October Trip

This trip will be to:

Four Corners - Ute Mountain Casino RV Park
Albuquerque - American RV Park
Santa Fe - Santa Fe Skies RV Park
Taos - Taos Valley RV Park & Campground
Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge - Bosque Bird Watchers RV Park
Elephant Butte Lake State Park or Caballo Lake State Park

For this trip, I have a couple of new gadgets, a new camera and a portable GPS device.

The camera is a Nikon SLR D50; the GPS is a Garmin etrex Vista CX. I've had the Nikon since June and am very happy with it. I received the etrex Monday and am still trying to figure out why I bought it, par for the course with me and gadgets.

Johnna will use the Coolpix 8700. To ramp up our skills a bit, We have enrolled in a photography class at the university. The class meets every Wednesday for two hours to discuss techniques and go over weekly assignments.
Like in any endeavor, photography takes a lot of practice; the structured approach offered by a formal class should produce results a bit faster.

If I didn't take snap shots every where we go, I probably wouldn't want to travel. Johnna has never expressed an interest in photography, other than to kibitz my photo taking on occasion. I wasn't sure how she would react when I suggested she use the Coolpix instead of standing around waiting for me to take a few shots. So far she's jumped right in, showing enthusiasm and her usual peccant for organization. Completing the class assignments gives both of us direction and discipline. I'm sure our photography skills will advance much faster than learning in a haphazard manner, my approach for all these years.

We left home this morning in pretty good order, until a mile or so down the road when Johnna started to hook up her seat belt and realized she had forgotten her purse. A couple of miles later, I got turned around, returned to the house, picked up the fanny pack and started the trip again.

Last night, Thursday evening, the weather forecast predicted heavy rain over much of our intended travel rout. The forecast was right on.  Starting 30 or 40 miles South West of Kayenta, there were signs of heavy rain, standing water in low areas, spots where the highway had been under water, and many, normally dry washes, still running some water . The highway department had removed the mud and loose stuff from the road surfaces, but it was obvious the rains were very heavy. Somewhere West of Four Corners we ran into a brief downpour, otherwise, our trip was easy and uneventful. 

The R.V. park is nice enough, gravel roadways and each site has a patch of grass. A Casino is next door giving us a bit of R & R.