Happy Thanksgiving!

After all of the traveling, Ron & I are really enjoying our extended stay at "The Ranch".  We have explored a little bit of Artesia and Carlsbad, but mostly have just relaxed.  "The Ranch RV Park" is actually located in the middle of cattle ranching country, so we see cattle out the windows often.  There is an electric fence around the park, so they can't get in. 

Although it looks like it is flat and featureless, the desert is quite beautiful!  Every day we notice something different.  We have found great areas for walking & running each day.  One route takes us past a large pecan tree farm. 

We had seen pecan groves on our drive down, but until the freeze caused them to loose their leaves, I didn't know that's what they were. You can see the pecans on the tops where the branches are bare.   There are also pistachio groves, but I haven't seen any of those yet.

Another of our routes took us to this beautiful wetland.  There are lots of ducks & grebes on the water, but I haven't had my binoculars with me, so I haven't been able to identify them. 

 

Speaking of birds - one day we looked out our window at this fella attacking his reflection in Ron's truck window.

Yep - it is a Roadrunner!! 

 I was so excited to finally see one that I chased it all over the park trying to take pictures.  I think he got fed up because he stopped running and just started yelling at me.  I guess he wasn't too mad though, he was back again yesterday.

 

My other big sighting was this little guy.

He was lying on the road I was walking on and was so still I though he was dead.  It is amazing how much they blend in with the road. I only realized he wasn't dead when I saw that he was looking at me.  He was about 18" long and about as big around as a skinny hot dog. 

 

We wish all of you a very happy Thanksgiving.  We are thankful for your continued presence in our lives through your interest in this blog and what we are doing.  Please post comments - we love to read them!

We are eating our Thanksgiving dinner here, at The Ranch, with the other RVers.  They are a great group of people.  Cheers!