The Gods and the Damned

It got hot in May. And was still hot in mid-October. Over 90 degrees and 90% humidity everyday. We were sick of it. So we decided to head for the desert.

We knew the desert would still be hot, but at least it would be dry.

We were wrong.

Just as we arrived, the desert got cold. And it snowed. And rained. And was cloudy and foggy for most of two weeks.

But we were where we belonged. And we were happy.

So I'll share a bit with you. And I'll start in the middle and work my way to the edges.

Great Sand Dunes

Just east of the Rio Grande headwaters and west of the Rockies lie the Great Sand Dunes National Park.

You can walk into the dunes

Some walk further than others

Waiting for Cyndi to pee, I found this nice skull display

Note the tiny hummingbird skull at the very bottom.

I know some of you are skeptics (I know I am)

and you are wondering if we were really at the Great sand dunes.

Maybe we visited some Lesser sand dunes.

I anticipated your doubts

I'll toss in a couple more views before we move on

On our way out, we'll stop at a shrine to reflect. And get stoned.

Next time we head to My Favorite Place to see the People I Love the Most

I think we will stop by Kelso and do a comparative dune study

Stay tuned

A Bit More Colorado

I know many of you are reading along on your phones

so this next photo will be nearly impossible to see

Sorry about that

This is a view westward across the Rio Grande headwaters

For you foggies using desktops or laptops,

you can click on the photo to see it better

This is a typical view as we try to keep the cat calm in the RV

Speaking of which, here is where the cat lived for the two weeks

The cat has mixed feelings about the RV

He likes the "R" part

but doesn't much care for the "V" part

This is at the Florissant Fossil Beds

There are a bunch of petrified redwoods here, but I already showed you those in a blog post a couple years ago, so you don't have to look at those photos again.

That previous post also had a bunch of dinosaur tracks.

I like dinosaur tracks.

And we saw more this time.

So you get to see more of them

Clayton Lake

Like this sort of whimsical one with a jackrabbit track in a vegansaurus footprint

I wonder what a dinosaur sounds like when walking across a mud flat

Here are some worm burrows

And this is cool, but I can't remember what it is

(I didn't take notes)

I wonder if Cyndi will remember

Even I might have guessed this one was a footprint

But I might have guessed wrong with these

Here are some fossil shadows in the rocks

I need to be honest here and make a full disclosure

We saw only dinosaur footprints

We didn't see any actual dinosaurs walking about

This was in the Clayton Lake State Park in New Mexico

It is a nice state park. Claim to have record setting bass in the lake

And it's inexpensive, too

Clayton Lake is in the northeast corner of New Mexico

The next photo was taken near Clayton Lake

The camera is facing northwest

Quiz: Can you tell which way the wind is blowing?

150 years ago the Santa Fe Trail ran near here

Many people came this way, 

including the hermit I described previously.

At this spot the trail crossed the Carrizozo Creek

You can still see the ruts the wagons made

You might be able to see them

I wasn't sure about what I was seeing

I'm just glad I get to drive on Interstates

and don't have to drag the cat across the prairies on the back of an ox

Taos and Santa Fe

When we awoke our first day in Taos, this is what we say from our RV window

Two days later, this was our view

Surprise! there was a mountain hiding over there

Part of the trip was spent looking at property

We (at least I) want to return to the desert for at least part of the year

A little ranch might be nice.

A couple of realtors gave us tours in both Taos and Santa Fe

and we saw many very nice places

And we saw this affordable one

Light and airy. Views forever. Established, mature landscaping

Utilities to property line

Just needs a roof and a front door and it's ready for that perfect getaway

And we saw this there. Since we are both Scorpios, we took this as a sign

Stretched out, he would have been an inch and a half long

but I didn't feel like stretching him out to prove it

And now a picture of Cyndi in Santa Fe.

On to the Gods and the Damned

Garden of the Gods

The early snows blocked our passage for a couple days through the ranges I wished to see

so we settled for the Garden of the Gods

I had managed to bypass this for 40 years of traveling through the area

I wonder how many other good things I've passed up in my life

There were plenty of tourists to keep us company, but not so many as to scare us away

They are all so purposeful in their striding forth

The Plains of the Damned

As we left the Clayton area, Cyndi studied the map and found 

The Highest Point in Oklahoma

We had to see that

That in the middle is the Highest Point in Oklahoma

No, no ... not the mesa on the left ... that is New Mexico

And the far distance is Colorado

For comparison, here is the rest of Oklahoma

This picture is taken from the same place as the one above, just facing the other direction

I don't know if Oklahoma is my least favorite state, 

but they try the hardest to be disliked

Cyndi said "Don't post anything snarky until we leave the state"

So I waited until now

And I hope the cops forget before we return to the area

About the Author

Mr Osterhus is the author of many blogs and tweets. He has advanced degrees in Misleading Statements and Partial Truths. Fluent in several languages, including English, Cobol and Perl, Mr Osterhus has published in four different languages. Mr Osterhus was raised with Howdy Doody as a role model (as you can see from his photo) but strives to be more like Alfred E Neuman. He lives Someplace with his wife and cat, with Someplace changing frequently. He spends his time gossiping about the neighbors and complaining about the weather. You can learn more about Mr Osterhus at www.osterhus.com

Wobble Chair

When we moved, my wife made me get rid of the chairs I built about 30 years ago. She is really short and the chairs were normal sized and when she sat in them, her feet couldn't touch the ground and if doesn't work for her, it doesn't work for anyone.

I had been using one of those chairs at my desk. As a replacement, Wife decided to give me one of her chairs, chairs for midgets. So I was sitting with my knees approaching my ears, my eyes at desktop level and my hands on my keyboard like a zombie clawing his way out of the grave. Hurt my knees, my ankles, my wrists, my palms, my ass.

And at the new home there is limited opportunity for exercise, at least without taking your life into your hands or traveling about 100 miles.

A wobble chair seems perfect. I can adjust it to the height I want and it will also give me some exercise as I sit here trying to engage with you.

Came from Amazon and of course I had to put it together. I could have paid Amazon $100 for "expert assembly" but took the risk and did it myself. Procedure was

1. Open the box, take out the base, seat and post.
2. Place the post in the base
3. Place the seat on the post
   

No tools and it all just fit somehow magically together. I am now an expert assembler. I could probably expertly assemble 50 of these a day. I think I could contract with Amazon and I will be willing to let Amazon have half that amount, leaving me with a miserly $2,500 a day.

I might come out of retirement for that.