Final thoughts.

Click those pics, don't procrastinate, click em before it's too late.

Sandhill Cranes, synchronized flying.

Overall I really enjoyed what may be my last mini-vacation of this year. As I've mentioned before I have a one track mind, I'm definitely not a multitasker. So now that it's getting cold in Colorado and the night time temperatures are getting down low enough that I'm going to have to run my furnace to keep the pipes from freezing, and there's probably going to be more and more snow in the forecast. My thoughts all turn to getting the truck and the Arctic Fox ready to head South.

But as for my mini-vacation, I had a great time. It was just cold enough to be challenging, but not cold enough to make me miserable. In other words if I dressed properly I was fairly comfortable most of the time. And the cold weather had the added benefit of allowing me to stand for long periods of time right next to a swamp without a flock of mosquitoes removing a single pint of my blood.

Speaking of mosquitoes since they can give us all kinds of diseases such as Malaria and West Nile, I wonder if they can give us the Bat flu when they bite ? My guess would be probably not or there wouldn't be anybody left in Florida right now.

But I digress. Not being able to get up close and personal with a Sandhill Crane was somewhat disappointing, and after a few days of fruitlessly searching for them, I had pretty much come to terms with going back home without a single picture to prove that I was ever there. So finally being able to see some birds either flying overhead or standing on the ground hundreds of yards away, was at least something to show my trip had not been in vain.

I always enjoy my stay at the San Luis Lake wildlife refuge, it's never crowded, and fairly often its blessed with some beautiful sunsets. And now I like it even more because it's dark enough out there in the middle of nowhere to get nice pictures of the stars.

Alamosa and Montevista which are the big towns in San Luis Valley, and only about 10 miles apart, are where I spent a lot of my time. There small enough to be "small town friendly", easy to drive around in. And yet large enough to have most of the things you need. Especially with the Walmart in Alamosa where I spent my last night, along with half a dozen or so of other RVers.

My mini-vacation was time well spent and will provide me with some great memories when I finally reach an age when I'm no longer able to live like I do now, in another 20 or 30 years.

                                     theboondork

A beautiful sunset at the San Luis Lake wildlife refuge