Things are bigger in Texas, or are they?

Texas is a huge state.  I once had to travel from Dallas to Longview on one of my research projects with one of our field representives when I worked for Eli Lilly & Co.  Longview is near the Louisiana border.  I thought we would never get there.

Texans some times brag about how big every thing is there, so when I spotted some of the creatures featured in this blog, I naturally figured they must have wandered over to New Mexico from Texas.

The Road Runner is the state bird of New Mexico.  That's probably why this one came over from Texas.  That is Picacho Peak in the background.

This is a slightly different view.  There is a farm in the lower right of the photo.  This was taken at the Rest Stop as you approach Las Cruces on highway 10.

Road runners are members of the cuckoo family.  They have zygodactyle feet, and are capable of running 20 miles per hour.  They will hop up into branches of shrubs and trees, but are capable of flight.

We located a small herd of Texas Longhorns just below the park.  Notice the sign on the upper right corner of this photigraph.  It is pointing the way to Spring Canyon.  Spring Canyon is a day use area that is part of Rock Hound State Park.

This beauty posed for me, as if to say "no, I'm not really from Texas".  I was a little nervous getting out of the truck to take her picture, but she did not seem to mind.

Long Horns come in various colors.  This one has a particularly pretty coat.

I did not see a bull in the herd, but here is another beauty.  It actually makes sense that there was no a bull present, and if there had been, my photography adventure might not have been so peaceful.

This is an open range area, so one sees these cattle in various places along the road.  The fence that keeps them out of this part of the park was broken, so one time we found evidence they had been there also.  They are allowed in the Spring Canyon Park.

I usually end a blog post with a sunset.  Today I am showing a sun rise reflected onto the Florida Mountains to the west of our camp site.  There is a recreational vehicle visible at the bottom of this picture.

Not every day is perfect here.  This view was taken on the same morning as the sunrise in the photo above.  I pointed the camera slightly northwest towards Deming.  You can see considerable smog.  We have not experienced any ill effects where we are.  The wind blows both up and down the mountain to the east of us (not at the same time:) ) and keeps the air pretty clean.

Depending on how good my internet connection is, I will be back soon with another blog post.