I slept in until 9 am, then went about my morning preparations. Butch, the owner of the campground, came out of the office and walked over to me with his dog, Dolot. Luna and Dolot had a little play and Butch handed me a bag containing two cinnamon buns and an orange juice for breakfast! First he lets me stay there free, invites me to have dinner with them, then brings me breakfast! What a kind man, now that is Southern hospitality! It was quite chilly out with a cloudy sky and strong wind, so he invited me to come eat it in the office, Luna watched me walking away with a look of betrayal. I learned about his wife, Jane, who had passed away quite recently after almost 51 years of marriage, he obviously missed her a lot. I gave him my number as he wanted to stay in touch and check up on how the road trip is going. We hugged, then I left, heading to White Sands National Monument. I had about 4 1/2 hours of driving to do today, but the driving seemed endless. I arrived at my campsite at Oliver Lee State Park just before 2:00 pm. My campsite for the night was a wonderful $10, state park fee included. I picked a site and then went for a walk on one of the trails. Having just read the sign about the abundant rattlesnakes in the area, an animal moving suddenly in the long grass next to me made me jump badly. The signs about how important it is to hike in a group in the area due to a large population of cougars, made me decide to not do the long hike, it was so hot I just wanted to sit in the shade anyway! As I started walking back to the campsite, a pit bull mix came walking up to us, her owner a ways away calling feebly to the dog who was on a retractable leash. Cornered against the railing, I kept walking and the dogs sniffed as we walked, I had my back turned so I didn’t see exactly what happened, but the other dog snarled loudly and grabbed Luna, I turned around immediately ready to kick the dog away, but the woman already had it and said “I’m sorry, she just got a little excited” with a smile, speechless, I kept walking; dogs are only permitted on 6-foot, solid leashes in parks, an aggressive dog should not be on a retractable leash period or allowed to interact with other dogs without the owner’s permission and with proper safety precautions in play, this ignorant woman just proved to my fearful dog that she should be scared of new dogs, I was not pleased at all. Of course, I wish I had told her what I thought of her, but I just wanted to get Luna away from the irresponsible woman and her aggressive dog. I arrived back at my campsite and drew for awhile, then read before cooking supper as the sun set in a beautiful shade of orange. 
Oliver Lee State Park
Enjoying the shade.
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