Did I get lucky or what? I found the toad of my dreams parked in front of old Blue Waters a couple Saturdays ago. It’s an ‘04 Chevy Tracker 4 wheel drive. Yesterday Charlie installed the tow package, and I’m good to go RVing in style. I haven’t let the boys in it yet. It just means I’ll have to clean dog fur out of two vehicles.
It looks like Tux’s caught in the middle of a yawn. Reba came over one day last week and we cleaned the screens and windows on the house. Hopefully, on Thursday we’ll do the ones on the RV, and then all I lack is a good wash and wax job. I’ll probably also need three new batteries before I leave. Such is the joys of toys!
In the meantime, I’m working with old photos and digital scrapbooking projects. When I can’t stand that, I actually clean house and water bushes and flowers. Sometime this week, if I hold my mouth just right, Darwin might come over and install my new cooler. Good thing it hasn’t been unbearable. I’d really like him to get it up, so I can park the Tracker in the garage.
What a full three days of fun! Marty and Sue arrived before noon and we scoped out the projects that I had lined up. Poor Marty. At least the work keeps him occupied and out of trouble. I agreed to have the oleanders cut down now that they were showing green shoots. He did it with a power trimmer that was noisy and scary. Clean up was labor intensive.
Friday evening we went to the Inn for dinner. Naturally, we ran into Eddie and Mo and the rest of the crew. The food was great and they had a one man band, Derah Vaughn, who played country, contemporary, and Celtic. Too bad Brock wasn’t here.
Saturday morning we went out on the boat and had a grand time fishing. Since I am now old enough, I can fish for free, but didn’t get a chance, because Sue and Marty were catching them left and right literally from each side of the boat. At first Marty was driving and I was taking pictures. Then the fishing got busy, so I had to drive. They ended up getting 17 fish in all: 16 white bass and one walleye. It was a “catch and release” day, but next time, we’re going to save some to eat.
We were exploring to some of our favorite spots to see how they looked since the water is down. I have taken several pictures over the years of this rock. Marty claims he would like to jump off. I maintain that he’ll have to get to the top first. I’ve nicknamed it “Bird Rock” since there’s so much white stuff on one side.
I also have several pictures of this “eye” taken over the years. I’m going to have to put together a collage, because they are taken at different times of day and year.
We traveled around the butte, and on the east side it was very shallow, but we did get to see the goats, first time in a long time. They sure looked well-fed.
I also got a shot of a turtle ( actually three were there) sunning himself.
That evening Sue made cottage cheese salad for dinner with sour dough bread. Deb joined us for dinner and drinks. It was a fun evening.
The next day was Mother’s Day and we continued with more yard work and planting flowers in my pots and containers. My present from Marty and Sue was a set of wine glasses. I wonder why? Tammy and her family sent me a card that had something funny to do with drinking wine. My son Michael in Ohio called, so it was an outstanding time. Thanks guys.
I guess I’m just a sucker for taking pictures, but then again, I’m easily entertained and capable of boring everyone else. I haven’t seen any interesting birds, and none who wanted to pose, so you’re spared bird pictures. I did take some mesquite pictures. All my friends and relatives know I’ve really gone around the bend. I’m wanting to educate my new friends who aren’t familiar with New Mexico. This is a picture of my one and only mesquite in my front yard. It has really gotten big. I need to encourage it to grow taller, but for right now I’m enjoying its almost perfect symmetry.
This is a close-up of the buds of future mesquite beans. I should have gotten a picture sooner. You can almost see the beans, as opposed to earlier when they looked like fuzzy flowers. When I was in Arizona, I got a picture of the pods on an ironwood tree, and they looked similar.
These are some gourds that I collect on Skyline.
You know a person is really losing it when they take a picture of his/her breakfast. Norma was always taking pictures of food when we were cooking, so her brother, a chef, could see what we were doing as we entertained.
As soon as the wind quits blowing, I’ll find some more interesting things to share. Promise.
Yesterday was the perfect day to be out and about. We finally got a reprieve from the wind. I also renewed my subscription with XM and wanted to be in the car listening to Watercolors and taking pictures. And, of course, the dogs wanted to go for a ride. First, I had to gas up, OMG, and then stop at Pat’s for a large diet coke. I’ve been trying to decide whether the water level in the lake is the same or lower than last year at this time. Right now, I think it’s lower, and I haven’t heard any promises of abundant runoff from up north. The people in the know are predicting that we are in the beginnings of a drought. I sure hope they’re wrong. We’re only 4 or 5 years into the recovery on our last one.
This is a shot of Dam Site Marina and the Butte looking directly north. They are working on fixing the old road, and the detour afforded me this shot.
Here are two pictures of the boat ramp at the Marina del Sur launch area. Gary and I used to take off work early on Friday afternoon to sit and watch relationships and marriages go up in smoke as weekenders put their boats in the water.
The ramp is this long and wide to accommodate the traffic and fluctuation of the water levels.
This is the marina complete with gas tanks (another OMG), store, and slips. We had our boats here for about 10 years. I always said that it was the most expensive country club that I ever belonged to. Oops! English teacher ended a sentence with a preposition.
A week or so ago when I was down at Percha Dam, I neglected to share these pictures. This is a great campground in among the huge cottonwoods.
This Percha Dam on the Rio Grande. I understand the fishing is great here.
These are some trees on the birding trail where someone decided, a long time ago, to put some bird houses.
These are my two latest bird pictures taken in my yard.
A Crissal thrasher:
A black-backed male gold finch:
I’m not sure whether a birder who is more experienced than I am would be able to tell if I identified these birds incorrectly just from my pictures. I wonder what I could put in the bird seed to make them slow down, so I can get better pictures. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
What a full agenda! Friday evening, Cindi came over so that I could give her some goodies I brought from AZ, plus a bottle of wine which just happened to be her favorite. Cindi took care of the house and my mail for almost 5 months. Talk about a great friend. Then we went to the Club for fish and crazy conversation with the mayor and Cindi’s other golfing buddies.
Saturday Tammy, Bob, Skyler and Mark came down from ABQ. To honor the occasion, I invited Al Wilkinson, a gentleman who knew Tammy as a toddler in Sacramento, and my friend Deb Peters for a BBQ. It was a really fun evening of food and drink. Here’s a picture of Tammy and Al.
This was taken on the front patio. Some of my other attempts at pictures there didn’t work as well. For that reason, we don’t have a picture of Deb.
Al, Sky, and Mark, Sky’s boyfriend, posed in the sunroom.
After Deb and Al left, my Minnesota neighbors showed up. Bill and Cheryl have had the house across the street for at least 10 years, but only come down a couple times a year. They live in Eden Prairie which is one of the premier subdivision outside the Twin Cities. This is Sky and Cheryl with daddy Bob in the background.
Even though this was a rather late evening, Tammy and I did the 3 mile walk in the morning and then we all went to breakfast at the Club. For Christmas, I got Sky some cowboy boots and she wore them so I could see them. I surprised her with a cowboy hat to go with. Her are some pictures showing off her new apparel.
The first picture was taken on the balcony at the Club. The wind had just started to blow and you can see part of the golf course in the background. The blue shirt is Mark admiring the course. The second picture is in my formal backyard complete with bird bath and bird feeder (not in the picture) and my purple ash trees which are just starting leaf. The whole weekend was a memorable time.
Miracle of miracles! Norma resurrected the pictures somehow from her camera and sent them today. So to recap the day: the singles group, just five of us, met at The Beaches, a bar at Coyote Wash just across I-8 from the rv park.
Brock and I were the only ones to eat since we didn’t stop for lunch: elected to start celebrating the day early. Brock has his Irish language school shirt on. Mine is from Alagodones. It just happens to fit for the day.
On the left is my friend June from Minnesota. We did a lot of traveling and shopping in Yuma and Mexico. The big smiley gentleman is Quinten, a Canadian from BC, and currently spending a lot of time with my friend Norma.
Norma is standing between Brock and me. She was really the leader of our singles group and the first to fall into a relationship. Well, I guess that’s what it’s all about.
This guy was so obviously into the festivities, and I was so intrigued by his hat, I asked him to pose with me for a picture. I don’t think he was feeling any pain.
Here’s Quinten giving me a good-bye hug. I left for home the next day. Is he BIG, or am I shrinking? It was probably the best St. Patrick’s Day had in years.
