Ticket to Ride

November 4, 2023 – Day 37

Paul had a lousy night’s sleep, really lousy. You see, Billy’s RV park is wonderfully close to the wildlife refuge. It’s also incredibly close to a very active train track as in right across the street. And did you know that trains blow their horn when they cross a road? And did you know that there was such a crossing right down the road? So we were camped about 800 feet from a train when it would blow its horn. At 1:30AM and 3:30AM. They also make a lot of noise. They make a lot of noise when they’re 75-100 cars long. That’s something we just don’t see a lot of up north.

Obviously, we had a slow morning but not without some excellent birding. A Curve-billed Thrasher was outside our window using that curved bill to dig holes in the ground that were 2-3″ deep. Dirt and rocks were flying in all directions! It was looking for bugs and they found fat grubs.

Nearer to the afternoon we decided to head down to the Wildlife refuge just to see what was what and to prepare for the “real” adventure the next day.

The Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge did not disappoint.

That’s about 1,000 Snow Geese and three Sandhill Cranes. Wow. Two life birds without even getting out of the Jeep. Listening to more than 1000 birds making their bird noises is quite an experience. There were also lots of ducks including this Northern Shoveler.

There are 12 miles of dirt roads around the various flooded fields. The fields are deliberately flooded as habitat for the migrating birds.

We were early for the migration. We were told in a few weeks there would be a lot more water and a lot more birds, as in 10s of thousands of Snow Geese and Sandhill Cranes.

And if you didn’t want to watch birds, you could just enjoy the scenery.

At the Visitor’s Center we got our all important stamps for our National Parks Passport book. Stamps, yes, plural! Not only was the Bosque Wildlife Refuge stamp there, but there was also one for the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail. This is great for Paul’s radio habit since if he placed his station within a hundred feet of the trail, he would have a “2-fer,” where he essentially gets double FIPs for doing the same amount of work. What’s a FIP? Susan coined this term awhile back, it is a Fake Internet Point, you know, those things you strive for that have no real value.

Then we saw more life birds at their bird feeder, including the impossibly cute Gambel’s Quail. That deely bopper atop their head bounces as they scoot along. The RV park was full of them running around making an adorable spectacle of themselves. (susan here: along with being impossibly cute they have cute little noises, one of which sounds a lot like a guinea pig.)

We drove around some more, seeing what the lay of the land was. We saw more birds, big groups of Sandhill Cranes, Buffleheads, Cattle Egrets and more. We were just about to leave the “South Loop” and Susan spotted this Greater Roadrunner. We parked just feet from it. It didn’t care.

As we exited the refuge proper we came across a sign for Point of Lands. Odd name but we followed the signs and came to a small parking area with informational kiosks. It had a killer view.

All the kiosks were severely damaged by the elements. Check out the old car making the journey!

On your travels here, you retraced layered footprints. Today’s railways and highways follow parts of El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro. This trail connected Mexico City to Okay Owingeh, near Santa Fe, more than four centuries ago. The 1,600-mile “Roval Road of the Interior Lands” followed an even older network of footpaths created by ancient cultures.

Paul really wanted to setup his radio here tomorrow but, even though there was a kiosk talking about the Trail, the parking lot was 800 from the trail, and the rules of the game say you must be within 100 feet. Oh well, FIPs are better than a view, right?

We were feeling the sun and the 4,600′ elevation. This combination can really tire you out — especially if you haven’t slept well. We decided to call it an afternoon and headed back to the RV park.

Daily: 0

Return Total: 547

Return Overall Miles/Day: 274

Return Driving Miles/Day: 137

Overall Total: 3,683

Total Driving Miles/Day: 335

Life Birds: 7 (this may change as we’re able to ID more birds from photos, like you need a disclaimer, LOL)

• Gambel’s Quail
• Green-winged Teal
• Long-billed Dowitcher
• Northern Pintail
• Northern Shoveler
• Sandhill Crane
• Snow Goose