After spending three months in New Mexico, we still love this part of the country!  The northern part of the state is amazing.  Georgia O'Keeffe country at its best.  Got to spend some quality time there in back of the 'ol camera - couldn't have enjoyed it more.  The colors and landscapes are awesome, especially in the fall.

Moved on to the southeast part of New Mexico, which is very different in all aspects.  This is where the desert meets the southern plains so the environment is quite unique.

We have been enjoying camping and volunteering at the Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge since October 1st.  Great refuge, especially if you are a birder!  About 12,000 Sand Hill Cranes make this refuge their winter home, as do many other birds.  Quite a sight and sound as they fly over the 'rig' in the mornings and evenings.  Lots of snow geese, white pelicans and water birds of every type and description.  Also lots of rattlesnakes and other creepy critters, which I avoid at all cost!👎

Before spending time here, I was not aware of  much of the history of the area.  We've really enjoyed exploring on our time off, and have seen amazing ruins and monuments.  I had no idea there were so many notable historic sites to visit. 

Visiting the ancient ruins of the Salinas Missions, built before 1600 a.d. were especially beautiful and interesting.  Quite the story involving Franciscan monks.

Southern New Mexico is also 'Billy-the-Kid' country so there are many historic sites and monuments telling all the stories of the 'old' west.  Even saw his grave!  And, of course, the grave of Smokey the Bear.  Yes, there really was a bear cub that died in a fire and later became the forest fire prevention symbol we all know!

The wildlife refuge is just a few miles outside Roswell, a city that takes its UFO/alien mystery from 1947 very seriously!  The whole town really gets into the action!😂

While exploring an area a little northwest of Roswell, we found ourselves in the midst of huge cattle ranches in the vicinity of where the UFO 'event' took place.  In the little town Corona, nearest the 'site', I found this sign - - couldn't resist snapping a picture!  (LOL!)  Soooo polite!

As always, I have learned some things while visiting here.  One of the lessons I'll take with me is to NEVER consider a career hulling pecans!!!  Nope - - I'll leave that to the pros and machines!  A friend at the refuse gave us a quart-sized bag of pecans he had just harvested from his small orchard; two movies and three PBS specials later, I finally had about 1-1/2 cups of nut meats extracted.  I had pecan shells everywhere - - even found some in my underclothes!  My advice - - do NOT consider this as a career goal - EVER!😖

In a few weeks we'll be leaving Roswell and heading west into Arizona for a few months of warm winter weather and more exploring.  The spring months will find us back at Silver Falls State Park, near Salem, OR, for three more months of volunteer work at that park.  We're still enjoying our vagabond lifestyle - - not planning to quit anytime soon!

More blogs to come as we continue our 'adventures'.  In the meantime, take good care, and above all, be happy!😁

 

So, unlike our previous travels, our journey from Oregon to New Mexico took us on a musical adventure! 

When we entered California, from Oregon, I found myself quietly singing, 🎼"California, here I come; right back where I started from . . . ".  sooo many years ago!  As we began our route through the Sierra Nevada mountains, I couldn't help humming the melody to "High Sierra"🎶, an old John Denver tune.  I finally got to visit several locations that were on my list as we drove through the mountains; from Bodie Historical State Park/Ghost Town to the tufas at Mono Lake, and from Mt. Whitney to the Alabama Hills, where many, many western movies were filmed in years gone by.

Heading down old Route 66 through Arizona, we found ourselves 'standing on the corner in Winslow, Arizona'🎸.  We did find a flatbed Ford, but much to Jerry's dismay, he said, "there was 'no girl, my lord, in that flatbed Ford, stopping to take a look at me'"  He pouted from there to our next RV destination!

While we previously had visited the Painted Desert National Park, we were delighted to visit Little Painted Desert, which is a county park near Winslow.  Worth the stop!  As we prepared to leave Arizona heading east, the sunset, so famous in the desert, decided to give us quite a show.

 

More spectacular color, and more music, came our way as Colorado put on its annual aspen display.  We arrived at the perfect time to catch the show at its peak.  Did not disappoint!  The golds of these amazing trees were contrasted with brilliant oranges and greens in the forests that accentuated the stark peaks of the Rockies.  Truly a treat to see.  Even the local wildlife seemed happy as they prepared for their upcoming winter, and seemed to hum along when I belted out 🎵"Rocky Mountain High"!  While I did find us a new 'ride', I also found one at Royal Gorge which was a resounding 'NO'.

Another National Park that has been on my Colorado 'bucket' list for a long time is Great Sand Dunes National Park.  Watching the light hopscotch over the dunes while the clouds played in the sky, was such a delight for me and the 'ol infrared camera!  Spectacular!

After some quality family time in Colorado, we made our way down to New Mexico, which will be our home until the end of the year.  We're volunteering in the visitor center, and living at, Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge, just outside Roswell.  (Haven't heard any songs about this area that I'm familiar with,  so I'll be quiet for now - - although, I did take the advice of many friends who suggested that he have our foil hats at the ready!)  I'm looking forward to exploring this area of the southwest and visiting the lands and haunts of the famous Billy the Kid and others who lived and died here.

More on this adventure later . . .
   

Finally, at long last, I'm back at it!  For those who follow this photo/travel blog, I apologize for the long break.  I have been delayed far too long while dealing with foot surgeries and the resulting healing process.  I'm now announcing that I.AM.DONE!!!
 
For the past several months we've been on the Oregon trail - - not 'THE' Oregon Trail, but rather one of our own trails of exploration.  We decided to spend some quality photo time traveling from the Columbia River (Roll On!) and along the northern coast on our way to Silver Falls State Park, where we have been volunteer hosts since April.  As always, the Oregon coast never disappoints.  Just the nature of this coastline and the many features of the surrounding country is enough to give one pause!

The park and surrounds, located in the Willamette Valley just east of Salem, OR has not disappointed either.  I had never explored the eastern portion of the Willamette and was totally amazed at what I had been missing.  The rolling hills covered with tree farms, orchards, grass seed fields, nursery stock plantations, old barns and more flower seed and bulb farms than I have ever seen were enough to throw me, and my camera, into quite a dither!

 


Our volunteer hours here in the largest of the Oregon State Parks give us lots of time to explore this amazing area, with camera in hand.  Our explorations paid off when we found some less expensive fuel!👌  Just the park itself, a real treasure, has been a joy to get to know.  It contains 10 magnificent water falls, all different in size, shape and appearance, on a lovely 7 mile hike.  Since it is located in close proximity to most of the larger population centers of the state, the park has more than 1.5 million visitors each year.  People come to enjoy the falls, of course, but also to take advantage of all the camping, conference and hiking facilities it has to offer.

Our volunteer duties include meeting and greeting visitors in the historic lodge built in the late 1930's by the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corp.) for all of you too young to know what the CCC stands for.  We also get to spend one shift each week on the trail head where we talk to visitors about edible berries, and let children play a game of matching feathers to pictures of birds that live in the park.  Great fun!  In exchange, the park provides us with a beautiful site in the campground especially for hosts, for FREE!  (My favorite word!)  A great trade off, to be sure.  Pretty sure we'll come back here for another round of volunteering next spring.

In the meantime, we'll be hitting the road again next week - - our destination this time will be back to one of our favorite states - - New Mexico.  I'm looking forward to getting behind the camera in the north/central part of that state, and visiting relatives who live a little farther north in Colorado.  Again, we will be volunteering there for the fall months; this time at a National Wildlife Refuge just outside of Roswell.  (And yes, we have our pointed foil hats at the ready, just in case we spot any weird looking characters.  HA!)

I will be more diligent in posting at this site as we continue this amazing vagabond adventure we're on.  Up next will be photos of what we see on the way to New Mexico (on our favorite 'roads less traveled'), and those we find in that beautiful state.

 

In the meantime, enjoy, and be safe and happy!