Sea to shining sea part 2

Sea to Shining Sea part 2

Feb 3

From Blythe we moved to Benson, Arizona, but not before making a quick stop in Tucson to have both coaches checked by Eric Olstrom, a former Country Coach employee. He looked at each coach, gave Stan a valve and charged nothing for the half hour he spent with us.  We plan to go back there on our way home and have him do the annual service on the coaches.

Benson is only about 30 miles from Tucson. After we got settled at Butterfield RV Park, Jerre and I drove to the Safeway, right next door. We drove so we could buy more than we could carry had we walked. We didn’t really need anything, but we went shopping anyway. Stan and Jerre spent the next day resting up and puttering around the motor home while Rob and I went to Karchner Caverns for a tour. Butterfield has an observatory and clear nights the resident astronomer holds viewing sessions. The two nights we were there were crisp and clear, however, the moon was full so that was the only object worth viewing. We skipped the opportunity. Besides the caverns, the only thing Benson is known for is trains. There is an unwritten rule that RV Parks must be adjacent to railroad tracks. Butterfield adheres to that rule. It seemed like trains ran through town every 15 minutes all day and night, blowing their whistles all the way through. 

Karchner Caverns is a living cavern meaning the typical cave formations are still growing. Reservations are required and small groups are taken through by an AZ Parks employee. No touching allowed, no cameras, no cell phones, etc, etc., so no pictures possible. The entrances to the cavern is hermetically controlled through air tight doors at each end of the entrance tunnel. The hope is this will control contaminants such as dust and lint from entering the cavern itself thereby maintaining the condition of the cavern when it was discovered. The cavern was discovered by two cavers in 1974. One of the cavers had heard a rumor there might be a cave under the hill. He found a sinkhole with an opening about the size of a grapefruit. When he investigated he observed bats flying out of the hole and on closer inspection he discovered air being blown out of the hole. He and his partner enlarged the hole enough to squirm through and, after several hours of squeezing through incredibly small openings they found a huge cavern. We learned all this through a movie that they made later on. (Watching the movie made me claustrophobic.) Realizing they had found something monumental they told no one about it for several years while they decided what to do about their find. They wanted the cavern to be preserved as they found it. (Of course, modifications were made when it became a State Park.) They enlisted the cooperation of the property owners, the Karchners, and, in secret, a few members of the Arizona legislators. It was awarded State Park status in 1988. Until then it was kept secret from everyone except a select group of politicians and reporters. The cavern is above ground level beneath the two hills in the photograph. Ground water seeps in through cracks in the limestone roof creating the stalactites, stalagmites, and other features. When it rains enough water seeps in to create a lake up to four feet deep. Paleontologists have dated remains of a giant sloth, a prehistoric horse and bat guano as old as 80,000 years, yet the formations are visibly younger looking than formations at Carlsbad Caverns.


Looking toward the cavern

Next stop San Antonio, New Mexico, a six hour drive.

Feb 5

San Antonio, NM is known for three things…the Owl Bar and Grill, the Buckhorn Tavern and the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. I’m not sure which of these three was our draw to the region.

The Refuge is winter habitat to thousands of cranes, ducks and geese. Bosque experienced normal precipitation in 2014, after a seven year drought, providing increased vegetation and food for the migrating waterfowl. The refuge is federally financed through the sale of Duck Stamps. $.98 of every dollar goes directly to purchase or lease of wetland habitat and provides the entrance fee to all National Wildlife Refuges. That’s my pitch to support the NWRs. 

On the approach the the Bosque Birdwatchers RV Park we noticed a field with hundreds of Sandhill Cranes and Snow Geese foraging for food.

It was early enough to take a tour through one loop of the Refuge. Last time Rob and I were here in the summer so we were anxious to see what winter was like and we were not disappointed: more Snow geese, Sandhill Cranes, Canada Geese, Pintail Ducks, Gadwalls, Ruddy Ducks, Northern Shovelers…I could go on with more ducks. But, we also saw Red Tail Hawks, Northern Harriers, American Kestrels and more. One sighting we thought might be a log on the far side of a pond turned out to be, using our scope, a Ferruginous Hawk having his dinner of a Snow Goose. 

On the way back to the RV park we stopped to witness cranes fly in to their overnight roost. The sun was just setting and the sight was incredible.

 There is a head count at the visitor’s center indicating over 15,000 Snow and Ross Geese and close to 2000 Sandhill Cranes. I wonder who got the job of counting them.


Snow Geese in fligh

Dinner had to be either the Owl or the Buckhorn. Both are known for their Green Chili Cheeseburgers. We chose the Owl, a true dive! The menu consisted of hamburgers a dozen ways, most  with green chili and cheese. There might have been a couple of steaks on the menu as well, but that was all. Dinner came with ranch beans, green chili (in a bowl), cottage cheese, green salad (lettuce), and French fries, besides your choice of burger. Rob and I have had the green chili cheese burger and green chili cheese fries before. We knew better than to order it again, but Stan and Jerre had to indulge since that’s what people come to the Owl to eat.

Feb 6

We went our separate ways bird watching today. Jerre woke early (at dawn) and watched the cranes moving from their night roost to the field we had seen them in yesterday. Rob and I started at the field. A couple of ranchers bring in 250 pounds of corn before dawn every day to feed the cranes and geese, thus the draw.

Afterwards we went back to the refuge and took the other loop. On the way there, in the evening roost pond, was a Bald Eagle having a Snow Goose for breakfast.


 Along the loop was more of the same as yesterday, maybe a few more and a few different birds. As we were leaving we noticed a commotion on the far side of a pond. We had to drag out the scope again to confirm our suspicions. We counted at least 6 Bald Eagles fighting over some unseen food source. Two were adults with white heads, the rest were full grown juveniles of some age without white heads. The white heads don’t develop until age 5.

Lunch time was approaching and we had agreed to meet at the Buckhorn so we could compare fare with the Owl. Friday seems to be the day everyone in the county comes to San Antonio and the Owl or the Buckhorn for lunch. We waited about 30 minutes before 4 seats at the bar opened up, then another hour for our lunch. Stan’s green chili cheeseburger was declared better than the Owl’s. 

Just before dusk we went back to the evening roost for photos of the cranes coming in. 

Another interesting site:


Next stop a short drive to Alamogordo and White Sands.

Feb 7

The Elks Lodge was our base of operations in Alamogordo, New Mexico. Most people are aware of the White Sands Missile Range, which is restricted access, but the dunes area is a national park and is an open playground. Archaeologists have discovered human activity here dating back 10,000 years. Trails crossed the dunes connecting small towns and providing access for salt collection. Legend has it that Billy the Kid roamed through working odd jobs before becoming an outlaw.

The dunes encompass 275 miles of the Tularosa Basin in the Chihuahuan Desert. The common mineral in the sand is gypsum. This is unusual because it is soluble in water. Precipitation in the mountains dissolves gypsum from the rocks carrying it to the basin where it is trapped because there are no rivers to drain the basin. Gypsum is deposited in crystalline form as selenite which eventually breaks down as sand-size particles light enough to be blown by the wind thus forming the dunes. Of interest is the fact that wildlife has adapted to the area by morphing into lighter shades, protecting them from predators.  Plant life has adapted as well. The Yucca sends its stalk up to 30 feet to protect it from being entirely covered by blowing sand. The blowing winds constantly move the sand around and when the Yucca is no longer supported by the sand, it collapses. Other plants create a massive root system which draws water up into the plant. The water mixed with sand creates a cement-like exterior protecting the plant. The water table is just under the surface this time of year. The sand actually felt wet to the touch.

Visitors to the dunes bring their beach chairs and umbrellas and make a day of sliding down the dunes or just sitting and enjoying the beauty.

The vastness of the white sands is an incredible site.