New Mexico, new adventures

After Silver City we drove to Gila (as in monster) and visited a very interesting friend of a friend, a former nurse who grows and processes herbs and makes botanicals such as ointments, salves, and teas. She had quanset hut-type greenhouses, a straw bale drying shed, an irrigation canal, and lots and lots of plants. I was surprised to learn that the last frost could be as late as May 15 and the first frost in early October. She was at something like 7000f feet. We then beat feet (or is that beet feet?) to Alamagordo then on to Weed. Our Anchorage friends are classic snowbirds and have built a beautiful, relatively simple, elegant, small house in ranching country. We had a wonderful time learning about the area, meeting their friends, soaking in the high desert, and visiting. After they bought their property they had soil conservation and forestry people come by to offer advice; the clear message was to cut down 80% of the trees! By thinning out most of the junipers and pines, the ones that remain have a chance to thrive. And the grasses have a chance to grow. I guess that took about 3 years and their land is much more open than the adjacent unmanaged Forest Service land. Next step: bring on the cattle. Our friends let their neighbor graze cattle on the land and the cattle break up the soil, poop, and nibble the grass; all of which are good! We visited the cattle ranch and saw the one-day old calf... And we saw that cute little guy get kicked in the head when he tried to nurse from the wrong cow! While we were focused on that drama Nancy THOUGHT a bug landed on the back of her knee, so she swatted it. Turns out it was actually another calf that was checking out Nancy and the swat caused another bovine comotion! It's not all pastoral tranquility in the farmyard! After a couple of days we headed north, camped in Las Vegas, NM, then continued to Denver. We have visited with old rugby friends of nancy, walked through the quaint downtown of Golden, and took an awesome bike ride through the extensive bike trails of the greater Denver area. Tomorrowowe head to Fort Collins. Happy trails!