Roswell/Valley Of Fires/Large Array

Roswell/Valley Of Fires/Large Array: No flying saucers unfortunately. I thought for sure, after all the signs I saw before I left for the trip!! Did go into the UFO museum and out to the Bottomless Lakes State Park. The park was very photogenic with both color and B&W opportunities. Temps are hanging in the 90’s and it I did not break out the view camera again due to strong winds. Fortunately the 2 ¼ and digital are lower profile so I can usually get the shots I need with those. Clouds are still a rare thing. Lots of hikes for the photos and that is always good. The New Mexico Military Academy had an excellent pool that was open to the public at certain times and I took advantage of that.
The Valley Of Fires Park is a nice camp. Not much around but the lava beds is good adventure both during the day and at night.
Speaking of clouds being a rare thing, it is Saturday and I have hit the Petroglyphs Park and am in Alamogordo again waiting for the evening to fall so I can see the Full Moon in White Sands. So as I need to wait for a number of hours yet guess what fills the sky?? Yes , an overcast of clouds in abundance. This could prevent the moon from showing tonight. But my only choice is to wait it out to see and if need be stay here for another day for a chance tomorrow night.
Sunday 4/20: Well there is now a reason to get back to White Sands. The night was a perfect cool and windless evening with some good photo ops. I did get to see an awesome full Moon rise. But alas, the cloud cover was such that after about 20 minutes it went behind the overcast, not to bee seen except now and then in a haze. The night was far from a loss though as sunset and night photos took up the time. Today has been very windy so I moved out of the Valley of Fires and on to the Large Array. Snowed going over the pass to get to the VLA. Even though it is also very windy here the dishes don’t seem to move so much they will blur a sunset picture. The one in the blog is before it gets really dark even though I had to paint it with the spotlight anyway. I did get to see them all swing about 122.7 degrees away from the Sun. They were in a perfect position for sunset shots. They seem to move them every 45 minutes or so. So eerie standing out among all the dishes at dusk, with them silhouetted against the sky, like in the other picture. Seems so otherworldly.

Wednesday April 23: Just added the pictures for the past week or so. In Albuquerque now and seeing things around here as well as getting some things taken care of. Then it's off up north for the Tent Rocks, Bandelier, water falls etc. Picked up some more 4x5 film here and even in a big city like this 4x5 film is slim pickins. Only got one box of 10 of the color print film. But that should last for the next few weeks being that I still have lots of other types to pick from in my film bag.

That's it for now. Hope all is well with everyone and may there be little wind in your days.

Ruidoso 4/14

Ruidoso Sunday/Monday 4/14: Spent the days exploring the mountain community and surrounding areas. Sunday was spent traveling up to the Monjeau fire tower. The sign at the start of the dirt road said the road was closed. But I figured I would go as far as I could until I encountered a gate or roads too bad to transverse around. Road varied from good gravel to lumpy glad I have the truck. After some 6-7 miles on an upward course I passed by an unlocked gate, so I kept going. Once at the top I was glad to see a ranger truck. She was actually up in the top part of the tower. Glassed in with what looked like good communication equipment. Just me and the ranger, for about ½ hour, then another car with a couple and little kid from California of all places (Orange County) also going to Santa Fe. Then more cars and trucks and many more people came. Seems as if this was the first day that the road was officially open after the winter shutdown even thought locals say they had little snow this past winter. The last ones up said one of the rangers was taking the road closed sign down.
Monday was spent (for the most part) at Bonita Lake. You know the scene well, that fresh water smell with the pine trees, the sound of a soft cool breeze thru the pines, warm sun on your face. I was mainly intent on the photo aspects of the lake so not catching any fish was OK today even though I tried. Only a few along the shore were catching any today anyway. The closest guy next to me told me of the past weekend fishing contest where the winner won $500 for the largest trout. By the way the llama in the picture I saw on the way up to the lake was actually in the same corral as horses. Although they were not near each other.
Three nights in the pines has been great, away from the wind (will start up again tomorrow I am told) and wonderfully cold at night. Got the heater running in the camper for the first time this trip. Found a great beer, Alien Amber Ale and I'm not even to Roswell yet......till then.

Alamogordo 4/10

Thursday 4/10: The past two days have been to windy to be out in the dunes, even though I did early this morning for a short while. Winds are suppose to calm down tonight so perhaps between Friday and Saturday I can see the things I would like and move on the the next location. Carlsbad or Ruidoso seem to be the next choice. This wind has kept me from a good nights sleep for two nights now and I think an early sleep is in order. Had to get up at 6:15am to get to the dunes before the wind got to bad............I'm feelin it. Difficult to build a fire too. But all is goodness cuz there is more than enough to do on windy days.

The pool here is again under a dome and 25yds x 50yds. Diving boards at the deep end, general area at the shallow area and lap lanes between. Had all the lanes to myself.

I could have included a picture of me in the dunes but I figured everyone wanted to see the truck instead.........good lookin truck. Sky's look clear and the trees are not bent over so tomorrow looks promising.

Till the next post........

Alamogordo 4/8

Tuesday: Need to get the Geronimo video in here. Went to White Sands this morning 8:15 or so. Need to get there earlier for more time and better sun angle. Tomorrow morning I'll get up at 6:30am to be there when the gates open at 7:00 am. This place like all the others is sort of taking what you get in terms of conditions. No clouds still, past the agavi bloom, etc. But this trip is to see these places to see which ones would be good to come back to at various times of the year. Spent last night watching the NCAA finals in the Chili's bar. Didn't get back to the camper till 10:00 and felt like I was going to wake all the campers with my rustling thru the film changing bag to change out spent 4x5 film............do I really need to do this? The 4x5 still has it's place. But the digital and 2 1/4 format is so easy to work with. I know now that I will only be taking the digital and 2 1/4 on the hike to the wave. So who does Geronimo remind me of??

Las Cruces

Friday 5th: Getting into Las Cruces was cool because of the surrounding mountains and all the dust devils. Still every day I see them around the city. Camp at Leasburg State Park is nice. Flat cement pads for the camper, covered picnic table and a fire pit. Temperatures are a pleasant 70-80 degrees during the day and sleeping bag cool at night. Stars are brilliant. Photographing of note is the Organ Mountain peaks. They are the most prominent peaks surrounding Las Cruces. I need clouds though to help pop the sky in the photos and have had little luck for clouds at least around the peaks. But that is the way the photo journey goes, you explore and take what nature gives you that day. Friday night I spent sunset out at the mountains base for sunset picts and could not believe the number of rabbits running around. They were shy but managed to get a few shots of them on the run.
Saturday: Today I got up late and by the time I got going it was 11:00 am. USED THE GPS AGAIN that so many pitched in to get me. I had the address of the swimming pool so I just keyed it in and Bamb! Took me right there, ½ hour to soon before they opened but once in, the water was nice and cool for swimming. The sides of the building open up for the outdoor feel. In the picture it’s under the dome. Swimming was the first thing on my list to do. So after getting a few supplies it is about 3:00 pm and I wonder where the day went? I haven’t done any exploring yet so better get to it. I will keep looking for clouds over the peaks but clear skys again today.
The one of the post and backlight brush are the kind of “artsy” things that take up most of my day. This one I did in color and B&W film. The digital B&W I think looks better so I am encouraged for the film versions. Lots of other attempts during the course of the trip but If I can get 5-6 that are “wall worthy” it will be a success.

Sunday: After a morning looking at a couple places that seemed like early morning light would be interesting, it was pancakes, coffee, eggs and a trip up to Truth Or Consequences. There I got the treat of the Geronimo Museum. So I give a hint at the end of the vodeo as to who Geronimo reminds me of. I’ll need to post these later because I have not processes them yet. Library in Alamogordo is where I’ll stop for another update. Until then, doing well on the road, having fun and finally got the RC car out and running a bit. Did I mention the laser beam of a Coleman 3 battery lantern? It lights up the entire camper that little thing. Used it a lot when I have no electricity in the camper to save the battery the camper has. Till Alamogordo, keep the journey alive.

Monday 7th: Alamogordo library. Oliver Lee is 10 miles out of town but better for the stars, quiet and hiking. Will not go to White Sands till tomorrow AM. due to the wind right now.....but that means an early get-up. Till then I will publish this post and check emails and do finance stuff. I could easily spend 2 hours a day just in the library. Got to take more time for other things other than photos...........even though that's where the most fun is for me. Like a kid in a candy store with all the options..........ya, I'm lovin it.

Later.

Tuesday 4/1-Thursday 4/3

Tuesday 4_1: Tombstone. What can I say, I had to see it. Cool place even though it is so commercialized. Everything was $$ so I decided to tour and see the thing I thought was most cool. Gunfight at the OK corral ya think? No I saw Spock, Bones, Kirk, and Chekov fight it out there in Star Trek “the bullets are falsehoods”. I’m sure these guys will get up after the fight too. But junky old mines, not that is cool. One video shows the appeal. Stopped in town for lunch and listened to live music. Gerry should be up there singing Poncho and Lefty.
Moved on though to Chiricahua to camp. No water or electric but the camper is so self contained. In fact this seems like after a week and a half out now that this is the first real camp. No TV room with Sunday ice cream social in the card room like the Prince Of Tucson RV Park. The night shot picture is the first night of shooting. Notice the stars of Orion’s belt and sword. Wonder what the film version of this will look like. I paint these with the 3 million candle power spot light I have. It recharges from the car battery, along with the phone and the computer. The inside of the truck looks like an electronic junk pile with the film camera equipment there too. There is no room for anything or anyone else, but I’ll come up with something around May 2nd. The night shooting here is weird because when I’m away from camp and the lights of the truck (or flashlight) go off it is so dark that you can’t see you hand in front of your face. 7:00 pm comes by at camp and everyone is in their tents or campers or tents or cars (some travel and sleep in the cars), I feel like I’m sneaking out on some secret mission for these night shots. The total quiet due to the lack of wind at night lately is an eerie combination with the dark. Makes positioning the shot a trial and error thing and moving around even more difficult. Every time I turn the little flashlight on I expect to see a Zombie next to me or a mountain lion. Fortunately I’ve been trained in the ways of the Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook. Thanks Kathy, because now I can take a punch by a Zombie or flash a mountain lion to look bigger. The book says nothing about fending off talkative retired folks though. The two biggest groups I run into are families on vacation and retired folks. Some alone guys like myself. Lez I (met camping) for example is Canadian and has a list like mine. He is heading west but said I gotta go see the Tent Rocks in New Mexico, and fortunately they are on my list too. Deer were all over the park at morning and dusk.
I could have stayed another day longer in Chiricahua but I like to STOP ALONG THE WAY (hear that Jim?) to Leesburg State Camp so left Thursday morning. Looking forward to New Mexico. In a hotel for the first time since I left for the easy life. Now the hotel room looks like my truck.