Oscar and the Chipmunk . . .

High in the Colorado Rockies, exists the nemesis of every little Foo Foo dog. The Rocky Mountain Chipmunk, also known by its latin name, Doggus Tormentus . . .

Now Doggus Tormentus does not bother humans, rather he trains us to feed him by spreading seed on a board . . .

or on our knee . . . (My, my, what fat little cheeks you have, Gordo!)

Oscar's knees are too little and he has no opposing thumb for spreading the seeds. All he can do is scurry after the chipmunk, who invariably hops up into a tree and proceeds to scold Oscar from the safety of the heights in the trees . . . This goes on,

and on . . .

and on,

and on,






Poor little Foo Foo Dog. (LOL)

Manzana State Park, New Mexico

Oscar & I overnighted in the mountains of New Mexico at Manzano State Park. Elevation 76oo' . . . Cool air (Whoopee!) Here you see Oscar enjoying some fresh mountain air while playing guard dog. An imposing presence, isn't he? LOL

Next stop - Trujillo Meadows Campground, Colorado - over 10,000' elevation. :)

Roswel, NM - Aliens anyone?

That was a pleasant stay . . . now it's off to the north and eventually, some high country! Here's the Wonder Egg going over Wild Rose Pass. Named so because of the massive amounts of wild roses found by folks traveling from San Antonio to El Paso way back when . . .

Our destination on this leg of the trip was Roswell, NM. Oscar was all excited about seeing aliens . . . go figure. When we pulled into the Bottomless Lakes State Park Oscar said he couldn't believe they'd allow folks to swim that way in public.

The lakes are natural formations with depths of up to 140'. As far as the cowboys & Native American Indians were concerned, they were bottomless. Oscar wasn't too sure about that explanation so I had to show him that indeed, folks DID wear bottoms while swimming here.


Our camp was surrounded by desert scrub brush. I imagine it was a nice relief to come upon these lakes when traveling across these lands hundreds of years ago . . .

Here is Oscar's new best friend, Max, a former project-manager for teams who repaired nuclear submarines that ran into underwater mountains. Max's rig consisted of a 1984 Soft-Tail Harley Davidson with over 450,000 miles on it, pulling a small trailer with solar power installed. He had a 5" Celestron telescope and we were able to view Neptune and its 4 moons. we also saw the Butterfly Cluster which was a star formation where you could see the butterfly's body & wings . . . amazing! There was a nice meteor display as well but Oscar was still disappointed we didn't see any aliens. Max told Oscar that to see aliens, we'd need to go to Main Street in Roswell.


So . . . there we were . . . downtown Roswell . . . and Oscar said "Look Pete! Aliens!!!" He was a happy dog.

Head for the hills . . .

Just about all set for departure to cooler weather. Notice the brown grass in the yard. Severe drought here in south central Texas. I'm feeling like I forgot something . . . what could it be?

Oh yeah! Oscar has been eagerly awaiting the "mount 'em up" signal!

The Wonder Egg followed closely behind as we headed for the hills of west Texas.

You know you're away from it all when you pull over at a rest stop, there is one station on the radio dial and the only topic is a heated discussion on the local cattle and sheep prices. :)
Davis Mountain State Park is lovely, surrounded by green hills, watered by the summer thunderstorms. Water . . . what a nice change.



Janyce and Frank Keller, Oscar's new best friends, have been camping actively for over 40 years. Frank retired 20 years ago from a professorship at San Antonio's St Mary's University and they have been enjoying the outdoors with gusto ever since!

Tomorrow, we point north in search of cooler / higher territory.

Texas is HOT!

I found Oscar chillin' out in his great-grandfather's rocking chair, sipping an adult doggy drink and enjoying the breeze from a portable fan. He said "Hey Pete, you know the twin's arrival in the family has been just awesome and I wouldn't trade them for anything in the world, BUT . . . it is just toooo hot here in Texas and I'm dreaming of cooler climates. Ya think just maybe we could hop in the Wonder Egg and head up into the mountains where it is cooler? Please? Huh? Pretty please!?"

I think I'd better start packing . . .