Thursday, Apr 24, 2025 Silver City, NM

 Thursday, April 24

We have a leisurely breakfast this morning of English muffin sandwiches with eggs, bacon and avocado and share an orange.  And then decide to visit adjacent (1 mile) Spring Canyon State Park, which is really a day use part of Rockhound.

We park and take a trail which leads up, and up and up.  Too steep for Beth, so we head back.  We meet and talk with a local who is hiking here.  In 1970 Iran (we were friends then) gifted the US a bunch of Ibex mountain goats and this was chosen as a habitat most like their home, so they live in these mountains.  The herd has grown but the local said you don't often see them in this area except in deep winter.

From here we head north to Silver City to visit our friend Anne whom we met on our Alaska trip back in 2013!  We drive through Deming, which has some nice southwestern flair and a small market.  Nearby, we pass some pecan orchards.  These are a bit controversial because of the amount of water they need.

We stop for a few supplies at an Albertsons in Silver City and then visit Blake's to share a chili cheese burger.  Green chilis are ubiquitous in New Mexico!

And then to Anne's.  She has graciously moved her Pleasure Way RV from its normal spot so that we can park there and connect to electricity.  Her sweet dog Ginger is excited to have company.  Great to catch up and share photos, camping info and more.  She lives in an area at the edge of town and shows us an area of her property where she intends to make a quiet sitting area. Under a few trees, it is down a hill and from it no sign of civilization is visible. Nice!

Though we have offered to take her out to dinner, Anne has prepared a terrific meal with bbq ribs, potato salad, beans and coleslaw!  And she shows me her "magic" for cooking corn-on-the-cob in the microwave.  It is cooked in its husk and then just pops out - with no silk attached!  My new go-to method!  

We enjoy playing some Mexican Train, share our concerns over the current political situation and then Anne and I stay up late chatting.  Fun day!

Wed Apr 23 Franklin Mts to Rockhound St Park, NM

 Wednesday, April 23

59 degrees this morning at 7:30 - great sleeping weather last night.

We go back to check out the bird blind this morning - it is very busy!  And quite noisy.  Beth has loaded an app called "Merlin" which records bird sounds and identifies the bird.  It identified a burrowing owl, which I really wanted to see but couldn't find.  Mostly quail, doves, finches, wrens and sparrows.

We decide to take the trail to Aztec Cave which is about 2 miles RT.  

 The trail is relatively easy for 3/4 of the way, but the last bit is very steep with lots of loose gravel and rocks - quite a scramble! But we make it to the caves, which are just rather shallow empty caves. They have nothing to do with the Aztecs - just someone's misnomer.

 We find an alternate route back which is longer but a little easier.

It is 76 degrees when we leave the park around 11:30 and we get back on I-10 into New Mexico.  We make reservations for RockHound State Park, which is south of I-10.  There are signs along the freeway telling you what to do in a dust storm and it is pretty windy.  The land here is always very dry but a local tells us he's lived here 30 years and has never seen it this bad.  A real drought.   We spot quite a few dust devils in fields and see even more after we get on smaller roads. 

We arrive at the state park just after the visitor's center closes (open 10-2:00) but we meet Butch, the friendly campground host who shows us to site #12. 

The sites are large with nicely shaded picnic tables - no electric and Greg is impressed that the area is neatly raked.  Here, as in most of the SW, there is a burn ban. Butch, from Minnesota, has been a host here with his wife for 5 years.  He comments on the drought, saying that even some of the cacti are beginning to die!

The ones nearer the visitors center look happy enough so must get some added moisture. The ocotillo, below, even has leaves (it drops them when not enough water).

 There is a nice, relatively new bathhouse with terrific showers.  To conserve water, more and more places have showers where you have to push a button to get a minute or two of water.  (Of course you can do multiple pushes, but the idea is to get wet then lather up with water off, then rinse.) 

We wonder the grounds where you are allowed to pick up rocks and Greg finds a nice, rather large purplish rock for our yard. I pick up what looks to me like a small geode but will wait till we see Kevin and Anita and have them slice it open.

Greg cooks steaks on the grill along with zucchini for dinner - yum!  Again, it cools off nicely for a good night's sleep.

Tuesday, April 22 Franklin Mountains near El Paso

 Tuesday, April 22

Heading towards El Paso on I-10 the tire sensor light came on.  We did a quick stop at the next tire place where they checked the tires and said that it is just the sensor for that tire that needs replaced.  They would have to search for the part and since the tires seem fine we decide to wait till we're home to do that.

We move into Mountain Time Zone and reach Franklin Mountains State Park early afternoon. 

 The mountains are rather stark and the campground doesn't even have water except at the visitor's center. We picked up our permit and found a site.  They do have picnic tables with shade covers and with the wind still blowing, it is fairly comfortable.  Greg and I agree that we wouldn't want to stay here in the heat of Summer! 

 They have recently re-introduced desert bighorn sheep here and there are a few babies this Spring.  The ranger at the Visitor's Center points out some areas which they frequent, but though we check a couple of times, they are elsewhere during our visit.

 Only a handful of campers here, which suits us well.   The "RV Loop" was laughable - 5 sites with no shelters or toilets even! - so we moved to the tent area, as did another RVer who arrived later.  We relaxed for a while, reading and snacking, then went to walk a nature trail that had a cool bird blind.  Lots of quail, white-winged doves, house finches and others - I think wrens and sparrows.  The park built a rocky formation and added some water and feeders, so lots of birds. Also saw a few squirrels, chipmunks and a rabbit.

Some interesting cactus along the nature trail.  This first one is our favorite! (Rainbow cactus, I think.)

Some flowers always seem to find a way.

The ocotillo are just budding.  I love this one too which has flowers at the end of long thorny stems.  There are tiny leaves when there is enough water, but bare otherwise - like today.

It cooled off nicely as we enjoyed a chicken salad dinner and watched the sun set. Even needed to close the windows and add a blanket tonight as temps fell to the mid 50's.

This view of the illuminated city of El Paso was nice.

APRIL 21 - MAY 2, 2025 ARIZONA,NM,TX

Monday, April 21, 2025

This morning we set out westward.  Our goals: to see TX hill country flowers, the Franklin Mts near El Paso, friend Anne in Silver City, NM.  Then on to Cave Creek Canyon birding area just over the border in Portal, AZ, a visit with Beth's brother Tom and his wife Sue in Benson, and then some wandering around a bit of Arizona. Possible stops at Big Bend and/or Guadalupe Mts on the return.

It's 69 degrees as we leave home but isn't supposed to get too hot.  This time of year is a bit of a crap shoot weather-wise, although it seems that weather in general is that way these days!

It becomes apparent as we travel through Brenham that the bluebonnets have finished their display for this year.  We see only a few.  Indian paintbrushes and some other flowers are still in evidence, but fading. We hope that the hill country will be better.

We decide to visit Wildseed Farms near Fredericksburg where we are bound to find flowers, and it doesn't disappoint.  Lovely poppies and lots of other flowers - even a few bluebonnets!  We haven't been here in this area in a couple of years and my, how it has changed.  

There is now a fee to tour the gardens and they have added a vineyard.

Wineries are EVERYWHERE in this area.  We remembered a few, but now they are prolific!  The vines are just beginning to fill out. Can't imagine how they all stay in business!As we continue on there are also lots of distilleries and breweries. Bourbon, Vodka, Rum, Whiskey... and lots of local brews!  Advertisements for Wine tours, tastings, etc.  Tons of development.  All a little sad, in our view as some of the charm of the Hill Country is gone. Driving through Fredericksburg shows a thriving tourism.

Some pretty flowers along 29W and back into countryside and small towns.  More bluebonnets here.

We plan to stop in Iraan, as there are several campgrounds there, but we find them all filled.  It looks like semi-permanent campers who are probably working in the area oilfield industry.  So we resort to a nearby picnic area where we have stayed before. It is on a hill overlooking Iraan, and we only see two other visitors while there. There is a steady, strong wind which offsets the near 90 degrees, but the wind actually rocks the Trek a bit as we sleep!

This is the view one way from our site.  The other way is hills and wind turbines, Iraan, and a hazy sunset.