Florida trip

Hi All,

I'm heading to Florida next week to celebrate my mother's 80th birthday with her.  Looking forward to seeing her and some of my friends.  Wish the trip was longer and it will be a nice change from the desert, but John will be staying in NM with the cats.

Momma Cat is not doing well.  Her diabetes is worse regardless of what we do.  We think it's a tumor, but at age 16, there are limited things we can do other than attempt to make her comfortable.  Won't go into details or I'll end up crying again...

Took some pictures of her though.  She's such a wonderful cat...

Miss you all. 

Love VAL & JOHN

and the kitties!!!!!

White Sands

Hi Everyone,

John and I had hoped to go skiing yesterday, but the weather had other plans.  We got up early and drove to Ski Apache (where we skiied on Christmas).   It was a beautiful sunny day and by the time we got there just before 10AM it was already in the 40's.  The snow was more like shaved ice and melting.  We decided to forego our ski trip and instead drove down to White Sands National Monument.

We've been to White Sands before, but it's a remarkable place.  The sand is gypsum which has been crushed into a fine sand from the wind.

We did a short hike before the wind kicked up. 

We headed back home and plan to stay inside today.  It's cold and damp - only in the upper 20's right now.  We're expecting snow, sleet and freezing rain today.  We've had sleet a couple of times already.  Good day to read a book and cuddle up with the kitties by the fireplace.

Miss you guys,

Love,

VAL & JOHN and the kitties!!!!!



Tejas Trail

Hi Friends,

Last week John and I went for a hike in Guadalupe Mountains National Park in TX.  We went to the Dog Canyon area and hiked the Tejas Trail.  It's a very beautiful and extremely quiet part of the park.  The sky was blue and you could see for miles.  I took my camera and put it up to my binoculars to take this one picture.  If you click on it and look closely, the snow covered mountain in the background is Ruidoso, over a 100 miles away!

We continue hiking up and as we rounded a bend, I spooked a large bird in a tree.  It was a juvenile Golden Eagle.  Sadly, I didn't get a picture of the bird, but it was huge!  We also saw quite a few mule deer, lots of cougar tracks, and bones.  So the cougars are eating well this winter.

Most of the trail was dry, although a few spots in the higher altitude still had snow or were muddy.  I took a few pictures for you all...

Still rather chilly this morning.  So no exciting plans for today.  We'll be watching the Superbowl later - at least for  a while.

Miss you all.

Love,

VAL & JOHN & the kitties.....