After cleaning up, the 4 of us sat outside drinking coffee and chai and then loaded their CRV for a 13 mile drive to Rockhound State Park. It is popular among hikers looking for spectacular views, and among rock enthusiasts looking for unique rocks and minerals. You can find silica, quartz crystals, agate, common opal, jasper, plus thundereggs and geodes and visitors are welcome to take up to 15 pounds of rocks per person. We hiked about 2 miles on the trail around the park and campground hoping to find some "special" gems. We were diligent in our task and brought back numerous "treasures" that we thought looked like unique rocks. The volunteer in the visitors center, who was extremely helpful and knowledgeable looked through all of them. We did have some jasper and 1 fossil, but nothing to write home about!!!!
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| Beautiful scenery on the way to Rockhound! |
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| The visitors center. Love the adobe style building! |
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| These are the thundereggs and geodes we were hoping to find! |
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| Aren't they beautiful when they are cut and polished?? |
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| Ready to start hiking the trail. |
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| A collared lizard that had legs like a frog and jumped like one! |
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| Cute, huh??? |
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| Leaping Lizards, he/she found a friend! |
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| This one was trying to get an overview of the park! |
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| The prickly pear cacti were everywhere! |
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| ......and everywhere. This hillside will be covered in yellow flowers in a few weeks. |
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| These yellow flowers looked like buttercups! |
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| Flowers everywhere. Everyone is telling us we are here at the right time. This is the most "bloomin" spring they have had for years and years, since they had more rain then usual early spring! |
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| The ocotillo cacti are so unusual looking and have very pretty flowers on the end of each tip! |
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| Found out from the park volunteer that these are Mexican Bird of Paradise. Not at all like what I think of as Bird of Paradise! |
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| The bird of paradise flower up close and personal! |
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| Getting ready to really bloom! |
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| Quite a setting for a rest! |
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| Checking out our "finds"! |
We left there around 1:45 and drove to another park about 3 miles away to a great picnic area to enjoy our lunch. Another great view to "eat by". From there we headed he Deming Luna Mimbres Museum where you view artifacts including hundreds of examples of frontier life, crafts and the largest Mimbres potery collection on display. It was unbelievable. The amount of time and energy that went into putting this together and the number of rooms with so much memorabilia was beyond comprehension. People donated lots of antiques and collectibles that were so valuable. We had fun reminiscing about toys from our childhood and many things we remembered our parents and grandparents had and used.
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| Another great luncheon view! |
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| including more flowers! |
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| This road had a 17% grade. When you got to the top, you really couldn't see which way the road went! |
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| The old Artillery is now a great museum! |
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| This is just one of the dozens of rooms - the doll and toy room! |
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| Shirley Temple dolls! |
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| So many pieces of early Indian pottery! Many of the bowls were pieced together from ruins they had found! |
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| Pottery and arrowheads! |
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| They had a western area complete with a chuck wagen! |
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| One entire room was donated by one person and was his rock finding collection. I'm jealous! We couldn't even find one of these special rocks! |
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| How would you like to get your hair curled or permed with these special rollers! |
After leaving there we stopped at the Red Roof Rock Store to see if they thought anything we had found was worth cutting and polishing. Unfortunately, they agreed with the women at Rockhound Park - we had some nice findings, but nothing that was worth spending any money on.
We returned to the CG by 5:15 and showered. I talked to my friend, Polly, who had surgery yesterday and we had such a nice conversation. She is doing well and hopes that the surgery will do its job and she will be good as new very soon!
The 4 of us grilled and were able to eat our dinner outside. A gorgeous evening, so we sat out discussing tomorrow's activities. Moved indoors around 8 and the women won Sequence Dice and Skip-Bo.
This was another very special day and you have to love the warm temperatures with the low humidity! Looking forward to going to Las Cruces tomorrow to the Farmers Market and the Cinco De Mayo Fiesta. Should be another great day!
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