Wet and Dry

Have I mentioned that Santa Rosa State Park is actually located on Santa Rosa Dam, which is on the Pecos river?

Folks come here to fish and enjoy water sports, but as of tomorrow, all that may change. Tomorrow, June 16, they will begin releasing some thirty five thousand acre feet of water. This is expected to lower the level of the water by some twenty feet and may close the boat ramp for the season. Only time will tell.

With this in mind, I thought I would share some "before" pictures.

These two shots are wide shots of the lake, almost a panorama. This is one big lake!

As always, you can click on any photo for a larger version.

This shot is taken from the actual dam. You drive across this to get to our campground (Rocky Point). The large structure is the control tower for the dam.

If you enlarge this one, you can see where the boats launch, right at the lake where all the cars are parked.

And here's a shot of the other side of the dam, where the water will be released. The rocks in this area are really striking. If they would let us camp on this side of the dam, this would be our first choice. It's lovely down there.

We're going to try to get some pictures of the water release tomorrow. If we don't get up early enough (as so often happen!) at least we'll have some "befores" to compare.

And now that I've talked about wet, I'm going to discuss some dry.

Since we've been traveling the the southwest, I've become acutely aware of how the lack of humidity affects just about everything we do. I notice it in my laundry, my cooking, but most of all, I see it in my skin.

I've always used cream on my skin, but since we've been here, it just isn't cutting it.

In my search for something to keep my fingers and feet from turning into replicas of ancient native American pottery, I've tried all kinds of ointments and unguents. All with little success.

Then I happened on Jojoba Oil.

I discovered it by chance and started using it on my cuticles (which had deteriorated to such a degree that they often bled). It worked so well, I expanded it to my hands. Now I've used other oils before, but really dislike the oily residue they leave behind. For some reason, Jojoba Oil is different. It completely absorbs and leaves nothing behind except soft skin.

With such excellent results, I expanded my usage, and I now also use it on my face, which I still can hardly believe. I'm also using it after my shower, while I'm still damp. Within minutes, my skin is soft as a baby's bottom. This stuff is truly amazing.

No more alligator skin and no more bleeding fingers.

While I know it sounds like I'm selling this stuff, the truth is I like it so much I just thought I'd pass this on.

Do you have any hints on avoiding reptile skin? If so, I'd love to hear them.

My Life is Good!