Another Day at the Office With the Hubby

Leon and I both had doctor appointments this morning so Leon, who had some comp time coming, took the day off. Rather unexpectedly, both our appointments got cancelled. 

So we got to spend a leisurely morning and went for lunch at the San Felipe rest stop on our way to Leon's office, namely White Ridge and Ojito Wilderness near San Ysidro. It was a gorgeous day, a bit chilly when the wind was blowing gently across the landscape, but very comfortable in the sunshine. We were going to go for a 2 mile hike to some petroglyphs but my bum knee was not cooperating.

Leon having the job he has is nothing short of fortuitous. I makes me happy to see him in his element, and being excited about what he does. And the people he works with obviously appreciate his initiative and work ethic and teamwork.  

He could not ask for a more suitable position than this: driving around in the New Mexico wilderness, fixing barbed wire fences, putting up signage, schmoozing with hikers and visitors, keeping track of the "counters", maintaining trails, cleaning up the many "shooting areas" that are littered with all kinds of debris from target practice (I mean refrigerators, microwave ovens, bottles, cans, propane cylinders, cardboard boxes, and more that are blown to smithereens), hauling the stuff to the dumpsters. (Aside: these "shooters" are just a plague on the landscape).

I would add that the "shooting areas" were all pretty free of debris today, thanks to my hubby. How he knows his way around the hundreds of thousands of acres he patrols is because he has a GPS Brain. I was lost after the first twenty minutes.

And as office views go, his is pretty spectacular!

It really was a great day spending time with my hubby "at the office".

Here are some photos of a corner of his office that we haven't been to before:

This was unexpected out in the middle of somewhere

And Mary was there too.

This well is dry

Note: there are cattle grazing in the wilderness; I think it rather cruel to make them forage among the cacti and scrub for their meager meals over many acres of high desert. Some are chewing on cholla cactus. If they only knew what a grassy plain was like or the rolling green hills back east! We saw a nearly dry mud hole where the cattle look for water, but saw no standing water. Leon says the ranchers will haul in water occasionally.

 

Exploring the Petrified Trees in Leon's Office (Again)

 We have visitors from Connecticut (Joyce and Robin and their dog Manny) this week and Leon was excited to show them around his office at the Bureau of Land Management. So we went to the area where there are petrified trees. 

 It is not an easy ride or an easy place to find. We took our 25 year old four wheel drive Ford F250 diesel.  The land is located between the Santo Domingo and San Felipe Pueblos. Down miles of rocky, rutty, hilly, and rough dirt road. Leon knows just about every square foot of the territory. He spends hours on patrol, cleaning up after inconsiderate visitors, mending barbed wire, and "ground truthing" (something like checking out the actual on the ground satellite images of unidentified structures, roads, features and documenting his findings). I must say that I am so happy for him that he has such a great job. Somehow our move to New Mexico almost seven years ago has been a fortunate decision.

We've been here in the petrified forest of New Mexico before and I've posted about the place before but it is always a fun and interesting place to explore. What makes it special is that it is on public land, free, no where near an Interstate or highway and remote enough and difficult enough to get to so that there are few if any human visitors.

So, in case you may have missed a previous post about our New Mexico petrified forest here is a recap from today. Glorious sunshine and blue skies made it a great outing. Enlarge the photos for a more intense experience. Even then, they do not do justice to the views or the fossils.

Hubby, my Wilderness Ranger on his day off

Petrified Wood

The Long Log

Me and Hubs sitting on the petrified log

Sandia Peak in the background

Large petrified specimen on the right

Gnarly Juniper

Another Tree Rock

Prehistoric Desert Dweller

Cholla Fruit

Need to get a close-up of this tree on a rock