Roswell, New Mexico

We mapped out our way to Colorado through Roswell, NM to visit friends, Diane and Tom Wartman. 

We first met The Wartman’s in church in Alamosa, Colorado, 20+ years ago. Tom works for the Fish and Wildlife Department. I remember visiting Diane on their farm where she raised goats and made her own goat cheese and goat milk soap.  She also ground her own flour and made wonderful baked goods!

Several years ago the Wartman’s moved to Roswell where Tom works at Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge. We went on the road and lost touch.  Last summer I got an email from Diane that they were going to be fulltime RVers and in looking up information she came across our blog; she hadn’t known we were also fulltime RVers.

The Wartman’s are into rocks and gems and came up for the rock show in Creede last summer.  They stayed at our campground the night before so we could be reacquainted….and answer 100 questions about fulltime RVing.

So on this trip of ours back to Colorado from south Texas we decided to stop in Roswell to visit them.  They figured they had two years before retirement, and not knowing how long it would take to sell their house in Roswell, they put it on the market in March.  It sold the next day!!!  So they moved into their travel trailer and moved it onto the refuge and became fulltime RVers.  Tom was offered an early retirement, so instead of waiting two years Tom will retire in September and they will hit the road.  They are very excited at the prospect of traveling and new adventures in their retirement years.

 

Here is Diane welcoming us to the resident area of the refuge were we were allowed to stay overnight. 

 

 

Diane brought us over to the refuge’s visitor center and what an awesome and beautiful place it is!  This  wetland oasis in the middle of the desert is a refuge for wintering migratory birds. It is also a habitat for 100 species of dragonflies and damselflies.

The displays inside the visitor center are amazing showing replicas of the wetland areas and sink hole wildlife.  Very fascinating.

        

There’s a very large back window that overlooks  Bitter Lake (named by the local Indians because of the highly alkaline water as it evaporated).  There are picnic tables outside and very comfy chairs inside to rest and enjoy the scenery.

We watched a very well done film on the refuge and another film on the dragonflies and damselflies living

here.  Did you know dragonflies live only about one year and live above water only one month of that year?  The rest of the time is lived under the water as larvae, known as “nymphs” attached to reeds or grasses.  The refuge even has a  dragonfly festival every year in September.

 

When Tom got off work he showed us around his work shop (he’s a heavy equipment operator) that also houses the refuge’s fire department…Jim’s eyes lite up!

Tom showed us the table in the fire department that pulled apart and held sand and miniature trees, buildings and vehicles.  They use these to create fire scenarios and plan and plot out how they would fight the fire.  Very ingenious.  Tom and Jim had a good time playing with the sand pit.

After our tour Diane prepared a delicious chicken pasta dinner with the first grilled asparagus of the season.  The rest of the evening was spent discussing next year’s traveling plans, what toilet paper to use and how many dish towels and shoes you really need.

We had a great visit with Diane and Tom and look forward to seeing them on the road in the years to come.

Remember, you are loved.

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