Oliver Lee Memorial State Park, Alamogordo, NM

 

It was a beautiful 150 miles to Oliver Lee Memorial State Park yesterday, our second time here. We are so happy to have a view of mountains again.

The first time we made the drive from Brantley Lake to Alamogordo in February 2009 heading west along highway 82, we didn’t have a Mountain Directory West book, but that sure prompted us to buy one. It was quite a surprise after making the easy climb from Artesia at 3500’ to Cloudcroft at 8600’ over a distance of 70 miles, to descend down to 4300’ over the course of only 16 miles, on a very curvy road with steep drop offs.

Since that was our first ever drive on that kind of road and at those kinds of elevations, we had no idea it would be much more pleasant for both of us without the car hooked up to the motorhome. So yesterday we stopped at a truck brake check area in Cloudcroft and disconnected the car. Jim said it was a world of difference not having the extra weight of the car as he went down the mountain, and I enjoyed driving the car, watching the instant gas mileage vary from 80-99 mpg the entire 16 miles. It’s a very scenic drive across the Sacramento Mountains, and there were still some remnants of snow in places.

Last evening we took a short hike through Dog Canyon.

We love it here.

Brantley Lake State Park and Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico, Revisited

 

We arrived here Thursday afternoon hoping to beat the Easter weekend crowd. The park wasn’t even half full, and we got a great site with a view of the lake. In fact, looking back at pictures, it appears we are in the same site we had the first time we came here in January 2009. Quite a few groups of tent campers and families came in later Thursday evening and more came in yesterday. Glad we found a site with no close neighbors. Our internet connection is extremely weak and slow, so I am not going to post too many pictures.

It was 90 by late afternoon, but when I got up yesterday morning it was 47. Welcome back to the desert! This isn’t the most scenic part of New Mexico but it’s not a bad place to hang out for a few days.

We toured Carlsbad Caverns the first time we were here, but since it was so hot, we decided to go back and see it again. We did the self guided walking tour through the natural opening, which is free with Jim’s Senior Pass. but being Easter weekend it was much more crowded than the first time.

Jim was not real happy, since he doesn’t tolerate crowds ands kids very well. In fact he heard a ranger tell someone that Easter Sunday is the most visited day of the year.

They have these signs and phones every so often along the trail. Jim wanted to call and report all the “dumb asses and their kids” but that wasn’t on the sign.

I’m guessing about 75% of the people we encountered in the cave did not speak English. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but it’s always interesting to see how many foreign travelers come here to visit the national parks. And unfortunately we have found that they don’t always have the best of manners on crowded trails.

But at a cool 56 degrees it was a great place to take a walk for a couple hours. And it was just as fascinating seeing the caverns a second time.

I saw this when I opened the blinds this morning. The New Mexico Easter Bunny sure has big ears!

Monahans Sandhills State Park, Monahans, TX

 

We were warned that the campground at Monahans Sandhills State Park was like a parking lot in the dunes, and that there was the potential for lots of blowing sand. Since it was along our route we decided to check it out, and if it was really windy we would continue on. With “only” 10-20 mph winds, we stayed for the night..

Yes, it’s like a parking lot, but there is something intriguing about walking out the door onto the dunes. With our Texas Park Pass it was only $14, with water and electric, unlike all the other TX state parks we stayed at that charged $20.

Our backyard.

It was too hot for walking on the sand yesterday afternoon, but I cleaned bugs and bird droppings off the car and Lazy Daze, while Jim worked on the auxiliary brake system, which he thought was not working since the little red light wasn’t coming on in a hard stop. As it turned out, the brake is working fine but the light isn’t, so he tested the bulb and it wasn’t burned out. Guess it’s a wiring issue, but he couldn’t locate any break in the wire so he’s planning to call SMI for ideas, and it may be a problem for someone with more electrical experience. We don’t make many emergency stops, but it’s nice to know the brake is still functioning if we need it.

As the sun was going down and the temperature cooled off, we took our walk on the dunes. Hard work but it was beautiful.

 

I was up before sunrise, so I took another walk this morning. It was just me and the footprints of all the critters that wandered around during the night.

This is a good place for an overnight stop since it’s just a mile or so off I-20, but other than a nice visitor center, a short nature trail, and some picnic tables, there isn’t much else to do.

Not the most scenic picnic area.

We’re now on our way to New Mexico. Our NM State Parks pass we bought last year is good till the end of April, so we plan to make good use of it.

San Angelo State Park, San Angelo, TX

 

Along our 100 mile drive from Junction to San Angelo yesterday, we watched the trees get smaller and the hills disappear as we went farther west away from the Hill Country and closer to the desert. San Angelo State Park is located just a few miles from the city of San Angelo, population over 100,000, a good stopover to do a little shopping.

This is a nice park on the shores of O.C. Fisher Reservoir, although with the drought in Texas there is very little water in the lake. And there are only a handful of people in the campground, nobody but us in our section. If the lake were full, we would have a beautiful view of it.

There is a little water in it this year following some good rains, but not enough for boating or fishing. The ranger told us it’s been a couple years since the water levels were up, and last summer it went completely dry. He said they were letting people just grab fish with their hands to take home and eat rather than let them die.

It got into the low 90’s yesterday, so late yesterday afternoon we took a ride into downtown San Angelo to take a little walk along the Concho River, which flows through town. Unfortunately we were destined not to see water, as there is work going on along the river and they have drained much of the water. There is a nice 4 mile trail and some lovely homes along the river.

The ducks and geese were still hanging out even though the water is low.

The trail also crosses the river to the impressive Visitor Center.

Because of their huge sheep market, San Angelo was known for many years as the 'wool capital of the world'. The city had a “paint the sheep” contest several years ago and they are still on display throughout downtown.

This is the “Welcoming Ewe” next to the Visitor Center.

About 4 this morning we were awakened to rolling thunder, so I got up to turn on the weather radio and check the radar on the computer. We were under a severe thunderstorm warning, but fortunately we only got some wind and small hail for about 5 minutes. Couldn’t get back to sleep for a good while so we got off to a slow start today. Ended up heading to town around noon for a haircut for me, lunch at Quizno’s, and some shopping at Best Buy and Wal-Mart. Not a very exciting day but it only got to 80 with humidity around 30 percent or less. How nice!

This evening we hiked a few miles of the 50 miles of hiking and mountain bike trails in the park. It was like walking through a prickly pear garden, very pretty.

 

We would definitely come back here again and stay a bit longer, but tomorrow we’re off to Monahans Sandhills State Park.

Still At South Llano River State Park

 

It’s been a great week here, very relaxing and quiet. Other than a daily 3 or 4 mile hike, the rest of our time has been spent reading or on the computer.

We’ve seen lots of birds,

and beautiful flowers.

We were a bit apprehensive about being here over the weekend since a big group of Little Princesses (girsl age 4 to 4th grade) and their dads were coming, but they were very well behaved and we even got to watch their procession to the council fire ceremony last night, right in front of our site. This is a program through the YMCA which used to be called Indian Guides/Indian Princesses, but to be more politically correct they have changed to the name to the Y-Father-Child Program. Just doesn’t have the same ring to it, but they all appeared to be having fun and really didn’t disrupt the campground.

 

We also both recently finished reading a great book for all you animal lovers out there, Homer's Odyssey: A Fearless Feline Tale, or How I Learned About Love and Life with a Blind Wonder Cat. It’s actually a story about a cat with no eyes, but he sure doesn’t seem to know it. I won’t spoil anything by telling you the cat is still alive and well, so it’s not one of those animal books that will leave you in tears like most of them seem to. Who knows, now our next cat may be a blind one. There are plenty of them out there looking for homes. Check this out if you’re interested. Blind Cat Rescue & Sanctuary Inc. If we were anywhere near North Carolina I’d be heading there to volunteer.

Tomorrow we’re moving on to San Angelo State Park, We might just get out of Texas this week.

South Llano River State Park, Junction, TX

 

It was a beautiful 65 mile drive on hilly ranch roads from Fredercksburg to South Llano River State Park, with wildflowers everywhere. We had been told by several people that we would love this park, and they were right. Most of the sites are huge and some are very private. We opted for a more open site hoping to see some of the wildlife.

I put out a regular bird feeder and a hummingbird feeder, and within an hour the hummingbirds arrived. There are several bird blinds, one right behind our site that is always busy. There are miles of hiking trails in the park and  the adjoining Walter Buck Wildlife Management Area. We’ve had a couple deer walk through our site, but have yet to see the wild turkeys which the park is known for. In fact they have a huge area closed to the public except between 10 and 3 each day which is a turkey roost area.

We’ve hiked a few trails so far, and walked up to the scenic overlook. Here are some pictures from our walks.

 

Buck Lake.

A place to sit and look at the lake.

South Llano River.

Behind our site. It will be even prettier here in a few more weeks when all the leaves come out on the trees.

Birds and squirrels enjoying the water and feeders.

We’re here until Sunday for sure. It is so peaceful we may just hang out a bit longer. With the Wilson amplifier we actually have a good internet connection.  And Quincy is doing a little better with his leash and collar, but it’s hard to teach an old cat new tricks.