Turtle Speaks Out

 On my way to Santa Fe to look at a new larger home for myself. Apparently the Turtle disagreed with my intentions, because he began to spit, sputter, and became nearly in operable. Eventually stopping at Storrie Lake State Park. Called several shops in town for a quote for a tune up.

 The first being All Terrain Transmission, and the first question out of there mouth was "You from outta town?" They ended up quoted me $585 for a basic tune-up, the rest of the shops quoted between $250, and $300, so if your in the Las Vegas NM area I highly recommend NOT using them.

With the help of my camp neighbor Mike, two trips to town, and a hour and half of bullshitting we managed to get a tune up done for $67. Here's a few more pics....

 Smart geese not migrating to far for the summer.

 Baby bird let me pet him

 Camp pet enjoying a peanut butter cracker

Horny Toad

 Mike my camp neighbor from Waco TX. Takes 3 to 4 months a year to travel in the mountains. Tried to offer him dinner for helping me out, but he refused several times saying he was just glad to help.

 Mikes rig has everything he needs for his 4 month adventure.

 Robert another camp neighbor in remission from cancer decided to buy this lil rig, and head west for a few months. Plans on returning home to North Carolina buying a small piece of land, and living a simple life.

 Roberts rig. Robert also wrote a book called Marble Mountain Memoirs

 John Rogers another camp neighbor.  Him, and his traveling companion Jennifer (also a van-dweller) made me a fine dinner of turkey burgers, and stir fried veggies. Thanks

The inside of John's van. He also has a blog at Life in a Volkswagon Bus. 

So when I am at a point maybe to buy something a bit bigger to call home. The Universe show's me 4 other simple homes. So for now I guess Ill ponder. Ill post some pics of camp, and the other shenanigan's here at Storrie Lake soon. Guess there's a biker rally here in Vegas this coming weekend, so contemplating moving, but that could be a lot of fun as well? Thanks for visiting. Good Day!

Coyote Creek State Park

Still at Coyote Creek and managed to make it through the 4th. Actually made out like a bandit my camping neighbors left me a whole bunch of goodies steaks hamburgers, deep fried chicken, fresh fish, corn on the cob, and a brand new camping chair. I refused several times, but they insisted. Guess they felt bad for the homeless man in a van :).

Coyote Creeks located at 7700' so the weathers been perfect with a few afternoon showers. The dump station, and campsites across the creek are closed due to flooding. Verizon data signal is all messed up. Over the weekend of the 4th I had only a phone connection, but the rest of the time I had 3g from about 5-6pm until 10 to 11am the next day then nothing again for about 6 hours. Camped with 4 others who had Verizon two couldnt get a signal, and the others were experiencing the same thing I was, so go figure? To many folks on one tower 

Here's a few more pics...

Highway 434 from Angel Fire, NM hardly qualifies as a hwy at times narrows down quite a bit, and has no center line.

 View from my camp.

 Campsite I snagged after the 4th.

Alfa 2000 mw with directional antenna facing towards the Visitor Center. A experiment that worked out great was able to get very quick internet from there wifi, at my site. $39.99 at Amazon, and was delivered directly to my campsite via UPS. That's Service! 

 The only hiking trail at Coyote Creek .75 miles long not my usual distance but scenic atleast.

Views from the trail

One of two beaver ponds.

Coyote creek. Good Day!

Lake Heron to Coyote Creek

Deer outside the Turtle a few days before leaving Heron Lake

My plans to hike Wheeler peak changed after calling the Taos ski village, and finding out RV parking was only available on the weekends due to construction in the parking lot. So ill try to revisit before the summers end.

Left Heron Lake on Tuesday figuring it would give me ample time to get a Campsite up at Eagles Nest State Park before the 4th of July. Well I figured wrong cause Eagles Nest, and its neighbor Cimmaron Canyon were completely full. Apparently folks in the Land of Enchantment take there camping very serious, so I headed south towards Storrie Lake.

 It was then I stumbled across Coyote Creek State Park, and managed to snag the last site, so it been 4 days of generators, and screaming children . Itll all end tomorrow. Managed to get two good meals from the neighbors, so that was a good!

Top of the pass headed east towards Taos

Brazzo's box the cliffs I had been staring at from Lake Heron for several weeks.

New Mexicos version of Slab city. I use to watch a documentary about the area back when I was still living in sticks, and bricks. Interesting to finally see it. Envied there freedom. The documentary is called Off the grid Life on the Mesa. There are several free versions on the net.

At 565 ft high the Rio Grande gorge bridge is the 7th highest bridge in the U.S. The bridge appears in several major films.

Mountain roads part of the southern part of the Enchanted Circle scenic drive.

Turtle down at the Palisades sill down in Cimmaron Canyon. Thanks for visiting! Good Day!

Time to move on!

Still bouncing around between El Vado, and Heron State Parks. On my 7th week now. Weather been fantastic hardly a day above 80. One could spend a whole summer between the two, but I am ready for some new experiences, so waiting on some mail to arrive early next week, then its off to higher elevations. 

The picture above is courtesy of Taos ski valley. Snows almost gone, so plans are to spend a few weeks hiking some of the states highest peaks. Heres a few more Osprey pics I took on my local hikes....

 Ospreys are about 2 ft in length, and can have a wingspan of 6ft. They dive at speeds of 80 mph. Watched the Osprey above took out a large crow for getting to close to its nest.

 and when you take pictures they get pissed!

 Really pissed!

 The hiking path leads right passed there nest, so I try not to bother them, but they've even swooped at me a few times I am pretty sure raptor talons cant feel good.

Good Day!

Rio Chama Trail

 The Rio Chama Trail is a 5.5 mile one way trail connecting Heron State Park to El Vado State Park. The two parks Ive been bouncing  between now for a little over 6 weeks, so its just about time to move on. The trail spans from grasslands on the El Vado side to the ponderosa pines on the Heron side. Heres a few more pics.....

 Down, down, down!

 Looking back at the stairs.

 Suspension bridge 

Not photo of the year, but did manage to stir up some Elk.

 2005 rock slide

 Massive boulder that broke loose actually jumped the trail making a huge hole.

 View from the Mesa with El Vado lake in the background.

Thanks for visiting. Good Day!