Hill climbing

By clicking the pics you get a view from the top without exerting any effort whatsoever.... That's my job.

No clouds here. This is just smoke and haze from the Hermits Peak fire in Las Vegas New Mexico.

When I got to the Valley of fires, I only signed up for two nights, but since I'm enjoying being here it was an easy decision to re-up for a few more days. I definitely wouldn't want to be running around New Mexico State Parks him him him him him him him him trying to find a place to boondock on the weekend.

I've moved out of my giant boondocking spot. With a weekend coming up, I figure there will be more big trailers and motorhomes here, and I wouldn't want to take up a big spot just for little old me. So I moved down the hill to the tent area, which is a better fit for me. It's still boondocking, but now I'm down at the same level as the lava bed, and there's a water faucet only about 20 feet away, which is a luxury for a boondocker.

I think I'll go into town, maybe early Sunday morning, to see if I can get some pictures of some of the old buildings in Carrizozo and do a little grocery shopping. But, unfortunately, there are no big grocery stores in town, just a smallish mom-and-pop place, and the nearest Walmart is 45 minutes away, so I figure they won't have a big selection, and whatever they have will be kind of expensive, which is not their fault, they just can't buy in the kind of bulk it takes to get price breaks from the grocery wholesalers.

I've always felt it kind of a shame that these little towns that I enjoy visiting, are kind of poor, but always have to pay the most for their food and fuel.

Theboondork

Some tiny little thumbnail sized wild flowers.

I woke up with this morning with an inexplicable desire to do something. So I decided I would climb up a nearby hill to take a picture from the top... Normally when I wake up in the morning I barely have enough energy, or ambition, to make a cup of coffee.

It was easy walking, the campground host had previously warned me about the possibility of Rattlesnakes but unfortunately I never saw any, snakes always make a great picture, and as a kid reptiles were my favorite pets.

With the sun coming up the lava field looked yellow instead of black with all of the plants growing on it being hit by the rising Sun.

I just picked my way through the boulders keeping an eye out for any sunny spots on the ground where a sneaky snake might be sunning itself to warm up after the chilly nights around here.

This is the main part of the campground, most of these sites have water and electric hookup. None of the sites have a sewer hookup, you have to stop by the dump station when you leave.

FINALLY; here's the reason I walked all the way up here..... It's the bronco in the middle of the picture.... And now I'm too tired to make that cup of coffee, and its too late to go back to bed. What a conundrum !!!