April Ending

Today is the last day of April. It's a special day because it is Carol's birthday. While we were out today we found a spot with a decent Verizon signal, so I got to call her (on Ken's phone) to wish her a happy birthday.

Our adventure today was a trip to visit Dar al Islam. The USACE brochure on Abiquiu Lake lists some nearby sightseeing, and this Muslim Mosque is mentioned. The website for Dar al Islam calls it an Islamic Education Center.

 Imagine looking across the lush Rio Chama River valley towards a juniper studded mesa site framed by surrounding layers of arid hills and arroyos. Off in the distance are snowcapped mountains lingering among scattered clouds across an azure sky. You see the cream-colored, domed roof line of the Dar al Islam mosque and madressa float above and merge into the landscape. Designed by world-renowned Egyptian architect, Hassan Fathy, the mosque and school are only part of the well-equipped site which includes a lecture hall, residential units and offices.

 Today the only person around was in the office. He pointed out the mosque and suggested that we would need to remove our shoes. When we asked if he had any handouts or brochures, he suggested we consult daralislam.org. So much for eduction. We walked over to the mosque, which is attached to the larger education center.

Inside we found a simple space. At the entrance were ceremonial ablution stations for worshippers to cleanse themselves before prayer.

After we walked around the campus, we drove to the Plaza Blanca. It's on private property owned by the Dar al Islam, but visitors are permitted to hike and photograph the area. The "Plaza Blanca" or "White Place" was a subject of several of Georgia O'Keeffe's paintings. It's easy to see why an artist would be drawn to the place.

It's awe inspiring. We hiked into a box canyon, following a (mostly) dry streambed. Then we hiked around the base of the Plaza Blanca formation. It was difficult to decide which direction to look, as the vista in all directions was spectacular.

Back up at the parking lot, we spread a ground cloth in lieu of a picnic table and had our lunch, looking down into the fairy landscape below.

After lunch we wound our way back to the campground, stopping at Bodes Store in Abiquiu to get some diesel and some produce.

Our evening walk around the campground brought us the sight of these blazing flowers, lit by the evening sun. We've seen several types of white wildflowers and some interesting yellow ones that grow in clumps, but this is the first fiery orange red we've seen. They're called Indian paintbrushes, but are very different from the fall wildflower we called by that name when I was a kid.

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Sunny and Calm

We woke up this morning to the sound of silence: no wind! What a relief after days of unceasing blustery gusts shaking our home. The sun was shining, and the world looked more inviting.

We moved this morning--from site #13 to site #14. We wanted to stay four more days beyond our original reservation, but site #13 was already reserved for the weekend, and so were all the other reservable sites (odd numbered sites) that would fit us. Our remaining option was to move to one of the walk up sites (even numbered sites) before they were taken by other folks.

We waited for our neighbors in site #14 to leave this morning and then finished closing up and pulled out to go to the dump station. Site #14 was more difficult to get into and not as wide as site #13, but now we can stay until next Tuesday. The view out our dining table window is a bit restricted. There's a tree that we had to trim a bit in order to get our slide extended.

The view out the galley side windows, on the other hand, includes the Cerro Pedernal.

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More Wind

Today was another good day to stay inside by the fire. We bundled up to go on our walks, but otherwise we stayed indoors and made some progress on our planning and paperwork.

This evening we watched a Call the Midwife episode. Whenever we watch the program, I'm reminded of Carol's days as a midwife, but it's especially apropos now since we are near Penasco, the little town where she first worked as a midwife after graduation from Catholic University. Read more!

Blustery Day

We ventured out only a couple of times today. The weather was inhospitable, to say the least. We didn't get any of the predicted possible snow, but we did feel wind driven ice particles hitting our faces at times. We didn't see anyone else outdoors except for one neighbor who decided to leave this afternoon.

We looked at some of our travel options today and decided to stay at Abiquiu an extra four days, through May 6. That will mean changing sites, since our wonderful site has been reserved by someone else for next weekend. Our current plan is to move Tuesday to an open walk-up site, we hope. We talked with campground hosts Venka and Harry today. They'll be going off duty at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow but promised to leave a note about our plans for Bob and Judy, the alternate hosts who will take over tomorrow for a week.

We spent some time today looking at information about potential Medicare Plan D prescription drug plans. It's a frustrating proposition and looks like our out of pocket costs will be much higher than with our current group plan through Northrop Grumman.

We finished watching last week's episode of Cosmos, The Clean Room, and watched this week's episode, Sisters of the Sun. As usual, the episodes are inspiring. They are a mix of astrophysics and science history, with this week's episode highlighting the important contributions of two women astronomers, Annie Jump Cannon and Cecilia Payne. Tyson comments that the viewers probably haven't heard of these two remarkable women and quips, "Wonder why." The series has provided a balance between showing how science works and the history of advances in astronomy and on the other hand showing how personalities and vested interests have subverted the scientific enterprise.

Ken disconnected the water hose tonight in preparation for a predicted hard freeze. If the weather forecast remains as it is now, he will be doing that for the next four nights too. Read more!

Bird Program

We met some birds today. Venka, one of our camp hosts, knocked on the door the morning to tell us there would be a bird program at the Visitor Center at 10:00 a.m. We went there, expecting to see a few rescue birds. As it turned out, we saw much more.

First we were told that there would be a bird program in the parking lot and that afterwards there would be a boat trip to a remote cove. Here are the birds we met: a falcon, a red tailed hawk, and a burrowing owl.

We learned that the burrowing owl is in trouble in New Mexico and elsewhere because of a special kind of loss of habitat. Burrowing owls have weak feet and depend almost entirely on prairie dogs to dig the burrows that they need to live in. Prairie dogs are being eradicated, and the result is plummeting burrowing owl populations.

During the talk, the wind really blew up, so the leaders offered a choice between the boat ride (which promised to be bumpy, wet, and cold) or a hike along the Rio Chama. We went with the hike. Our leader was a USACE ranger named Austin, but we also had a couple of birders, Willie and Ann, who offered us the use of bird books and binoculars.

As usual, the experienced birders spotted lots more birds than I was able to see. Fortunately, Austin brought along a great spotting scope, which really helped. We saw a large eagle nest on the rocky cliff face that appeared to be currently in use by some falcons. We saw hundreds of violet green swallows and learned to identify them. We saw some Bufflehead ducks on the river, and some sea gulls flying overhead. The most amazing sight was a Great Horned Owl nesting on a ledge on a cliff face, with a fluffy light colored chick standing in front. It was really only visible in the scope, and we wondered how Austin had ever seen them in the first place.

In the afternoon we braved the wind and hiked part of one of the trails. The weather hasn't been favorable for photography, but we did get one shot of the Cerro Perdenal with part of Lake Abiquiu in the foreground.

I have been very puzzled and unhappy that my iPhone says it has "No Service" when Ken's Galaxy and the Jetpack both have service.
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On to Abiquiu

Today we left Alamosa, CO, and headed south to Abiquiu, NM, to stay at a Corps of Engineers campground on Abiquiu Lake. We were here once before, in August 2010, and liked it enough that we promised each other we’d return. We stopped at the post office in Abiquiu to pick up our forwarded mail and then went on to Riana Campground.

We’re in site #13 in the Pedernal loop. It’s a great site and relatively easy to back into. It’s one of the four sites we occupied on our previous visit, when we decided to come here on short notice, so we had to piece together various sites.

The Pedernal loop is named for the most prominent landmark in the area, the Cerro Pedernal, an unmistakable narrow mesa that looms dark on the skyline above Abiquiu Lake. Georgia O'Keeffe loved this area and painted the Pedernal many times,  and her ashes were scattered on its top

After we set up, we walked around the campground and then sat at our picnic table to enjoy the pleasant late afternoon with a view of the lake. It was in the low 70s here today, but the rest of the week is forecast to be cold, even freezing, so we’ll have to bundle up. Read more!

Alamosa

This morning we went into town to do our laundry. While the washers were running, we walked around the neighborhood. After laundry, Ken dropped me off at a thrift shop and went to get diesel so we can start off tomorrow with a full fuel tank. The thrifting was disappointing, but I'm always hopeful that I'll find a treasure next time.

We went grocery shopping and then headed home for a late lunch. Both the truck and the trailer were really dusty and not looking their best, so we went back to town to a car wash to clean up the truck. Then we drove over to Cole Park to walk. The park is right by the city buildings, including the fire station, library, and city offices.

The San Luis Valley Museum has an unusual display of paintings on the side of the building, many of which are trompe l'oile.

We've been wondering about a rather strange building on the edge of town. It looks like a black fortress, with slit windows and the letters "CIA" in gold. We stopped to check it out and found that the explanation is rather mundane. It belongs to the Leavitt Group, CIA-Leavitt Insurance Agency though why there is never more than one car in the parking lot remains a mystery.

Home again, we spent the next couple of hours cleaning the rig and touching up the truck. They will probably be dusty again tomorrow after our move to Abiquiu. Read more!

More Alamosa Trails

The souvenir map of Alamosa we got from the Colorado Welcome Center indicated an extensive trail system branching off from Cole Park, with names like "Crestone Peak Trail" and wildlife viewing areas called out.

We were unfortunately unable to find most of the trails listed, and what we did find was largely along city streets. The only wildlife we saw were squirrels and mockingbirds. However, we still enjoyed the walk. We came upon a sign designating a large area as "Grazing Area & Open Space." We can vouch for the open space part, but didn't spot any grazing animals.

One interesting historical note: Amelia Earhart landed in a field here after losing her way over the dustbowl of eastern Colorado.

Here's a transcription of the sign:

In Memory
of
Amelia Mary Earhart
1897 - 1937
First Woman Aviator
to Fly Solo over the Atlantic Ocean
Amelia Earhart was lost in flight--somewhere over eastern Colorado and western Kansas--during the dustbowl days of
1932. She was flying a transcontinental route in preparation
for her ill-fated round-the-world-flight. America's most
famous woman aviator adjusted her course 180° and returned
to the San Luis Valley, which she remembered flying over
earlier during clear visibility.
Amelia Earhart landed in this meadow and was met first by
Lloyd E. Jones, who lived in the closest house. In addition
to making accommodations and other arrangements for her
during her stay in Alamosa (including guarding her airplane),
Mr. Jones autographed Amelia's aircraft with his name and
"Alamosa, Colorado."
Monument Donated By:
Lloyd E. Jones & Michael M. Hackett

After lunch we did some trip planning and spent some time on chores. I did some light cleaning of the exterior while Ken aired up the truck tires. That's no easy job. It's complicated by the need to remove and reinstall the tire pressure monitor sensors and by the extremely awkward angle of the valves on the rear dually tires.

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Zapata Falls and Great Sand Dunes

Our first adventure today was a trip to Zapata Falls. Actually, we didn't quite make it to the falls.  The trail to the falls is an easy quarter mile hike, but when you get to the end of the trail, you can hear the falls and see the rushing stream, but the falls themselves are around a corner in an alcove.

In the summer it's relatively easy to wade or use the rocks to get into the alcove, but today, the stream was covered with ice and snow. The ice has been undercut by the spring meltwater, so it's very thin in places, and we saw one young man fall through and saw other spots where people had obviously fallen through the ice. Brrrr! We had our hiking sticks and hiking shoes on, so we carefully picked our way across the stream and along the far bank until we could catch a glimpse of the falls. They were mostly frozen still and quite lovely.

At this point I could see the falls themselves, but I didn't have a camera with me, and I needed both hiking sticks to keep my feet under me. Ken wisely stayed back a bit and snapped these photos.

After another 20 minute drive over washboard, we drove on north to Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. At the visitor center, we watched a short video and looked at the exhibits which described the action of opposing winds and the curve of the Sangre de Cristo mountains that have created and maintained the impressive dunes.

They rise as much as 750 feet tall, and although they continually shift and reform, they have been here for thousands of years. Photos can give some idea of the dunes, but like other spectacular natural formations, only being there in person to be awed by them can really communicate their scope and shifting nature.

After a picnic lunch, we hoped to climb High Dune, but the weather didn't cooperate. There were thunderstorms in the area, and the dunes are a particularly dangerous place to be with lightning around. Besides, the wind was chilly and gusty, so the prospect of hiking the dunes wasn't very appealing. Maybe another time.

We stopped on our way back out to the main highway to view some boondocking sites on BLM land adjacent to SR-150. They are off the highway on a BLM road and would be a great place to enjoy dark skies and the vista of the wide San Luis Valley to the west and the Sangre de Cristo mountains to the east.

We drove back to Alamosa, to Cole Park to walk along the Rio Grande. That area is much more sheltered than the dunes, and the rain storms had moved on. Read more!

Almost Oasis

We packed up this morning and headed from Lathrop State Park to Great Sand Dunes Oasis RV Park. The route was simple: 54 miles west on US 160 and then 12 miles north on CO 150. When we arrived at the RV park, we were dismayed to learn that they had no water turned on in the RV park and even worse, no faucet to fill our fresh water tank. We had called a couple of weeks ago to make a reservation, and we were told that we would have no problem. If they had told us at that point to fill up before coming to the park, we could have done that.

We were less than happy with the management, so we decided to go elsewhere. First we called the Alamosa KOA, but they said they weren't open for the season yet. When Ken asked for a suggestion, they told him that Alamosa Economy RV Park was open just down the road, so that's where we are staying. It's 24 miles from the Oasis, which is the closest park to the Great Sand Dunes National Park, but we figured it would work.

After lunch we wanted a nicer place to walk than the dusty RV park, so we drove into Alamosa and stopped at the Colorado Welcome Center there. We left clutching maps of Colorado and of Alamosa and headed to Cole Park.

Alamosa has a very nice city park situated along the Rio Grande River (yes, the same one that flows within a couple of miles of our winter home).

We walked around the park and along the river. We enjoyed watching the skateboarders practicing their moves at the skate park and the runners and cyclists along the trails and the dog owners out with their pets.
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Beautiful Easter

We woke this morning to rain and more rain. It had rained steadily during the night, and now it seemed likely to rain all day. When we got a break in the weather at 11:00 a.m., we headed out to hike around Martin Lake, one of the park's two lakes. The trail around the lake is asphalt, which is why we chose it rather than the Hogback Trail we had hoped to hike.

It was overcast but otherwise mostly pleasant. We saw deer tracks, but no deer. Yesterday we saw lots of magpies and robins, but they were making themselves scarce this morning.

Chris and Shawn had to make an early morning trip to the doggy emergency room. Talulah had managed to get a round bone stuck on her lower jaw, past her canine teeth. She's home now with antibiotics and pain medications and orders to stay quiet. Chris says the sedation made her loopy. He and Anara called this afternoon.

I talked to Ed today. He has a new job, starting tomorrow, working for eLead, training dealerships around the country in the use of their software systems for managing customer relations.

This afternoon, the sun began to peek through the clouds. Soon it was a mild, bright sunny day. We couldn't resist going on a short hike on the Hogback Trail and taking photos of the Spanish Peaks. Marvelous scenery, and the piñon pines put such a refreshing odor in the air.

Tomorrow we'll go to Great Sand Dunes Oasis. It's right at the entrance to the Great Sand Dunes National Park. Read more!

On to Lathrop State Park

We originally planned to leave New Horizons this morning. Because we left yesterday, we got an extra day, so we decided to spend a couple of nights at Lathrop State Park. We stayed here in August 2010 and enjoyed it.

We started out this morning on the plains of Kansas, which are generally flat and barren unless they are cultivated. We expected to end the day in the mountains of Colorado. What we didn't expect is that a fair piece of eastern Colorado is also flat and mostly covered with tumbleweeds and such.

We stopped in Sugar City for lunch, parked against the curb, since we couldn't find a better place. We had been driving through unpopulated areas on state and county roads with no berms to speak of. When I started to put out our main slide, which was next to the curb, I suddenly heard a scraping noise and stopped. The bottom of the slide had hit the curb. Fortunately there was no visible damage. We are usually pretty careful about any sort of slope we park near, but it's been quite a while since we encountered any problems, so I wasn't as vigilant as I needed to be. Another lesson learned.

As we drove on, finally the terrain changed and we began to see hills and mesas and even mountains on the horizon.

We arrived at the campground about 3:00 p.m. local time, which is MST, one hour earlier than Kansas. We checked in, put some fresh water in our tank, and set up on our campsite. It's site 92, the same one we had four years ago.

We have views of the mountains, but storms obscured some of the peaks. Fortunately it was sunny when we arrived, and the weather held for our walk. In the photo below, you can see one of the lakes if you look hard.

The wind has picked up, and we expect rain and possibly thunderstorms overnight. Read more!

Leaving Camp Horizons

We got up early and hitched up. With the new command module hooked up, we headed out on a test drive to see what error messages we would get. On our first quick run, I saw the DF DEAD message flicker on briefly. That meant the Driver Side Front Sensor was malfunctioning. We took it out for a longer run, and that error message kept flickering on and off, signally a probable connection issue.

Back at New Horizons, Ken U. raised the trailer wheels on the Big Foot. He soon showed us the "dead" sensor. The wire where it connected to the sensor was frayed or burned looking, clearly the source of the problem. A few minutes later, new sensor installed, we made another test drive. Everything reported working fine!

Just after 11:00 a.m. we were on the road, I-70 westbound that is, and headed off for our next adventure. We stopped for the night at a rest area near Grainfield, KS. Like most Kansas rest areas, it has a special loop dedicated for RVs, including a dump station.

When Ken started to put out the slides, he was horrified to see the floor covered with water and ice cubes! The freezer door had come open, and the ice cube trays and bin had fallen out. Ice cubes were melting everywhere!

After a bit of cleanup, we got set up and headed out to walk. The day was sunny and clear, but the wind was fierce. Occasionally I was blown a bit sideways even.

I decided to take some photos of Kansas. This is just what a lot of it looks like!

Back at the trailer, we fixed dinner and made plans for tomorrow.

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Sudsing our Duds!

The guys are closing in on finishing all the work on our rig. We are cautiously hopeful about our leak. Tony says that he has found and fixed it. The water was coming in through the bottom refrigerator vent and running along the wall. He sealed up the corner of the refrigerator compartment, which should do it. Tony also installed six new LED lights for us in the galley. Dan changed the oil and filter on the generator and resealed the roof.

Our new command module for our ABS brakes arrived today, along with a couple of new sensors. We're sure we need at least one because of all the alarm sounds we heard on the way here. Tomorrow morning we'll hitch up and actually be able to see which sensor(s) might have a problem.

After the guys left for the day, we headed out to Laundry Land to do our laundry. The antique washer outside, painted a bright turquoise, is like one my mom used when I was little.

We stopped at Dillon's to pick up some groceries and at a Conoco for fuel. We'll be ready to leave tomorrow if the work is finished in time.
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Progress

Another early morning and day spent in the customer lounge. We did some trip planning and chatted with other owners. Carolyn came in with an express mail envelope for me. Happy Dance!!! It's my wallet. Yay! It's such a great feeling to get my wallet back, but especially to know that there are some really kind and honest people in the world.

Jack Mayer came over to talk for a while. Steve and Gari were there as were Paul and Kathy. Their work was finally wrapped up today, and they left this afternoon, heading east.

Steve and Gari got their new TrailerSaver hitch installed, and they are hoping to start out with their new Majestic soon, maybe tomorrow.

Progress was made on our punch list. Dan put a new SeeLevel sensor strip on the black tank. We're hoping that will improve the performance, but we don't have too much faith. The Maxxair fan in the toilet room is now working properly. Tony replaced some of the drawer slides and looked for our leak. He resealed the refrigerator vents. Read more!

Cate Is Ten! and Work Being Done

Cate turned ten today. She was happy at the thought that she'd be in double digits! Happy birthday, Cate!

Last night I set my alarm for 2:00 a.m. and watched the lunar eclipse for an hour. It was an impressive sight, even though I had problems with the ambient lighting in the parking lot. I ended up staying inside and watching through a window using binoculars. It's a bit eerie to watch the bright familiar moon seeming to snuff out and turn a deep orange.

This morning we got up bright and early so we could pack up and leave our trailer by 7:15 a.m. The guys moved it into the bay shortly afterwards, and they have been working on it.

This afternoon we made a run to Radio Shack and Goodwill. I found a pair of black capris and a Paris top, both with some bling and cute. Read more!

Waiting

Today something wonderful happened: someone called to tell me that my wallet was found! A sense of relief and gratitude washed over me. The man on the phone (Moe) said that his brother had found my wallet. It was in Norman, OK, that I evidently dropped it while we were out on our walk. The brother (Ali) is a recent immigrant, so he brought the wallet to Moe to ask what they should do with it.

Evidently Moe looked in the wallet and found my information card, which indicates that Ken should be called in case of emergency. Hallelujah! This kind guy offered to go to the post office this afternoon and mail the wallet to me here at New Horizons.

When we walked over to talk to Ken in service, we stopped by the customer lounge (aka home away from home when someone's trailer is being worked on). There we found Paul and Kathy, whom we had met on an earlier trip. We also introduced ourselves to a couple we hadn't seen before: Steve and Gary. They are here for their one year warranty work.



We went over our punch list with Ken U. He said that someone would start work on our trailer in an hour or two, and we should be prepared to fold the unit up and leave it. The guys will be putting it into a service bay to work on it (don't blame them a bit--it's cold outside!) We heard the wind and "wintry mix" that fell during the night, and we woke to find ice and snow outside. Paul and Kathy said it had been 88° when they were hiking on Saturday. A serious cold front has moved in, and we're expecting a low in the low 20s tonight.

Ken came by this afternoon to say that work on our unit won't happen until tomorrow morning. We'll get out of bed early, prepare the rig for moving, and go over to the customer lounge for the day.

This morning we looked out to a snowy scene and found ice and snow on our steps. Ken had to scrape the windows before he could move the truck.

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