(Note: Picture intensive blog!)
Since we did not have a long journey today, we took our time getting ready and then headed north.
The scenery continues to impress!
Love the swirls in the rocks:
Looks flat doesn’t it?
Our altimeter – we are nearing 5000’ feet.
When we were first on the Colorado Plateau, I was amazed at how flat areas were above 4000’. There is an area in eastern NM where it is flat at 7500’. I cannot imagine the forces it took to raise this section of land.
Border patrol checkpoint:
More flowers:
And the trains…
Different color stones for designs along the highway:
More interesting formations:
And away we go:
Local Dam on the Rio Grande:
Coming into Truth or Consequences:
Our final destination:
Our site:
Our backyard:
We were here in April of 2013 – 10 years ago – WOW! The lake was at 5% capacity. Today it is 25% capacity. Hopefully I can find some comparison pictures.
Our site number is 69 and in 2013 it was 75 – same row.
After setting up, we decided to go to the park visitor center (very small, new construction coming up) and take a ride near the water. It was VERY WINDY so I did not get many pictures.
This is down from our campsite. RV’s and others can camp along the water.
I just thought this was a great picture of a girl and her dog and her truck:
Not sure what this mound is called. In Casa Grande we have a hill similar to this that we call Table Top Mountain.
Did I say it was windy? Holy Moly!
We did a number of the dirt roads on the west side of the lake and saw some of the inlets where the water is filling. We talked to one of the campground hosts that said it is rising rapidly and another that said further north the Rio Grande is near flood stage. Good for the lake, however, they will need to release a specified amount based on contracts and treaties from years ago.
The Colorado River Dams do the same. Theirs are for irrigation. This one is for power.
To my east coast family and friends… Be thankful we do not have to watch our water consumption. It is a real learning experience for this gal in the west.
This is Rattlesnake Island. Beautiful!
I pulled this picture from 2013. Notice the land around the island. It was not an island in 2013. Amazing to see the increase in lake. Now think about this. The lake is at 25% capacity. What do you think it would look like at 100%. I hope this community gets that chance.
Isn’t this beautiful!
We did not do too much more because the wind really picked up.
From here we went to the visitor center in Truth or Consequences. We picked up a few brochures and realized that our Spaceport America Tour starts here on Saturday.
In 2013, we did a tour of Spaceport America and, now, 10 years later, we are going to do another.
We finished the evening at the local American Legion – what a great time.
Tomorrow we are going to do some more exploring so stay tuned and enjoy today!
Today’s stats:
Miles Traveled: 80 Miles
Routes Traveled:
New Mexico: Elks Drive US-70; I-25; BL-25; NM-181; NM-171; NM-195
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