4/7/2009 Tuesday Cochiti Lake, NM

Wonderful day weather wise, was in the 70's.

We went and dumped tanks and cleaned them. Also got water. Came back to site and I cleaned the motor home. Al checked the oil, broke down the fishing poles and groomed the dogs.. Then we took showers.

Had supper which consisted of oatmeal, cinnamon, raisins, walnuts and soy milk.

I have some recollections that I had forgotten to put in other blogs. We have seen several signs that indicate elk crossing. I wanted to see an elk so bad that I would look into the forest and see dry branches on trees and thought they were antlers.

Another man told me that a few years ago, they introduced some type of deer to this area from Africa. They brought in 50 males and 50 females. They let them multiply so they could open up hunting for them. He said that he was able to bag one and got 250 pounds of meat from one. He said it tasted like beef but I don't know if people here know what good beef tastes like.

We saw road kill of armadillo, wild boar, rattlesnake and burro.

On the news tonight, they had to euthanize over 600 roosters that had been found in a raid where they were using them for fights. They were not suited for food because they had received medication from Mexico.

Gov Richardson just signed a bill to overthrow the death penalty. He said that he really felt the death penalty was proper but in the last few years, there 2 men on death row that had been found to be innocent and he wanted to err on the side of right. Now there are commercials by law enforcement personnel who want the death penalty reinstated because they say it makes it safer for them.

4/6/2009 Monday Cochiti Lake, NM $12.00 for 2 more nights rv site

Well, we went fishing again today but no bites. That is 4th day of fishing without one bite. We used salmon eggs, worms and power bait. Even though our fishing license is good for tomorrow yet, we are going to give it up. Al talked to a man today who said he thinks the pike have eaten the game fish. He said that he used to come here all the time with his Dad and they never caught any fish. As we were leaving, 2 men and a woman came to fish. I didn't see the woman, but one man was Indian with no teeth and long hair. The other man looked like a skinny Gabby Hayes. To hear them from a distance, they sounded like Cheech and Chong. The Indian man asked me if I had any luck fishing and I told him, "No, but you know what they say, a bad day fishing is better than most other days". He said, "I don't know, I would rather make love". Al thought they were smoking peyote. They were carrying around a small canister of something.

By the way, I understand that the elder George Bush said that God did not deduct time spent fishing from a man's life. I don't think that is true but it is a nice way to put the attitude of anyone who likes to fish.

It was a beautiful day here. No wind, very warm. I actually got some sun. The weather is suppose to be good again tomorrow and then the wind comes again. I guess the wind is normal here for Spring. Then after the wind, we are suppose to get bad weather that is entering California now. So I don't know how we will be when we move on Wednesday. I think we are going to higher elevation. It is just south of Taos and they have ski resorts there. They are even forecasting some ligtt snow for the mountains. Tomorrow will be a work day for us. Have to do maintenance sometime and I will work on my drawing if there is any spare time.

4/5/2009 Sunday Cochiti Lake, NM

A good day. No wind, a little cold but OK.

Went fishing for 3 hours and not a bite. Lots of people trying their luck so there must be fish in there but they are not biting.
I checked out the state fishing book last night and it didn't say anything about not using corn for bait and I even tried that.

Came back and Al had his bi-monthly beans, chile and rice and rice and he took a nap.

4/4/2009 Saturday Chochiti Lake, New Mexico

High of 51 here today and very windy. There was wind damage in Albuquerque, but lots of RVs out here. It is so pretty here. One side of park faces the mountains and the other side faces the lake.

We mostly stayed inside today. Fixed beans, green chile and Spanish rice because Al likes that combination fixed for him about twice a month. Started my drawing, but got interrupted. Started my Bible study but got interrupted.

Weather is not good in Sioux City or Denver.

Don't know when we will leave here. Want to go to Olle Verde National Recreation Area next. It is by Taos which is 6900 ft and weather is not very good yet. However the recreation area is in the Rio Grande Valley so I am confused about how the weather will be.

I guess we will know when the time is right.

4/3/2009 Friday Cochiti Lake, NM $24.00 for 4 nights lot

We have been gone for a month now.

The pictures of me getting ready to go fishing. Al likes to take my picture and I don't like to have my picture taken. Then there are 3 pictures of us at the lake. The first picture is of our sky tonight because the storm was going north of us.



I am very disappointed with this state's fishing. When we bought our license, I picked up a brochure about fishing regulations for the state and found that here is a large amount of mercury in most of the fish. Only the rainbow trout seem to be safe, I guess because they are usually in running water. This lake has walleye, but it says that we should only eat 1/2 of one per month to keep from getting too much mercury. I wouldn't have bought the license if I had known that. But since we had the license, we decided to fish and catch and release (if we caught any).
We went down for 3 hours and didn't even have a bite. There were several others that came to fish also but they weren't getting any bites either. It was pretty windy here today. The low and storm is north of us but the jet stream goes over us. We have had lots of wind in New Mexico. It is sometimes a steady wind of 30 to 40 miles per hour and guests up to 50mp and 60mp and a rare 70mph so it is not pleasant to be outside.

One good thing about this lake, is that boaters are not allowed to make waves, they have to run the motors at idle. It is pretty and I can't get down to where I really want to fish because there is construction going on here. But it is where the Rio Grande goes into the lake.

I began to want info about this mercury so I called my son, Bob, who usually knows a little bit about everything. He said that we needed to stay away from any mercury, especially with Al already having liver problems. He said that he suspected it came from mining operations. I checked it out tonight on the internet and it says the biggest cause of mercury in the lakes is from power plants. Even Colorado has started putting out fishing advisories for some of it's waters. Also Wyoming. May have to give up fishing.

Also, just appalled that Iowa has allowed same sex marriage. It was on national news tonite that a state in the "heartland" has ok'd same sex marriage. It just amazes me that judges can make such a decision without the people having a vote. I am with Steve King that we better make our residency requirements more strict or all the homosexuals will move to Iowa so they can be married here.

4/2/2009 Thursday Datil to Cochiti Lake,N of Albuquerque,NM $13 propane, $26 gas, $20 dennys, $9 batteries, $114 walmart

Survived the 17 degree night very well. Al knows how to make a warm bed. Blanket on bottom and 2 blankets on top, tucked around on all sides. Pillow against outside wall to keep out cold. I wore a long sleeve thermal undershirt, a sweatshirt, sweatpants and tube construction socks over anklets.

Woke up to a light covering of snow. We wish we had taken a picture of the many pinion trees with snow just on the tips of each branch.

I have decided that I need to take up trying to draw scenery. I have been inspired by the all the scenery that I have seen. These mountains are usually dark with a haze over them which I guess is where the state gets its name "Land of Enchantment".

We drove 60 miles to Socorro. Al bought diesel for $2.17, previously we had paid $2.11 but are not back in territory where the diesel is $1.99. He fills up the tank when it gets down to 3/4 full because he is afraid we will get out in the "toolies" so much that we can't find diesel. There was a Smith grocery store next to gas station and I had heard that they had good, reasonable produce. I find Walmarts to be high. Well this store was high also. Then we went to Denny's and had breakfast (at noon). Then we went to Dollar General and bought batteries for my radio and his metal detector.

We drove another 50 miles to Albuquerque, NM. Our intentions was to have a certified Suburban furnace center to check out our furnace because it is less than 2 years old and still under warranty. Well, this was Camping World, and after much ado of finding the place even with the GPS, we found they wanted $80.00 to do "diagnostics" and then if they had to pull the furnace to get to the circuit board, it was another $100.00. Warranty, if the problem was covered by warranty, would only pay a part of all this labor and Al said, "No, thank you".

We then went to Walmart to get supplies. Seems like we do that allot but we don't have allot of storage and like fresh produce so we do go often. By the way, our refrigerator is wonderful, much better than the one we had in our Fleetwood. The 2 drawbacks to our motorhome for me is that I don't have a table and I love to sit at a table. Gave up my table so Al could have his recliner for his comfort with his arthritis. I would rather sit at a table than in a living room. Then our bed only has a small space to enter and leave but it has to be that way to have a small motorhome. We are getting a method to deal with this and do pretty good.

We also bought our fishing license. Out of state license was $34.00 for 5 days for each of us. While buying a license, I noticed that one could also buy a license for bear or cougar hunting.

Then we drove another 40 miles to Cochiti Lake north of Albuquerque. It is a Corp of Engineers campground because the Rio Grande goes into this lake and it is dammed up. Fees for here was $12.00 per night but with our wonderful Golden Age Passport it is only $6.00. I think I have this card figured out. Since it is a federal thing, any Bureau of Land Management area or Corp of Engineers or National forest, we get 1/2 price. Without elec, it is usually free. However, the places are usually called National Recreation Areas, sometimes with a description in the name also such Valley of the Fires, Datil Wells and our next place will be Olle Verda near Taos.

We went through allot of Indian Reservations in this drive and each reservation has a casino. I guess they have free parking also but I am not particularly interested in them.

When entering this area, there is a sign about rattlesnakes in the area. It tells us that this is their land also and we need to just ignore them and they will leave us alone.

4/1/2009 Wednesday Datil Wells National Recreation Area

It has been a cloudy, cold, windy day here.

Al and I started on a 2 mile hike this AM. We were dressed very warm. It didn't last very long as we were winded by the altitude. It is about 7500 feet here. My hands got cold fast. We gave it up.

So now I didn't find the springs at Aguirre Springs, didn't buy my southwestern jewelery at Silver City or see the wells at Datil Wells.
Oh well, I guess some things are not meant to be. I am grateful for all the things that I do get to do.

I worked on paying bills because it is the first of the month and wrote out some postcards, got a list of to do things when we reach Albuquerque tomorrow or the next day. Also lined up the prescriptions that I have to order and have them delivered to Debbie's house so they will be there when we get there. Al took a nap and did some odds and ends.

Then around supper time, I saw snow. We have a dusting of snow and it suppose to be 17 degrees here tonite. Our furnace doesn't work and we are low on propane. But Al starts the generator and puts on the electric space heater. Cooking supper also warmed up the motor home. We wear allot of thermals to bed and have lots of warm blankets.

I worry about a lady here in campground. She is living in a van. She was originally from Dubuque, Iowa. Then lived for some time in this area. She said that a couple of years ago, she felt like moving so she purchased 2 acres in Arkansas with a house. She said the humidity was so bad in that area, then there were tornadoes, then hurricane remnants from the Gulf, then last January there was an ice storm which gave her 2 acres of broken trees. She said she couldn't stand it any more and just left Arkansas and listed her house with a realtor and it hasn't sold. She is living in van in this area until her property sells. She has all gray hair and I think she said she was 70 years old. Al and I also question whether there is some mental illness with her.

It is amazing the people who live in these RVs and are not retired. It is their way of life, I guess because it is cheaper and they do not have the responsibilities of a home. I could see it if their job moves them around allot like construction or something but I would not have wanted to do it before retirement.