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Dakota Ridge

_____________________________________________
From: Steve Taylor [mailto:spt@thetaylorcompany.net]
Sent: Saturday, November 27, 2004 5:30 PM
To: Bill Taylor (E-mail); David Taylor (E-mail); Tom Taylor (E-mail)
Subject: dakota ridge A dramatic sunset, followed by a frosty eighteen degree morning.

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Las Cruces

We got lucky. Had a nice weather window for the drive north. Two days of
blue sky, sunshine, and progressively cooler weather. A little wind, a few
showers, four hundred miles, no problem. Saw some really big geese flying.
When we got closer, they turned out to be sandhill cranes. A flock of
sandhill cranes flying north, just outside Wagon Mound, New Mexico. Go
figure. In Santa Fe, we met another kind of mobile service guy. He drives a pickup
truck pulling a fifth wheel and his family. He drives from place to place
drilling, setting charges, then setting them off. It seems there are lots
of mines and projects that need blasters, but don’t need them full time.
The itinerant bomber patrols his circuit, showing up when needed, to blow
things up. Then off he goes while they scoop up all the rubble he made,
until the next time they need him. Sounds a lot like what I do. Rags finally tired of riding in his cat box. Now he’s driving from the
captain’s chair right behind us. North on Interstate 25 from Santa Fe to Las Vegas, Wagon Mound, Springer,
and Raton. Into Colorado, through Trinidad, Walsenburg, Pueblo, Colorado
Springs, Castle Rock, glance off the south edge of Denver, and up along the
foothills to Golden. Home and hooked up in Dakota Ridge by dark. We’ll be here for a few weeks.
The usual hookups: electric, water, and dump hose. But there is more. The
external propane tank is attached. The heated winter water hose is hooked
up. We got here just in time for some serious winter weather. There is a
winter storm moving in, with teens, and even some single digits forecast. Life on the road.

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Las Cruces

Thanksgiving Day. Happy Thanksgiving. We traveled a little. Left Las Cruces. Drove north, up Interstate 25,
through New Mexico. Truth or Consequences, Socorro, Albuquerque, and
stopped for the night at Santa Fe. 7,000 feet high. Bill may be familiar
with our spot, Santa Fe Skies RV park. Lots of long pull through sites.
WiFi. Snow on the ground. We’ve been driving Interstate 10. Now we’ve switched to Interstate 25. A
one-highway drive back to Colorado from here. Interstate 10 is a trucker’s
highway, just like Interstate 40 and Interstate 80. Long, straight, and
fast. Interstate 25 is not. Hardly any trucks. It is still smooth enough
to be fast, though. Along the way we stopped at Bosque Del Apache National Wildlife Refuge.
Bill sent me an article on it a while back because it is such a good birding
park. We didn’t stop to bird today; we stopped to check out the place to
stay here. It’s called Birdwatchers RV Park. It’s nice enough, and the
park manager was good to talk to. They feed the quail, so the little birds
are all over in the mornings and evenings. We’ll definitely stay here when
we get a chance to come back and bird. We’re making a loop this trip: out through Utah, down through Phoenix,
across to New Mexico, and back up to Colorado. We didn’t do it on purpose,
but we ended up visiting all four of the North American deserts. The Great
basin, Mojave, Sonoran, and Chihuahan. The Sonoran is our favorite because
it has such diversity of plant and animal life. It is the most beautiful.
Our other favorite is the Chihuahan, because it has the most bird species of
any of our deserts. And the Mojave is our favorite because it is the lowest
and warmest. The Great Basin desert is our favorite because it includes all
the badlands and Canyonlands of Utah. Stopped early in the day, watched some football, had a very nice
Thanksgiving. Judy prepared the full meal: turkey, stuffing, potatoes,
gravy, cranberries, green beans, Christmas salad, rolls, coffee, and pumpkin
pie for dessert. I have no idea how she did it. We didn’t stop for the day
until 2. Then, to complete the tradition, we lit the Christmas lights.