Wednesday, July 27, 2005
Happy Camper RV Park, Pagosa Springs, CO - July 24-27
This is an aging Passport America cg with an ongoing issue with a bad smell, seemingly some problem with their sewage disposal system. It is under new ownership & not destined for success. Pagosa Springs is a cute mountain town with a great location. We walked along the San Juan River & saw (& smelled!) some of the hot springs for which the town is named. You can swim in the river downtown and sit in one of the hot pools without going to an official "spa".
We got here just in time for the Sunday pm performance of dances at Chimney Rock Archaeological Area, just west of Pagosa Springs, sponsored by Friends of Native Cultures, the same group that sponsors dancers for the Summer Solstice at Chaco. At Solstice, they only have one group dance, but here there were seven, and all were good. There were 3 groups from Acoma Pueblo, 2 from Hopi, 1 from Zuni, and a professional group from Azteca, Mexico. Afterwards, we went to their camping area and had dinner and visited with friends from the group.We took a lovely drive into the mountains up in a basin north of Pagosa Springs. We walked a short hike to Piedra Falls, a large falls which comes crashing through a narrow chute out of the Weminuche Wilderness area. Later we walked about a mile along the Piedra River, through a canyon with sheer cliffs and interesting rock formations.
Wednesday we attended a matinee of "War of the Worlds", a movie we had heard much about and which was recommended to be seen on a big screen. We enjoyed and admired and were frightened by the great special effects, but we were not impressed with the movie itself. We liked the book better.We appreciate all the condolences we got when you learned of Gracie's death. Thanks for sending them! The rest of the cats are doing well. They each seem to notice Gracie's absence in different ways, but we are all coping as best we can.
Saturday, July 23, 2005
Riana COE Campground, Abiquiu, NM - July 20-23
This is a lovely campground at Abiquiu Dam. It was great seeing friends Pat & Dennis again. We will travel with them for several weeks before we have to go our separate ways again. We enjoy playing games, especially the card game "Oh, Hell", which Willie never wins but Doug usually wins a lot. So far, his luck isn't so good. Our first day here was spent shopping, since we came away from Chaco with empty cupboards. The most important stop was at Trader Joe's in Santa Fe.
After that, we were able to sightsee and enjoy the Abiquiu area. We visited Ghost Ranch, owned by the Presbyterian Church but open to all for hiking and enjoyment. Georgia O'Keeffe had a small house here as well as a larger house in Abiquiu. Many of her paintings were of the surrounding area. There are several hiking trails & museums, as well as complete guest services for people staying here.
We hiked on the trail to Chimney Rock, which is shown in many O'Keeffe paintings, as well as those of other artists. We also enjoyed a delicious lunch here and visited the Anthropology & Paleontology Museums. It was interesting to learn that many dinosaur bones were (and still are) found here.
From a visit to the local visitor center, we learned of an Islamic mosque that had a badlands area called Playa Blanca, which was open to the public for hiking. The day we went, the mosque itself was closed, but we were still able to hike in the lovely white rock formations. We hiked beside tall cliffs and up narrow canyons, all of the same white rock. We found a trail back that went over the ridge and down the other side of the formations.
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Chaco Culture NHP - Mar 28-July 19
We finally left Chaco!! Shortly after our last travelogue, we took our trailer up to Farmington (to "Al's") to repair our landing legs, a propane leak, and what we thought was a leak in a holding tank. Taking the trailer up there & back over 16 miles of washboard was unpleasant enough, even if the service was wonderful, which it certainly wasn't. We did eat a tasty breakfast in Farmington, but Al's didn't seem to know what they were doing, and consequently, nothing much was done. It took about 4 hours. They convinced us that the holding tanks were not leaking, which was good since they didn't seem competent enough to want them to do anything about it. They attempted to fix the propane leak (we discovered later that we still had it), but the problem with the landing legs actually seems to have been fixed.
We discovered that the propane was still leaking when all the propane leaked out of both tanks. Cooking is pretty difficult, using only the microwave & toaster oven. Using a handheld propane detector from the park, Doug quickly found that the regulator was leaking. He ordered a new one from Travel Supreme and was able to install it himself. Then we just had to go to Farmington and get both tanks filled up again. While this sounds like a quick process, it actually took about 3 weeks total to get resolved.
We spent several days helping to sift dirt at the archaeological dig at the Pueblo Bonito site. The things we mostly found were lovely fragments of pottery (sherds), lithics (tools, usually made of chert or other hard stone, & petrified wood), bits of animal bones, fragments
of charcoal, occasional jewelry items, and items from historic times. Willie found a lovely, small projectile point. It was hot, dusty work but certainly the chance of a lifetime to help on such a project. Adding to the excitement was the participation of many of the "famous"
archaeologists with ties to Chaco. We got to dig with these people and hear them speak about Chaco, which was quite an honor. The dig concluded temporarily at the end of June, but will continue later this year and again next summer and fall.
One of the main reasons for extending our stay here was to help out with the activities to be held on Summer Solstice. Our friend Susan LeFever came for this, too, and we quickly put her to work as an additional volunteer (we're not sure she had planned to work so much on her vacation).
The first day, we took her out sifting, which she enjoyed immensely. The second day was Solstice, so we all helped with parking patrol (basically only the three of us due to incredibly poor planning!) for the crowds of several hundred people. We also got to attend all the events, starting with the sunrise ceremony at Casa Rinconada, continuing with dancers from San Felipe Pueblo at 11, 2 and 4 at the plaza of Pueblo Bonito, and a final dinner gathering with Indian Tacos for the guests, volunteers and staff.
The next day was more restful- we took one of the ranger's cars to Crownpoint for servicing and were able to visit two of the Chacoan outliers along the way. These outliers are Great Houses in the Chaco system, but not in the main canyon.
We visited Kin Ya'a, just south of Crownpoint, which is most famous for its tall tower kiva, and Pueblo Pintado, about 20 miles southeast of Chaco, near the small town of Pueblo Pintado. It is a very large, lovely site, with many rooms exposed. It is on a bluff, so it is visible from miles away.
Susan was visiting when Gracie first started to be sick, but she seemed to be better by the time Susan left. It was the next day (Saturday) that Gracie went downhill quickly, and she died early in the morning on June 26. This made for a pretty sad birthday for Doug the following week, and we continue to miss her so much every day. She was such a sweet cat, and she interacted with each of us in such special ways.
Our friends miss her too, because she was so outgoing when they visited.
Several interesting astronomical events happened during our stay. The first of these was a conjunction of Saturn, Mercury and Venus. All three were in a tight field of less than 2 degrees at their closest point. Later in the month, Mercury and Venus got even closer together, forming interesting patterns each evening.
Just before midnight on July 3/4, a probe smashed into Comet Tempel 1 as part of the NASA project Deep Impact. The Chaco astronomers were tracking the comet in advance in order to be ready to watch it the night of the impact. Those with cable were also recording the NASA feed of the event. The night of the impact, we were able to watch through the telescope, and those with the best vision (Doug, not Willie!) were able to detect slight changes upon impact. Later, it was interesting to see the NASA footage of the event from much closer.
July 4th we had a cookout and potluck for all the volunteers and staff, followed by fireworks.
July 6 we accompanied GB to the airport in Albuquerque to pick up Sara Petrillo, a new SCA (Student Conservation Association) volunteer who was arriving from Italy. We quickly became friends & possibly surrogate parents for Sara and spent a lot of time with her until we left. She speaks beautiful English & we were sorry to miss her giving tours of Pueblo Bonito. SCAs usually train for 4 weeks before giving their tours to the public.
More astronomical highlights! We got a report of a supernova visible in the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51), so using the CCD equipment at Chaco, an image of M51 was taken and compared with an historic photo in order to determine which bright spot was the supernova. It was pretty exciting to be a part of this and to actually see it.
We spent many extra evenings at the observatory. We were able to see Neptune, Uranus and Pluto, which means that we actually saw all nine planets of our Solar System while at Chaco this year. Of course, now they have discovered a possible tenth (as yet officially unnamed) planet, so I guess that's a goal for next year. One of the astronomers has already photographed the new planet with his own equipment (not at Chaco).
A Native American (mostly Navajo) rug auction is held at Crownpoint either the second or third Friday of each month. Since we had never been, we went with a couple of people in July. It is a very interesting event, with lots of other Native American crafts & also good food available. There were almost 300 rugs available for auction, although not all sold. If the minimum bid was not reached quickly, the auctioneers went to the next item, with the weavers returning the next month to try again. The rugs were lovely, but we restrained ourselves from buying any. Our friends bought several rugs.
Our days continued to wind down at Chaco. We managed to monitor all the rock art sites for a second time in order to get all the files up to date, then worked with the coordinator for Chaco so she could pass the task along to someone living in the area to continue through the year. We made plans to meet friends Pat & Dennis Wood at Riana COE campground in Abiquiu, NM, on July 20, so that became our official departure date. We had a goodbye party in the Chaco library on Thursday and also a potluck party on Sunday night. We were very sad to leave our good friends at Chaco. We plan to return next year from August-October.
We discovered that the propane was still leaking when all the propane leaked out of both tanks. Cooking is pretty difficult, using only the microwave & toaster oven. Using a handheld propane detector from the park, Doug quickly found that the regulator was leaking. He ordered a new one from Travel Supreme and was able to install it himself. Then we just had to go to Farmington and get both tanks filled up again. While this sounds like a quick process, it actually took about 3 weeks total to get resolved.
We spent several days helping to sift dirt at the archaeological dig at the Pueblo Bonito site. The things we mostly found were lovely fragments of pottery (sherds), lithics (tools, usually made of chert or other hard stone, & petrified wood), bits of animal bones, fragments
of charcoal, occasional jewelry items, and items from historic times. Willie found a lovely, small projectile point. It was hot, dusty work but certainly the chance of a lifetime to help on such a project. Adding to the excitement was the participation of many of the "famous"
archaeologists with ties to Chaco. We got to dig with these people and hear them speak about Chaco, which was quite an honor. The dig concluded temporarily at the end of June, but will continue later this year and again next summer and fall.
One of the main reasons for extending our stay here was to help out with the activities to be held on Summer Solstice. Our friend Susan LeFever came for this, too, and we quickly put her to work as an additional volunteer (we're not sure she had planned to work so much on her vacation).
The first day, we took her out sifting, which she enjoyed immensely. The second day was Solstice, so we all helped with parking patrol (basically only the three of us due to incredibly poor planning!) for the crowds of several hundred people. We also got to attend all the events, starting with the sunrise ceremony at Casa Rinconada, continuing with dancers from San Felipe Pueblo at 11, 2 and 4 at the plaza of Pueblo Bonito, and a final dinner gathering with Indian Tacos for the guests, volunteers and staff.
The next day was more restful- we took one of the ranger's cars to Crownpoint for servicing and were able to visit two of the Chacoan outliers along the way. These outliers are Great Houses in the Chaco system, but not in the main canyon.
We visited Kin Ya'a, just south of Crownpoint, which is most famous for its tall tower kiva, and Pueblo Pintado, about 20 miles southeast of Chaco, near the small town of Pueblo Pintado. It is a very large, lovely site, with many rooms exposed. It is on a bluff, so it is visible from miles away.
Susan was visiting when Gracie first started to be sick, but she seemed to be better by the time Susan left. It was the next day (Saturday) that Gracie went downhill quickly, and she died early in the morning on June 26. This made for a pretty sad birthday for Doug the following week, and we continue to miss her so much every day. She was such a sweet cat, and she interacted with each of us in such special ways.
Our friends miss her too, because she was so outgoing when they visited.Several interesting astronomical events happened during our stay. The first of these was a conjunction of Saturn, Mercury and Venus. All three were in a tight field of less than 2 degrees at their closest point. Later in the month, Mercury and Venus got even closer together, forming interesting patterns each evening.
Just before midnight on July 3/4, a probe smashed into Comet Tempel 1 as part of the NASA project Deep Impact. The Chaco astronomers were tracking the comet in advance in order to be ready to watch it the night of the impact. Those with cable were also recording the NASA feed of the event. The night of the impact, we were able to watch through the telescope, and those with the best vision (Doug, not Willie!) were able to detect slight changes upon impact. Later, it was interesting to see the NASA footage of the event from much closer.
July 4th we had a cookout and potluck for all the volunteers and staff, followed by fireworks.
July 6 we accompanied GB to the airport in Albuquerque to pick up Sara Petrillo, a new SCA (Student Conservation Association) volunteer who was arriving from Italy. We quickly became friends & possibly surrogate parents for Sara and spent a lot of time with her until we left. She speaks beautiful English & we were sorry to miss her giving tours of Pueblo Bonito. SCAs usually train for 4 weeks before giving their tours to the public.More astronomical highlights! We got a report of a supernova visible in the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51), so using the CCD equipment at Chaco, an image of M51 was taken and compared with an historic photo in order to determine which bright spot was the supernova. It was pretty exciting to be a part of this and to actually see it.
We spent many extra evenings at the observatory. We were able to see Neptune, Uranus and Pluto, which means that we actually saw all nine planets of our Solar System while at Chaco this year. Of course, now they have discovered a possible tenth (as yet officially unnamed) planet, so I guess that's a goal for next year. One of the astronomers has already photographed the new planet with his own equipment (not at Chaco).A Native American (mostly Navajo) rug auction is held at Crownpoint either the second or third Friday of each month. Since we had never been, we went with a couple of people in July. It is a very interesting event, with lots of other Native American crafts & also good food available. There were almost 300 rugs available for auction, although not all sold. If the minimum bid was not reached quickly, the auctioneers went to the next item, with the weavers returning the next month to try again. The rugs were lovely, but we restrained ourselves from buying any. Our friends bought several rugs.
Our days continued to wind down at Chaco. We managed to monitor all the rock art sites for a second time in order to get all the files up to date, then worked with the coordinator for Chaco so she could pass the task along to someone living in the area to continue through the year. We made plans to meet friends Pat & Dennis Wood at Riana COE campground in Abiquiu, NM, on July 20, so that became our official departure date. We had a goodbye party in the Chaco library on Thursday and also a potluck party on Sunday night. We were very sad to leave our good friends at Chaco. We plan to return next year from August-October.
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
Our Sweet Gracie
Just before dawn on Sunday, June 26, our beloved cat Gracie passed away. She had been the picture of health until the previous Tuesday, when she became listless and stopped eating. She had exhibited similar symptoms previously when she had hairball problems, so we just kept an eye on her and didn't worry too much. By Thursday, she seemed to be getting better, which cheered us up immensely. On Friday she started feeling worse and by late Saturday it was apparent that we would have to seek out a vet who could see her on Sunday.However, this was not to be. Willie checked on her at 3:30 in the morning, and she was still alive although not at all well. When Doug next checked at about 6:30 she had died.
Anyone who visited our home will remember Gracie as the first cat to rush out and greet newcomers. Shy and skittish around quick movements or loud noises, she still loved people, loved being petted, loved being held. She was the cat who would reach out to pat you if you didn't give her enough attention. She would often sit in your lap. When we played cards with friends, she always thought the table had been cleared off so that she had a good place from which to be admired.
We miss her in so many little ways, because she was such a very special and loving cat. Gracie was one of the sweetest cats ever. She left a hole in our lives that will never be filled.
Sunday, June 5, 2005
Still at Chaco - June 5
As it drew closer & closer to our departure date of 6/1, we felt more & more like it was not yet time for us to leave. So after clearing a few bureaucratic hurdles, we have extended our stay another month or two. We ended our time as Campground Hosts and are now regular Volunteers. Since this change has just taken place, we're not sure exactly what we will do; however, there are several exciting possibilities.
During our first weeks here, we went through a Rock Art Steward program in order to help monitor rock art at Chaco. This involves periodically examining rock-art sites, checking the panels against existing photographs and noting if we (sadly) find newly added graffitti on the rocks. We also try to educate people who see us doing this, so that they will help protect the fragile sites. There is a lot of rock art in the campground area, which makes it quite vulnerable. Rock art in the restricted areas has a much better chance of surviving unmolested.
There is also an archaeological dig going on in Chaco (for the first time since the 70s) and we may be able to help with that. We would probably help "sift" the excavated material and catalog what is found. Dabney Ford, Chaco's chief archeologist, said that we would never get a chance to work on a site with a greater abundance of artifacts than this one. This seems quite exciting to us, and we hope to get started later this week.We will continue to be involved with the Night Sky program, since that is what initially drew us here. We enjoy the ever-changing night sky viewing and the challenge of finding new things to look at. Also, there may be some research projects starting in the next few weeks involving the CCD imaging system, searching for planets outside our solar system. Several people have mentioned having "little projects" for us, and we will see what they turn out to be. We expect some of them to be data entry.
Early last week, we discovered that one of our holding tanks was leaking -- not a good thing -- and it needs to be fixed as soon as possible. We have an appointment in Farmington for this Weds. That will be quite an undertaking, since we need to try to leave at 6 a.m. in order to be there as close to 8 as possible. We will need to put the cats in their cages in the truck and manage to keep them cool throughout the day. Hopefully, the work will not run longer than one day; otherwise, we can all stay in the trailer for the night and then go through the same routine again the next day. Then we are still faced with the two-hour drive back to Chaco (one hour of which is bouncing down the dirt road!) and settling back into our spot.Since we are no longer cg hosts, we had to move out of our spot at the campground. We are now at a "full" hookup site in the maintenance area. There are actually two sites here, but they haven't been used in several years -- the previous superintendent did not want to have RV volunteers staying here, for some unknown reason. Now they have a new superintendent, who thinks it's a great idea, so the spots are "available" again. They thought they were all set up, so we moved in. Unfortunately, the electricity was not wired correctly, so we are awaiting a visit from the local electric company to get it fixed, supposedly on Monday. Since we have our solar panels for most things, the only thing we really miss is the a/c. Luckily, it has turned a bit cooler, so it won't be too bad -- assuming they can finish the job on Monday!
We have had visits from several friends, which have been quite enjoyable. Sue Horne came for 4 nights in early May, and we were able to see a lot of Chaco together and do some hikes. She brought some really good recipes to share with us. Coincidentally, Sue's aunt was involved in a dig at Chaco in 1936, and Sue was able to obtain some literature that actually mentioned her aunt. On Thursday of that week, our mutual friend Penny flew into Farmington and came down to Chaco for one night. Since she made a fourth, we spent most of the time playing bridge. We did get out to do some sightseeing, and Penny found Chaco surprisingly appealing. The next week, our friend Joyce Comin drove a small rental motorhome down and spent a week visiting and seeing how she liked life in a motorhome. Both were very enjoyable visits. Even though we are no longer in the campground, we can still save spaces for friends, if anyone wants to visit. We love to share Chaco with others!Our friend Lloyd Treichel (from the Benson co-op) came by for a very brief visit while he was staying in the Farmington area. He was in a hurry to get to the cooler weather in CO, so his was just a day visit. We made some new friends at the campground. Stan & Betty came in with another couple to stay for 5 nights. The second day we discovered that the four of us were bridge players, so we spent the following three afternoons playing bridge. It was a great break from our regular activities. They live in Mesa, AZ, so we will be able to get together in the future.
Last Thursday we took an overnight trip to Santa Fe (a friend here at Chaco took care of the cats while we were gone). Our friends, Babs & Barry Marrs from PA, were visiting Barry's sister & her husband, who have a condo in Santa Fe. We met them Thursday afternoon for a nice hike and dinner. The hike was to Tsankawi, an outlying area of Bandolier Natl Monument, which is quite spectacular. Later we went to dinner at Tulip's, a very small restaurant with wonderful food. We finished up our time in Santa Fe with a Friday morning trip to Trader Joe's, our favorite grocery store chain, and bought enough goodies to possibly last until we get to Tucson in November! Our trailer is bursting at the seams.The cats really enjoy our not moving so much. They don't mind the heat at all, and hate it when we shut the windows to keep out the sun. They all seem pretty healthy, but Rainbow continues to be way too tiny. We try tempting her with all kinds of treats, but she is the most finicky eater and resists. They will not like our trip to Farmington on Wednesday! Of course, we aren't looking forward to it much, either.
Sunday, April 24, 2005
Chaco Culture National Historical Park, Nageezi, NM - Mar 27-June 1(?)
It turned warm & sunny on the 27th , so we proceeded on to Chaco. The 16-mile dirt road was in much better shape than it had been last year, probably a combination of lots of moisture and more frequent grading. Apparently a county official was elected with a promise to improve this road (not for Chaco's sake but for the local people who need to use it), hence the more frequent grading. There is even talk of paving the road, but everyone in the Park is hopeful that this will not happen any time soon: Chaco would lose its remoteness and its character. 
Visitation would probably increase 2- or 3-fold, forcing the Park to be managed more like Mesa Verde, for example, with ranger-guided tours to a few historical sites as the only access (whereas now you can tour any of them completely on your own). This would completely change the "feel" of Chaco; it would lose so much of its current charm.
Many people were happy to see us return, especially since they had no campground hosts until we got here (which explains our big push to get here sooner). We were the only hosts for the first two weeks, until fellow astronomer Steve Speth arrived for 3 weeks. Another woman comes to take his place, but not until May 17. We enjoy most aspects of being campground hosts, but could do without the "policing" -- it is amazing how many people don't pay attention to rules or informational signs and who seem to have no respect for a site that has sacred meaning to others. 
We really don't know why they even come here. Thank goodness, most of the campers are interesting people who enjoy Chaco in a more proper fashion. The astronomy is great as always. With Jupiter and Saturn brightly visible every night, even through light clouds and even when the moon is at its brightest, everyone is happy. When we can show the more interesting deep space objects (galaxies, globular clusters, double stars, nebulae) they are even happier (and so are we). These are only visible on the darker nights of the month (about 2/3 of the clear nights).
The weather has been what they call "typical Spring", with cold & rain or snow for a couple of days, followed by increasingly longer days of lovely warmer weather. There have been many unpleasantly windy days. By now, however, the warmer days seem to have taken over, and it looks like we won't have snow again. The wind will come & go, but any day without it is a pleasure!
We are again adjusting to having the grocery store 90 minutes away, which allows for very few town trips. We are getting quite creative with our meals. So far we have made one town trip together, plus Willie went in with Steve Speth on a quick grocery run, mainly for fruits & vegs. That is what is hardest to keep up with, because of our small refrigerator and the short "shelf life" of some things (like mushrooms!). We have learned how to keep lettuce fresh enough for 2-3 weeks, so that helps. Salads just have less variety as the time goes by. There are frequent potluck gatherings, so it helps to have some casserole ingredients and brownie mixes on hand. This makes up somewhat for the inability to go out to eat on the spur of the moment.This year we have become involved with a rock art stewardship program in the park. We monitor rock art sites (using photographs in binders for reference) in order to check for newly added graffiti. There is hope that just by having people see us doing this and educating them a bit, it will cut down on some of the vandalism. It gives us a chance to get out & look around at places more closely than we would otherwise.
With no access to TV here, we were lucky to get our friend GB to tape the remaining Women's NCAA Basketball Tournament games for us. So we got to see all the remaining games and enjoyed them thoroughly. Now we are back to watching our "stash" of VCR tapes, recorded for us by our friend Mark Collier in Boulder. He keeps us up-to-date with our favorite shows. How fortunate we are to get this service!! Thanks Mark!!
The cats did not mind the ride in very much, which was probably due to the smoother condition. They seemed quite nonplussed by the event and seem to enjoy being here. Rainbow has lost more weight and is now down to 5.5 lb, so we are devising ways to entice her to eat more. As they get older (Rainbow & Gracie will be 15, Amber 14 and Trixie 10), they have more health "issues" which have to be dealt with in various ways. Luckily, they remain as loving as ever. It is cute how they adjust to the ever-changing location of their sun puddles.
Saturday, March 26, 2005
Coronado Campground, Bernalillo, NM - Mar 25-26
This attractive park, located on the Rio Grande and right by Coronado State Monument, is, at $18/night, a little pricey for us, but it was a convenient stop. We originally had planned to drive all the way to Chaco from Bosque, about 220 miles, which is an unusually long day for us. We called Chaco from Bernalillo, about 20 miles north of Albuquerque, and learned they were getting rain & snow, so we decided to stop here and wait for the weather to improve, and to visit Doug's brother Bob and his friend Paula, who live in Albuquerque. Bob cooked us a delicious dinner and we had an enjoyable visit (even though the Arizona men's team tanked -- yet again -- in the last two minutes). We also had time to visit a nearby casino (which had mostly penny and nickel slots!) and watch one of the Women's NCAA games at their sports bar.
Thursday, March 24, 2005
Bosque Birdwatcher RV Park, San Antonio, NM - Mar 23-24
This park is not very scenic, and not especially cheap, but is ideally situated to do some birdwatching at Bosque del Apache NWR, where large flocks of sandhill cranes and snow geese spend the winter. Unfortunately, we were a bit too late to see the huge wintering flocks, but we got to see a few smaller flocks of each, migrating north, as well as many other interesting birds, including an unusual white-winged (Afghanistan) pheasant that has interbred with the local ring-necked pheasant. 
We drove the loop roads in the refuge several times each day, enjoying the views and the variety of birds.We went to the Owl Bar in the tiny town of San Antonio and enjoyed Chicken burgers with cheese & green chiles and fries with cheese & green chiles. They use the delicious New Mexico (Hatch) green chiles, which are wonderful.
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
Sunrise RV Park, Deming, NM - Mar 18-22
This park was picked for two reasons -- relatively low price ($13/night) and having cable TV so we could watch the Women's NCAA Basketball Tournament on ESPN/ESPN2. It seems we usually don't time it 
well enough to watch as many games as we would like to, so we are spending 4 days watching/taping all the basketball we can fit in. The first night we were here, our friend Jessica Piasecke (the woman who studied elk at Chaco!) came over from Las Cruces and spent the night. We had a great time playing games, eating, birdwatching at the local cemetery and visiting.
We're on our way to Chaco Canyon from Tucson. There was an abundance of desert wildflowers around Tucson (Saguaro Natl Park West and Ironwood Natl Monument were two memorable areas) as well as incredible Mexican poppies on I-10 by the Arizona/New Mexico border and around Deming.We hope to load up on groceries (for Chaco) and visit the nearby border town of Palomas, Mexico, for lunch at the Pink Door.
The cats have handled the adjustment from sitting in one place to traveling well so far. I'm sure we will hear plenty of complaints on the bumpy dirt road!!
Thursday, March 17, 2005
Fort Willcox RV Park, Willcox, AZ - Mar 17
A one-night stop at a cheap ($9/night) Passport America park. It's a great place for a short stay.
Wednesday, March 16, 2005
Madison Driveway, Tucson, AZ - Mar 13-16
Another quick visit to visit Doug's dad. This time Doug's brothers Rodger and Bob were also visiting. We had a great time together and they got to play golf twice. Gracie had her 6-month checkup and is still keeping the kidney disease under control.Saturday, March 12, 2005
SKP Saguaro Co-op, Benson, AZ - Jan 17-Mar 12
We enjoyed this nice, long stay at the co-op, where we now have our "own" lot. We got our stuff arranged in the storage building (casita) and had space to spread out and organize some things. We also got our taxes done -- always a dreaded task.We found ourselves keeping busy (too busy, some might say) with our usual activities. At the end of our stay, they had a 3-day celebration of the 15-year anniversary of the co-op. We got very involved with this and ended up our time here with a mad flurry of events. We learned a new card game -- a form of Euchre for 6 or 8 people called Shoot the Moon. It was more fun than regular Euchre. Our traveling friend Lloyd Treichel was here for about 5 weeks of our time here, and it was fun to see him for such a long visit. We renewed old acquaintances and made many new friendships. We are glad to be part of such a great co-op in such a beautiful location.
Our friends Fred & Linda Lanoue stopped by for a week, and we went on many interesting birding outings with them. The most rewarding was to Patagonia Lake State Park, where we saw our first Elegant Trogon. This is probably the most exotic bird we have seen, and it reminded us both of the tropical types of birds you might see further south in Mexico and in Costa Rica. Most other bird sightings will pale in comparison! At the Variety Show (a park-wide "talent show"), Doug played one movement of a Beethoven Piano Sonata. It was the first time he had played before an audience since before college. He practiced a lot on the piano at the clubhouse. It went well and people were very complimentary afterwards.
Sunday, January 16, 2005
Madison Driveway, Tucson, AZ - Jan 12-16
Back to the lovely Madison homestead for a few days of golf and visiting with Doug's dad. Willie also got to meet Doug's dad's dentist, since she needed an emergency root canal! Actually, for such a dreaded event, it went quite smoothly.Tuesday, January 11, 2005
Carefree Manor RV Park, Apache Junction, AZ - Jan 3-11
This is our first time at this Passport America (a half-price camping club) park, and we found it quite pleasant and a bargain for the area at $12.60/night for full hookups. From here, we were even closer to Pat & Dennis and could see them several times more. We also found numerous duplicate bridge games in the Mesa area and we played 7 times in our 10-day stay. Doug got to test his repair skills when our kitchen faucet broke and needed to be replaced. The new faucet is a great improvement.