to enlarge
the guest book is limited to
approx. 250 characters
including spaces. For longer
messages please e-mail us at
morton@rmortonc.com
We found a campground nearby and we stayed there until our dental work was
finished. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get in touch with Dick to let him know that we had
switched locations, since he was camping somewhere else without a cell phone. He was
to meet us on Saturday at Pancho Villa Park for the festival. We contacted the ranger
station at the park where he was supposed to be and left a message for him to contact
us. We never received an answer from him so we were not sure if he had received the
message. So Chuck went to Pancho Villa Park and sat in the pickup for five hours
waiting for Dick. He finally managed to reach us but in the meantime a sand storm had
developed of such intensity that most of the celebration was cancelled. Since there
was nothing to see (but sand) we went to the dental clinic in Palomas and then to eat.
Dick left after we ate and on the following day we went to the museum. We were
lucky that someone had filmed the festivities that weren’t cancelled. They were trying
to transfer the film from camera to VCR but were having trouble. Chuck helped them
hook it up and we were able to view the film as it was being transferred.
And now a short story about “Runaway”. --- As we were setting up in the campground
where we spent the rest of our time in Columbus, a man drove up and asked if we had
seen a kitten. He had moved out on Monday and after arriving at his new destination,
he realized that a kitten was missing (He had 3 dogs and 5 cats.). The missing kitten
was 8 weeks old. He described it and then gave us his cell phone number in case we
saw the kitten. The first evening we heard it meow, but it was too shy and we couldn’t
find it in the dark. Renée fixed some tuna fish mixed with dry dog food and a saucer
of milk. The kitten had been on its own for four days and it was probably close to
starving. The following morning the milk and food were gone. That evening the kitten
could again be heard but not seen so we called the man. He came and sat in our “dining
room” and we sat the food and milk in the open doorway. Within a few minutes, the
kitten came in. The man was absolutely ecstatic. He was so gentle and loving with the
kitten, which was enjoying all of it. The kitten ate the food and as he was about to
leave, Renée asked if the kitten had a name. He said no, so she suggested the perfect
name “Runaway” which he immediately accepted. Shortly after he left with Runaway,
he called to relate the reactions of the mother cat when she saw her lost baby. It felt
good to have probably saved a life and made someone so obviously happy.
A few days after leaving Pancho Villa Park, we had to take Lobo to a vet because he
continually was biting on a spot on his tail (Lobo, not the vet). We speculated that it
was a cactus thorn. Lobo had to be given a tranquilizer and the vet determined that it
was a “Hot Spot” allergic reaction to something. We were given a Cortisone spray to
be applied twice a day. After about a week, it went away.
We stayed in Columbus until March 17th, spending the time visiting other state parks
(see photos), a trip to the ghost town Shakespeare (see photos), and a bicycle trip to
Mexico to see the rest of Palomas, not much of interest except a small church (see
photos).
Our next location was the small campground with only 8 sites at the foot of the Organ
Mountains on White Sands Missile Range (see photos). We wanted to stay there until
Renée returned from Germany but we were only allowed to stay four nights because
of advanced reservations that had been made for participants of the Bataan Memorial
March, paying tribute to the fallen service members of the Bataan Death March in
WWII. We moved to Oliver Lee State Park (see photos) during this time and then
back to White Sands on March 27th. On the 28th Renée flew from El Paso to Germany
where Klaus (her brother-in-law) picked her up and took her to Diedorf where a
supper of Leberkäs and Bavarian pretzels were waiting to be consumed.
To be continued
guest book is limited to approx. 250
characters including spaces. For
longer messages please e-mail us at
morton@rmortonc.com
guest book
in our guest book
