New Mexico, Home to Bayfield Ontario…Four Days, May 2017

Our plans to stay another day near Taos, at the foot of the Rockies were altered when a snowstorm descended overnight and was being followed by more snow clouds over the next few days.  We high-tailed it out of the high elevations of New Mexico into the plains of Kansas.  The views were spectacular!

Lucky to have snow-free roads.

Always sad to see the ravage of forest fires.

Leaving the ragged Rockies behind us.

Great spot for our picnic lunch.

In the plains of Kansas the highest structures are the grain elevators.

Found an amazing place to camp overnight near a huge dam.

Out here, it’s all about the skies!

Determined to avoid the great rains in the northern states, we hunkered down in our favourite Prairie Dog State Park for a couple of days.  Our first morning, we awoke to snow and a power outage.  Relying on our generator and many layers of clothing, we stayed warm and eked out our day like the pioneers.  Even the prairie dogs stayed underground avoiding the frigid temperatures.  Thankfully, the sun shone the next morning when we were leaving.

Heading northeast we soon observed the flooding and damage of the past days of rain.  Rivers were swollen over their banks, fields and roads were flooded.  Trees were uprooted and some bridge abutments had been washed away.

We arrived at Eugene T. Mahoney State Park, Nebraska in the early afternoon.  Some areas of the park were deemed too muddy from flooding but we were situated in a picturesque lot by the lake.  We had time for a good hike before dinner and settling in for the night.

On our way home in the morning, we were out of the weather warnings and letting the roadside sites be our entertainment.

In a few wetlands we could see Nutria, a mammal that looks like a cross between a beaver and a rat.  Native to South America, their introduction to the US has caused an epidemic where the Nutria eat wetland vegetation and cause erosion.  Their population explosion is partly due to the fact that females are ready to breed within forty-eight hours of giving birth!

Lucky to be avoiding traffic in the oncoming lanes and accidents in the ditches, we motored on towards home.  Our last night was spent in Iowa.

And over the bridge we go at Port Huron into Ontario.