Southern Crawl

These lakes are actually giant sink holes and the water is salty. It is an important site for a large number of migrating birds, and is home to the largest number of dragonfly species of anywhere in the U.S.

Even though it was the middle of the day, we saw flocks of pelicans, sandhill cranes, coots, ducks of all stripes, snow geese, and some very cute quail. Plenty of dragonflys, and unfortunately WASPS which kept us from walking very far.

Unfortunately, the birds were too far to photograph well, but through our binoculars they were up close and personal. Gordon was happy to discover that the brown kangaroo hanging out with the cranes was actually a male crane, red crest and all.

The last photo is just for reference ... that is what it looks like off to the horizon in all directions just outside the Bitter Lakes area.Читать далее

Small little KOA which, like Alamogordo itself, is nothing special except for it's extraordinary surroundings. They did make a fine effort, however, with their Thanksgiving front drive decorations. You can glimpse the sunset on the surrounding mountains behind Gordon and the geezer-mobile.

As we were setting up the geezer-mobile, we were greeted by a grizzled old gent with a large belly, a gravelly voice and a cheerful grin. He appeared to be the most long-standing guest resident. He introduced himself as Bob and welcomed us to the campground. He pointed out his trailer, and warned us to watch out for his killer attack dogs. “They’ll LICK ya to death!”

In the morning I was able to get a photo of him in a lively conversation with two other residents, the killer attack pups, and his rescue plastic ghost holding a jack-o-lantern.Читать далее