What A View!!! : rattlesnake point at elephant butte state park NM

Sunday, February 22, 2015

Another Day of Heaven at My Favorite Campsite Of All My Life

Waking up again in this place gives me a sense of calmness... serenity... peace. I smile inside as soon as I wake up. I remember that I am here and give a big sigh.

Now that we have been here a few days, I don't even care about travelling any further. I can go home now and my vacation is complete. And I know I will be back! Rattlesnake Point at Elephant Butte State Park in New Mexico.

Steve was talking about moving on and exploring City of Rocks SP and Silver City. And I was trying to come up with more excuses to stay here! Lo and behold, we got an email from fellow RVers Merikay and Craig.... Their blog is:http://merika-merika.blogspot.com they are coming to Elephant Butte and want to stay by us for a few days!!! YAYAYAYAAAAAA

My blog from meeting Merikay and Craig

Sooo that means we get to stay around this park longer now! We will move today from our lovely boondocking spot on the beach and head up to the campgrounds. We will find two electric sites next to each other so they can pull in next to us this afternoon. Since it is Sunday, there should be a lot of sites to choose from. The park is about 2/3 full we noticed on our ride around, so moving should not be a problem.

After breakfast, we hopped in the Tracker with the dogs and water, and headed out to explore the areas around the dam and up the other side of the lake. The views were incredible, as long as I could get Steveio to stop so I could take a pic! He is Mr. Zoom Zoom Zoom gotta see what is around the next corner. ARGGHHHH

It is worth it to stop and see a view like this for a few minutes...

There are a few different marinas hidden in the coves and bays around the reservoir. Each one looks well-stocked and used a lot. Around the towns of Truth or Consequences and Elephant Butte are many, many boat storage places too. I can imagine in the summer months, this place is packed with people seeking relief from the heat and going out in the lake in their boats.

The weatherman said it was going to be a cloudy day today. Hmmmm I guess the fine wisps of white stuff make it a "cloudy day"? We sure don't mind. It was gorgeous and the temps in the mid 70's. Tshirts and capris for me.

As we drove up the road along the west side of the reservoir to check out South Monticello Campground we saw a roadrunner dash across the road in front of us! Lacking any "Acme Bird Seed" or a Wile E. Coyote to help us catch him, he disappeared in the bush. I mentioned on FB that I just saw my first roadrunner of the trip, and will make it my life's mission to photograph one before we go home. HAHA I got a lot of advice on how to catch one. On the return route on the same road, I think in the same spot, we saw one again!!! Perhaps the same one???? And yes, I had the camera ready and got 5 photos of him up on the side of the road!!!! See?

Mission Complete.

We arrived back at the motorhome in time to take an afternoon nap. Ohhh the clouds snuck in while we were sleeping. We woke up to the sounds of someone stuck out in the sand. Not staying on the packed gravel in this area is a real NO NO. We have seen a lot of idiots trying to prove their manhood or horsepower by plowing into the sandy areas here on this point and getting stuck. We watch with delight while all the young dudes have to get out and push or flag down some other big truck to pull them out.

But in this case, it was different. One look in our binoculars told us that they needed our help. This elderly gent and his wife were trying their hardest to get out. Steve grabbed our tow strap and went over in our little Tracker to help them out. Popped the Tracker in 4 wheel drive mode and he was able to get them out. They were sooo thankful and saved them a wrecker call.

(p.s. the wife TOLD him to not drive there)

We are amused by the littlest things, I tell you. It's so dry and such low humidity here that we are getting a lot of static. Remember when I bathed the dogs the day before? Well, a good brushing out is always needed. We laughed and laughed at the static electricity on their fur... look at how it sticks out!! They were walking around like little porcupine butts~~~

But Handsome Finnegan and Princess Binney don't seem to mind.

Yes, the littlest things amuse us...

We were playing with our shadows on the beach,

and decided we really were an alien invading the world!

An easy supper salad was whipped together with tortilla strip chips as a base, them taco meat, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, cheese on top.. and guacamole for me! Steve hates the stuff. But that's okay, the more for me. Been finding ripe avocados here for 50 cents each and loving it.

We enjoyed another amazing sunset here in the park from the lawnchairs as we sit out and relax... after a day of doing not much of anything. Well, I did knit a sock. That was about it.

The clouds hung around and they are saying the winds might kick up Sunday afteroon. We saw the sun setting in the west and it reflects against these rocky hills and cliffs on the eastern shore of the lake. Totally untouched pics, that is the color and that is the sky.... amazing tones!

Here is the Painted Sky of the Desert shot.... looking like everything I have ever dreamed of in a sunset. The pinks, the purples, the blues, even highlights of golden oranges ... down to deep fuchsias and rich rosy glows....