Magnus in New Mexico, Day 5

Friday, 22 Mar

Leaving the Roadhost park (above)

Blessedly uneventful drive to Rusty's RV Ranch, other than a 38-minute long gas stop at Las Cruces. There was construction ongoing in the truck stop and they only had four lanes open. To make matters worse, we thought there were only three and so we waited an extra five minutes when we could have hopped over to the last, hidden lane. So it ended up being four hours for a planned 2:53 drive.

Anyway, we finally made it to New Mexico. Other than an inconsistent inability to pluralize nouns correctly, the owner has created a masterpiece of an RV park. People are warned to keep outdoor lighting to a minimum and if you're camped next to an astronomer, close your shades. There's a trail cut through the desert that completely circles the RV park--it takes me about 15 minutes to jog it. The pet area is small but adequate and right next to a pond where there is a mated pair of black swans and an African Porcupine.

I spent a half-hour or more watching birds in the cottonwoods by the goat pen. And even photographing them. I was sure I was onto something exciting! 

'But on closer examination it appears I was just seeing yellow-rumped warblers. Out west the yellow-rump has a bright yellow throat, unlike the ones back home which have a white throat. So that's all they were. I also saw a few other birds--white-crowned sparrows, doves, house finches--and one Gambel's quail out in the field across the road.

Campsite at Rusty's