Since the Governor of New Mexico has
announced another lock-down, I decided that it would be in my best interests to
make one more trip to Walmart to buy RV supplies, toilet paper and holding tank
deodorizer before leaving Alamogordo. Thus, I am a little late
getting on the road, but it is a short drive today, only a couple of hours from here to San Antonio and the Bosque Bird Watchers RV Park. This is a very laid-back park, with no
website to speak of. All communication
has been via email and/or telephone.
Billy said that if no one was around when I arrived, I should pick a
spot and go for it. So, I did. I arrived early enough that I decided a trip
to Bosque del Apache for the evening fly in would be awesome. Tonya brought me the 2 lenses I bought and had delivered to
her home and I am anxious to try them out, especially the new telephoto lens. Fall usually means a packed RV park here since people come long distances to view the spectacle of hundreds of geese, ducks, and cranes as they descend upon the waters and fields of Bosque del Apache Wildlife Preserve. However, in this year of COVID restrictions, there are only 5 campers, including me. I get unhooked as quickly as I can and head out with my camera to catch the evening fly-in. Birds fly out each morning to search for food in fields planted in the Preserve as well as neighboring farms. As the sun goes down, they fly back in to the safety of the lakes in the Preserve.
It was a bit more crowded than I expected
(not sure why I thought I would have the place to myself, duh, the best time to
photograph is November to January) so I parked along the access road instead of
the Flight Deck. Will definitely secure
a spot on the Flight Deck for tomorrow morning’s Fly-Out. I am only here for two nights so I want to make the most of them. The Preserve is also home to deer, squirrels, porcupines, coyotes, black bears, mountain lions, and many, many others. But in the fall, the migratory birds are the stars of the show.
Day
33 ~ White Sands NP
Today was spent cleaning up me, my
clothes, and Nohana. Restocking some
grocery items and planning for tomorrow’s photo ops.
Day
34 ~ White Sands NP
The last time I was here was in the
late 1990s where I participated in a marathon.
We began at the Amphitheater and ran the first 6 miles out to US 70 on
the Dune Road. The race ended at the zoo
and park in Alamogordo. I stopped at the
Visitor Center as always, I’ve found it is the best way to take full advantage
of the venue. I can get advice from the
Park Ranger or Gift Shop host as to good shooting locations or things to watch
for. This time I couldn’t resist a
t-shirt depicting the area when Columbian Mammoths roamed here. Not something I recalled from my previous
visits, but maybe that’s simply a result of more research having been done
since then. I find that the “science” is
always changing as new things are discovered.
As I approached this morning, I
thought to myself, “I don’t remember all this vegetation, I just remember lots
and lots of white sand.” Of course,
that’s because the outer edges always capture more seed than the areas deeper
into the park.
My family also visited White Sands in
the late 1950s when it was still a National Monument and I along with my
brothers and cousins had a blast rolling down the dunes. Some things never change. All around me, children are shrieking with
joy at being able to run and make footprints and “snow” angels and just chase
each other around. You can now purchase
round plastic sleds at the Gift Shop if you didn’t bring your own to use when
sliding down the dunes. Some of the more
popular areas are a study in slide tracks and it is difficult to find an area
that has no footprints unless you arrive when the park opens in the
morning. Sometimes the evening breezes
will erase the day’s prints, but not always.
The sand, of course really isn’t sand,
it is gypsum and there are signs throughout the park to let you know that
collecting isn’t allowed. The only sand
I collected on this trip was a result of getting the stuff in the feet of my
tripod. ^_^ Those same signs also inform the public that
alcohol is not allowed between February 1st and May 31st,
to protect the safety of those enjoying the park during the spring, their
busiest season.
Blue sky and white sand…
Taken by my daughter
Day 35 ~ White Sands NP
JJ
Almost 5 weeks into the journey, this
morning I am looking back at the beginning and thinking about what has changed,
what I’ve learned, and where I want to go next.
The biggest change has been to the initial plan, I have jokingly said
that I am now on Plan M.
From the initial thought of making
this journey, there have been many, many course changes. Beginning with starting the journey a lot
later in the year than originally planned.
The original target was to get the ranch in Montana sold in the summer
and leave no later than the end of August, not the beginning of October. The result is that I spent some time
wondering if I would get far enough south quickly enough to avoid snow storms
and cold weather. It was quite chilly in
Flaming Gorge and my Nohana isn’t equipped for winter camping.
And, the COVID pandemic has meant that
a lot of my planned stops, particularly in New Mexico had to change since all
the state parks are closed to non-residents.
Some stops were eliminated altogether and others had to be modified to
accommodate the new rules. In Arizona,
the Navajo Nation has been so hard hit by the coronavirus that they cancelled
all photo tours through the end of 2020, thus the slot canyons and several
other sites remain unchecked on the Photo Bucket List.
One unplanned stop was to spend some
time with my brother, Warren, at his deer hunting camp on the Mogollon
Plateau. I had not intended to do any
dry camping on this trip, but didn’t want to miss the opportunity to spend time
with him. It created some issues that
were fairly easily solved, like having to get the generator out and hook it up
for power, and using only the water in the fresh water tank, and dealing with
the battery and water pump, etc. that isn’t an issue when you are hooked up in
an RV park. Thankfully, God put me in
just the right place to solve them. Lots
of rv expertise in one spot. And, Warren
even changed a trailer tire that was showing signs of severe wear before I
headed down to Tucson, where I bought 4 new tires. When the guys were told they had to move
their camp because of the 14-day limit, I also learned what it will be like
camping alone. I opted to not move with
them for just that reason. I knew they
were close by if I had an emergency so I took advantage of the opportunity to
learn. I also knew that God had put me
in this place “for such a time as this.”
Among the things I have learned so far
is that if you are the only one available to accomplish a task, God will
provide the ability for you to do so.
Purchasing the tires in Tucson meant that I did not arrive at the
campground until after dark. And, this
spot was the only back-in space on this trip.
Nothing else was available as fall and winter are the best times to
visit Saguaro NP so the campgrounds fill up quickly. Despite my trepidation, I
knew this was something I just had to do.
So, I did, with God’s help.
I’ve also learned that during our many
traveling trips together, I learned more from Bill than even I thought I
had. He always made sure I understood
(sort of) what he was doing with the fifth wheel even though it was on “his”
list not mine. From taking care of the
plumbing system, to using the propane, he kept me in the loop. He also made me take the wheel during every
trip so that I could get comfortable pulling a 30’ trailer in traffic. I admit, that going through town or driving
in heavy traffic still isn’t my favorite thing, but I also know that I am
capable of doing it. I know I still have
a lot to learn, but I am making progress.
The one thing that hasn’t changed is that
I still miss Bill every single day. This
trip was supposed to be one that we took together. Although I know he would have been bored out
of his mind with my photo sessions, he was always supportive of them. I especially miss sharing the sunsets with
him. I have been sad that the sunsets I
was hoping for just haven’t happened as the skies have been clear with no
clouds. The weather called for sunny
skies with no clouds again today, so I decided to stay at home and catch up on
some reading and some accounting work.
My daughter, Tonya, coming down tomorrow evening to spend some time with
me so I need to rearrange a few things anyway.
Maybe we’ll get clouds then.
As I sat outside the camper this
evening God sent the most gorgeous sunset you can imagine. Lots of high thin clouds and what a show it
was!!! I’m sure it was awesome in the
dunes as well, but it was pretty darn awesome from Alamogordo as well.
“He
will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his
faithfulness is a shield and buckler.”
Psalm 91:4
SDG
Day
36 ~ Alamogordo, NM (White Sands NP)
Tonya is joining me this evening so I
am cleaning house and stocking up on groceries for the weekend. Except when I checked the weather report,
they are predicting clouds for this evening….
I called Tonya to see about what time she would arrive as the park
closes at 6:00. If I stay until closing,
I’ll get back to the campground by 6:30.
She tells me to go for it, so I plan accordingly. Sunset was 5:20 so I arrived around 5:00,
intending to find a good location and get set up. I found that every evening
around sunset you can find people gathering on the top of dunes all through the
park. The kids are still playing in the
sand while their parents are enjoying the lightshow put on the Lord. And, they unwittingly add perspective to some
photographs.
As expected, I was able to get back to
the campground before Tonya and so was there to greet her when she arrived
about 30 minutes later. She told me she
had pulled over to pull out her camera and capture some shots of the sunset as
well. She even managed to find a
windmill to star in some of them.
Day
37 ~ Alamogordo, NM (White Sands NP)
It has been a long time since the two
of us went on a shoot together. We
wandered together and separately through several areas of the park, each of us
capturing her own perspectives of what we saw.
We went in the morning and again for the sunset – it is soooo nice
having a Senior Pass so that I can make several trips to the same park in order
to get varied photographs. And even
better to spend some time one on one with my daughter. Sadly, she has to leave early in the morning
as she is in the process of buying a house and also is still working, even in
this COVID-19 paradigm.
Day
38 ~ Alamogordo, NM (White Sands NP)
This is my last day in Alamogordo so
rather than go to White Sands again, I want to capture some local culture. Unfortunately, the museums are closed due to
COVID and even the parking lot at the Space History Museum was closed. We visited the Space Museum in the 1990s
after the marathon so I was hoping to get some scenic shots of Alamogordo from
there as it is up on a hill east of the city.
Oliver Lee State Park is another, but, again, all State Parks are closed
to non-residents. I did find one park
with a short trail that we took and I was able to get a few city shots from
there.
Guess I’ll head back to the campground
and get ready for leaving tomorrow.
We didn’t get very far down the road
before trouble came up. Alarms on the TPMS that the psi on the trailer tires
are above safe levels. I realized that
can’t be right, these are brand new tires.
As soon as I was able, I pulled over and checked out the new trailer
tires – sure enough, they have a maximum psi of 65, not 50 like the old ones
and 65 was the alarm level for 50 psi.
So, all is well, it’s just the parameters that need to be adjusted. No idea how to do that at this point so I
just shut the TPMS down until I get to Alamogordo and can get out the book
again.
My phone app has done a pretty good
job so far in helping me make the turns through towns to get where I need to
go. I have found, however, that it
doesn’t take into account that I might have height, length, or width
restrictions, it assumes a passenger vehicle.
For instance, the shortest distance from Discount Tire to the camp
ground includes several miles on a road that is marked as “not recommended for
trailers longer than 24’” so I sometimes have to outsmart the phone. ^_^ Like
not asking for directions all the way to the campground until I have already
gone past an opportunity to use the above-mentioned road.
Today’s drive is almost all on I-10 so
that won’t be an issue. I have not driven
this portion of I-10 before and was surprised to see so many signs along the
highway explaining what to do in case of a dust storm. Having lived many years in Albuquerque, I am
well aware of the spring winds, I just didn’t realize the impact this much
further south into the Chihuahuan Desert.
I can understand better now why I-40 through Albuquerque is a much more
popular route for long-haul drivers.
I am looking forward to being in a
campground that offers more amenities after dry camping for a week and then
spending 4 days with electric only.
Laundry and shower will be the agenda for tomorrow.
