February 1: Alamogordo, NM

The desert songbirds were already in full chorus when we woke in our little tent around 7 AM. I hoofed it up to the comfort station to get in my morning ablutions before other campers. Along the way, I heard what I thought were barred owls, but remembered that the mourning doves out here have a song that sounds like barred owls.

There's really not a bad site at Oliver Lee - all are spacious, have good views, and are set far apart from one another.

While I cooked a breakfast of pan fried onions, pepper, potatoes and veggie sausage, topped with Glen’s cucumber chutney, (oh, yum!) Glen sorted out the back of the car, retrieving some items that were stored at the bottom of our belongings. As hard as we try, it's hard to stay organized, living out of our car.

We were lucky to have been able to score a campsite last night – Oliver Lee is often full. With the unexpected closure of the other state park, we had to scramble to figure out plan b. Today, we moved ourselves over to a different site, where we already had reservations for four nights. The site has electric, so we can charge the car and use our nifty induction burner. More cooking to follow!

One of my favorite desert plants is the Ocatillo, which I find beautiful evening in its winter dormancy.

We walked up Dog Canyon just a little way today and then backtracked down the mostly dry canyon wash, reaching another trail that meandered back to the campground. Tomorrow we will go out for a real hike.

We're back in one of our favorite landscapes in the desert southwest!

This afternoon we sat in the sun and read, though between the clouds covering the sun and the wind picking up, it was an afternoon of put the winter hat on, take the coat off, over and over again. I will admit we retreated to our car the and comfort of its heated seats for a while this afternoon.

We plan a low-key evening, perhaps including a short hike. The next few days look to be warmer and sunny. Yay!