Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Blowin' in the wind

Today the 15 MPH tail winds carried us to Lebanon, Missouri.  Between two fillups covering yesterday's and today's miles, we averaged 13 MPG at 60 MPH.  We sail home tomorrow on tail winds predicted to be 25 MPH.

We need to buy a lottery ticket.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Oklahoma

Today we surfed a 35-40 MPH tail wind (with gusts to 60) all the way from Portales to El Reno, Oklahoma.  It was crazy.  I pity the poor folks driving the other direction.  One guy at a gas station, after filling up his old Chevy pickup loaded with worldly possessions, said he just got 3 MPG.  I don't know what we got because we haven't filled up yet.  The first tank was half yesterday's conditions and half today's, and was 12.4.  The current tank's MPG will be higher.

The best high school team name we saw today:  The Hereford, Texas Whitefaces.  Hereford is the beef capital of the world.  There are some honking big feedlots around there.  Good thing the wind was blowing hard.

Somewhere on US 60 in the Texas panhandle:

Sunday, February 19, 2012

The middle of nowhere

Tonight we are in Oasis State Park near Portales, New Mexico.  It is in the windy high plains.  Elevation 4000 ft.

Today we left Las Cruces on US 70 headed NE towards Alamagordo, Ruidoso, Roswell, and Portales.  We had hoped to make Amarillo, but we spent an hour at the White Sands, and another hour for our brunch at a Denny's.  Every time I go to a Denny's, I swear it is the last time.

Once we cleared the Organ Mountains east of Las Cruces, this was the scenery around the White Sands Missle Range.  The snow-capped peak is near Cloudcraft:

The White Sands are something to see.  The sand is gypsum, washed out of the mountain rock.





Up by Ruidoso, we traveled through the mountains.  The pass was about 7700 feet, but the driving was pretty easy.  There was snow in the shade in peoples' yards, probably from the night before.  This should be Capitan Peak, about 10,000 feet.  Or it's Sierra Blanca, about 12,000 feet.

Once out of the mountains, the hills eventually give way to somewhat grassy high plains/desert, with cattle, horses, and tumbleweeds.   Towns are scarce and barely alive, so be sure to keep an eye on the map and fuel gauge.
BTW, Terry was driving when this photo was snapped!

We are one of only 3 or 4 campers in the state park.  It's the same land as the photo above, but with a few trees.  Nothing to block the wind, but we are parked heading into it so it shouldn't rock us too much tonight.
Tomorrow we expect to sleep somewhere in Oklahoma.

Friday, February 17, 2012

Las Cruces again

Wednesday we drove from Tucson to Las Cruces along I-10.  The scenery changes often, although it is all desert.  We snapped a couple of representative photos along the way.  The first is a rest area in a beautiful location.


And here is where we stopped to make sandwiches, let the dog stretch her legs in the sun, and buy some heavily-advertised jerky.

Here in Las Cruces we are staying in a plain RV park in town.  Nothing photogenic here.  After checking the weather and consulting the magic eight ball, we have decided to just head for home from here.  We plan to leave Sunday morning, stopping for nights around Amarillo, central Oklahoma, central Missouri, and home on Wednesday.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Cacophony of Cacti

We are staying at Tucson Mountain Park, a county park located next to Saguaro National Park.  The big desert cacti are everywhere.  It's easy to take a lot of photos of the same things, but we got some good ones today, after a cold rain.  There was even a dusting of snow at the tops of the mountains.  Enjoy some nice Sonoran Desert scenery. We did.









Beautiful hues at sunset:

Monday, February 13, 2012

Surprises

Yesterday while walking in the desert behind the RV park, the dog started pointing at something in the bushes.  A couple of very skittish cattle then played hide and seek with us.


Well, I mentioned that Terry did something surprising.  For four hours Sunday and again on Monday:
She took RV driving lessons!  And she really did great.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

An old favorite

Guess what they had in the store at the Goldfield Mine?  You have to be at least 40-something, I suppose, to remember this.  We bought two.  I love the stuff.


Thought we'd throw in a campsite photo tonight.  This is still at the Arizonian.  We are still speaking to each other, believe it or not.

The dog had a bad day or so with her arthritic front leg.   But after a couple of days of doggie anti-imflammatory medicine and some rest, she's pretty good now.


We are leaving tomorrow, headed down to Tucson.  That begins the turn back towards home.  Terry is doing something unique tomorrow before we leave.  Stay tuned for the report.

Vintage Iron

We visited the Goldfield mine, a ghost mine which has been developed into a tourist stop. They have a collection of rusty trucks, including some brands I've never heard of.





Friday, February 10, 2012

On the road to Tortilla Flat

Back home neighbors Ron and Karen took us up the Apache Trail to the outpost of Tortilla Flat.   It's a nice scenic mountain drive, with a good cheeseburger at the end.





Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Desert Golf. REAL Desert Golf.

One of the amenities here at the Arizonian Travel Trailer Resort is a no-frills free desert golf course.  I played nine holes today.  I have NO golf swing, every year I have to learn the stupid game all over again.  Good thing I brought old clubs:



Sunday, February 5, 2012

Super Bowl Sunday


Homemade from scratch pizza, anyone?  This is roughing it!
I don't know about anyone else, but I base my beer purchases on which one has the best advertising.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

End of the road

Today we reached the end, the farthest we are going from home.  We had spent two nights at Picacho Peak State Park.  The weather was great.  The terrain was a bit stark but beautiful. The day of rest did our minds good.  And I got the broken drawer mounts fixed, and did a preventative fix on another similar pair of drawers.  The first owners of this trailer did not really tow it anywhere; they had a seasonal spot in a campground.  So we get to do the shakedown cruise, breaking everything ourselves.

There are still some things to look at but the ship is on an even keel right now, not taking on any water.

A short drive today took us to McDowell Mountain Regional Park, a park and campground operated by Maricopa County, just beyond the town of Fountain Hills.  Which is a ritzy little town outside of a bigger ritzy town, Scottsdale.  However, here in the park up in the hills, we sure can't tell we are near anything, let alone the Phoenix suburbs.  As far as we can see, beyond here be dragons.  Or at least lizards.




Campsites are huge and spread far apart:

The dog approves of our plan to stay here for five days.

Monday, January 30, 2012

Arizona

Arizona.  Finally.

We are both frazzled by the long trip so far.  The driving is okay, but every day something breaks on the trailer.  Never a deal-breaker, so we keep moving.  It's usually something that wasn't built well enough.  Today a pair of drawers broke loose inside their cabinet.   The way they engineered the mounting for the drawer slides is simply ridiculous.  I have a drill, screws, and epoxy, so I'll be trying to fix it right.

In my opinion, most of these trailers are just not made to haul across country.  They are made to be pulled a couple hundred miles to the lake or woods. Our old 93 Jayco held up better than this.  This trailer has a lot of good design and workmanship, but at the same time it has things that make you say "what in the world we they thinking?!"  And it just doesn't take the bumps well, it seems.

We are both ready to just sit somewhere.  Starting Wednesday we have 5 days reservations at McDowell Mountain Park outside of Scottsdale.   Really looking forward to that.

Tonight we are in Picacho Peak State Park between Tucson and Phoenix.  It's a beautful clear night, with a sky full of stars.  Here is our campsite.

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Brrr!

It was 29ยบ this morning in Las Cruces.  But the sun is up and it will get better quickly.  This trailer is not the best for these kinds of temps.  I have a lot of tinkering to do when I get home, to plug holes and fix drafts.

We have to make a Wal-Mart run and do some town things before doing our visiting today.  Looks like one more night here, then westward ho.

Saturday, January 28, 2012

The Land of Enchantment

We decided to finally get up on time and put on some Texas-size miles today.  We didn't think we'd make El Paso, about 420 miles, but we'd see how far we could go.  We made it and then some, all the way to Las Cruces, New Mexico.   Close to 500 miles.  One thing for sure, the dog had enough traveling for one day.



On the way out of the state park this morning, we saw some of the endangered Rio Grande turkeys.  They were beating a retreat but Terry got a shot of them.

Tonight we are in the Hacienda RV Resort in Las Cruces.  And I mean IN Las Cruces.

It has very fine facilities, but we are going to have to get used to western campgrounds.  Basically pavement and gravel, with a few shrubs planted for color.  But we are right across the interstate from the Wal-Mart (center rear of photo), so we've got that going for us!  Well, off to do some laundry.  Tomorrow we hope to visit Terry's relatives here.