Wednesday, September 15, 2010
First Day Out - Monday, Feb 7
This was the first day that it felt like we are really full-timers. We changed our itinerary (in true full-timer fashion) and came on down I25 to Las Vegas, NM, instead of stopping in Raton as originally planned. We decided that we did want to go to the Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge, about 200 miles further down I25, and Las Vegas seemed like the perfect stopping point. It had several sights worthy of viewing and a campground that was open all year.
The campground turned out to be the UGLIEST we have ever seen -- sort of a storage lot with hookups. We were pretty lonely the first night and sort of wondered what we were doing in this strange place. However, the morning dawned clear & sunny and we took off to see the sights. WOW!
First, we toured the nearby Storrie Lake State Park. We were invited to drive around and see what it was like without paying the day use fee by the ranger, who was VERY friendly. The campground was nice but just a little bit cheaper than our ugly one with no hookups. We would probably stay there next time or certainly at another private one. Right now, nothing else is open. It was a fairly small park, but quite attractive.
In the afternoon, we went to the Las Vegas National Wildlife Refuge, only a few miles outside of town. It has a loop drive and a nature trail for which you need a special permit. It is located along the Central flyway for migrating birds, so we went to see what there was. We stopped and got the permit and heard how the birds were fewer than usual because of the unusually warm temps. So we started down the road and the first thing we saw was a huge Bald Eagle sitting in a tree. While we were watching it, an Osprey flew by over the water, looking for fish. We then went on the nature trail, a beautiful walk down into some small box canyons. We saw wrens & sparrows along the way. On our way back, we saw flocks of Sandhill Cranes, more Bald Eagles, lots of Snow Geese and Canada Geese, many species of ducks and a coyote. I guess this is what it's all about! We really had a wonderful day.
Other things of interest here in this small town. We were able to find some premium cat food of an interesting enough variety that our two picky eaters are satisfied (at least momentarily), and we were quite pleased by the caring responses we got from several veterinary clinics that helped us in our quest. We also were able to find a nice health food store and stocked up on a few tasty items. Of course, there is a nearby WalMart, and we also got some essentials there.
Also, there are a lot of beautiful houses here, some Victorian and some of the more Southwestern style. It is quite an interesting place all in all. And probably the kind of place we would not have stopped at if we weren't full-timers with all the time in the world.
The campground turned out to be the UGLIEST we have ever seen -- sort of a storage lot with hookups. We were pretty lonely the first night and sort of wondered what we were doing in this strange place. However, the morning dawned clear & sunny and we took off to see the sights. WOW!
First, we toured the nearby Storrie Lake State Park. We were invited to drive around and see what it was like without paying the day use fee by the ranger, who was VERY friendly. The campground was nice but just a little bit cheaper than our ugly one with no hookups. We would probably stay there next time or certainly at another private one. Right now, nothing else is open. It was a fairly small park, but quite attractive.
In the afternoon, we went to the Las Vegas National Wildlife Refuge, only a few miles outside of town. It has a loop drive and a nature trail for which you need a special permit. It is located along the Central flyway for migrating birds, so we went to see what there was. We stopped and got the permit and heard how the birds were fewer than usual because of the unusually warm temps. So we started down the road and the first thing we saw was a huge Bald Eagle sitting in a tree. While we were watching it, an Osprey flew by over the water, looking for fish. We then went on the nature trail, a beautiful walk down into some small box canyons. We saw wrens & sparrows along the way. On our way back, we saw flocks of Sandhill Cranes, more Bald Eagles, lots of Snow Geese and Canada Geese, many species of ducks and a coyote. I guess this is what it's all about! We really had a wonderful day.
Other things of interest here in this small town. We were able to find some premium cat food of an interesting enough variety that our two picky eaters are satisfied (at least momentarily), and we were quite pleased by the caring responses we got from several veterinary clinics that helped us in our quest. We also were able to find a nice health food store and stocked up on a few tasty items. Of course, there is a nearby WalMart, and we also got some essentials there.
Also, there are a lot of beautiful houses here, some Victorian and some of the more Southwestern style. It is quite an interesting place all in all. And probably the kind of place we would not have stopped at if we weren't full-timers with all the time in the world.
# posted by Doug and Willie @ 9:51 PM 
