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TRAVELOGUE # 8 - More New Mexico: Birds, Friends, UFO's, Caverns, Space Museum, and White Sands!

Friday December 9 - Wednesday December 21, 2016

Published February 4, 2017

I drove northeast through NM heading toward Albuquerque to visit my friend Linda, but first I stopped at an RV park (called Bosque Birdwatchers RV Park) just north of the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. It's a very well known NWR with lots of Sandhill Cranes and Snow Geese who winter there. There were quite a few people even though it was bitter cold - 25 degrees in the morning. Everyone got up early to see the birds "rise" - when they all take off at the same time as the sun rises. So, even though I am definitely NOT a morning person, I got out to the viewing point a little after 7am. I'll let the photos below tell the story!

Next destination, Linda Dowling's in Las Lunas south of Albuquerque. Because I missed our annual tradition of going to the Nutcracker in Seattle, I suggested it to Linda - I had seen that the Russian Ballet was going to be in Albuquerque while I was there - she loved the idea and we were able to get tickets. It was very different, but an excellent performance, with stunning dancers! We had a wonderful visit. She recently moved into a smaller place (I think from 5 acres to 2 acres) and still has 6 Arabian horses and 3 dogs. We had a nice long weekend to visit, then on Tuesday I headed east toward Roswell (Linda said, "you have to go to the UFO museum"). On the way, we drove through Valley of Fires - an unexpected lava flow that filled a valley for about 160 miles 5000 years ago. We also found out how and where Smokey the Bear came to be!

Roswell is known for it's UFO museum and history. There was a UFO that landed outside Roswell in 1947 and the museum captured the sequence of events, including how the story quickly changed from UFO to "weather balloon" in a government cover-up. There were MANY affidavits from people who had seen the original object, and it was definitely not a weather balloon. It was fascinating reading, and I came away believing that it really had been something from another planet - there were even reports of aliens on board. The government has never released any of this info, but the inference from so many people is hard to refute. There was also a lot of info about other UFO sightings and Area 51, a closed government area in the desert. After that, I went to the Museum and Art Center - lots of historical artifacts and info. Found a dog park for Sunna, then headed south toward Carlsbad Caverns. Camped overnight at a lovely state park on a lake.

Carlsbad Caverns is one of the biggest and so I wanted to walk the whole thing. I took the long way in via the "Natural Entrance" - which was the only entrance originally. It was 1.5 miles of very steep trail to get to the "Big Room" which was another 1.5 mile loop. You have to imagine those early cave explorers who had no electric lights or paved paths - and had to descend on ropes! And the public part is still only a fraction of the whole cave network! Fascinating! It was late afternoon by the time I emerged, so I drove back a little north of the caverns and found an RV park for the night.

The next day, I stopped in Carlsbad to mail some Xmas presents. It was starting to get very windy with high winds predicted for the next several days -- with winds at 50mph and gusts to 70 mph! Yikes! I definitely did not want to be driving in that. By the time I got to an SKP park, it was already getting very windy and I was driving 40mph to keep control. I got a spot in the lee of a storage building, but it was still rocking and rolling for the next two days. Temps were dropping and it went down to 9 degrees the second night! Daytime temps were only about 30. When I left, headed for Alamogordo, I took the long way around to avoid a mountain pass at 8600' - risk of snow and ice was too great. Arrived in Alamogordo and stayed at the Boot Hill RV Park (you'll love the layout picture below) and had time to visit the New Mexico Space Museum. New Mexico has been in the center of much of America's Space Program because of the wide open spaces for testing and minimal population.

From Alamogordo, we drove west to White Sands National Monument - fascinating place with sands from gypsum deposits. It looked like snow. Continued west to Deming NM and the LOW-HI Ranch, home of Loners on Wheels, and met up with Kathy Pelosi and Anna Marie Lewis, two WA LOWS who were just finishing up a 6 month trip across and around the country. Sue Morgan had been with them, but had already left. The next day was "Pink Store Day" across the border, so I joined Kathy and Anna Marie and other folks to go to Mexico for lunch!

But first, I forgot to post this video and photo. In Pahrump, I bought Sunna a pillow so she had something to sit on rather than dirt and gravel (there's not much grass in the desert). Her first reaction was to try to destroy it: See the Video (BEFORE).

Above, AFTER. After she finished attacking it, she was OK and sat on it as intended. I guess she won! Who knows what goes on in a dog's mind?

Morning at the Bosque Del Apache NWR - Sandhill Cranes (thousands of them winter here)

The photographers were all waiting for that perfect shot, when all the birds rise up at the same time. I didn't happen this day. They rose up and flew in small groups. I'll explain the sequence below. I thought the birder/photographers were as interesting as the birds!

Just hanging out...

My estimate is that were 50-60 photographers, maybe more. They all had huge lenses. Compared to my little handheld pocket camera! LOL!

OK, here we go. Above the lead bird (on the right) starts to lean forward, and then takes off. Some number of other birds join him.

Here we go again. The lead bird is getting ready, set, GO!

Above and Below: Besides the Sandhill Cranes, there were Northern Pintails in great numbers. (These are common on Fisherman Bay in the winter).

Below: Northern Pintails under the tree on the far side of the pond.

After watching the Sandhill Cranes, I was frozen, and by then the visitors center was open. Below, a bunch of Gamble's Quail under the SHCR poster.

Later, huge numbers of Snow Geese in flight.

See the American Coot above and below? I was walking on a boardwalk next to and over a wetland, and I heard a bunch of splashing right below me. Followed the sounds and saw this Coot with a small fish in his mouth. Below, you can see a bigger coot moving in from the left. He stole the fish, but the little guy didn't give up, and stole it back.

Below, the original coot with his fish!

I followed a huge flock of snow geese - and above, it looked like there was a dark band around the edges. Turned out, it was a line of Sandhill Cranes on the edge of the Snow Geese flock, see below.

First, a few Sandhill Cranes took flight.

Then, the whole flock of Snow Geese took to the air. Impressive!

Above. See that duck in the middle above? She either is making a fashion statement, or has a piggy-back rider! Below, HI, old friend - a Great Blue Heron.

You can really see their colors in this close-up

Above and below: Northern Shovelers

On my way out of the refuge, I passed the same pond I had been at in the morning. Now, it was full of Snow Geese.

They were pretty tame, walked right up to me. Below, this one had some kind of tag on.

Above and Below: at Linda's house. Below, there was an empty field next door which gave Sunna a great place to chase her ball.

Wonderful desert sunsets

Above: Linda and Paddington (Great Pyrenees), below Paddington and Amy (Corgi)

Below: Linda's husband John and daughter Pam. I remember going to Magic Mountain with Pam and brother Eric in the 70's!

Valley of Fires - Lava Flow

Hard to imagine that this happened 5000 years ago!

This park is dedicated to Smokey the Bear - who as a cub around 1950 survived a wild fire and was adopted by folks from Capitan, NM. He lived his life in the zoo in Wash DC and is buried outside this park. But what a legacy! For more info, see Smokey Bear Park.

Full moon rising in Roswell.

Above, UFO Museum. Below, some shops across the street. There's a lot of alien wannabees in Roswell!

This was one of the exhibits. I was surprised when it came to life with smoke and colors and music!

Above: sculptures from the museum. Reminded me of the work of San Juan artist Sammy Long. Below, the entry way sculpture - it was life-size. Lovely!

Above: sunset from Brantley State Park just north of Carlsbad. Below: Road Runner.

Below: this is a schematic of the caverns. See the visitor's center on the top layer, then the steep descent on the right to the level of the "Big Room" 1500 feet below the surface (the open space in the foreground). The deeper hole on the left is accessible, but only by ranger-led tour. Today, there is an elevator which you can take to get to the Big Room the easy way. I took the elevator back up!

Amphitheater (above) and main entry to the caverns.

I tried to capture just how steep this path was...

Above, last view of the sunlight. Below, so many different formations. These are just a few...

Above: To read the sign, you have to look at the reflection in the lake.

Watch Video of Sunna and me riding out the wind storm! We were parked!

Above: the Boot H ill RV Park - with the sites arranged like a boot. Fun!

This was a fascinating museum. Inside, they even had spacesuits you could try on (and take photos of).

Now entering White Sands National Monument.

Sunna and I took a number of walks. Even though the sand is fine and loose, it packs down more than ordinary sand and wasn't hard to walk on. Below, a Yucca cactus. As the sand dunes grow, the Yucca keeps growing its stem. When the sand dune moves on, the stem isn't strong enough to hold up the head, so it falls over. You could see these all over the monument. The dunes are very actively moving all the time.

Looked and felt like you were driving on snow.

Above: heading west on I-10 toward Deming - there was a Border Patrol inspection. I always just got waved through. Below, at the LOW-HI ranch, a road runner.

Kathy (L) and Anna Marie (R) and me at the Mexican border.

 

Next installment - Back to Arizona and Holidays in Benson and Wellton