We went to try our luck at casinos again, starting with Camel Rock. I got lucky after a few spins, and even luckier after about 45 minutes. I hit an $80 jackpot, and so between us we were up $40 when we cashed out. We went to Buffalo Thunder casino, and I decided since we were up $40, we could be a little more reckless. I played max bet on the first spin, and won $30. In the next 30 minutes, I had the total up to $90, and cashed out. We decided to keep playing on their money, and at one point I was up another $75, but. Yeah, you can guess the rest of the story. We gave it all back, but had a blast on casino money. We had been told farmer's market was open on Tuesdays, so we drove around until we found it. Every time we have been by here, it has been closed, and this was no different. It closed at 1 P. M. We went to a thrift store across from Tune-up cafe, and bought two dvd's, and Shelly bought a book! That was not a typo, she really bought a book! Really! We checked on the world, using Lowe's wifi again. Thank you, Lowe's. We stopped at Smith's for groceries, and I walked to habitat restore. I bought a Craftsman circular saw for $20, and then helped Shelly finish shopping. Back in camp, we visited with Jim and Athena again. He gave us each a ball cap with Native American designs on them. I hiked up the creek by our camp. 
We were tired at the end of the day, and watched the Bourne Identity on dvd.
A bluff by the creek
Unusual berries by the creek
Above our camp looking east toward Santa Fe
Wednesday, August 5
Another cool clear morning! Have I mentioned I like waking up here in August? We hiked up Black canyon trail in the morning, and lazed around in the afternoon.
Shelly and Sadie at the top of Black Canyon trail
We both read a book, and played games in the evening. It actually got hot here in the afternoon. I think it got in the upper 80's, but it cooled down by evening. It is supposed to be the same tomorrow.A ground squirrel stuffing his cheeks with sunflower seeds
Thursday, August 6
We were invited by Rich to visit Bishop's Lodge near Santa Fe. We met Rich a few weeks ago in his Airstream in site 34, the day after mom and dad left. Bishop's Lodge was built almost 100 years ago, around a chapel built 50 years before that. It is about to be renovated, but waiting on permits. It is a unique lodge, and will be super nice when finished. 
We drove from there through Tesuque village, and to the casinos again. We didn't have the good luck that I had the last time, but Shelly lost less than I did. We went to the laundromat and put in two loads of clothes. We left, and filled a propane tank at the Rv park on Cerrillos road. The gauge showed it took 7.8 gallons, but it is a 7 gallon tank. It weighed 45 pounds after filling, so I'll check the weight of propane when I get back. Back at the laundromat, one of the washers decided to quit, so we had to restart it and wait another 30 minutes. We talked to Erica, and mom and dad while waiting. We ate at McDonalds and used their wifi. I hiked on Black canyon trail to the top for exercise, before watching the Bourne Supremacy on dvd.
Friday, August 7
Hiking day! We drove to the ski area to start our hike on Winsor trail. We had hiked this trail two years ago, when Bentley went with us. The trail starts with a steep incline for about a half a mile, until we get to the Pecos wilderness at the top of a ridge. 
From the top, we get a break, and get a slow descent through the pines. Shelly checked the altimeter, to find we were over 10,700 feet up. 
An old guy's feeble attempt at a selfie.
After about a mile down, the trail gets into an aspen grove, and you can hear the creek at the bottom of the canyon. We passed a lot of people looking for mushrooms, and got to see what they were looking for. They were funny looking yellow ones and a few red ones. The mushrooms, not the people. We kept seeing other red mushrooms, and asked one couple about these, but they said not to pick those. I guess we'll let the professionals pick them. We stopped at the creek for a lunch that Shelly had made for us. 
Can you find Shelly in the picture?
Shelly and Sadie on the log bridge.
The sign near the bridge said we had hiked 2 & 1/4 miles from the ski area. The hike back seemed longer for some reason. Shelly says it was because she and Connie kept texting while hiking in, and it kept her occupied. 
Me hiking!
Shelly on the trail
Back at camp, we rested from the hike, and read a book. We played games again at dark.
Saturday, August 8
We went back to town to get a few things, and check on the rest of the world. It is still spinning without us. We read books back in camp, and watched our new neighbor set up camp in the afternoon. He had 3 kids including one in a crib, and one dog named Lucy. Lucy wanted to roam, and didn't respond to his constant yelling at her. His kids wanted to roam, and didn't respond to his constant yelling at them. He finally put Lucy on a leash, and his kids settled down enough, that he didn't have to yell at them, or put them on a leash. I guess it was too quiet for him, so he turned his radio and started singing for us. Another neighbor had a loud, yappy dog that did not want anyone to walk by their campsite. We watched a movie to tune them out.
Sunday, August 9
Chris and Dianne told us there was free entry to all the museums on museum hill today, so we tried it. The first museum had early Spanish lifestyle highlighted. There was a band playing, complete with dancers on stilts. They played interesting music, including their version of the thrift store song. We walked through the botanical garden, which was nice, but still small. There are two more phases planned, and should be nice when more mature. The plants, not me. I doubt I'll ever be more mature. We went to the folk art museum, which has a huge collection of international folk art, and a section for southern U.S. pottery. The most interesting was the Native American museum, with collections of baskets, pottery, arrowheads, tools, and descriptions of their lifestyles. We ate at the Tune-up cafe again, and split an order of chicken quesadillas and an order of guacamole. We got filled up on great food for under $12. It was still early, so we opted to give Buffalo Thunder some more money. It was fun, but not nearly as much fun as when we were using their money. Back at camp, the yappy dog people had moved out, but not our neighbor with the dog, and 3 kids. But he was much more subdued today.
Monday, August 10
I wanted to go exploring, and check out the mountains west of Taos. I have never been through this area. Chris and Carla, from Taos had posted a good Boondocking area near Hopewell lake, so we drove there. It was about a two hour drive from Taos. I stopped at the ranger station in Tres Piedras, and got a map of the national forest. The drive west on 64 is beautiful, and covered in pines, with the elevation climbing as we went. The national forest campground at Hopewell lake was decent, and $15 a night. The Boondocking area on forest road 91B is on a rough gravel road, but less than a mile off the paved road. There was no one else camping now, but it looks well used, and is probably crowded on summer weekends. We picked up some pine firewood, and planned on a fire tonight. We drove west toward Tierra Amarilla, and took some pictures at a scenic overlook.
The elevation is over 10,000 feet in this area, and the temperature in the upper 60's. As we went down the mountain, the temperature went back up in the 80's, and we could see rain in the mountains toward SantaFe. We were hungry by the time we got back to Espanola, and tried Blake's Lotaburger. It took a while to get our order, but the burgers were good. We got back to camp about 5:30 in a light rain, which lasted into the night, so it was a movie again, instead of a campfire.
Tuesday, August 11
I hiked up black canyon for a little exercise, and enjoyed the clear, cool weather. Shelly cleaned the Airstream for a lot of exercise. She found the pile of magazines we brought to occupy us when we were bored on this trip. I guess we haven't been bored yet, because I had only read a couple of them. I went through about six of them to lighten our load for the trip home. I hiked up the canyon west of our camp again, and followed the creek up over a half a mile. There is not a good trail, but the creek is running, and the scenery is worth the rough hike. We sat by a fire in the evening, and I was hungry, so we roasted hot dogs. They were good, even if I don't usually like hot dogs. We played cards after dark until bed.
Wednesday and Thursday, August 12 and 13
We tried the casinos one last time, and Shelly came out ahead at least. Not quite enough to cover my loss, but still fun. We bought a few groceries to get us home. We packed up everything at camp, and got ready to leave early in the morning. The headlines in the news said there would be a good meteor shower peaking about 2 in the morning. I got up about it 1, but only saw one faint meteor in about 5 minutes, so I went back to bed. We got up before 5 (New Mexico time) and were on the road after dumping by 5:30. We stopped for breakfast at McDonalds in Santa Rosa, and they were slow as usual. We stopped every couple of hours to stretch, and made it home by 8:00.
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