Gila Cliff Dwellings, March 2018

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Kids – pay attention.  Enjoy camping time with your family.  Go with them whenever you can.  When you get older and want to camp YOU get to do the work.  My sister and I were fortunate; as we were growing up our family went camping almost every other weekend during the summer.  All we did was come along for the fun.  Mom and dad were planning, cooking, packing, and driving; then putting it all away so we could do it again a couple weeks later.  Living in WI means going pretty much from mid May through September; maybe October.   After that it gets too cold.

Red Rock Balloon Rally, early December 2017

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The weather forecast the entire week leading up to the balloon rally has Gallup with lows in the teens to low 20’s for the weekend.  I am not cancelling this trip; I promised Lori I would help crew her balloon.  My initial plans were to go without electric for my camper, I have batteries and solar so I should be good, right?  Probably, but I am not taking any chances, Nicida is coming along and she was very cold the first time we went camping and it only got down to the upper 30’s.  The fact that I forgot to close one of the overhead vents may have had something to do with that.  I will hook up to the electric so I can have a small, quiet heater running all night if need be.  It actually only got to the upper 20’s each morning, still cold enough that I am glad I brought it along.

Three Rivers Campground, early November 2017

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Camping in November; when I was younger, a long time ago, a buddy of mine and I talked about winter camping but for one reason or another; mainly cold weather, we never made it.  (We lived in WI at the time)  It seems the hard part of camping in NM this time of year is finding an open campground.  I have to admit I almost always go north when exploring NM.  I am not familiar with pretty much anything south of I-40, so here is my opportunity.

Pecos Wilderness, Iron Gate Campground, Early October, 2017

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We are looking for peak fall color!  Rain and winds have been passing through the state this past week; my hopes are not high as I intently study the weather on the three local TV stations.  I didn’t see any fall color when I passed through northern NM on my trip back from WI in mid September so maybe there’s a chance.

El Morro, Sept 2017

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Paso’ por aqui – ‘passed by here’ is what El Morro is a witness to.  We had passed by here late last year on the way to the Zuni pueblo to witness a celebration.  We stopped, then hiked the short trail around the base of tall sandstone outcrop.  We saw inscriptions from the Puebloans, circa 1000.  The etchings are primarily animals or symbols. 

Road trip part 2, Sept 2017

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Instead of making the usual quick dash back to NM I am making a circle route by way of MN, SD, WY, and CO.  This is a reconnaissance trip.  I don’t have as much time as I would like to spend at each of my destinations.  Instead I am beginning my list of places to visit when I am out of a job - by choice.

Road trip - Sept 2017

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Road to a campsite

I’m celebrating the holidays early this year.  The past two years I’ve celebrated Thanksgiving with family in Northern WI.  I do not like flying, I like driving, so I drive.  The drive takes two long days.  If I fly, it takes one long day with all the waiting in an airport and other stuff necessary to fly.  My aggravation factor is lower when driving so it is worth the extra travel day to me.

Leaving on Labor Day weekend is asking for mobs of people on the road and camping so I held off until Sunday so I would have only one day of campsite searching.

San Antonio Creek, August 11 - 13, 2017

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“Bad weather makes for good photography”.  One of the many statements uttered from my landscape photo instructors.  Bad weather is promised; rain most of the day Friday and Saturday with partial clearing on Sunday.  How much rain, who knows, somewhere over a half in is promised in Jemez Springs.  I’m going higher so I’m expecting more.

Valles Caldera, July 22, 2017

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“Where do you want to hike???”   “I don’t know where do you want to hike???”  Sometimes that’s how our hiking discussions start, other times we already have something in mind.  We put this question to the new hiker in our mini-hiking group, Nicida.  It is a bit unfair to do this because she is relatively new to the area.  Laurie and I have been hiking/exploring for better than the past year always looking for something different.  “How about the Valles Caldera?”  Valles Caldera (VC) it is.

Rio Guadalupe, July 14, 2017

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456 AM comes around early every day for me.  That’s the time I programmed my clock radio to wake me each morning for work.  We want to get an early start on the river so I didn’t change my wake-up time.  This morning I got right up; not the usual lie in bed for an additional 10 to 15 minutes readying my brain for work.  Today we are back to fly fishing, the first time since our weekend on the San Juan this past February; too long.