Bills blog stop: Aug 24, 2007

Pepe's Great Escape!

Today, while we were foraging for a new food supply for our Love Bird, Pepe, we spied some new environmental enhancements for his cage(er, living habitat). An attachable, edible, beak sharpening branch to enhance his hunting and pecking skills and a beautiful red ring the size of a large swing with a bell hanging from it to accompany his visions of swinging in a tree in the jungle! After fighting the strong currents of traffic on the asphalt river to arrive back at camp, I proceeded to “green up” Pepe’s habitat. Well, as soon as I brought one of these strange new objects in through the door, he was having none of this! With wings of steel, he squeezed through as space so small I couldn’t see it without my glasses and off he went into the wild blue(uh, wondrous air spaces) in our house! Sooo… armed with nothing but a couple of soft towels and a non threatening, wooden back scratcher, we set out on a find and capture expedition that should have aired on “Wild Kingdom”! Through sheer strength and maneuvering on our part, we began to wear down the resolve of our adversary! At one point, I had to hit the switch for the overhead fan with the swift dexterity of a gazelle to extricate the fowl winged beast from his perch without flinging him into the wall! After many attempts to cast our nets(ugh, towels) over our ungrateful friend, I guess he just valued his newly found freedom too much, he finally managed to fly into the side of a cliff(wall) and wedged himself between it and a large bookcase! After great thought about our dilemma, we decided to pull one end away from the wall, then I proceeded into the dark recess with my trusty little belt flash light and towel. Much to my chagrin, the little beggar pushed forward behind the next book case! So with great trepidation, I place the towel next to this opening with one hand, and with the other, proceeded to simulate the tremors of a minor quake to the other case! Low and behold, I saw a small red and green streak flash into the towel and voila, I had him! So I transported him to his home and gently extracted him into his own, familiar environment with the new additions and left him to himself to get used to them. I came back a little later hoping to catch him happily swinging on his new swing only to catch him soundly sleeping away, totally oblivious to his new toys! oh well, so much for the great jungle experience!

Friday, August 24, 2007

Last night in New Mexico

Well, this is it!
We've had our week in southwest NM and are making our last stop here in the local Javalina coffee shop & internet cafe! We've had our fun in the sun and have to head out to L.A. at about 3am tomorrow. We have really enjoyed it here in the area around Silver City! We went to a place called the catwalk today which is a short hike along the Gila River into a canyon that used to have an old water pipeline down to the mining towns below which is converted into a path over metal walkways and bridges. After hiking to the suspended bridge at the end of the trail, we stopped on the way down and jumped into the river to cool off. Cool is not the word, it was downright cold!!
We are going to eat at one of the recommended hot spots tonight before retiring in our mountain cabin one last night. From Hot springs to cold mountain rivers, this has been one good time! We really fell for this place, and Lord willing, we may be back as permanent residents in about four years.
Later!
"On the road again"

PS: If you ever pass through this area, be sure to stop in Silver City at the Javalina Internet cafe and say hi to Bart, one of the awesome baristas serving up a "mean cup of joe" in a laid back, small town friendly atmosphere!