the BIG move

From AZ saguaros to Colorado cottonwoods. Friday mid-day we picked up the 2 rental trucks in Tucson. One truck is towing a trailer with Nina's car on it. Despite my complete lack of experience with large trucks, they handed me the keys to a diesel truck with a 24 foot box behind, and sent us out into Tucson traffic. These trucks are enormous !! The cab is big and has landscape visibility.
Strong young men from Nina's church arrived on Saturday morning and loaded the 2 trucks with all her furniture, many boxes, and 2 bicycles. After lunch we drove away, north on Hwy 19 to Hwy 10 east. I wasn't very good with that BIG truck Saturday afternoon and evening. We finally arrived in Deming, New Mexico at 9:30 pm. Sunday morning we had our first mis-hap, the trailer nearly came off her truck. It had been hooked-up, detached, and re-attached during the loading of the trucks. The final attachment had not been secured. It could have been very serious. After waiting for awhile a very competent mechanic came from Silver City and put everything back together.
We went on to Las Cruces and north on Hwy 25. I was becoming much better with the truck. When pulling into a gas station or truck stop we needed to have alot of room for turning corners. Its also important to remember the trucks are 12 ft 6 in in height. That evening we stopped in Santa Fe. I was able to do a few 3-point turns to get the truck into position alongside a semi-truck in the motel's truck parking area.
New Mexico is very dry. Rio Grande River in southern NM is low, Cottonwood trees south of Socorro look dry and dusty, altho some are turning yellow. We did not stop at the good birding place, Bosque del Apache, because of driving the BIG trucks.
In 1995 I worked on a research project near Raton, NM, looking at the effect of Cowbird parasitism on nesting birds. This area is in the high grass plains with scattered junipers and cedars.
Southern Colorado looked equally dry. Two or 3 times we passed old wooden cabins with Cottonwoods on two sides. Photogenic, but we didn't stop much on Monday.
Photos of a Crested Saguaro, and Karen with BIG truck.