Pretzels, Pinyons and Bluebirds

Leaving the 'cabin' and family in Sparta is never easy for me.  My sister, Ann, sent us off this time with about 10 bags of snack goodies for travel;  everything from corn blueberry muffins to big chunky pretzel sticks.  We didn't even have to think about purchasing and packing up snacks for a week.  Neither of us had munched on pretzels for years and now we are hooked on their crunchy snap for a quick perk up when the miles for the day are seeming just too long.  We found replacement pretzels at the grocery in Roswell, NM and will keep some with us.  Thanks, Ann!

Roswell, NM is a lot more than alien, UFO yard art and toy shops.  There are 2 really nice art and history museums we would return to visit,  an interesting blend of warehouses and older western style buildings and all the shopping we needed right at hand.  The birding seemed good too- roadrunners on Main St. and Eurasian Collarded Doves at Bottomless Lakes.

Our travel yesterday was lots of slow climbing from 3,400 some feet in Roswell to 7,474 feet here at Bluewater Lake State Park just west of Grants, NM.  With head winds during much of the time we were gas guzzling too!  We had a nice lunch break at Camping World above the Rio Grande west of Al-B-Q (Albuquerque) with a view back to the city and the Sangre de Cristo Mtns.  We love brewing a pot of tea with lunch in our 'little house'.  It just seems so civilized!!!

 

Arriving at Bluewater Lake State Park with only 14 electric hookup sites and a prediction of a 16 degree night, we were thrilled to find a hookup site.  In fact, no one else was in the hookup area at all.  The sites are on a hilltop with a view of Mt. Taylor in the distance.  It was windy in the view spots so we found the protection of some trees.  I opened my door to get out and looked down to find a beautiful pinyon pine cone.  We were back at near the same elevation as Lower Lehman at Great Basin and among the pinyon pines again!  There is a comfort in familiar terrain!  So we will stay a few days.  There is an amateur radio contest for Terry today.   He is enjoying it as I write.

The sunrise this morning was beautiful even at 21 degrees.  On a later walk Western Bluebirds flitted through the pinyons. We are looking forward to a walk to the creek canyon and along the lake shore.  It's only 48 now, but should get to 63 this afternoon.

We plan to stay here until Monday and leave for Kingman, AZ.  (Where are you Anthony?)  Then on to Lake Mead on Tuesday, March 5.  Can't wait to see "our buddies" there and Grace too!