I sit in the low key but very pleasant college library here at Portales.  We stopped to use the Internet and to find out how we can see any Clovis artifacts despite the excavation site and museum being closed, closed, and closed.  We will probably get to see a few but only after lots of jawboning.

Decided to take a low-key day today.  We awoke before dawn and watched the sun rise over the park as we made a circle walking around and through it.  It was cold, but warmed with the sun.  Found our first Pyroloxia, Say's Phoebe, and Bobwhite for the year.  Also observed the dunes and the fossil lake bed that make up the park and the surrounding lands.  The folks at the Clovis site camped at the edge of a smaller lake near here 12,000 years ago.  Imagine camping here when buffalo, mastodons, and saber-tooth cats roamed about.

This afternoon we drove a back road past the archaeological site and at least saw the old quarry and where the digs took place and continue (in the summer.) 

Now we relax to chip away at our Internet list.  I finished the taxes and Anne checked them with some cursing of me and of the the tax system before finishing.  It is no wonder people sell software with which to prepare taxes.

I resume writing after Anne and I have completed a private tour of the Blackwater Draw Museum.  We handled a Clovis point and snapped a picture of a box of specimens.  Fabulous.

The wind has swelled and tomorrow may reach a gale.  That will create multiple problems for our planned travel.  We will take it slow and hope not to encounter dust storms.  Our next destination is Elephant Butte State Park near Truth or Consequences.  That will be a bit farther south and in the Rio Grande Valley.  That is good as cooler weather is coming.