Kangaroo rats

Yesterday I went to the Bosque del Apache to see the cranes. I was told they would be there through November yet they were still there December 4th. (Which only strengthens my assertion that Sand-hill cranes do not use the same calendar that we use). I also saw Ruby-crowned kinglets, Loggerhead shrikes, seven Bald eagles, and thousands of Snow geese.
On the way home I decided to try another route to see more of this great state. I took highway 60 west from Socorro to highway 167 through the Alamo Navajo Reservation. Soon after the Reservation the road turned to dirt. I thought about turning back but thought I could use a little adventure and decided to keep going. After maybe 45 minutes I reached patches of snow on the road. Soon after that it got dark. I drove and drove for hours. I passed one building, a barn, but saw no houses. Three trucks passed since hitting the dirt road but no cars. When the trucks passed I wondered if the driver thought I was crazy for driving a Ford Taurus on this road. Eventually I reached a fork in the road and chose the left or “wrong” fork. The road descended, yet for some reason the snow increased. I could see the lights of a town ahead and knew that I would soon hit pavement. I drove a few miles and the town never seemed to get any closer. But the road did get muddier. The mud was getting deeper and deeper and the Taurus was fishtailing. The car didn’t just fishtail a couple times, it continually fish-tailed. I figured I had better turn around but I was afraid if I stopped I would be stuck in the mud. Eventually I had to stop and I did get stuck. I rocked the care back and forth and was soon unstuck and heading back up the muddy, snowy hill. It started to rain, which is good for mud but bad for people driving two-wheel drive vehicles that don’t want to get stuck in mud. To my surprise, I saw headlights coming up behind me. I stopped when I reached the fork again and waited for the vehicle, which turned out to be another truck. The people in the truck, a man and woman on their way to the reservation, pointed me in the right direction. A few miles later I hit pavement, sort of. It was deffinately paved at some point. I had a choice to go left or right and again I chose the left or “wrong” direction. But, on the bright side, I saw several kangaroo rats. The rats made the whole trip worth while, as rats often do. I turned around and was soon on Intersate 40 heading back to Albuquerque.