Leaving today, sad. We got up early and got everything ready to go. We realized we still had a couple hours before we had to vacate the site, so we decided to go for a final hot tub!

My original itinerary for the trip home had us stopping at 4 Cracker Barrels: Albuquerque, NM; Amarillo,  TX; Springfield, MO; and Terre Haute, IN. But Scott felt he could drive farther each day and if we did, we'd get home a day earlier. So we ended up doing 3 Cracker Barrels: Albuquerque, NM; Oklahoma City, OK; and Effingham, MO (which was a lot of fun making fun of, "where in the Effingham are we?). All were very nice, and eating at them is a great way to add fun to the trip home. Here's a sunrise Scott caught one morning.

And we arrived home to a little snow on the ground. Sigh. Here is a comparison of our last moments in Tucson and our arrival home.

We got up early because we wanted to get a hike in that was 45 minutes away and have time for lunch at a Mexican restaurant. We had our coffee and exercised and then we headed to Kartchner Caverns State Park, which we knew about because we went there a few times a couple years ago when we stayed at the Benson KOA. We wanted to do the Guindani Trail again, so that's what we did. It was a beautiful day and the hike was awesome. This year, there was water in the stream on the back side of the mountain. Scott noticed this time that there are no saguaro cacti around here, just agave, prickly pear, and maybe small barrel cactus. Lots more trees and bushes.

​It's mah 65th birthday today. I got to talk to Thome after our hike and Thomas in the morning. After our hike we tried a new (to us) Mexican restaurant, Little Mexico. It was cute but the food was not that great; maybe we were maxed out on Mex. After we got back to the KOA, we rode our bikes around the campground for an hour. It was very pleasant, and lots of people were sitting outside or walking their dogs.

And we finally saw another Vintage Cruiser, and it was a Woody, like ours. Theirs was a lot bigger and it had a slide. The owner said she loved it. And then we came back and had a fire. Scott's going to watch some tv with Thomas and when that's done, I'll ask for my birthday present, more cards!

After our usual morning routine, we hit the hot tub! It felt great after that long hike yesterday. Then we played tennis at Reffkin again for 1.5 hours. Then we went back to Saguaro National Park and hiked the Cactus Flower and Lime Falls trails. Total trip was 4 miles and it took us 1.5 hours. It was a beautiful, beautiful path. I didn't expect it. I thought it would be flat and dry and boring, but it was green and varied and hilly. 

Then we did a Walmart run, came back to the campsite, and while I made dinner, Scott watched a show with Thomas. Then we had a night time hot tub! The tub closest to us was occupied, so we rode our bikes over to the main hot tub which was empty after a guy and his daughter got out after about 5 minutes. 

Wow we had an awesome day and an epic hike. The day started early. The campground announced it would shut the water off at 8 am to fix some leaks, so I got up before 6 to put a load of laundry in. Then we did our usual morning routine: coffee, exercise, relaxing. This day we had breakfast because of the challenging activity we had planned.

Our hike was back in Saguaro National Park. We walked all the way to Bridal Wreath Falls this time, on the same path we started a couple days ago: Loma Verde to Squeeze Pen to Carrillo, then onto the new trails of Three Tank, Douglas Spring, and Bridal Wreath. It was a 12.5 mile hike, and it took us 5.5 hours. It was an absolutely beautiful day, the temperature was mild (low 70s), the sky was bright blue, a few puffy clouds were floating above the peaks, and there was a light breeze. The paths wound through a hilly terrain at the base of the mountains, so there was always something different to see. Very beautiful. 

Bridal Wreath Falls had water. The view here was amazing. 

In the evening, we did our typical routine: Scott watched a movie with Thomas while I did dishes from breakfast and made dinner. When Thomas went to bed, Scott and I had a drink and played cards. Then we went to bed and watched a couple episodes of the Chosen before falling asleep.

One awesome feature of this KOA is that there are citrus trees all over the campground. The fruit seems to be ripe now. Every day, I see mounds of fruit on some campsites' tables, and the KOA puts some in baskets at registration that anyone can take. I picked up two grapefruit from the registration building and an orange. Both were delicious, though not as sweet as at home. We have a tree at our site, but it's not doing too well. I hope it will be okay, but the few fruits on it are all dark, shriveled, and hard as a hockey puck. 

We had another great day. We had coffee, exercised, and lazed about until 11:30. Then we headed out to Reffkin Tennis Center, another local tennis facility. It was also amazing! It cost $2.50 to play. There are 17 tennis courts, some pickleball courts, a wall, and I saw several ball machines and one guy using a ball machine. You don't have to be a member. Wow. We played for an hour and a half. It was fun. Then we drove to a bike trail and rode for an hour and a half. The trail was very nice. It's paved, wide, and it goes through some pretty landscape. The last third we rode was along a major street, and it was very hilly, so I didn't like that very much. The other part was all the usual desert plants, plus a roadrunner ran right across the path in front of us! Going north, one's view is mountains. Pretty nice.

Then we came home and had a hot tub! After that, we took showers and made dinner: meatballs again! Time for an evening walk around the campground and then cards.

By the way, why no photos or news of the the White Ingrate? We didn't bring him! My friend Ruth is watching him. This trip has been a LOT more pleasant without him. I am a little sad when I see other people walking nice and pretty dogs, but the White Ingrate was not fun, so traveling without him is, in the end, much better.

Today was a good day. We had coffee, Scott had breakfast, and then we exercised. Then, we headed out about noon for a trail in the Saguaro National Forest.  We were intending to do Bridal Wreath Falls. We used AllTrails to navigate. Oh jeez. We got to a dirt road that forked; one way led through gates and there was a sign saying "this ain't the way to Bridal Wreath Falls." The other was a narrow dirt road. I said, no thanks, let's find the actual entrance to this place.

So we googled it. Google maps said 20 minutes. We started and went down a road for a mile or so and hit "road closed" signs. The road looked washed out. We turned around and went another way. Finally, we got to the entrance. It was swarming. There was no available parking at the visitors' center, but a ranger at the entrance gave us a map and suggested other places to park, so we had what we needed.

The park has an 8-mile loop road, along which there are a few trail heads. There are many trails in this part of the park (there's an eastern area and a western area; this is the eastern), and it would be a long hike to get to most of  them. I guess that's why AllTrails shows you how to get to them by parking along city streets, which out here means remote, narrow, and possibly washed-out dirt roads.

Anywho, we parked at the Loma Verde trail head, got on that trail but quickly switched to Squeeze Pen, and then got onto the Carrillo Trail. It was a fabulous trail, and the day was beautiful, sunny and warm. It was probably mid-70s at least; in fact, I got a little hot. Scott carried plenty of water for us, still, I got so tired. There was a fair bit of climbing; maybe that was it. On this trail, we crossed a stream with running water! Maybe coming from Bridal Wreath Falls? We are planning on going on this trail again and making it to the falls so we'll find out. We hiked for 3 hours, probably about 7 miles.

There were cool rocks, beautiful and varied plants, but very little wildlife. We saw a phainopepla again at the start of the trail, a sparrow, a small lizard, some tiny butterflies, and some insects.

Then we came home and made dinner. Scott had a webinar and I practiced. Then we relaxed.

So today was a day of chores and errands. We needed groceries. The hotspot died last night, so I needed a new one. The KOA's wifi is terrible. The propane firepit had an accident so to fix it, Scott disassembled the electronic ignition, and to bypass it and reattach the propane tank, he needed to find a particular propane fitting.

Oh, but before heading out, we hopped on our bikes to check out the hot tub.  Occupied, but by just one man, so we went in. We stayed about 30 minutes. It was awesome.

So then we started our chores. First, we went hunting for the propane fix. We went to one RV store, then to Camping World, then to a hose and fitting store, where the super helpful guy made Scott a new hose and assembly. Then we headed to BestBuy for a new hotspot. I waited a loooong time for help (they were short staffed). After I got the hotspot, we got lunch. Then we went shopping at Walmart.

Back at the site, I realized that the hot spot was the wrong thing as soon as I read the packaging. It only works on its service; doesn't work on ATT. While I was still trying to set it up just to make sure (I never got it to even connect to anything), Scott was attaching the hose to the propane tank. But something was going wrong and it took him a while to figure out. He got it working, and then we headed out to the ATT store, which happened to be near the BestBuy. The rep was super nice but ATT is so screwed up. He said he couldn't really help and that I should go to BestBuy. OMG. I pressed him to give me other options through ATT, and they were just plain astronomical. You have to buy the device—okay, not a problem—then you have to pay for service. A lot. And you have to keep paying for the service all year; you can't just use it when you need it. So I said no thanks.

On my way out, I saw a Verizon store. I went over and in 15 minutes had a hotspot that I can use as often as I want. It's a prepaid plan. I buy the device ($80) and then a service plan. I chose 25 gigs for 30 days for $60. When I don't pay next month, the number is deactivated, but when I want to use it again (next December), I go back to Verizon, they give me a new number, and I prepay for service. Unbelievably easy and sensible. I don't know what ATT is thinking. Oh, and then I called and canceled the extra line I was using for the ATT hotspot. That felt good. Then I tried to return the wrong hotspot device to BestBuy and they took it! That felt amazing!

So in the end, it was a successful day. No hiking, no tennis (but I did talk to a man at BestBuy who recommended some courts to us), but at least these issues worked out in the end. We have wifi, we have fire, we have food.   

We got up early and had our coffee. Then we started to pack up because we wanted to be out early enough to get to our 10 am tennis reservation at the Mesa courts. We got there in plenty of time. We played for 70 minutes and had a lot of fun. Those courts are really beautiful. There are orange trees all around. Scott picked one and ate it. Then we headed out to Tucson. 

So we arrived in Tucson around about 3 pm. A new KOA. How would it be? Well, it is beautiful. It is enormous. We rode our bikes around after dinner and it took us 30 minutes. There are lots of orange trees, hedges, and trees. The sites are pretty darn big for a KOA. It is a very pleasant atmosphere. Our site is very nice. We have a concrete patio with a metal patio table and chairs. We have an orange tree and a hedge right along the side of our campsite, giving privacy from the neighboring monster RV. Soon after we arrived, we saw 2 roadrunners running around the site. There are two pools, two hot tubs, and 2 bath houses. However, that's not enough for all theses campers. The bathrooms are okay, not all that clean. We walked to the hot tub about 5 pm. It was teeming. We left and went up about an hour later on our bikes. Still full. We checked out the other hot tub near the front of the campground. Packed. We gave up. It is Sunday, so hopefully things will be less busy tomorrow. 

We arrived at the KOA at 3:35. We're always anxious to see what an unfamiliar campground will be like. This one was not too bad for Arizona. The RV parks you see from the highway all over Arizona are downright depressing to me. Who knows? Maybe there are many tucked away from the highway that are lovely, but the ones I see are dumpy, dusty, dry, crowded, and brown. They look like parking lots either in the middle of nothing or riddled through with and surrounded by rusty, decaying buildings and trash.

So this KOA has trees and cacti sprinkled around, and it looks nice. Our site is actually pretty private and nice. I just need to get used to it. It's not perfect, but there are plusses and minuses, and in the end, the plusses far outweigh the negatives.   

Minuses of this KOA

• I feel a tenser ambiance, like what rats probably feel when they're packed together in some experiment. Sites are no closer together than in any other KOA, so I don't know where I'm getting the impression. Maybe seeing on arrival a line of people carrying laundry to the laundry room and our placement next to tent sites, with the one next to us a bit hillbilly-looking (although probably pretty pleasant on the inside). UPDATE: The ambiance of this campground is super nice, and all the people we've run into have been as nice as anywhere.  
• There is only one bathroom for the whole campground. There are 133 sites! The ladies have 3 toilets and 3 shower stalls. The men have 2 toilets and 3 showers. Scott said there was a line to use the johns when he went at 7:30 am. Update: Scott has been going in a little earlier in the AM and having no problem. I've never had a problem going to the bathroom or getting a shower when I wanted one.
  
  One thing we are doing for the first time on this trip is using our RV toilet, but we use it only for tinkle. We still use the KOA facilities for showers and their toilets for doo-doo. But being able to use the RV kitchen sink for water and washing dishes and the RV toilet has been a game-changer. We didn't hook up to water before on our February trips because we were apprehensive about water freezing and plus we were newbies to the sewer-dumping process. However, on this trip I insisted we use it because I was tired of carrying dirty dishes to the outdoor sink (or the bathroom if there was no outdoor sink!) and trekking to the KOA johns in the middle of the night. If the johns were too far, I'd use a porta potti that I have, but that was a pain because I'd have to empty it every morning.
• At Las Cruces, we had full hookup (water, electric, and sewer). Here there is no sewer hookup. So in the middle of the week, we will have to hitch the camper up and drive over to the dump station. It's a chore because there is a lot of leveling and stabilizing that Scott has to do. I'll probably have to secure some stuff inside the camper as well, but not as much as if we were heading onto the road. Update: We have had to dump once, and it was not too bad. It took Scott almost 30 minutes to unhook and get the RV ready to drive 20 yards. So it's ideal to have full hook up, but not too bad if you don't.
• Their wifi sucks. The receptionist warned us it's good only for minimal searching, no streaming. Thank goodness we have our WeBoost and hotspot, though we pay through the ass for the latter. Update: our WeBoost and hotspot have been working pretty well. 
• Our site is on the end of a row. In the end, this is awesome because it gives us a lot of privacy. But we are next to a fence that hides the workers' equipment and sheds. They work over there and we hear a lot of noise. My view is fairly blocked, but Scott can see straight over it because he's tall. Update: One day it was super noisy, but it hasn't been bad since.

Plusses of this KOA

• There is a hot tub. It is small and tucked into a kind of gross corner, but it exists. Two people were in it yesterday and it didn't look big enough to hold more politely. Update: it holds about 6–8 people. We've been in three times in 6 days, about any time we wanted. We have shared with at most 3 others, and they have been nice.
• Our site is located next to the showers, bathrooms, laundry, pool, and hot tub.
• As mentioned, our site actually gives us great privacy. We will never see neighbors on the main side of the site. The tent people are visible only looking out the window on the other side. We have two big trees at the back of the site with lots of foliage.
• Over the fence, we can see the Superstition Mountains.

Creepy hot tub. 

We lazed around until about noon. Then we headed over to Usery Mountain Regional Park. We had hiked here two years ago and loved it. And today, OMG we had such a fabulous hike! We started on the same trail, the Blevins Trail, which is a mostly gravel and sand path through hilly terrain filled with a variety of desert plants and sprinkled everywhere with saguaro. It's so gorgeous. We added the Cat's Peak Trail, which climbed to a beautiful view and went through similar terrain as Blevins, though the trail was more narrow. We got back to the parking lot and felt ready for more so we made another loop out of bits of the Noso, Blevins, Cat's Peak, Meridian, and Pass Mountain Trails. It was extremely pleasant, maybe our favorite hike. Total hiking time was about 2.5 hours and about 7.5 miles. 

We saw a lot of wildlife! Unfortunately, they all move quickly and it's hard to be sure exactly what you're seeing. We saw a number of rabbits, a lizard (I don't know what's out here but it looked like an anole), prairie dogs, prairie chickens or partridges, chipmunks, a hummingbird, a Gila woodpecker (I think), and a number of sparrow-sized birds with all different sorts of markings.

At our campsite we have routinely mourning doves, thrashers, cactus wrens, and some other birds I haven't identified yet.

We got out about 11 am and headed straight to Usery Mountain Regional Park again. We first hiked the Wind Cave trail, a narrow and steep climb to a cave. It's gorgeous the whole way and a good workout. It got a little scary for me in places, but not as bad as the last time we hiked it two years ago.  

Then we went and had a carb-filled and delicious lunch at Nandos, and then we went to some beautiful courts in Mesa and played tennis for an hour. It was a lot of fun. We got back to the campground and checked out the hot tub hopefully. No dice. It's packed with people who weren't going anywhere. Not much of an amenity if you can never get in it.

We woke early--6:30 am mountain time. We had coffee and exercised. At 9 the hot tub was open and empty, so we ran to the camper, got ready, and ran to the hot tub. A guy was stepping into it. We said "screw it, we're going anyway." He was nice, and once we were in the tub, we realized it's plenty big enough to hold 6 stranger couples. I wouldn't want to be the fifth and sixth person stepping into it, but it wouldn't bother me if a fifth and sixth person came in when we were already in it. Anywho, it was a.m.a.z.i.n.g. Later, another guy came in for about 15 minutes, also nice, and then the original guy's wife. They were from BC, Canada, and we had a nice chat with them. 

After hot tub, we headed back to Usery Mountain Regional Park! We hiked Pass Mountain Trail. It was AMAZING. It was 7.5 miles and it took us 4 hours. I logged 22,000 steps on my fitbit. The trail was 98% fun and 2% absurdly scary. The worst was at the peak of the trail; we had to cross what was basically an f-ing cliff face, slanted down toward the cliff below. One fellow jogged across it as I was on my butt gripping the sides with my nails. Another couple passed us and walked across like it was a sidewalk in the city. Scott wasn't afraid at all but I had to cross it on my hands and knees. I was terrified and felt nauseous.  After that, the trail was normal again for a bit, and then it got scary, narrow and on the edge of a steep, steep slope; plus, we were high up. The views were absolutely stunning. I wish I wasn't so afraid of heights, but so it is.

This is where I panicked. 

When we got back to the campground, we ate dinner outside! It was warm and sunny.

We sat outside today by the fire drinking our coffee. We took off at 9:30 to head back to the Mesa tennis courts. We played for an hour and had a lot of fun. Then we went to Walmart, came back to the KOA, and made a bee line for the hot tub. Only one other odd person was there, so it was super nice.

Next, we tried a new place to hike, Lost Dutchman State Park. It cost more to get in than Usery ($10 vs $7), and was okay. The views of the mountains were beautiful, the terrain was a little different so it was something new, and the first third of the path shot almost straight up the mountain so it was a good workout (which after Pass Mountain yesterday and tennis this morning, I didn't really need). The second third was super rocky and a chore to hike. The last third was a nice walking trail but the views were less amazing. Pleasant, but not stunning. I don't think we'll do this one again. We hiked the Treasure Loop to the Prospector's View to the Jacob's Cross Trail. The trails were not well marked at all but we didn't get lost until we came out into the wrong parking lot. Thank God Scott could figure out the map. I would have been lost and I was exhausted.

Then we went to Nando's. Again. It's so good.

Well, today we were quite exhausted, me especially. We exercised, Scott fixed a couple things, and we took a bike ride around the campground for about 15 minutes. Then I practiced for 2 hours and Scott watched a webinar. Then we went to the hot tub again!

We were planning on going over to Usery again and walking some easier paths for a couple hours, but then we didn't have enough time before Scott and Thomas were scheduled to watch a show together. In the end, I'm glad because my legs really really need a rest. They watched their show, and I read Citizen of the Galaxy.

We woke up with enough energy and strength to go hiking. We drank our coffee and exercised; then Scott fixed something else that fell off the camper and I did dishes. Then we did a half-hour hot tub and after that, we headed out to Usery again to do Pass Mountain Trail again!

It was an absolutely beautiful day. The temperature was perfect and there was a small breeze. The scenery was again stunning. The trail is challenging, with plenty of climbing and walking over rocks but often it's sand or pebbles and generally comfortable to walk. ​

I was still scared at the scary parts of the trail, but less so this time. I studied the death trap that the locals call "the saddle" before walking over it. It wasn't AS steep as I imagined the first time, and I realized I wouldn't die if I fell, though I would be covered in cactus barbs. I get scared up there because it's VERY high up and exposed. 

When we got back, we had another hot tub and then we ate our meatball dinner outside.

Our plan for this year's February trip was to get to warmth as quickly as possible. I mapped out various Cracker Barrel stops to three final weeklong destinations (Las Cruces, Phoenix, and Tucson), and then various Cracker Barrel stops to home. As per usual, the plan was adapted once we got going.

Then it was on to Bloomington to see our son. We arrived early enough to go for a long hike with him and then get dinner at the Cracker Barrel. We went back to his apartment, where he and his dad watched their show and I chilled. Like literally and figuratively because he keeps the temperature at like 55 degrees. Anywho. 

During the day, we could see the Organ Mountains.

You could see the view sitting at the table.

Right before we left, I said I wanted to get a propane fire pit. I'd been debating it a long time. On the one hand, I prefer a real fire a million times over, but on the other hand, you can't take enough wood for a monthlong trip or buy any good wood when you're traveling to make all the fires you'd want. My sister has had a propane pit for a while and I discovered I enjoyed sitting around it more than I thought I would. So we picked one up and we're both so pleased. You can fire it right up and it's quite enjoyable. It's not as nice as real, no question, but it's pretty nice. And it's always available, with instant and easy startup.

On our first day, we headed out to the Desert Peaks National Monument area in the Organ Moutains. We followed AllTrails looking for the Achenbach Trail, couldn't find it, and wound up at the Bar Canyon Trail. We hiked for about 2 hours. It was awesome!

Here are some pics from the day although I can't honestly say that these were all from this trail. I may have mixed some in from the next day.

The next day we went back to the same area, but this time we went on a bunch of trails that start with the Dripping Springs Trail and then make a big loop back to the starting point at the visitors' center. Dripping Springs ends at a tiny dribble of water coming out of the rocks, and there are 2 historical sites there as well. One is Van Patten's camp, which was a recreational resort for folks in the 1800s and early 1900s. Several buildings are still standing. The other is Boyd's sanitorium. Some of those buildings are standing, too, and they are creepy. The hike was beautiful.

​Next we took another trail, the Crawford Trail, which led to an offshoot trail, the Fillmore Canyon Trail. We went down that. I saw a mule deer on the way, but it was too fast for me and I didn't get a photo. The end of Fillmore was a bunch of huge tumbled rocks, many worn smooth and round by water that was not there now. It was bone dry. Very pretty.

​We came back out to the Crawford Trail and it soon turned into or onto La Cuerva (the cave) Trail. Indeed, there was a small cave along the trail. Then the trail led back to the visitors' center. Total hiking time was 3 hours. 

The Organ Mountains, according to some literature at the visitors' center, were formed by an upwelling of a shit-ton of magma into the sedimentary layers formed during the time the Southwest was a massive inland sea. This orogeny makes for loads of cool rocks. 

We used the morning to get some projects done. Scott put in a new clear window with a shade in the RV door to replace the frosted glass, he painted the tires so they look like whitewalls (like the original tires, but they blew and he bought better tires but no whitewalls), then he took apart our propane tubing and valves because we had a leak and all the propane was gone, and I worked on this blog writing about this vacation instead of living it. After that, we went hunting for propane replacement parts. First we went to the RV store. They had only the valve bit but not the hose. Then we went to Home Depot. They don't have propane stuff. Then we went to Griffin's propane. The guy who knows parts was out for a bit so we had to go away and come back. 

But we were close to super nice tennis courts! So we went and played tennis. It was fun but it was pretty windy, which did interfere quite a bit with the play. Hopefully we can play again there when it is not windy.

​Then we went back to Griffin's and the fellow helped Scott get the one hose off the part that needed replacing, then we went home and ate dinner. After that we had an hour of daylight left and we decided to go for a bike ride. We had spotted a nice bike path along the Rio Grande. So we went and did that. It was very pleasant. Cold, but a pleasant ride. The Rio Grande is not that wide here and it is bone dry. I googled and found out they divert the water with dams and levees this time of year and they'll start to release it when growing season begins. About a mile down the path, there was some water flowing into the river. There were a lot of birds hanging out there—geese, ducks, crows or ravens, and doves.

Day 4 we decided to hike City of Rocks. We were there two years ago on our Western trip and we really loved it. It was an hour and a half drive from our campsite, but we thought it would be worth it. It was. We hiked the Hydra Trail again, and the Table Top Trail. We hiked for 3 hours. The temperature alternated from needing a coat to not as we went through shade or sun. It was a beautiful day.

​City of Rocks is an igneous formation that has been eroded into pillars over the years. According to the display in the visitors' center, there were eruptions starting 35 million years ago and repeating periodically. There is a lot of pumice because lots of the eruptions went high in the air.

We had lunch at a picnic table near the visitors' center and then headed home. 

As soon as I sat down at the picnic table, birds started flying in. In all, three different species visited us. One flew right on to Scott's head! I thought it was a wood thrush, but after buying a guide to local birds later in the trip, I am pretty sure it's a cactus wren. Then we saw a bunch of black-throated sparrows, and finally, there was a thrasher of some sort, curved-billed, Bendire's, or Crissal's. There are 3 thrashers here, and I can't tell them apart. Also we saw a hawk or falcon soaring. It was big and beautiful.

There is a botanical garden at City of Rocks with little plaques in front of various species.

Some plants probably look a bit different when it's summer; I was curious about "Bird of Paradise" and found this picture on the web.

Our plan was to do the Pine Tree Trail on the other side of the Organ Mountains.. But it was rainy and chilly early in the day, so we decided to wait a bit before going. So, in the morning, we hung out at the camper. Scott was making an improvement to the bed and fixing the exercise band in his truck. I was working on this post, doing dishes, and exercising. Then we went to Walmart to pick up supplies. 

Then it was off to Pine Tree. Slushy snow was falling as we headed out of the KOA! As we got to about 20 minutes before the trailhead, the weather got bad. The snow was fairly heavy. Traffic on the highway slowed. Then we turned onto our turnoff with 15 minutes to go to get the the trailhead. There was a sign about watching out for bad weather and windy roads. I started to get nervous. About 2 miles up the road, the gate was pulled closed. There was a camp host station at that point and a couple of cars. A guy in a truck saw us arrive and came over. He was in an NPS truck, so not sure if he was a ranger or the camp host. He said he'd just closed the gate because a car had gotten stuck up the road, and he could not get to them because the road was so bad. He said we could park and hike the terrain or walk up the road.

We decided to walk up the road. It was slushy but tires had left tracks where we could walk snow free. The hike turned out to be exceptionally fun and beautiful. We never made it to the trailhead, but we walked 1 hour 20 minutes out and another 1 hour something back.  The landscape was lovely, with hills, mountains, various flora, and beautiful rocks tumbled onto hills and into canyons. 

When we were ready to turn around, we decided to hike up a small hill that promised a good view. On the way we saw a statue of Mary! Scott made another statue out of rocks. In the basin below, we could see White Sands Missile Range. It wasn't that exciting.

Reading the reviews of this trail, a couple people saw oryxes. These were brought in from the Serengeti decades ago and now they roam the area. I was hoping to see one, but alas, I did not. We did see cows. A couple, one a baby, even crossed the road in front of us.

When we got back, the setting sun was hitting the mountains and the dark clouds were above. It looked like they were on fire!