Leasburg Dam State Park is located about 20 miles north of here right next to the Fort Seldon ruins along the Rio Grand. On Saturday I decided to moped up there since Cindy was going to be gone all day.
I started by looking at the road atlas to make sure I could get there. Then I started to plan what I was to take and to make sure my moped was ready to go. Like most trips I had fun planning it. I had to be able to carry everything I wanted to take on the moped so I packed and then repacked. I got along without the camera tripod and the foldup lawn chair. It would have been nice to have them but I couldn't make it happen. I planned my picnic lunch and what book I was going to take to read after I was done hiking around and taking pictures.
Saturday came and it was partly cloudy. It was going to be a great trip. I packed everything on my moped and by 8:30 am I was off. I took the same route I take to church which is between 4 and 5 miles from home. Traffic was light and I was having fun. I kept driving north alongside Interstate 25. If you would have been traveling along there you could have seen me chugging along.
About 9 miles north is the little community of Dona Ana. I stopped there for a short break. Then I headed ever north. I saw cotton fields with yellow flowered plants since it is too early for the harvest and cabbage ready to be harvested. The irrigation gates were open and the water was rushing through. Horses were grazing, the temperature was perfect, my butt was sore but I was smiling. I was having fun. I stopped to take pictures along the way since I wasn't in a hurry.
About an hour after I left home I arrived at Leasburg Dam State Park. I discovered that it actually is two sites. The main site has the park office and camping. I rode up, looked around and then asked where the water was since I had come to see the dam. Well I had to go back to where I was a short time earlier and take a different road and I would find it. I finally arrived and was pleasantly surprised. Water was spilling over the dam and in the picnic area many families were gathered to play games, wade in the river and have a picnic. I'll have to admit I was envious. The days of family picnics at Doctors Park in Milwaukee with my brothers families or my parents when they came to visit are long gone. I miss them. It wasn't that we did it so often that I miss it but simply the fact that it reminds me that our kids are far away now and those days are over. I wished I could have joined those other families. They looked like they were having a great time.
I found a table under a tree and got set up. I sat and watched those around me for a time, read my book, had my lunch then I got up walked around and took pictures. For the few hours I was there it was nice.
It was time now to head home. I repacked, checked over my moped and headed south. I ran out of gas right in Dona Ana. You should know that my tank holds less than a gallon. I had just traveled 35 miles on less than a gallon of gas. I switched to my reserve tank and drove into a local gas station for gas and an ice cream bar. It was now in the upper 90's and a bit hot on the road.
The rest of the trip was uneventful. I took more pictures and arrived home safely having riden 44 miles. My butt was sore and it was good to get home.
No comments:
Post a Comment