OH, GIVE ME A HOME...TED TURNER'S WOULD BE NICE...Travel Tuesday

Where the buffalo roam...

Where the deer...

And the antelope...

And the antelope play (they both have neck stripes - I may have gotten confused). Disclaimer:  This one is a "stock photo" from a NM.gov site - the antelope were plentiful, but the car was traveling too fast for my own shot - they're out there, though!

 Where seldom is heard...

 A discouraging word...

Along the road that leads from the dinosaur in Taos to Cimarron, New Mexico (or as we like to refer to it, the "back way" home to Denver), there are some pretty spectacular sights to be seen.  Deer; antelope; the cliffs and palisades (think fences or walls around a fortress) of Palisades Sill.  The age of the Palisades Sill has been estimated at between 26 million and 34.7 million years...I wasn't too far off with the dinosaur, evidently!

Camping, fishing, hiking - all in one breathtaking spot.  For more information, click on the link!

CIMARRON CANYON STATE PARK, NM

And just down the road from that, we ran across THIS!

A glimpse of what life across the United States plains used to look like, on a far more minuscule scale.  Imagine these plains COVERED with dark brown, as far as your eyes could see!

This private herd of possibly 200-300 head of buffalo was awe-inspiring enough - it's hard to believe, and indeed sobering, that these magnificent beasts were almost obliterated from the face of this earth by man's stupidity and greed.

A highly electrified fence (buffalo need extremely sturdy fences to keep them where they should be - they can make short work of an ordinary fence in no time), and no tripod to rest upon, made my distance shots a little hard.

This is a beautiful, obviously well-cared-for herd - we were certainly glad we took the "back way" home.

And now, in researching my own photos, I find that Vermejo Park Ranch is owned by none other than media mogul, Ted Turner - 600,000 acres worth (or about 3/4 the size of the state of Rhode Island - what a shame, huh?!) of prime beauty, stretching from NM to CO.  "A TURNING POINT IN TURNER COUNTRY"

These were taken from the side of the lowly road outside the ranch (thankfully it wasn't snake season, as I was in some serious, knee-high weeds along that road)...I can only imagine the inside - this is as close a look as I'll ever be able to afford.  This was more than enough for me!

 A young bull, surveying his "wealth".  Here's to getting out and surveying some of your own wealth in the coming, warmer months.  More Travel Tuesdays to follow, possibly with just enough inspiration for someone to make their own plans.  There's SO much to see out there - time's a wastin'!

...and the skies are not cloudy all day!