Paseo del Rio, Elephant Butte State Park (New Mexico)

 

I can't say it's windless here, but it's less wind. Paseo Del Rio is somewhat sheltered by the mountains (officially called "those, those, and them"), and the dam. The shelters have solid walls and some leeway about where you park, so it's possible to optimize your position for wind protection.

The bathroom is the running-water/flushy kind. There is a shower, but I'm warning you that the propane tank lies: this is a COLD-WATER shower. Still, it's water, and the shower room makes a good changing room. Water here has a lot of iron and sulphur.

All sites are semi-primitive, which means there is no water at your site, nor is there electricity available. I've mentioned the shelters, which are sheltering, and they have picnic tables.

All sites are on the Rio Grande. There is a nice walking path along the river.

Nights are very dark and very quiet. Guess what's the loudest thing here? Me. Quiet hours begin at 10 PM, and so I've been running my 3 minute-per-hour generator until then to stream TV, but I noticed no one else does that. They just go to bed, or enumerate regrets, whatever works that night. Just so I'm clear, I'm not running a threshold-of-pain portable generator; it's the Prius engine coming on occasionally to charge the battery.

Tonight I'll gauge my decibels at 7 meters, determine wind direction, appraise my overall benevolence, and decide whether to watch TV or catalog remorse. I already have a gut feeling, though.

Elephant Butte Lake (not visible from Paseo Del Rio)

Spud's nose (often visible from Paseo Del Rio)

Whee! You keep an eye out for rangers!

I weesh to be alone weeth thees fleur to practees my bad Fronsh accent

 

Dam it.

I've been enjoying the trifecta of good eats, wifi, and electrical outlets at Passion Pie Café. A shout-out to Red, who somehow remembers people's names and preferences, even after long absences. Tip your baristas!

It FELT like an emergency.

We visited the "Farmer's" Market in Munds Park. There was nothing farmy here, but I took this picture for Leslie and Gary, who want to operate a traveling coffee shop while they full-time. I wanted to drink a venti mocha choco latte yaya. I wanted to lick the truck where the coffee smells were coming out.


I have not had coffee in 56 hours.

We live here right now.

Make a wish and blow.

Your caption goes here.

 I thought I would be wiped out today, but instead I walked a couple of miles. A nearby road leads to a funny little neighborhood...almost. It actually leads to someone's backyard. I know now how to get to a road. It's a well-beaten path, and then you can see where people go wha...where's the trail...I'll just turn around because it gradually turns into a not-so-well-beaten path.

Late afternoon

 

Reboot update:

We are not especially hungry. 

We didn't nap today.

We spent $38 on produce to replenish leafy things.

Besides feeling a little sleepy, I would say I'm feeling better. I haven't woken up with a headache the last two mornings, and I don't feel sluggish.

Annie says she would feel great if it weren't for her incessant throbbing headache. It is probably a migraine, but isn't responding to her meds. Let's not rush to judgement yet; it's only been 48 hours for the reboot, but I'd be happier if she weren't in, you know, agony. It could be caffeine withdrawal, too.

We're both peeing a lot, ergo, vegetables contain urine.