We left the crowded Sunny Acres R.V. Park to return to Rock Hound State Park. This was an interesting scene when we were greeted by morning fog. The winter at Rock Hound was much colder than it had been in 2017/2018. In the distance you can see our Visitor's Center. The fog was laying in along the base of the Large Florida Mountains to the south of our location.
This picture is taken looking west towards Arizona. All of the houses in the valley towards Deming are blanked out with the fog, and the view of the mountains towards Arizona are blocked by the fog.
We did not just get fog. One morning we awakened to about an inch of snow. It quickly melted off, but before it did I managed to capture this photo. The snow was still on our camp chairs.
Our camper was located at the south end of the campground where a lot of spare equipment is stored. This view is to the South/Southeast. The mountains are the Little Florida Mts. It did not take long for the snow to quickly melt off.
The two pictures above are of the Large Florida Mts. covered with snow from that same storm. This storm did not occur on the same day as the fog. During the entire winter of 2017/2018 there was only one time that we got just a brushing of snow that lasted less than an hour. Even this snow fall did not last more than a couple of days up on the mountains, and even less time than that at Rock Hound State Park.
It was still quite amazing to many of our guest (snow birds) who had come to New Mexico to escape the snow and the cold.
We jump ahead in this blog now to a warmer more typical scene.
Located at the end of the rock walled in flower bed that separates the main road through the campground from the road and parking area in front of the rest rooms is this plant that we think is one of the yucca species. We observed the huge bulb forming. It can be seen in this photo in the upper right. It was decided to photograph it periodically as it progressed.
Here is a better view of the flower bulb as it began to grow and open. There was another flower on the other side, and I believe there are actually two yuccas growing here together. What will follow are a series of photos throughout the entire blooming cycle. I will not comment on each picture as I believe they are self-explanatory.
Well, all good things have to come to an end. See how the blossoms have wilted and are getting ready to fall off.
I did not try to document the many flowers and cacti in the park this year because I put them on my blog last year. I did photograph a couple of flowers as they first began to open because I did not think I had captured them last year.
This is a Ocatillo in it's first blossom. When they reach full bloom, the black chin humming birds will abandon the feeders and feed on the Ocatillo blossoms. Smart birds.
This is a beautiful cactus blossom just opening. Unfortunately, I did not get a picture of the full cactus, but if you scroll down to last years posts, there are numerous pictures of them in full bloom.
Here is the first blossom of the Desert Bird of Paradise. Again, pictures of them in full bloom have been previously posted.
These are a couple of a different specie of yucca plant. They are really beautiful. Notice the one flower stem that has not opened.
These two pictures are of an Agave plant. We first saw one when we were camping at Leasburg State Park. It was on private property just outside the park. I had no idea what it was, but was amazed by its beauty.
These yuccas growing together will be my final picture for this blog post. I hope you have enjoyed my posts, and I will not wait so long until I post again. We are on vacation from our camp hosting duties, so I will have more time to blog.
