May 15-24, Chama, NM

We woke up Friday morning to more rain.  We are leaving today so once again we are hooking up in the rain.  We drove to Chama, New Mexico and arrived in rain and snow – this time we get to set up while it is snowing.  We are staying at The Rio Chama RV Park where we stay every year.  It is good to see the owners, Russ and Margie, and other Chama friends again.

It snowed and rained all day Friday and Saturday and even accumulated on the grass a couple of times.  Within less than two weeks we have gone from 100 degrees in Apache Junction to high 30’s here in Chama - hopefully it will warm up soon.

In between the rain and snow we got our hummingbird feeders up at the back window of the 5^th wheel and they were immideatly taken over by Northern “Bullock’s” Orioles.  The males are beautiful with orange and yellow on their heads and chests.  The females are not quite as flashy as the males but are still beautiful with their yellow heads and chests.  This pair was enjoying a little sunshine between rains on the hood of our truck.

They would even perch on the window frame and look in and tap on the window.  We think they see their reflections and think it is another bird.  This beautiful male kept us entertained for a long time.

Cody enjoyed laying on the back of the couch watching and occasionally jumping at the birds.

Once in a while bird and dog even came eye to eye – maybe it is snout to beak.

We enjoy the orioles but wish they would let the hummingbirds feed once in a while!

One of the delights of staying at the Rio Chama RV Park is getting to see deer almost every day.  This doe and her fawns from last year were grazing in the open area close to our site.  The railroad track and rails you see are part of the track system that Russ is building around the campground.

After we got settled in over the weekend, Rex started his Docent Coordinator duties on Monday morning.  This year he is sharing the duties with Joe, one of the other coordinators.  He helped get the docent office ready – the office is located in an old railroad office car.  Joe and Rex also set up the schedule for the docents and oversee the docents for the month they are coordinators.  They also have to open and man the docent office every morning before the train leaves and again in the afternoon before the train comes in.  Nancy will volunteer at the display of “Chama in Miniature” in the Cumbres Mall downtown gain this year.  This display has an S scale model of the Chama rail yard as it looked in the 1950’s.  They also sell t-shirts, hats, calendars and other train souvenirs.  These duties will keep us both busy and, hopefully, out of trouble for a while.

We have been here for a little over a week and it has rained and/or snowed all but one day so far - we have been told this is the third week of rain.  The Chama River, which runs behind the RV Park is very high – in fact, Russ told us it is the highest he has seen it in the 50 years he has owned this park. We know the Southwest needs all the moisture they can get but we are ready for some sunshine and warmer weather!