Sunrise over Lajitas

I know, it has been way too long again and I'm running out of excuses, but really, the Internet is soooooo slow here, I'm pulling my hair out (fortunately I have quite some) trying to upload or publish anything at all!

Let's start with posting the remainder of the pictures of our trip to the State Park we made last time around.

After our visit to the Contrabando movie set we passed the Contrabando Trailhead. We'll probably hike part of this famous trail somewhere in the future when it gets a little cooler.

      

On the other side of 'the hill' we came a crossed a few 'hoodoos'! Huh? Yeah, hoodoos.

A hoodoo (also called a tent rock, fairy chimney, and earth pyramid) is a tall, thin spire of rock that protrudes from the bottom of an arid drainage basin or Badlands.

There's an area a little farther down the road that has lots more but we'll visit that some other time.

Next up was 'Closed Canyon". This is a deep, narrow canyon, 10 to 15 feet wide and enclosed by sheer, vertical walls up to 150 feet high, cutting through Colorado Mesa to the Rio Grande.

It can be really hot in this desert in the summer but this canyon is mostly in shadows all day which make for a wonderful cool hike, especially early in the morning which was when we were there.

The short trail follows the bottom of the canyon until a series of high pour-offs prevent further travel down.

It gets it's name, as you can see, from it's narrow width; in some places it can be spanned by holding out your arms.

After almost 3 gorgeous weeks of nothing than sunshine and very warm temperatures we finally had some storms passing through!

It cooled of considerably, which I didn't mind because it was a little too warm for my liking, but what I didn't like is the way the rain turned this desert soil into very ugly slippery, sticky MUD!

Ugh! Enter 2 animals and you have some cleaning up to do!

When the sun came out these Great-tailed Grackles took their baths. 

It's a large flock that hangs around here. I like to hear their specific creaks and whistles they make. They're always chattering away and are fun to watch!


On one of the (very) cold mornings, just before the storm came through, this Roadrunner sat huddled next to the RV waiting for the sun to rise and increase in strength so he could warm up. He kept fluffing out his feathers to catch the rays, it was too cute!

And these interesting 'Stick Insect' critters I find all around here. That is, if you can see them ...

Here's  another one on my fridge.

                                   

Oh, and I baked the chocolate chip-coconut-almond cookies Todd posted on his face book page :-).

(They're delicious Todd!)

No better ending than with cookies, I think. If I can, I start with them too, actually. I know, I'm a cookie monster!