Black-throated sparrow. These little guys are so cute.

Cactus wren going into and out of a nest. The nest is supported on three sides by the prickly pear cactus.  There are three cactus wren nests around my site. I read online that they build two nests, one for young ones and one for roosting.

Sage thrasher

Gila Ladder-backed woodpecker (thanks Jonathan)

Some birds seen but not pictured: a pair of orioles, not sure which kind; a pair of pyrruloxia, Gambel’s quail, & sandhill cranes. A flock of sandhill cranes flew overhead one day and the next morning I heard them. There is no body of water nearby, so I was a little worried about them.

Along with lots of birds in the area, there are lots of insects. The tarantula above walked through my campsite one day. Made sure to wear my heavy hiking shoes when sitting outside after that. Sitting next to a retaining wall, your eyes are level with the ground and you see all kinds of insects.

Below, a curved-billed thrasher. The light at sunset is so incredible here.

I first visited Rockhound State Park in 2007, when I first started traveling. At that time, they were having problems with rain water damaging their roads and campsites. They have 4 or 5 full-time residents here that have worked hard building retaining walls around venerable  campsites.  Now it is hard to get a site. The best sites are reservable and the few remaining ones are taken by people that stay a long time.

Curved-bill thrashers

Cactus wren

Black-throated sparrow

A loggerhead shrike. The first one I’ve seen outside of Texas. Deming, New Mexico is, of course, close to Texas and Mexico. The plants around the campground remind me very much of the Big Bend area of Texas.

A Say’s phoebe flying above a bush to catch insects (top).

A Say’s phoebe and a rock wren (bottom)

Rock wren

Sage thrasher

Prickly pear cactus grow all the way to the top of the mountain that the campground is situated against. Only the cactus in the campground, however, still have “pears” on them. Found that some kind of rodent, think a rock squirrel, ate one next to one of my truck tires. There was a scooped out pear next to the tire with red juice sprayed on it.

After leaving Falcon State Park, I stayed at Lake Casa Blanca State Park, around 60 miles away, to wait out some bad winds. From there, went to Seminole Canyon State Park and Historic Site, just past the town of Del Rio. At Del Rio, you leave southern Texas brush country behind and enter the Chihuahuan desert. Next stop was the small town of Alpine, north of Big Bend National Park. I had thought I’d stop at Big Bend, but the weather this season has been too wild and more rain was due in two days. I continued on to Deming, New Mexico, to wait out that rain. It is always a bit of a jolt to leave the rural areas I have been staying in for a number of months and then drive the interstate through a large city, in this case El Paso to get to Deming.

In going from Falcon State Park to Deming, I had to stop at 4 border inspection stations. At the first stop, an agent even went into my trailer. First time that has occurred. Noticed they have a complex system of cameras and other equipment to get pictures of each car, both front and rear. Bet they are using face recognition software. Most checkpoints also had a working dog sniff your vehicle.

I love the town of Marfa, Texas, with it’s combination of art and ranching. It was most recently made famous as where Randy Quaid and his wife were arrested. I tried staying in Alpine, instead of Marfa, because they have nicer rv parks. Next time I’ll stick it out in Marfa’s one cramped park. You can boondock in rest areas if the weather permits (which it didn’t this trip).

Last year when I left Marfa heading to the I-10, I passed what you see in the picture above, out in the middle of nowhere. I was going around 60 mph and just made out the words Prada – Marfa. This time I made sure to drive slow and pull over to get a picture. It was created by artists in 2005. They got the approval of Prada to use their name. There are some purses and high heel shoes on display. The “door” is fake.

Ballroom Marfa is the non-profit art center that helped create the Prada – Marfa work. The second picture is obviously an old gas station made into an art center. The art community either reuses old buildings or builds new buildings that blend right in.

At Lake Casa Blanca State Park there were a couple of hundred dead fish on the shore. The visitor center said they were tropical fish that were not supposed to be there. They died as the water got colder. The second picture shows a caracara making a meal of one of the fish.

Pictured below: I was so surprised to see mountain goats a little past Seminole Canyon State Park and Historic Site. There were puddles of water in rocky areas that may have allowed them to graze there. Before the town of Marathon, and after the town of Alpine, saw several small groups of pronghorn elk.

Left drizzling, congested San Diego before Christmas, heading to the Gulf Coast of Texas. Made three stops in Arizona—Yuma, Casa Grande, and Benson (seen above), at Escapee parks. Started to get some pretty cold weather at night that required the use of the furnace. Stayed at Rockhound State Park in New Mexico one night before heading into Texas via El Paso.

Back-in rv sites at Balmorhea State Park.

One word to describe Texas…vast! Stopped at Balmorhea State Park the first night. My pull through rv site is shown above. Beautiful park based on their spring water. An oasis in the desert. There is a spring fed swimming pool and canals run through the park. Not many people there this time of year, very quiet and peaceful. Next day started to climb out of the desert into the hill country. Stopped at South Llano River State Park near the small town of Junction, Texas. The land was donated to the state by a rancher who wanted to allow others to enjoy the area the way he had. In the summer, people ride down the river in innertubes. A lot of the park is closed from October to April to protect nesting wild turkeys. There are still trails and several bird watching blinds open, where you can observe birds without them seeing you. There were lots of red cardinals (below). The park presented me with a sort of bait and switch. It was beautiful when I arrived, so I decided to stay two days. The second day it was freezing cold, with biting winds making it hard to stay outside. Do hope to stay at these two parks again.

Rockhound is a small park and because of construction there are even less sites available than usual. It is worth a visit even if, like me, you are not a “rockhound”.

Lots of raptors in the area. These appear to be black or red-tailed hawks.

Now at Rockhound State Park near Deming, New Mexico. Great views and great internet reception, rev-A with my EVDO card. The mountain tops have a lot of telecommunications equipment.