Connie and I left Tucson on the 11th of November, destination Bosque Del Apache National Wildlife Refuge for the annual Festival of the cranes. We were invited by our good friends Vickie and Carl Becker to join them for the festivities. I knew it would be cold there at this time of year, but not as cold as it turned out.
We arrived at the RV park on Saturday. Someone once wrote a review of the park that stated the best thing about it was location, location, location. And they were absolutely correct. Bosque Birdwatchers RV Park lacks some amenities, but what it lacks is made up by being only 1/2 a mile or so from the entrance to the Refuge.
Hard to believe with temperatures in the low 30s at night, but there were actually tenters every night.
Connie and Pepper enjoyed a very relaxing week while Lisa enjoyed the festival and the birds.
Lisa tried to learn some knew things about birds and photography, we are not to sure how much learning took place, only time will tell.
There were over 2,000 cranes at the refuge and over 4,000 geese. Most of the geese are Snow Geese with a few Ross’s and Canadian thrown in.
Two Snow Geese in flight
Geese lifting off shortly after dawn
A young Snow Goose
Snow Goose
Sandhill Crane parachuting down
Sandhill Crane
Two Sandhill Cranes in flight
Sandhill Crane being chased by a Snow Goose
Great Blue Heron
Besides birds and good friends both San Antonio and Socorro New Mexico have some good eating. We ate at a few of them including the Buckhorn and San Antonio Crane in San Antonio. The Buckhorn is “famous” for having a hamburger that beat Bobby Flay in a throwdown a few years ago. While the San Antonio Crane is a small Mexican restaurant with good sopapillas. In Socorro we ate at Sophia’s Kitchen, El Camino Restaurant and Lounge, Socorro Springs Brewing Company and Bodega Burger Company. Good eating at all of them.
On Saturday Connie and I were able to meet one of our favorite bloggers, Lynn from winnieviews. As we prepared for full time RVing the posts on Lynn’s site really helped. Lynn was working at the visitor center but still managed to spend about 10 minutes talking to us.
We had some fantastic news this week, the house has sold. we are over the moon happy that we don’t have to worry about anything happening to it as we traipse around the country.
We would love to know who are leaving comments. You DO NOT need to leave an email address even though the box is there. We would like a first name – but again that would be optiuonal.
Headed out of El Paso today for Deming, NM. Thankfully we only wanted to go as far as Deming, the winds rose fast and it would have been very hard to continue on. Traffic in El Paso was easy since we followed sage advice Connie’s Aunt Nikki gave her “Drive between 10:00 A.M. and 2:00 P.M. to miss the Mad Rush in the San Francisco Bay Area.” We applied her advice and glided through El Paso. We did see a big rig brake in front of us and start swerving to the left. With disbelief we saw this yellow 18 wheeler heading against traffic on the highway.
Whoa, you’re going the wrong way.
OMGosh!!! Then we realized it was actually moving with traffic and being towed. WHEW!!! When we were closer we did see small flashing red lights on the trucks grill. You would think they would have REALLY BIG RED LIGHTS. I’m sure the truck driver and us were not the only folks freaked out. Even the rest stop Roadrunner took a second look.
“What the heck?”
We did luck out once we arrived in Deming. We found a new restaurant the “Rancher’s Grill”. The steak was some of the best we have had in a long time, and the salad bar was fantastic.
Rancher’s Grill Deming, New Mexico
The restaurant is easily accessible with plenty of parking in the back for an RV.
RV parking at Rancher’s Grill
We rode out the windy day at an Escapees Park “Dreamcatcher RV” in Deming. It is a quiet park with level gravel parking, clean restrooms/showers, and friendly people.
Tuesday, April 29th
We woke up this morning with howling winds – surprise, surprise! We also woke up to missed phone calls from ADT (our home security system). The house alarm went off around midnight, and we both missed the call. So did our good friend Matthew who is our contact when we are away. When ADT could not get in touch with any of us they had the local Sheriff check and secure the house. The Sheriff report said the front door was wide open but nothing seemed to be disturbed. Maybe the wind blew the door open or someone was scared off by the alarm. Big sigh of relief as we decided to head straight home with out any other stops.
The sign may not be a deterrent!
The winds were still blowing hard, but Connie handled them like a champ. Lisa has stopped at a restaurant in Lordsburg, NM every year on her way to and from Dallas. Connie was nice enough to forego breakfast (we each had a banana) so we could eat at one of Lisa’s favorite restaurants. Kranberry’s is a nice place with both American and Mexican food on the menu. They have some pretty good baked goods, too. Like brownies, cobblers, sticky and cinnamon buns. (I know it seems like all we did was drive and eat. Yep, pretty much.) If you are ever driving through Lordsburg we highly recommend stopping in for a bite to eat.
Kranberry’s Restaurant 1405 Main St. Lordsburg, NM Exit 82 off of I-10
After a great lunch, we continued on I-10 west past Wilcox and then turned off on HWY 191 South towards the house. Arizona Lizards were back in the familiar landscape and dry conditions of the desert. Ahhhhhhhhh. That means the house was not far away.
Highway 191- nice quiet two lane country road.Definitely back in ArizonaArizona even looks great through dirty windows
We made it home in time to enjoy a quiet evening without the thought of another windy days drive!
Wednesday, April 29th
Up and about early. We have a lot to accomplish by the time the Auctioneers arrive on the 26th of May to start tagging the items in the house. We made time for breakfast at the Morning Star Cafe. This is one of the places we will definitely miss once we leave Arizona.
Morning Star Cafe 10428 East Hwy 92 Palominas, AZBrenda and Matthew Pratt Great restaurant owners and even better friends
Once home from breakfast it was time to assess the property and see the changes that were taking place.
The weeds are already taking over!The backyard is seriously overgrown!Palm trees need a trimmingThe Ocotillo is in full bloom
One of the first tasks to take care of – getting rid of a heck of a lot of splattered Texas bugs from the front of the RV. Connie usually does this, but today Lisa and Pepper took it on (not that Pepper was a lot of help). While Pepper supervised, Lisa scrubbed away (er, Pepper was slacking off and sleeping) and Connie started working in the yard.
Scrub, scrub, scrub
Once the front was shiny and clean we put the window Magna Shades in place to help keep the sun out and the curtains from further deterioration.
Magna Shades helping make the RV look spiffy
It was great to get back to the house and find another lizard soaking up the sun.
Giant lizard guarding the entrance to the house
That is all for now. Will post more in a few days.
Arizona Lizards 