December 29-30, 2024 Willcox, Arizona

 74 and sunny.  I sat in the sun and worked on my basket for most of the afternoon. 

We went back to the bird viewing area to see sandhill cranes again.

We walked around the lake this time and got different views. A lot of these cranes were in grass instead of in the water. 

Cranes in the grass. Cranes flying overhead, lit with sunset.

Many cranes left this lake as the sun set. Zoom in on this, there are hundreds of flying cranes in the sky.

Cranes reflected. 

We checked out the old Pioneer Cemetery in Willcox. It has not been kept up, so rather weedy. Some graves had wooden headstones and some had the wooden ones with an updated stone one. The one fenced in one had a giant tumbleweed in it. Probably a lot of unmarked graves. 

Warren Earp, Wyatt's brother is buried here. He was not well liked and killed in a saloon fight. Part of historic downtown Willcox. 

Historic Railroad street, railroad park and the old train depot that has been renovated and is the city offices and a small museum. Cranes on the fence along an interstate bridge, for sale dead peoples things in front of an antique shop, tire art in as a rattlesnake and Oh, I'm a cowkid from Willcox, AZ.

Murals downtown. The Chiricahua museum was open, it is usually by appointment only. It is a very interesting museum about the Chiricahua Apache  that lived here an their treatment by the whites. Nice exhibits about Cochise and Geronimo. 

Back at the bird viewing area. Tons of cranes, not many photos, I already posted many that would be the same. Some ducks on the same lake as the cranes. 

December 27-28, 2024 Deming, New Mexico To Wilcox, Arizona

 62, partly sunny and very windy today.

Organ mountains on our way to Deming. Very windy and dusty drive.

We filled up with $3.05 fuel, painted water tower in Las Cruses, giant road runner sculpture in Las Cruses,  one of the slides came in weird and damaged part of our floor. Boo. John in the wind and dust with the bus. 

We are now parked at Harvest Host Les Combes vineyards.

Our view of the Florida Mountains from the vineyard. I got 70 pairs of earrings, that I glued the other day wired and carded. What a job. Still have more to do. 

I finished this basket today. It is made from natural and dyed pine needles, polyester thread, glass and metal beads and the center is piece of slate tile that I sandblasted and painted a raven on. It is 10 x 9 x 2 inches. Sunset from camp.

The  Peloncillo mountains coming over the pass into Arizona. We are now camped at  a commercial park-Fort Wilcox.

We went out east of town to watch the cranes come in at sunset, but they were already there. Thousands of them.

Cranes were still coming in.

Cranes coming in for a landing. Sunset starting with cranes.

Sunset and cranes. 

The cranes are magical to watch and with sunset just break taking. 

After watching the cranes it was too late to cook dinner, so John took me out to Isabelle's  South of the 

Border. It was yummy.  I ordered an excellent  margarita and it was bigger than my head! We filled up on cheaper fuel. Welcome to Arizona the Grand Canyon State, from the restaurant- I lick the salt, swallow the tequila and suck the lime. Also One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor. 

December 25-26, 2024 Tularosa, New Mexico

 High of 63, very windy and dusty, and partly cloudy.

High winds, lots of dust today. The sun through the dust. 

Sunset

We had the German couple next door over for Christmas dinner. Nice meeting them, they were very interesting. 56 and partly cloudy. We went to White Sand Dunes National Park today. 

People were sledding on all the dunes near the road. We walked the 5 mile Alkali loop. 

John hiking in the white sand dunes.

Cool lenticular clouds. Dunes.

Little avalanches on the face of the  white sand dunes. John hiking up the trail on the face of a dune. 

More lenticular clouds. John on the top of a dune. 

The end of the dune field. Caution closed beyond the sign, Danger- unexplode munitions. Clouds moved in. They made the light flat, but cooled off the air.

The sun peeked through the clouds making really pretty light.

Cool textures looking down the dune face. Curvy lines in between curvy dunes. 

Gypsum crystals between the dunes. Sort of sunset on lenticular clouds on the way home. 

John with his IPA at the 575 brewing company.