Winter in New Mexico

Well, last I wrote we were in Branson, MO. While we were there, just fooling around we received a call from our friend Daniel Perry, the Volunteer Coordinator at the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge asking us to come back this winter. They had some volunteers that showed up then abruptly left, leaving the refuge short handed.

We didn't have any commitments for the winter other than going to WY to spend Christmas with Jay and his family and going to the Rose Bowl Parade, but the Bosque didn't seem to mind the fact that we would be gone for 3 weeks in Dec./Jan. so we came back to New Mexico.

It has been pretty fun. Many of the same volunteers returned this year so there are lots of familiar faces, as well as some new ones. The weather has been a little milder than last year, and that is pretty nice.

We left the 5th wheel here in Dec. and drove to Casper to spend Christmas with the kids. The only bad roads we had were in New Mexico! We stopped in Walsenburg, CO and saw my brother in law Jerry and his new digs. Then on to Fort Colllins, where we spent one night with the Rulons. Always good to see old friends.

Mallorys threw a Christmas party while we were in Casper so we got to see lots of our friends that we wouldn't normally have had an opportunity to visit with. That was very fun. We went to Sundance for a couple of days and Jinx and Steve had a party while we were there, so we faired pretty good! We took Mom back to Casper with us Christmas eve and had a wonderful time with the kids. We got up early Christmas morning and headed back to New Mexico. We drove straight through from Casper to Santa Fe where we stopped and had dinner with Barry's brother Robert and his daughter who were skiing Santa Fe. Then got back in the truck and came on south to the Bosque. Then we left the Bosque the 26th for Pasadena.

We had an absolutely wonderful time at the Rose Bowl! What a great experience. The RV tour that we went on was very very well run and organized so perfectly. We all parked our rigs in the back parking lot of the Santa Anita Race Track. They provided a huge generator for our electricity. They fed us 3 large meals a day and bussed us everywhere. We helped build the float for the City of Sierra Madre. So much fun! There were about 140 of us on the tour and one morning we cut and viled 21,000 roses for the float. It was so much fun. We went through many of the float barns where they build all the floats, we went to the Huntington Library, and of course the parade. We had wonderful seating for the parade, right up close and personal! The weather was sunny and very Southern California like! that afternoon we went and saw all the floats parked so we were able to get pictures and get a better look at all of them. Just unbelievable!! So, that was really a great trip. If any of you consider doing that, Fantasy Tours throws a great party.

We came back to the Bosque and have been pretty sedate since then. We did ride the train to Santa Fe last week and that was very fun. The train is pretty new, so it is still very clean and the schedule is perfect for day trips. We drove to Belen, (about 1 hour north), boarded the train, rode to Albuquerque, got off and had breakfast, then boarded again and went on to Santa Fe. Plans are to build track to run the train all the way to Las Cruses so that will be really great when they get that done. We may have to come back to the Bosque in a couple of years just to ride the train!

We will be here until the end of Feb. I plan to fly to Portland to see my friend Vickie the last week of Feb. then we will probably spend March and part of April in AZ or some place warm. The temperatures in WY this year sure make us glad we aren't there!

We have plans to spend the summer in Dubois, WY. We will work 3 days a week at the Big horn Sheep Center there. We are really looking forward to it. The fishing is good there and we will only be 3 hours from Jay and his family so we are hopeful they will come camp with us a few weekends.
Only working 3 days a week will give us time to go to Sundance and other short jaunts during the summer. We will be in Minot June 6th for Marissa Aftem's wedding.