of downtown is in the process of revitalization, with lots of empty store fronts, but great architecture. We are at about 6500 ft and the cottonwoods and aspen are gorgeous! Don't know how much longer they will last, but what a sight.

happy trails.....



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Thursday, October 15, 2009

Maxwell Nat'l Wildlife Perserve NM








These photos hardly do justice to the wildlife perserve at Maxwell, NM. We saw thousands of birds, cranes, ducks, geese, etc on this body of water, one of three on the perserve. The Sandhill cranes circled in large groups in the air, then would settle down again on the water on a nearby field. The honking and calling of the various groups was just awesome! We also saw deer and a coyote during our drive around the perserve. The visitors center was the least impressive of the 3 we have visited, very small and not well marked. However, this one did have a bat flying in the small rooms, much to their dismay. We drove a back road back to Raton, NM and saw deer and pronghorns along the way. Went to the local restuarant for lunch... and the food was really good! Roger's 5" high hamburger had to be 7" across; he was in heaven.

The cottonwood trees are turning the most amazing golds, green/gold and bronze. The air is so clear here you can see for miles, and the colors against the volcanic bluffs is wonderful.
well, I wish we had close ups of the wonderful views of birds in the air that we saw today. However, I can't manage to shoot through the binoculars! On to Trinidad, CO tomorrow.
happy trails....



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Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Trips from Raton, NM








We stopped at Montezuma's Castle outside Las Vegas, NM on our way to Raton. Could not actually get on the grounds as it is a private school now. Next we stopped at Fort Union, a Nat'l Monument. There are a huge assortment of partial-buildings and the site is being restored as possible. Today we went to the Capulin Volcano Nat'l Monument outside Raton. This part of New Mexico is so different from Santa Fe etc. Big wide open prairie with huge rock fall from the volcanos in the area. I still don't have the words to express how huge, open this part of the country is, with big! sky above it. Roger walked down into the crater, while I took photos. None of them do justice to the area. We saw mule deer in the park and pronghorns in a lot of areas. Had to post this photo of the beautiful little house in Springer NM with the fall leaves and trees. Tomorrow we will go to the Maxwell Wildlife refuge just south of Raton. Roger said to be sure to add that we had lunch at a roadside rest today in 30 mph winds... well, it's all those prairies out there!
happy trails....





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Friday, October 9, 2009

Up I-25 New Mexico
















We visited ol town Mesillia, the square is surrounded by old buildings, including the church. We stopped at the chilis market and picked up a small riasta which will ride with us til it falls apart! 50 miles around Albuquerque was packed so we didn't see balloons, except for one on the freeway.




We are working our way north in New Mexico, nice weather tho getting colder at night. We went to the Bosque Del Apache National Wildlife perserve. They have a good visitor center with a movie that explains the perserve efforts, the restoring of the Sand Hill Cranes in particular. We took the 13 mile drive through the park, getting out at the various overlooks. We did see a coyote, 2 Sand Hill cranes and many Canadian geese and ducks. It is early for the cranes so we felt very lucky to see them in the field. We also saw a family of deer cross the road right in front of us.

Next we went to the Las Vegas NWP which is not nearly as 'official' with no visitor center that we could find. However we did see many crane and geese as well as the various kinds of ducks in the fields and on the water. I must add here that we bought a great pair of binoculars while in Jackson Hole WY a few years ago (to settle a question ..lol) and they sure came in handy for bird watching. We could hear the cranes across the water but could not really see them. Using the binocs, there they were! Also spotted another coyote and an eagle high in a dead tree. It was a great day for viewing, and we only saw 3 other cars the whole trip on the perserve!


We've had a mishap with our recliner chair so looks like we will have to go shopping. Nothing we can't handle, as we are having too much fun to worry about it!
Must say love this life... hope you are making the most of every day too!

Happy trails...






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Sunday, October 4, 2009

Red Rock Canyon and Canyon of Fire State Park, NV





These cowboys were part of a photo shoot going on at Red Rock. Our trip to Las Vegas didn't include the 'strip', just some wonderful scenery. The Thousand Trails park is tight, but has full hookups and an easy access to the freeways.


Our stay at the Las Vegas Thousand Trails park was a good one, even tho we didn't go to the "strip" at all. Our first day we drove out to the Red Rock Canyon perserve and took the 13 mile round trip drive. What great red rock formations. We spent most of the day and were so glad we went, thinking we had really seen some beautiful scenery. The next day we took a 50 mile drive out to the Canyon of Fire State Park, after hearing some other tourists talking about it. WoW!! The petroglyphs, colors of rock, huge! domes, beehive-looking formations; it was just amazing. It took us all day cause I kept getting out of the car to take photos. We walked back to Mouse Tank, where we saw many petroglyphs, beautiful rock formations - all just too big to even describe. I hope you click on some of the photos to get a better look at all that is there in this park. We saw two campgrounds, one with hookups for big rigs, and all tucked into the rocks. They had nice covered tables and grills. Course you are in the desert, so it was warm, but what views!








Red Rock Canyon is a Federal perserve, under going renovations/upgrades right now. Our Sr. pass got us in free. The Canyon of Fire park is run by Nevada and cost $6... what a bargain! If you go remember to carry plenty of water and some food; the one visitor's center only had a couple of vending machines... hardly adequate for the number of people and campers.
We'd recommend these sides trips on your next trip to the LV area! We're on our way to Colorado via New Mexico now.
Happy trails.....





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