Year 3 Week 45

April 22 to 28, 2007

Victor, Idaho via Wyoming and Montana to Moses Lake, Washington

Year 3 week 45

 

Sunday ; Victor, Idaho to West Yellowstone, Montana

Today was mostly sunny, and cold.

Yesterday we found out that we could not get into Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming from the south. So today we headed for the west entrance to the park, which opened only 2 days ago. We departed Victor, Idaho heading north on Hwy. 33, then north on Hwy. 32 to Hwy. 20 at Ashton. We drove north on Hwy. 20. At the Montana border, Hwy. 20 turned west toward the town of West Yellowstone, and the west entrance into Yellowstone National Park.

Last night and this morning Joanne made quite a few phone calls trying to find an open campground in the area of West Yellowstone. She finally found one that was open, but only with partial services. We are staying at Pony Express RV Park, a part of the Brandin' Iron Inn in the town of West Yellowstone, Montana. The water and sewer hookups are not yet functional for the season, but we have electricity, cable TV, and Wi-Fi in the trailer. A few feet away are a shower building, a laundry room, and the inn's indoor hot tub room. Upon arrival, after setting up in our site, I took a well deserved long nap.

For supper I barbecued an elk steak and a buffalo steak. We really liked the buffalo steak, and weren't as thrilled with the elk steak. As an accompaniment, Joanne served a rhubarb pickle / compote we bought 10 months ago in Newfoundland. While having supper we watched Amazing Race. Afterwards we went to the inn's hot tub for a soak. AHHHHH !

 

Monday ; Today was cold and raining. That altered our plans for the day.

We had intended to spend the day exploring Yellowstone National Park. Neither of us felt like unhitching the truck from the trailer, and exploring a national park, which always involves some walking and hiking, on a cold, rainy day. We spent the day reading yesterday's newspaper, napping ( well, some of us napped ), retrieving and paying bills online and by phone, setting up appointments, etc.. Late in the afternoon, the rain stopped and the sky began to clear. We unhitched, in anticipation of spending tomorrow exploring Yellowstone.

Late in the evening, it was time for another hot tub soak. AHHHHH !

 

Tuesday ; Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Today was sunny and mild. A great day for exploring Yellowstone National Park.

We saw an astounding amount of wildlife today. Some of it close. Some of it very close. Some of it extremely close ! We saw a Bald Eagle sitting on its nest. We saw Trumpeter Swans. We saw a wolf. We saw 2 Grizzly Bears, quite close. We saw many small and large herds of elk. We saw many small and large herds of buffalo. We watched 2 male buffalo have a head butt battle. We saw a new born buffalo, hairless / furless, barely able to stand and walk, suckling its mother. We drove slowly by a buffalo on the side of the road ( Joanne's side ), so close, that he lifted his head, and snorted steam and snot out of his nose, to show his annoyance. Joanne suggested we move along. Well, that may not have been her exact words. HA HA HA ! Another few seconds and I might have had to change the name of the truck from Lanoire to Head Smashed In Buffalo Truck. HA HA HA ! ( With apologies to Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump in Alberta ) We saw some kind of crane like birds with red heads. Don't know what they were. Maybe Sandhill Cranes ?

The northeast corner of Yellowstone is the only section of park open, and it just opened 4 days ago. The animals have not yet been spooked by large numbers of people yet, so they are quite visible. We drove from the village of West Yellowstone, in Montana, where we are "camped", through the West Entrance into Yellowstone National Park, in Wyoming. As we drove west to Madison Junction, we drove by 2 yearling Grizzly Bears. They were just off the side of the road, perhaps 50 feet away. I took some photos. They are the first Grizzlies we have seen up close in "the wild".

At Madison Junction we turned south and drove to the Old Faithful Geyser area. We just missed an eruption of Old Faithful, so we hiked around Upper Geyser Basin for an hour, viewing many small geysers and hot springs. What an astounding area ! We returned to Old faithful at 1:20 P.M., for the predicted 1:30 eruption, + / - 10 minutes. Old Faithful isn't the biggest, or most spectacular geyser in the park, just the only one that's accurately predictable. Every 92 minutes, + / - 10 minutes. Well, at 1:32 P.M., Old Faithful erupted ! WOW ! We had seen Old Faithful before, when we visited Yellowstone more than 25 years ago, but ... WOW ... we had forgotten !

After Old Faithful, we drove to the Firehole River Picnic Area for our picnic lunch. As we climbed into the truck after lunch, 6 buffalo came sauntering into the picnic site. We sat silently in the truck, and watched them walk by, about 50 feet away. We drove north to Mammoth Hot Springs, stopping frequently to view scenery or wildlife. What an odd area of geothermal formations ; geysers, hot springs, mud holes, paint pots, travertine ( mineral deposit ) mounds.

The day was longer than we had planned, there was so much to see. As we were driving back towards Madison Junction, then West Yellowstone, it was late in the day, and the sun was setting. The wildlife were out in force. That's when we watched buffalos fighting, and got buffalo snot on Joanne's truck door. We didn't arrive back at the trailer until 8:00 o'clock.

We had supper, then went for our final dip in the Brandin' Iron's hot tub. We chatted with a man from Germany and a man from Switzerland.

 

Wednesday ; West Yellowstone to Anaconda, Montana

Today was sunny and mild.

This morning just as we were about to depart from Pony Express RV park, the maintenance staff turned on the water to the RV park, so we were able to refill with fresh water and dump our waste holding tanks before departing. I was using a new sewer hose connection for the first time and I ... uhhhhh ... sort of flushed a 3 inch plastic cap down into the park's sewer system. Ooooops ! I actually didn't discover that until late this afternoon as we were setting up in our next campground.

We departed West Yellowstone heading north on Hwy. 287. At Interstate 90 we turned west. We stopped for lunch in Whitehall. At Butte we refilled with diesel at Flying J and replenished groceries at Safeway. We stopped for the night at Fairmont RV Park in Anaconda, Montana, a bit west of Butte. The areas of Montana that we drove across today were ranches and pastures on rolling hills, leading up to forest covered mountains.

We stopped relatively early today, because I had over 50 photos from yesterday to process and label. I barbecued Buffalo Cheeseburgers for supper.

 

Thursday ; Anaconda, Montana to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho

Today was mostly sunny and mild.

We departed this morning continuing northwest on Interstate 90. Every hour or so we changed drivers, enabling us to cover a lot of ground. We stopped at an RV dealer in Missoula, Montana, and I bought some RV supplies I needed. We had lunch in the RV dealer's parking lot. As planned, we made it to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho today. We are planning to do some shopping tomorrow, to buy some items we want to buy in the United States, before returning to Canada on Monday.

 

Friday ; Today was sunny and mild.

Happy 1st Anniversary to Lanoire. We bought her one year ago today in Belleville, Ontario. We have driven her 42,000 km. / 26,000 miles, without any problems. Great performance !

Our main reason for stopping here in Coeur d'Alene was to buy a yard swing at Lowe's. We had decided on this purchase while in Palm Springs, California. Coeur d'Alene was our second last opportunity to make this purchase at Lowe's before returning to Canada. If the Coeur d'Alene Lowe's had been out of stock of this item, we would have one last chance to buy it, in Spokane, Washington tomorrow.

While walking the dog this morning, Joanne noticed that there was a beading hobby store across the street. Perfect ! She recently purchased a loose turquoise stone drilled as a bead, in New Mexico, intending to have it strung onto a garnet bracelet she has. She went across the street, and arranged for this beading shop to restring her bracelet, inserting the turquoise stone into the middle of the bracelet of smaller garnet stones.

We unhitched and set off for a day of shopping and errands. First stop was at Safeway to refill with diesel. This is the first Safeway gas bar we've seen that has diesel. We went to Lowe's and bought the swing. Woo-Hoo ... my first "home improvement" project. We returned to our RV park and carried the heavy box into the trailer. It's going to be in our way for the next few days until we can remove it from the trailer when we arrive at Riverside RV Park Resort in Keremeos.

We returned to Safeway and replenished groceries. Joanne wanted to have a fast food lunch, but only at a fast food restaurant that we haven't been to before. We bought lunch at Carl's Jr.. Pretty good hamburgers !

After lunch while Joanne went for a haircut I read the newspaper and napped. I got online to send and retrieve e-mail. I have been communicating with a company called Valid Manufacturing in Salmon Arm, B.C. for over 6 months about the RV utility pedestals they manufacture. Today they sent me an e-mail that they are unable to find a concrete manufacturer to provide the precast concrete base for mounting their pedestals. I'm livid ! For 6 months we have been communicating, and they have been assuring me that they can provide both the pedestals they manufacture, and the concrete bases for mounting them ... until today. I was so angry I whipped off a "flame" e-mail to them. I'm at a loss to figure out what good the pedestals are without mounting bases !

 

Saturday ; Coeur d’Alene, Idaho to Moses Lake, Washington

Today was sunny and warm. First time we've had really decent weather in a couple of weeks !

We departed the slightly trashy Tamarack RV Park in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho this morning continuing west on Interstate 90. We crossed into Washington, and stopped in Spokane to do some shopping. We replenished supplies at Wal-Mart, including stocking up on some products that we can only get in the United States. We went to a Barnes & Noble Bookstore that I saw from the freeway. While I went in to buy the Lonely Planet travel book on Baja California and Los Cabos that I wanted, Joanne went across the street and bought us a couple of Krispy Kreme doughnuts. MMMMM !

We continued west on I-90 to the resort town of Moses Lake where we stopped for the night at Suncrest Resort. Joanne did some laundry while I prepared a list of our U.S. purchases in preparation for crossing the border Monday morning. I also prepared some documents for a meeting with our new lawyer on Thursday regarding the purchase of our lot at Riverside RV Park Resort. Joanne finished preparing our applications for B.C. Health Care. We will "officially" declare ourselves to be residents of British Columbia on Monday.

I barbecued Elk Mushroom Cheeseburgers for supper. We went for a long walk after supper, the first time in quite awhile we have been inspired by the weather and surroundings to go for a long after dinner walk.

 

DSK

Year 3 Week 44

April 15 to 21, 2007

Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado to Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

Year 3 week 44

 

Sunday ; Mesa Verde National Park

Today was sunny and mild.

This morning we unhitched and drove to Mesa Verde National Park. The campground we're staying in is only half a mile from the park entrance, but from the entrance to the Far View Visitor Centre is 16 miles, then it's another 8 miles to the Chapin Mesa Museum and trailhead to Spruce Tree House. The road was a narrow, winding mountain road. We stopped briefly at the Far View Visitor Centre to look around. At the Chapin Mesa Museum we watched a 20 minute Mesa Verde National Park orientation video, then went over to a nearby picnic area to have the picnic lunch Joanne had prepared. What a spectacular view ! We sat at a picnic table on the edge of a sandstone cliff.

After lunch we set off down the trail for Spruce Tree House, one of the many Anasazi / Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwelling ruins in the park. It was very interesting, but we've seen cliff dwellings before at Gila Cliff Dwellings in New Mexico a little over a year ago. Seeing something for the first time is always more exciting. Well, the trail to Spruce Tree House was downhill going, and uphill returning. Oh, my goodness ... is it ever difficult to hike uphill at an elevation above 7000 feet. After Spruce Tree House ruins, we drove the 6 mile Mesa Top Loop, stopping frequently to see ( and take photos of ) a variety of cliff house villages.

We returned to Mesa Verde RV Resort late in the afternoon. I did some work online, sending e-mails, updating my blog, and retrieving mid-month investment data updates. Joanne did laundry. After supper we watched Amazing Race, then went to soak in the hot tub for awhile before watching The Apprentice.

 

Monday ; Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado to Moab, Utah

Today was sunny and mild.

Every day, I read aloud my journal entry from the same day last year. This evening when I read last year's journal entry for April 16, it struck us as an eerie irony that last year on this date we drove by Blacksburg, Virginia, the site of today's horrendous Virginia Tech massacre.

This morning we departed Mesa Verde RV Resort, and headed west on Hwy. 160 to Cortez. We stopped at Wal-Mart to replenish groceries and supplies. While Joanne started shopping, I phoned my investment broker in Ottawa and made arrangements to acquire the funds we need to pay for our new property in Keremeos, British Columbia, in a couple of weeks. After shopping we left Cortez heading northwest on Hwy. 491 towards Utah. We crossed into Utah, and at Monticello we turned north on Hwy. 191. As soon as we crossed from Colorado into Utah, the geography changed from flat topped mesa mountains, to red rock canyons and cliffs.

We stopped for the night at Moab Rim Campark on the outskirts of Moab. We got set up in our campsite, then chatted with the elderly gentleman camped in the site beside us, along with his Yorkshire Terrier, Buttons. We took Bo for an obedience training walk, then I processed my photos taken in Mesa Verde National Park while Joanne prepared supper. I spent the evening updating my investment files. Looking very good !

 

Tuesday ; Canyonlands National Park & Dead Horse Point State Park

Today was a perfect "June 18" weather day. Some days it's great to be alive ! I feel so privileged to be living the lifestyle that we live, seeing the things that we see, doing the things that we do.

This morning we unhitched, and headed northwest on Hwy. 191 through the city of Moab, past the entrance to Arches National Park ( where we’re going tomorrow ), to Hwy. 313, the road leading south to Canyonlands National Park. We drove about 24 miles on Hwy. 313 to the Island In The Sky Visitor Centre where we stopped briefly to get a park map and watch a short park orientation video. We drove through the park, to the end of the road at Grand View Point Overlook, stopping frequently to view scenic overlooks, and take photos. What astounding red rock cliffs and canyons. Describing them in words is difficult. This area is the proof that “a picture is worth 1000 words”. So I would probably need 30,000 words to describe the 30 photos I took today.

We had our picnic lunch at a picnic site between Orange Cliffs Overlook and Grand View Point Overlook. After viewing Grand View Point Overlook, we drove back towards Island In The Sky, turning off towards Upheaval Dome. We drove to the end of the road at Upheaval Dome, then on the way back we stopped at Green River Overlook, and finally, at Mesa Arch. We hiked about half a mile to see Mesa Arch.

Whew ... we were getting tired. We drove out of the park, back towards Hwy. 191. On impulse we decided to detour, to see Dead Horse Point State Park. Well, that was certainly a worthwhile detour. Gorgeous ! ! ! As we were standing on a wood deck platform looking out over Dead Horse Point, I remembered seeing this place before. I’m certain that the platform we were standing on was the location of a clue box on an episode of Amazing Race.

We drove back to Moab RV Campark, arriving back home about 6:30 P.M.. It was a long, tiring, but exhilarating day. I spent the evening working on today's photos.

 

Wednesday ; Arches National Park

Today was sunny, warm, and windy. By late afternoon, the wind was extreme.

This morning we drove northwest on Hwy. 191 through Moab to Arches National Park. Arches National Park is filled with odd sandstone / red rock formations ; buttes, spires / needles, fins, and of course, arches. We spent the day slowly driving through the park, exploring as we went. At our first stop, The Windows Section, we hiked a mile to see North Window Arch, South Window Arch, and Turret Arch. From the same trailhead we then hiked another mile to see Double Arch. Whew ... I need a new right knee ! If the stock market continues to perform well, maybe in a few years I'll follow the lead of some of our American "Snowbird" friends. We'll head to Texas for the winter, and I'll buy a new knee as a Christmas present to myself, at one of the renowned orthopaedic hospitals in Houston. HA HA HA !

I just took a break from typing this at 6:30 P.M., to go outside and hitch Lanoire to Harvey. The wind has become so severe, and Harvey was rocking so hard, that we felt there was a risk of being flipped over. But when hitched together, I think the trailer is much more stable because of the low, wide profile of a dually. It would take much more wind to flip a dually and trailer hitched together, than just the trailer alone.

Our next stop was to view the Garden Of Eden area, and Ham Rock. A short drive later we were at Balanced Rock. We drove to the end of the main road in the park, and had a picnic lunch in the Devils Garden Picnic Area. Next we hiked < sigh > to Skyline Arch. We drove to the Fiery Furnace Viewpoint, then the Delicate Arch Viewpoint. From the Delicate Arch Viewpoint we walked over to take a look at the remains of Wolfe Ranch, a homestead established by a middle aged, injured Civil War veteran, in the late 1800’s. The wind was increasing, and the sky was darkening because of blowing sand. We were tired.

We drove back down out of Arches National Park to Hwy. 191. We refilled with diesel in Moab. Doggone it ... by the time we stopped in Moab in the afternoon for diesel, the price had increased 5 cents a gallon from this morning ! Once again, I spent much of the evening processing and labelling today's photos.

 

Thursday ; Moab to Layton, Utah

Today was sunny and mild. We covered a lot of ground today, driving further than we had intended.

We departed Moab this morning, heading north on Hwy. 191, then west on Interstate 70. At Salina we turned north on Hwy. 89, then north on Hwy. 28 to Interstate 15. We were planning to make it to Provo, and find a PetsMart or Petco to buy some pet supplies, as well as refill with diesel at a Flying J. When we got to Provo, I had enough diesel to make it to Flying J in Salt Lake City, so we kept on going.

At Salt Lake City we manoeuvered through a maze of freeway interchanges and finally found our way to the Flying J. We refilled Lanoire with diesel, and refilled a propane tank. We got directions to PetsMart, and Wal-Mart. After shopping at PetsMart and Wal-Mart we were going to boondock overnight in Wal-Mart's parking lot. We drove through city rush hour traffic to find the PetsMart. We bought cat food, dog food, and dog biscuits. If we hadn’t needed pet supplies, we would have taken “back roads” towards Wyoming, instead of fighting all this urban rush hour traffic, in the city and on the Interstate. We continued fighting our way through city rush hour traffic to the Wal-Mart. Oh, for crying out loud ! The Wal-Mart was in a congested area of the city, with a multi-level parking garage. Not really suitable for a 47½ foot long, 12¼ foot tall RV rig. We headed back to the Interstate, planning to drive about another 50 miles before stopping for the night at a Wal-Mart in a smaller city or town.

We continued north on Interstate 15 to Layton. We got off the Interstate and found our way to the Wal-Mart. Oh, gee whiz ! ! ! Beside the Wal-Mart were ... wait for it ... a PetsMart ... and a Flying J ! ! ! All that fighting of traffic in Salt Lake City could have been avoided. Oh, well ... who knew ? We drove about 550 km. / 330 mi. today. And we were already a bit tired when we started, after 2 days of hiking in National Parks.

While Joanne prepared supper, I set up our new, nifty little AC/DC LCD TV that we bought in Harlingen, Texas, and watched Survivor. After supper Joanne went shopping in Wal-Mart while I worked on the computer. My investment broker’s assistant Rhonda had phoned from Ottawa today with details of the investment transactions I requested a few days ago, to acquire the funds to pay for our new lot at Riverside RV Park Resort in Keremeos, B.C. in a couple of weeks.

 

Friday ; Layton, Utah into Idaho, into Wyoming, and back into Idaho to Victor, Idaho

Today was mostly cloudy and cool. We drove through a bit of rain, and a bit of snow.

We departed Layton, Utah this morning heading north on Interstate 15, through Ogden. Because Ogden is the head office location of Flying J, there are frequent Flying J Travel Centres in Utah. At Willard, shortly before we were going to turn off Interstate 15, we stopped at a Flying J to drain the shower holding tank, and refill the fresh water tank. Because of the frequent mechanical breakdowns of Dee-Dee in the past, we have become somewhat paranoid about ensuring that we drain the holding tanks and refill fresh water on days when we're driving. We don't want to be forced by circumstances to have to boondock somewhere due to a truck breakdown, with less than full fresh water, and a shower holding tank partially filled. While we were at Flying J, we figured we might as well top up the diesel fuel.

We turned northeast onto Hwy. 89, heading into the Rockies, and Wyoming. We spent a lot of the day driving on narrow, winding, steep mountain roads. It was tiring driving. We crossed from Utah into Idaho, and stopped for lunch in Montpelier, the favourite town for robbing banks of Butch Cassidy and his gang, The Wild Bunch. Seeing the rugged mountains around Montpelier, it was easy to imagine that it was easy for them to rob banks, then escape into the surrounding hills. We continued northeast on Hwy. 89, and crossed from Idaho into Wyoming.

Joanne found that the nearest reasonably priced campground to Jackson, Wyoming and Grand Teton National Park was 30 miles away, in Victor, Idaho. We turned northwest on Hwy. 26, and crossed back into Idaho again. At Swan Valley, we turned northeast on Hwy. 31 to Victor, Idaho, where we stopped for the night at Teton Valley Campground.

 

Saturday ; Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

Today we experienced a variety of weather, from sunny and mild to blizzard conditions.

This morning we departedour campground in Victor, Idaho, heading 30 miles east on Idaho Hwy. 33 / Wyoming Hwy. 22, over Teton Pass to Jackson, Wyoming. Teton Pass has a 10% grade for 5 miles. No trailers allowed over Teton Pass ! It was snowing heavily as we drove over Teton Pass. We stopped to refill with diesel at Wilson, before arriving in Jackson. Once in Jackson we headed for the Grand Teton & Yellowstone National Parks Information Centre. Good thing we did ! Spring has not yet arrived here in the National Parks of Wyoming, and most of the roads are still closed. The road north from Grand Teton National Park to the south entrance of Yellowstone National Park is still closed. That was the route we were planning to take tomorrow.

We spent most of the day exploring Grand Teton National Park and area, by road. We saw a lot of wildlife ; many buffaloes, many large herds of elk, mule deer or antelope ( Joanne and I couldn't agree ), and a large Grizzly Bear with 2 small Grizzlies ! We drove north through the park as far as we could, to Colter Bay on Jackson Lake. We had a picnic lunch on a pebble beach still covered in snow, beside a lake still frozen. We spent the afternoon slowly driving back south towards Jackson, exploring the roads within the park that were open. We left the park, driving east on Gros Ventre River Road through the town of Kelly, to the site of the Gros Ventre Slide of 1925, and a bit beyond that, Lower Slide Lake, formed by the landslide that dammed the Gros Ventre River.

The Southwestern Natives ( Navajo, Apache, Shoshone, etc. ) consider wild sagebrush to be a "sacred" plant, and the smoke from a sagebrush fire to be sacred. At powwows we have attended, vendors have small bundles of dried sagebrush available, by "donation". They consider it sacrilege to "sell" sacred sagebrush. As we approached Moab, Utah, recently, the smell of fresh sagebrush growing in pastures alongside the highway was so strong we could smell it in the truck as we drove. I decided I wanted to gather a bundle of wild sagebrush to take to our new home in Keremeos. Once the lot is developed, and we have purchased an outdoor fireplace ( no fires allowed in our RV park unless fully enclosed ), I would like to symbolically "bless" our lot by burning some wild sagebrush. The only places that I have been able to see wild sagebrush recently has been in National Parks. Joanne strongly disapproved of me gathering any wild sagebrush in a National Park. Finally, today, up by the Gros Ventre Slide site, I found wild sagebrush ... outside of a National Park. I cut about 10 small branches, to dry and bundle. Unfortunately, because spring has not yet arrived here in Wyoming, the tiny little "leaves" on the sagebrush plants are last year's, and nowhere near as fragrant as what we found in Utah.

We drove back into Jackson, where I wanted to shop at a specialty meat store, the Jackson Hole Buffalo Meat Company. I bought an elk steak, a buffalo steak, elk burgers, and buffalo burgers. YIKES ... expensive steaks ! We started heading back towards Teton Pass on Hwy. 22, then diverted north onto Hwy. 390 to see Teton Village, the ski resort. Nice village, relatively small ski mountain, incredibly expensive homes up in the hills surrounding the town. We drove back to Hwy. 22, refilled with diesel ( again ! ), then headed back over Teton Pass to Idaho. YIKES ... BLIZZARD !

Once we were back at our campground, it continued to snow heavily for about another hour, then the sky cleared ... again ! The weather kept changing all day. Don't like the weather along the Idaho / Wyoming border ? Wait an hour !

 

DSK

Year 3 Week 43

April 8 to 14, 2007

Albuquerque, New Mexico to Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado

Year 3 week 43

 

Easter Sunday ; Today was sunny and warm.

This morning we headed off for a day at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Centre in Albuquerque. The Indian Pueblo Cultural Centre is a co-operative effort of the 19 Indian Pueblos ( what we would call bands or tribes ). Every weekend they have Native dance performances. We arrived just in time for the 11:00 A.M. dance performance by the Zuni group, the Red Hawk Dancers. The Zuni Pueblo is near Zuni and Gallup, New Mexico, west of Albuquerque. We watched their dance performances of many interpretive dances, like the Red Tail Hawk Dance, the Deer Dance, the Rainbow Dance, and the Harvest Dance. Many of the Zuni dances are tributes to the animals and plants that either sustain them, or are symbols of their "God" spirits.

After the dance performances we wandered around the art galleries and museums in the centre. One of the museums in the centre pays homage to the Navajo Code Talkers of the Second World War. The Navajo Code Talkers story is fascinating. We watched the children's Easter Egg hunt in the courtyard. We went for lunch to the Harvest Cafe, where each dish is a specialty of one of the Pueblos. I had the San Ildefonso ( Pueblo ) specialty, a Portobello mushroom sandwich. Joanne had the Tiwa ( Native language ) specialty, a type of Indian Taco. The waiter dropped off three coloured plastic Easter eggs on our table. Two of the plastic eggs contained little bags of candy. The third one contained a voucher for a corn necklace which I picked up after lunch. I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with a corn necklace, but it's a nice souvenir. We spent quite awhile in the large native jewellery store, searching for a man's watch band for me. Unfortunately, I discovered that only a Rolex watch band will fit a Rolex watch. I bought a silver and turquoise Zuni ring. We saw quite a few pieces of jewellery made by Effie Calavaza, the Zuni artist who made the bracelets Erbon and Lorraine bought in Weslaco, Texas.

I was feeling quite ill after lunch. We watched part of the afternoon dance performance, then left. Back at the trailer, I napped while Joanne did some laundry. I downloaded and processed yesterday's and today's photos, we watched Amazing Race, then had a light, late dinner. I updated my blog, and we watched The Apprentice. "YOU'RE FIRED !" I wonder how many times I said that between 1990 and 2004 ? HA HA HA !

 

Monday ; Albuquerque to Grants, New Mexico

This morning was cool and raining. This afternoon was sunny and mild.

When I walked Bo this morning at 7:00 A.M. I wondered why there as an old man walking from his motorhome to the dumpster, carrying a bag of garbage, wearing a tuxedo and white gloves ? ! We got up early this morning to take the trailer to Camping World for new tires and service. We prepared for departure and hitched up in the rain. < sigh > I hate preparing for departure and hitching up in cold rain. Five minutes later I was back out in the cold rain, at Camping World next door to our campground, unhitching. Five minutes after that, I was back in the cold rain again, having a propane tank refilled. We left the trailer ( with Teddy inside ) at Camping World for the day, for new tires, repack the wheel bearings, and inspect and adjust the brakes. I was expecting that the brakes would probably need to be replaced.

We drove down historic, old Route 66 to downtown Albuquerque. We went to shop at a Native arts, crafts, and jewellery store called Skip Maisel's. We bought more gifts ! We drove to Old Town, and browsed until we were hungry for lunch. When we went into the restaurant, it was cloudy and raining. I wrapped a bit of Joanne's left over lunch in a napkin, as a "doggie bag". Well ... the left over Chicharones ( cheech a row nees ... little cubes of deep fried pork ) were a huge hit with Teddy and Bo this evening. When we came out after lunch, the rain had stopped, the sky had cleared, and it was getting warm. YIKES ... we had left Bo in the truck. We rushed back to where we had parked the truck. Fortunately, the inside of the truck had not yet become too warm. We took Bo for a walk in a park in Old Town. We met and chatted with a couple ( and their Golden Retriever, Buddy ) from Durango, Colorado. After chatting with them, we finally made a decision that we've been wrestling with for the last few days. We decided to return north on the west side of the Rockies, up through Utah into Wyoming, instead of up the east side of the Rockies, through Colorado into Wyoming. Just like in the fall, the weather in the spring is much warmer on the west side of the Rockies than on the east side. We'll explore a bit of Southwest Colorado, but won't explore as much of Colorado as we had originally intended.

We returned to Camping World at 3:00 P.M., hoping the trailer would be ready soon. < sigh > It wasn't ready until shortly after 6:00 P.M., their regular closing time. We waited, and shopped, and waited some more. And ... they proved to me, yet again, that good help is hard to find. I paid the bill, and waited outside for them to bring the trailer out of the service department. The service technician dropped Harvey outside, then ... ZOOOOOM ... was gone, as was everybody else. I found that they had not replaced the valve stems as they were supposed to, and the tire pressures were 10 pounds too low < fume >. The brakes will need replacing soon. I would have replaced them today, but they didn't have the correct parts. So ... I'll replace them next fall when we begin to travel south again, next November in Oregon, where there's no sales tax.

We hitched up and drove to Flying J so that I could adjust the trailer tire pressures. By the time we were "on the road" it was after 7:00 P.M.. And ... we were driving west on I-40, blinded by the setting sun. We drove about 75 miles to Grants, where we stopped for the night at Blue Spruce RV Park. The scenery west of Albuquerque was spectacular ! I think we drove through the area that every “Old Wild West” movie was filmed. WOW ... I was half expecting Billy The Kid ( or at least a young Clint Eastwood ) to shoot at us as we passed each Mesa / flat topped mountain.

It was a long and tiring day.

Joanne wants me to comment in my journal that every day for the past few days, she has eaten Green Chile ... and her taste buds are burnt to a crisp ! HA HA HA !

 

Tuesday ; Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary

Today was sunny, mild, and windy. This part of New Mexico is between 7000 and 8000 feet elevation, so the temperatures are quite cool.

A few days ago, in Albuquerque, Joanne found a brochure about the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary in Candy Kitchen, New Mexico. We were interested in visiting it, and that's where we headed today. We departed Blue Spruce RV Park in Grants, and headed south, then east on Hwy. 53. We drove through an area known as New Mexico's Land Of Fire And Ice. Extinct volcanoes and caves so deep and cold that the lakes at the bottom of the caves are frozen. We turned south on Hwy. BIA 125, then west again on the gravel Hwy. BIA 120. I don't know what the "BIA" means. We found Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary. We were planning to tour the facility, then boondock overnight in their unserviced campground.

We were taken on a guided tour of the wolf pens around the grounds. They have over 60 wolves and "high content" wolf dogs ( "almost" wolves ). Each very large enclosure houses only 2 to 4 animals. We learned quite a bit about wolves ... and dogs ... and their behaviour. We saw the difference between Arctic Wolves and Timber Wolves. The tour guide was an 18 tear old young woman who came to work at the wolf sanctuary for a year between high school and university. She intends to become an animal behaviourist, specializing in dolphin communications. We think her year at the wolf sanctuary will be a great "real life experience" contribution to her education.

We had a late lunch, then decided not to stay in the wolf sanctuary's unserviced campground for the night. We drove back to Grants, and checked into the Bar S RV Park, a different campground than the one we stayed in last night. I spent the evening doing some work on the computer, and we watched TV. The areas around Albuquerque and Santa Fe are expecting bad / winter weather Thursday and Friday, so our plans for the next few days are uncertain.

 

Wednesday ; Acoma Pueblo Sky City

Today was sunny and cool. Our exterior water hose froze overnight.

This morning we prepared for departure and headed west on I-40 back towards Albuquerque. We turned south on Hwy. 30, then south on Hwy. 32 to the Acoma Pueblo. When we turned off I-40, the truck computer's distance to empty" read over 30 miles. We believed that the Acoma Pueblo Sky City was 11 miles off the Interstate. Joanne wanted me to buy diesel as we were leaving the Interstate. I thought that we could travel the 22 mile return trip before refilling with diesel. Another mistake by Dan ! Acoma Pueblo Sky City was 20 miles from the Interstate. I had to use our 2 gallons of emergency fuel to get back to the service station at the Interstate.

Acoma Pueblo Sky City is an Acoma Native village built on the top of a high mesa, about 900 years ago. It is the oldest continually inhabited community in North America. It is still inhabited by about a dozen families / 35 people. There is no electricity or water in the village at the top of the mesa.

We parked and bought our guided tour admission tickets at the Sky City Cultural Centre at the base of the mesa. We wandered around the Cultural Centre, and their gift shop. We were driven to the top of the mesa / Sky City in small tour busses for our tour. The tour guide walked us around the village for about 2 hours, visiting the church, cemetery, and village houses. About a half dozen or so artists had tables set up outside their homes, selling their pottery. I bought a small, hand made and painted ceramic Kokopelli fridge magnet. Our lifestyle and RV home don't allow for much art to be exhibited, unfortunately. Kokopelli is the Anastazi cultural symbol for the "Spirit Of Joy". He is always playing a flute. I also bought some fry bread with cinnamon sugar on top. MMMMM !

At the end of the tour, the guide offered us the choice of being driven back down to the Cultural Centre in one the little busses, or we could hike down the "steep rock ledge trail" to the bottom of the mesa. I wanted to hike down. Joanne was very reluctant, but with some prodding and encouragement from me, she consented. YIKES ... "steep rock ledge trail" is a relative term. It was an almost vertical descent down into and through a crevasse to the bottom of the mesa. A number of times Joanne was convinced she couldn't make it down. I applaud the great courage and determination she has, pushing forward into what seemed like an impossible journey. ( Not the first time she’s done that ! ) I’ve always believed that “a man ( or woman ) needs to know his ( her ) limitations ... then exceed them frequently”. I’m proud of you, my love !

We had lunch in the parking lot, then returned to the Interstate where we refilled with diesel. We continued driving west to and through Albuquerque ... at rush hour, of course. Whenever we have to drive across a large city, we almost always seem to hit it at rush hour. We stopped for the night about 10 miles west of Albuquerque, at Hidden Valley Resort in Tijeras, New Mexico.

I spent the evening processing the photos I took yesterday and today.

 

Thursday ; Albuquerque to Santa Fe via Turquoise Trail & return

Today was mostly sunny and cool with a bit of strong winds and rain in the afternoon.

When we saw the movie Wild Hogs recently in Hondo, Texas, I wanted to see the town of Madrid ( emphasis on first syllable ), New Mexico, the setting for much of the movie. Joanne wanted to drive the Turquoise Trail, old Hwy. 14, from Albuquerque to Santa Fe, and Madrid is on the Turquoise Trail. This morning we unhitched, drove about 3 miles west on Historic Route 66 where our campground is located, then turned north on Hwy. 14, the Turquoise Trail.

We drove through a few of the small towns along the Turquoise Trail, then turned west into Cibola National Forest, to drive up Scandia Mountain to Scandia Crest. Above 8000 feet elevation there was remnants of old snow. Above 9000 feet there was fresh snow. Scandia Crest is at an elevation of 10,678 feet. It was very cold and windy at the summit. The temperature was 28 degrees. Down on the Turquoise Trail the temperature was in the 50's. We drove down Scandia Mountain and continued driving north on the Turquoise Trail.

We passed through a few more small towns before arriving in Madrid. We parked and walked around the little village. What an odd place to choose to shoot a movie. It's a small "Old West" town, with a General Store, a couple of restaurants, a few jewellery and craft stores, and a bunch of mangy looking mongrel dogs wandering around Main Street. We went into the General Store, and realized it was one of the main indoor locales used in the shooting of the movie. It was a large, old home converted into a General Store. The merchandise was located in about half a dozen large rooms located on the main floor. For the movie, they obviously just removed all the merchandise and shelving. We got a recommendation from the clerk in the store on where to have lunch.

We walked down to the Ghost Town Kitchen No Pity Cafe where we had the best lunch I've had in a very long time. It was all superb, fresh, home cooking. I drank Hibiscus Mint Iced Tea. I ate a Cowboy Smoked Brisket Barbecue Sandwich on a freshly baked Ciabatta bun, served with home made multi coloured tortilla chips, freshly made Green Chile Salsa, and a garden salad with home made Ranch dressing. Joanne had an egg salad sandwich, in a huge fresh Pita, served with home made potato chips. The restaurant's restroom was a "Porta-Potti" out back by the llama pen. HA HA HA ! Welcome to Madrid, New Mexico.

After lunch as we wandered around town browsing we met a couple from Winnipeg, travelling with another couple from Niagara On The Lake, Ontario, who were originally from Winnipeg. We chatted with them for awhile. The man who now lives in Niagara On The Lake was a musician in Winnipeg in his younger days, playing with Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings before they were in The Guess Who, and Neil Young before he left his home town of Winnipeg.

We left Madrid and continued driving north on the Turquoise Trail until the outskirts of Santa Fe. We got back onto Interstate 25 and headed south back to Albuquerque. Just before Albuquerque we took a shortcut around the northeast corner of the city on Tramway Road, then east on Historic Route 66 back to Tijeras.

 

Friday ; As we expected, we woke up this morning to heavy snowfall. We had planned to stay here because of the forecast winter storm, and the forecast was correct. By noon there was an accumulation of ankle deep wet snow. I had to get out our little shovel to remove the snow from the trailer steps, and the snow brush to sweep off the truck. I'm a bit perturbed that we have to wait out a winter storm this far south in mid-April !

We needed groceries. The nearest grocery store was 7 miles away. Three miles west on Historic Route 66, then 4 miles north on the Turquoise Trail to the town of Cedar Crest. While Joanne bought groceries I went to the Post Office to post some mail, then went to find a place to refill water jugs. When we returned to Hidden Valley Resort, I went to the laundry room to get online using a dial-up connection < sigh > and send some important e-mails regarding our lot purchase in Keremeos, B.C.. We started working on our personal income taxes, only to discover that we are missing some investment income information slips. I phoned my second cousin, Carey, in Thunder Bay, to ask her to have her father check our recent investment mail to see if the information slips I'm missing are there. To keep our investments in the province where my broker is licensed, our investments "live" at my cousin's home in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

It continued to snow all day. Schools are closed. Phone service is down. Bo refuses to go outside. He stands in the doorway and looks forlornly out. We carry him outside and put him down, then he refuses to eliminate on the "white carpet". Poor little Alabama dog, perplexed by all the "white carpet" that he can't pee on. He has to find a bare spot of ground underneath a tree before he will go < rolling eyes >.

 

Saturday ; Tijeras / Albuquerque, New Mexico to Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado

Today was sunny and mild.

This morning I climbed up on the roof of the trailer, and shovelled about a foot of snow off a section of the roof to allow the TV antenna to be lowered for travel. Then I had to hang precariously over the edge of the snow covered, slippery roof, and shovel about a foot of snow off the slides, with a ( too ) short handled plastic shovel, to allow the slides to retract for travel.

We departed, driving west 10 miles on Interstate 40 back to Albuquerque. We were stunned to find that Albuquerque did not get any snow yesterday, just heavy rain. We had been only 10 miles from Albuquerque, in the Scandia Mountains. What a difference 10 miles, and some rise in elevation makes. We refilled with diesel at Love's, then headed north on Interstate 25. We turned northwest on Hwy. 550.

We stopped for lunch at the Continental Divide marker. As we approached Colorado, we could see the genesis of the Rocky Mountains off in the distance. It was interesting to approach the Rockies from the South, where they begin / end. We crossed into Colorado, and were planning to stop for shopping, and boondocking overnight at Wal-Mart in Durango, Colorado. The Durango Wal-Mart parking lot was full, reminding me of my recent vow never to shop at Wal-Mart on the weekend. And the parking lot was posted "no overnight parking". So, since it was still fairly early, we decided to continue on to Mesa Verde National Park, which was going to be our destination tomorrow.

We stopped to refill with diesel ( again ) at Mancos. We stopped for the night at Mesa Verde RV Resort, just outside the Mesa Verde National Park gate. It's a Passport America park, with lower rates, and better amenities than the campground in the national park. Pull through sites with full hook-ups, free Wi-Fi, indoor hot tub ... ahhhhhhhhhh !

We got set up in our site, and while Joanne cooked supper, I took Bo for an obedience training walk. Gee whiz ... miss his obedience sessions for a few days and he has difficulty remembering what "stay" means ! What an Alpha mentality for such a sweet, little cur ! After supper, I did some work online, then we went to soak in the indoor hot tub. I say again ... ahhhhhhhhhh !

DSK

Year 3 Week 42

April 1 to 7, 2007

Pecos, Texas to Albuquerque, New Mexico

Year 3 week 42

 

Sunday ; Pecos, Texas to Carlsbad, New Mexico

Today was sunny and hot.

This morning I returned the Baja California guides and maps to our new friend from Quebec, then we prepared for departure. We drove to the Wal-Mart in Pecos, but it was a very small store ( for a Wal-Mart ) so we decided not to stop and shop there. We drove north on Hwy. 285 towards New Mexico. Shortly after we crossed from Texas to New Mexico we passed through the little town of Otis, where we saw the Christian Cowboy Stampede Church. HUH ? ! ? Yee-Haw ... Amen ! HA HA HA !

As we entered the city of Carlsbad there was a large Wal-Mart Supercenter. We stopped, did our shopping, then had lunch in the parking lot. We found our way to Windmill RV Park and checked in. As advertised, they had cablevision, but the reception was so poor it was not watchable < sigh >. The main reason we came here was to have good TV reception for watching Amazing Race tonight. I checked and rechecked all the cable connections inside the trailer, and could find no problem. I decided to remove the cable TV outlet from the exterior wall of the trailer, expecting to find a corroded cable end inside the wall, similar to the recent antenna problem. With considerable difficulty I got the cable outlet removed, and could find no corrosion or other problem. I don’t know whether the problem is our trailer or the park’s cable TV signal. I put up the antenna and got a decent signal on the CBS channel, so we were able to watch Amazing Race after all.

Today we passed from the Central Time Zone into the Mountain Time Zone. I reset all the clocks and watches, then spent the afternoon preparing the recently repaired stress cracks on the trailer for painting. I decided to do some other routine maintenance, like removing some old caulking around the areas I was intending to paint. While cleaning one area with acetone, I discovered an old fiberglass repair and paint job, done before we owned the trailer, and I made somewhat of a mess of the old paint repair with the acetone. What was going to be a very tiny little paint touch up became a fairly large panel area that I will have to repaint < big sigh >. I felt disheartened.

I found an interesting recipe in a tourist magazine I picked up today at Wal-Mart. We tried it for supper and it turned out very poorly < another big sigh >. Today was one of those days when nothing seemed to go particularly well. Oh, well, at least we got to watch Amazing Race.

 

Monday ; Today was sunny and hot, with a bit of wind. The wind hampered my painting efforts.

I spent the day trying to finish repairing and painting a deep scratch, some stress cracks, and a side panel on the trailer. The more I have worked on these things, the more work they've become. Some projects are like that. I made progress, but did not finish today. I tried connecting to the park's Wi-Fi while in the trailer, but was unsuccessful. I went to the clubhouse and tried to connect, but still was unsuccessful. I needed to update my blog, and retrieve month end investment data and bank statements. The park's Wi-Fi system was down. Story of my life !

Hey, after all those Country and Western radio stations in Texas, that's pretty good Classic Rock on Coyote 107 ! < high pitched >YIP YIP YIP < howl > AWHOOOOOooooo ! HA HA HA ... what a great radio station call sign !

I found an interesting item for sale while browsing the local Bargain Hunter type newspaper. A semi-automatic AK-47 assault rifle ! For only $585. Hmph ... I guess the local oil field rough necks must need them to ward off coyotes at night. HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA ! Welcome to New Mexico !

 

Tuesday ; Carlsbad to Lakewood, New Mexico

Today was sunny and hot. We prepared for departure and left Windmill RV Park, which was a bit of a dump. We stopped at Wal-Mart in Carlsbad to buy some fiberglass repair and painting supplies, then at Albertson's to buy groceries. We left Carlsbad heading north on Hwy. 285, about 20 miles to Lakewood. First we stopped at the Post Office in Lakewood to pick up our Passport America membership renewal package. WOO-HOO ... it was there ! Then we pulled into The Ranch SKP Park, the park with the condemned water supply. We arrived with full water, 42 gallons in the freshwater holding tank, and 10 gallons in the hot water tank.

Without a doubt, The Ranch is the friendliest SKP park. When new visitors arrive, they ring a big bell outside the registration office, and while the new arrivals are registering, people wander over to welcome the new arrivals with hugs. By the time we were registered, we had received about a dozen hugs. We got set up in our site, and I began to continue working on repairing and painting an exterior side panel on the trailer. The job continued to get larger, instead of smaller, it seemed. We took a break to go to social hour at 4:00 P.M.. This friendly park’s social hour is second only to Saguaro SKP Park at Benson, Arizona. All of today’s new arrivals introduced themselves and their “story”. The park’s daily announcements were read, including the date and time of the next MEOWS outing. MEOWS are Men Eating Out Without Supervision. HA HA HA ! A bunch of old men go out in the morning for breakfast, eating artery clogging steak and eggs, doughnuts, etc., with no wives nagging them. HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA !

After social hour I continued painting. < sigh > I ran out of paint. I underestimated how far a small can of paint would go. I unhitched the truck from the trailer, planning to go to Wal-Mart in Artesia tomorrow morning for more paint. We had supper, then I signed onto the park’s free Wi-Fi, retrieved investment data and bank statements, and updated my blog. Joanne asked me to come outside to see the moon after she had walked Bo. There was a huge, orange moon sitting just above the horizon, casting an eerie glow on the desert landscape. The only thing missing was a silhouette of a coyote howling under the moon.

 

Wednesday ; Today was a sunny, warm day. As we proceed north, and higher in elevation, the temperatures are becoming cooler.

This morning we drove about 16 miles north on Hwy. 285 to the city of Artesia, to buy more spray paint at Wal-Mart. < sigh > Wal-Mart only had one can of the paint that I needed, and I needed two cans. We drove to K-Mart. They didn't have any. We drove to Auto Zone. I bought another can of the paint that I needed, but paid almost twice the price of Wal-Mart.

I spent most of the afternoon working on finishing the exterior fiberglass repairing and painting. I think it's finished, but I won't be sure until tomorrow morning. Joanne worked on shelling the bag full of fresh pecans we bought recently in La Feria, Texas. This evening she baked a pecan pie with them. We went to the afternoon social hour. There was a special guest. A local old man, who has been a cowboy and rancher his whole life. He has recently published a book, sort of a memoir of his life's stories. He read some excerpts. I bought a copy of his book.

This park is in the middle of the desert. There is a knee high electric fence surrounding it because theland all around the park property is ranch grazing land, with cattle roaming around. After taking Bo for an obedience walk late this afternoon, I picked him up, stepped carefully over the electric fence, and we went out into the desert to chase cows. HA HA HA ... Bo loves barking at cows, especially when it makes them run away. Well, except they weren't exactly cows, they were steers. But Bo doesn't know the difference. I barbecued a beef brisket this evening, using a Texas barbecued beef brisket recipe we recently found. It turned out okay, although I over cooked it.

I was surfing the Internet tonight, and found something interesting. I was looking at the web site of Belleville Dodge, where we traded in Dee-Dee and bought Lanoire 11 months ago. Amazingly, Dee-Dee is still sitting on their used car lot, awaiting a new owner. HA HA HA ... may you rot in hell, you piece of shit ! I wonder why they have kept her on their used car lot this long, instead of just dumping her on a wholesaler, or used auto auction ? Boy, she sure is a pretty looking truck. HA HA HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA HA !

HMPH ... despite repeated attempts yesterday and today, I am unable to attach a photo of Texas Bluebonnet wild flowers to last week's blog entry.

 

Thursday ; Lakewood to Valley Of Fires National Recreation Area, New Mexico

Today was sunny and warm.

We were planning to leave The Ranch this morning, but changed our minds. We thought that we probably had enough fresh water to last us another day. We were wrong ! I was going to use the day to finish my fiberglass repairing and painting, and a few other chores.

I phoned the Camping World stores in New Mexico and Colorado. We were going to wait until next fall to purchase new tires for the trailer, and have the trailer's wheel bearings repacked and brakes serviced or replaced. But ... upon reflection, we decided to do it now. The tires are worn. The brakes are worn. We're about to begin travelling through, over, across, up, and down the Rocky Mountains for the next 5000 km. / 3000 mi. or so on our way "home". And the new Camping World catalogue we recently picked up has a coupon for $50 off 4 tires, and $25 off a wheel bearing repack. So I made an appointment for new tires, wheel bearings repacked, and brakes inspected and adjusted or replaced, for Monday morning at Camping World in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Then Joanne made a reservation for Saturday and Sunday nights at the Passport America campground next door to the Camping World. That will give us some of Saturday, and all of Sunday, to see and do the things she is interested in, in Albuquerque.

I spent the morning fussing and fidgeting with my fiberglass repairs and painting. I finally realized that I was not going to achieve "perfection" and was going to have to accept "good enough". We took Bo for an obedience walk, then a tennis ball play session in The Ranch's fenced dog run area. We had lunch, then immediately ran out of water. Okay ... we're outta here. Thought we had enough water for one more day, but ... no !

We left The Ranch at 2:30 P.M.. Seemed like an awfully late time to begin a day of travelling. I wanted to head for Valley Of Fires, halfway to Albuquerque. We headed north on Hwy. 285 to Roswell. At some point in the 1940's, a "flying saucer" allegedly crashed near Roswell, New Mexico. At that time, the U.S. Air Force confirmed finding the crashed "flying saucer", and the remains of the "alien space being" inside. Shortly thereafter, they recanted, saying they made a mistake. The "cover up" controversy continues to this day.

At Roswell we turned west on Hwy. 70 / 380, remaining on Hwy. 380 when Hwy. 70 split off. The topography changed from flat, scruffy "low desert" to treed, mountainous "high desert". We drove through the little, old, "wild west" village of Lincoln, where Billy The Kid made his last escape from jail. We drove over and through the Capitan Mountains, and the little village of Capitan, "birth place" of Smokey The Bear. Just past Carrizozo, we stopped for the night at Valley Of Fires National Recreation Area. It's a small, minimally serviced campground in a area of lava rocks, from a volcano eruption over 5000 years ago. It's quite high up in the mountains, with a great vista for miles in every direction.

Our campsite had a campfire box. It was the first opportunity since last September for us to have a campfire. I have been hauling around about a dozen pieces of firewood for over 6 months. Extremely well travelled firewood ! HA HA HA ! After supper we sat around a campfire for awhile before I started working on reconciling bank statements and updating investment spreadsheets.

 

"Good Friday" ; Valley Of Fires to Bernardo, New Mexico

Today was sunny and mild, with extreme winds starting late in the afternoon.

This morning I was examining a deep scratch on Bo's tummy when ... ZOOOOM ! WHAT ? ! ? A FLEA ? ! ? Gee, Bo ... you gotta stop hanging around with trailer trash dogs like that little beagle floozy back in Carlsbad. We immediately took him outside and sprayed flea spray on him. We prepared for departure, then went for a hike around the Valley Of Fires.

The Valley Of Fires is an area of lava rock desert. We hiked a short distance, looking at the lava formations, caves, and cacti growing out of the lava. Joanne spotted a large snake. She hollered for me to come back and see it. Bo was pulling me, and I was about 50 feet ahead of her. Bo has to be the hike leader < rolling eyes >. By the time I picked Bo up, and rushed back, the snake had "sidewinded" into the rocks. Later, Joanne described the snake to the woman at the campground registration office, who said it was a non-poisonous "sidewinder" snake called a Racer.

We drove west on Hwy. 380 passing along the north side of White Sands Missile Range, and the Trinity Site, where the world’s first atomic bomb explosion took place in 1945. We stopped for lunch at the tiny village of San Antonio, where Hwy. 380 met Interstate 25. After lunch we headed north on I-25 to the town of Bernardo, where we stopped for the night at Kiva RV Park & Horse Hotel. Horse Hotel ? ? ? What the hell is a Horse Hotel ? ? ? Oh ... what we would normally call “boarding stables”. Okaaaaaayyyyy !

After setting up in our site, we fell asleep for a nap before supper. The wind increased to over 50 MPH. The trailer was rocking from the winds. Bad weather is blowing into New Mexico for the next couple of days. While Joanne prepared supper I downloaded and processed the photos I took this morning. After supper we gave Bo a flea bath.

 

Saturday ; Bernardo to Albuquerque, New Mexico

Today was cool. It started out raining. As we drove towards Albuquerque, and rose in elevation, the rain turned to snow. It seemed incongruous to be driving in snow in New Mexico in April.

We departed this morning heading north on I-25 towards Albuquerque. Halfway to Albuquerque we realized that we would not have enough fuel to make it to Flying J in Albuquerque. We stopped at the town of Belen. The Wal-Mart fuel bar didn't have diesel, but we went into Wal-Mart and replenished groceries. Just down the road from Wal-Mart I purchased just enough diesel, at the outrageous price of $3.189 per gallon, to make it to Flying J in Albuquerque. We continued north on I-25. In Albuquerque, where I-40 intersected I-25 we turned west on I-40. We stopped at Flying J to refill with diesel, then found our way to Enchanted Trails RV Park, next door to Camping World where I have an appointment for service on Monday morning.

We got registered and set up in our site, had lunch, unhitched, and headed for Albuquerque "Old Town". We crossed I-40 and got onto historic, old Route 66, the quintessential trans-America road that ran from Chicago, Illinois to Los Angeles, California. Only remnants of old Route 66 still exist. In this area, it runs parallel to I-40, which replaced it. We followed Route 66 right into Albuquerque "Old Town". As we finished parking, the lady parking behind us began to chat with us. She recommended a local restaurant called Little Anita's for authentic New Mexican food. We went there for supper.

We spent the afternoon walking around Old Town, the historic "original" Albuquerque. We explored and admired the inside and outside of the old church, San Felipe De Neri, built in 1793. We shopped in many stores, admiring the beautiful silver and turquoise jewellery made by the Navajo and Zuni Indians of New Mexico. Joanne was considering purchasing a silver and turquoise bracelet. I was considering buying a silver and turquoise watch band. Neither of us found exactly what we wanted. We bought some small gifts of local specialty products, for ourselves and others.

I was feeling a little ill today with a colitis flare-up ( yet again ! ), so after about 3 hours of shopping I was feeling exhausted. We went to Little Anita's for dinner. It was very good. New Mexican cuisine is similar to Mexican, but slightly different from Mexican or Tex-Mex in Texas. Neither Mexico nor Texas embraces chile peppers like New Mexico does. The "official question" in New Mexico is "red or green ?" As in "do you prefer red or green chile sauce with that ?" I had no problem finishing my taco salad ( with neither red nor green, thank you ). Joanne was incapable of finishing her “green”. HA HA HA ... what a gringo !

DSK

Year 3 Week 41

March 25 To 31, 2007

Rio Grande Valley, Texas

Year 3 week 41

 

Sunday ; Today was cloudy, hot, humid, and windy.

This morning we had brunch with Erbon and Lorraine. I squeezed a couple of grapefruits to have freshly squeezed grapefruit juice. WOW ... juicy grapefruits ! Joanne had a "campfire" recipe she wanted to try. She had found it in one of our RV magazines. It was for "omelettes in a bag". Break a couple of eggs into a one quart zip lock baggie, add whatever you want, like mushrooms, diced green onion, shredded cheese, etc., squeeze out the air remaining in the baggie, close the baggie, shake, and drop into a pot of boiling water for exactly 13 minutes. Open the baggie and roll out your omelette. They were great ! Perfect for a large group. Everybody gets to make their own omelette with whatever they want in it.

After brunch we visited for awhile. I went to the office and paid our bill, then I went and picked a dozen little limes and a dozen grapefruits. I cut open the smallest lime, and sucked it. YEOW ... yup ... that’s a lime ! We went to the local service station / convenience store to refill 5 water jugs. When I got out of the truck at the water machine in front of the store, there was an unopened bottle of beer sitting on the curb. And a live chicken walking by on the side of the road. Joanne said they must have a “Mexican Special” today. Buy 5 gallons of water, get a free beer and a free live chicken. HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA ! I picked up the free beer. I left the chicken !

I went to the clubhouse, got online with Wi-Fi, sent and retrieved e-mail, updated my blog, and paid for some software. When my laptop's hard drive crashed in December, I lost my favourite photo manipulation software. It was JASC Photo Shop version 4. JASC no longer exists, having been sold to Corel, a company in Ottawa, Ontario. How ironic ! I downloaded a trial version of Corel's Photo Shop version 6 a month ago, and today I had to pay for it or lose it. I also checked the value of our investments. Not bad. There's been a lot of recovery from the large stock market declines of earlier this month.

We spent the rest of the afternoon floating in the swimming pool, along with many of the remaining park's residents who, like us, were getting as much pool time as they could before they have to start heading back north. As we were leaving the pool, a fellow asked me to identify the new puppy they had just rescued / adopted. It was a female Australian Shepherd, about 3 months old. I gave him some training tips, then brought Bo over to give an obedience demonstration. Good dog, Bo ! His obedience focus and performance are so good I can use him to give an obedience demonstration to a group of people.

Erbon and Lorraine provided steaks for supper which I cooked on my spiffy, new stainless steel barbecue. Nice steaks. Thank you. After supper I turned on their TV so I could watch Amazing Race. Erbon and Lorraine had never seen Amazing Race before. Lorraine wants to see next week's episode. HA HA HA ... one episode and she's hooked ! We spent the evening chatting.

 

Monday ; Mission to Hondo, Texas

Today started out cloudy and warm. We experienced heavy rain while driving. At Hondo, the sky was clear, and the temperature was about 10 degrees cooler than in The Valley, after driving north for a day.

This morning I was allowed to use toothpaste for the first time in a week, and was allowed to use a toothbrush gently on the left side of my mouth, on the sutured area of my gums. Brushing caused some of the sutures to break, and now I've got pieces of thread sticking out my gums. It felt quite uncomfortable.

We prepared for departure, and said our goodbyes to Erbon and Lorraine who left a few minutes before we did. First stop was the Post Office in Mission to see if my membership renewal package from Passport America had arrived. The line up at the main counter was extremely long. There were 2 people lined up at the "Quick Service" door, used for simple transactions like parcel pick ups, etc.. I waited a few minutes, stepped around the 2 women in front of me, and rang the bell for service. I waited a few more minutes, then rang the bell 3 times. I waited a few more minutes, then pounded on the door until it flew open. A surly postal clerk snapped at me that someone would be along shortly, and slammed the door. I waited a few more minutes, then rang the bell about 25 times. By now I was third in a line up of about 20 people. I was feeling furious, so after waiting a few more minutes I left ! I had wasted about 15 or 20 minutes, while the "Quick Service" door was being ignored by the postal clerks, who, no doubt, feel that they can leave the "Quick Service" door unattended while they have lunch. ******* postal workers ! And that's coming from a former employee of Canada Post.

Wedrove a few miles east on Expressway 83, then turned north on Hwy 281 at McAllen. A few miles north on Hwy. 281 we stopped for fuel at Flying J in Edinburg. After refilling with diesel, we finally "hit the road", an hour after we left Seldom Rest Ranch. We drove north on Hwy. 281 until it reached Interstate 37. The wildflowers in Texas are in bloom, and the road sides are beautiful ... and fragrant. Joanne drove for a short while after lunch. While she drove I phoned Passport America and arranged for them to send another membership renewal package including campground directory to Lakewood New Mexico. Hopefully it will be there in a week. We continued north on I-37 to Hwy. 281, then a few miles on Hwy. 281 to Pleasanton. It began to rain heavily. A few miles west on Hwy. 97 to Jourdanton, then northwest on Hwy. 173. The rain became extremely heavy for about 20 minutes. Hwy. 173 was a narrow, two lane road with no shoulders. I had difficulty finding somewhere to pull off and shift into 4WD. A tornado touched down in Devine shortly before we drove through. At Hondo we turned west on Hwy. 90, and drove 8 miles to Lone Star Corral SKP Park.

It had been a long day of driving, and a bit stressful driving in the heavy rain. Plus I'm still not feeling really healthy !

 

Tuesday ; Today was sunny, very warm, and very humid.

I slept late this morning. I've been having trouble getting up in the morning. My sick body is demanding rest, and I'm not giving it enough. More sutures in my gums broke this morning, and I was able to pull more thread out of my gums. Each piece of thread that I can pull out provides a bit more relief and comfort.

After lunch we drove into Hondo to do some shopping at Wal-Mart. First we drove around the town, looking around. We've been here before, but never drove around town exploring. Hondo is a small, old Western "cowboy" town. We did our Wal-Martin' and returned to Lone Star Corral. I wanted to take some pictures of the beautiful blooming Bluebonnets, but I had left the camera in the trailer. Bluebonnets are the official Texas wildflower, and they're in bloom right now along the road sides.

As we were preparing to go to the park's daily afternoon social hour, Joanne told me I had to change my pants and shirt because I looked like a ******* refugee from Bangladesh. Well, excuuuuuse me ! At social hour we chatted with a couple who had just moved into the site next to us. They are arookie full timing couple, claiming to have been full timers for 6 months. Well, not really. Not by my definitions. They are from Fort Worth, Texas. They retired 4 months ago. Their house sold 6 months ago, so they lived in their rig in Fort Worth for 2 months. Then they went to Port Aransas for 4 months. So ... this is the second place they have travelled to in their 6 months of full timing. And neither place is more than a few hundred miles from where they started. I travelled more yesterday than they have in 6 months. HA HA HA !

We cut Teddy's and Bo's claws, then gave Bo a bath. After supper I spent the evening working on the 2 month batch of investment mail that I picked up at the La Feria Post Office last week.

 

Wednesday ; Today was partially cloudy, quite warm, a bit windy, and very humid.

This morning I repaired the folding door that separates the bedroom from the bathroom hallway. This afternoon I repaired one of the three stress cracks in the fiberglass again. It cracked again when the weight of the front of the trailer was resting on the hitch in the truck, while we were driving. I initially repaired it when the trailer was unhitched from the truck, and the crack was closed. Today I repaired it with the trailer hitched to the truck. With the weight of the front of the trailer resting on the hitch, the crack spread a little, and I repaired it like that. I hope that works.

We went to today's social hour at 4:00 P.M.. Some SKP parks know how to do social hour, and some don't. This one doesn't ! I took some photos of Texas Bluebonnets in the park, then downloaded and processed photos from the last few days. I administered Bo's monthly heartworm medication, and Teddy's and Bo's monthly flea prevention treatments.

Because I could receive a Wi-Fi signal right in the trailer in this park, I spent the evening goofing around on the Internet.

 

Thursday ; Today was very warm, very humid, and cloudy, with intermittent very light, misty rain all day.

I tried repeatedly during the day to get some outdoor chores accomplished, but every time I stepped outside, it began to rain again. I spent most of the day reading a book. I finally managed to finish the fiberglass crack repair that I started yesterday.

Joanne wanted to go into town and see a movie tonight. After supper we drove into Hondo to see Wild Hogs, playing at the old Raye Theatre. I think the Raye Theatre hasn't changed since the days of silent movies. What a quaint, little old movie theatre. The movie was amusing. We were down to our last few dollars, so after the movie we decided to go to Wal-Mart to buy diesel, and get some cash. We use Wal-Mart as an ATM, getting "cash back" with our purchases without incurring ATM service charges. While Joanne went into the store, I went to the fuel bar. Oh, for crying out loud ... the price of diesel went up 14 cents a gallon yesterday !

 

Friday ; Hondo to Interstate 10 picnic area east of Fort Stockton, Texas

Today started out warm, with heavy rain, and ended warm and sunny.

We were planning to go to San Antonio this morning for a day trip to see The Alamo, Riverwalk, and an old mission. The weather was poor. The forecast was for heavy rain, flash floods, and tornadoes. Joanne has always maintained, since we began travelling, that one of the advantages of our lifestyle is that when we encounter bad weather, we can just drive away from it. So that's what we decided to do today. The weather was going to be poor for a couple of days, and we didn't have enough interest in San Antonio to stay in Hondo for another few days.

We prepared for departure during a brief lull in the rain. We drove east on Hwy. 90 into Hondo, then turned northwest on Hwy. 173. As we left Hondo, Joanne returned a phone call to her sister that we had missed as we were preparing for departure. They chatted until we were out of cell phone range, when the call just dropped. At Kerrville we got onto Hwy. 16 and followed it to Interstate 10. Yes, the rain was heavy. Yes, there was a lot of flash flooding. No, we didn't encounter any tornadoes. This part of Texas "Hill Country" doesn't drain particularly well. The ground doesn't soak up the water. The fields and road sides were flooded. What were little tiny creeks yesterday, and will be again in a few days, were raging rivers today, pouring over their banks onto farm fields, and sometimes even the roads.

We covered a lot of ground today. From South Texas across Central Texas and into West Texas. Driving the Interstate is easy. And driving Lanoire makes it even easier. To prevent a recurrence of running out of fuel, as we did 2 years ago just about where we stopped for the night this evening, we refilled with diesel at Ozona. Radio stations were few and far between. Joanne said that having to listen to some Country and Western music is inevitable when driving across Texas. I'd rather listen to silence ! The days are much longer, so we aren't inclined to stop as early as we were a month and a half ago, when we were travelling from California to Texas. We stopped for the night at a road side picnic area about 15 or 20 miles east of Fort Stockton. We got out of the clouds and heavy rain, and into Texas "Big Sky" about an hour or so before we stopped for the night. We have entered that region of West Texas which I've always considered to be "land without merit". Endless scruffy desert. Without much of anything except oil wells. I guess it's not considered "land without merit" if you own it, and there's oil under it ! HA HA HA !

 

Saturday ; East of Fort Stockton to Pecos, Texas

This morning was quite a bit cooler than we have been used to. I guess that's what driving northward for a couple of days will do. This afternoon was quite warm, and it was sunny all day.

Our short term plans keep changing rapidly. This morning our plan was to drive to the SKP park in Pecos, Texas and stay for 2 nights. The park was supposed to have cable TV, and Joanne wanted to be somewhere with good TV reception to watch Amazing Race tomorrow night. Then we were going to drive to the SKP park in Lakewood, New Mexico and stay for a few days, expecting that our Passport America package would be arriving at the Lakewood Post Office on Monday or Tuesday. We drove a short distance west on I-10 to Fort Stockton, then turned northwest on Hwy. 285 to Pecos. At Pecos we stopped at Flying J to refill with diesel before heading over to Trapark SKP Park. Gee whiz ... the price of diesel has gone up 45 cents per gallon this week ! ! ! When we checked in at Trapark, we found out that they no longer have cable TV.

We got set up in our site, and were quite surprised to find that the park was almost full. Trapark is the least visited ( because it's the least desirable ) of the SKP parks, and it's usually mostly empty. As soon as we were set up, I went over to admire the 2007 Dodge one ton diesel dually 2 sites over. I chatted with the couple from Texas with the new Dodge truck for awhile. We admired each other's trucks, and chatted about our travels. I told him I admired his honkin' huge grille guard, and I wanted one but my wife wouldn't allow it < snicker >. I commented that it seemed to me that almost all pickup trucks in Texas have a honkin' huge grille guard. He said that's because it's cheaper to buy a honkin' huge grille guard than to repair front end damage after hitting a deer, which he says is inevitable when driving in Texas. Eventually I went inside the trailer to set up the TV antenna to see if we could receive CBS, to watch Amazing Race tomorrow evening. The only channel we could get on the antenna was NBC. So < sigh > we decided we would leave here tomorrow morning, drive to the SKP park at Lakewood, New Mexico, and hope that we could receive CBS there, then stay there until we get our mail, probably on Tuesday.

I began to work on repairing a broken drawer in the bathroom hallway. Joanne started chatting with the lady from New Hampshire in the site next to us, with a Cardinal fifth wheel similar to Harvey, but a few years newer. She told Joanne that they had just arrived here at Pecos, having left the SKP park in Lakewood, New Mexico this morning because the water system had been shut down yesterday by inspectors due to a high nitrate level in the water. There's currently no water available at The Ranch SKP Park in Lakewood. Most of the visitors to The Ranch left this morning and came here. That's why this park is so full. < sigh > So there goes Plan B ! The lady from New Hampshire gave Teddy, who was outside in his tent, some fresh catnip leaves plucked off the catnip plant she grows for her cat. Teddy became so ecstatic ( and stoned ) he flipped over onto his back and did a "doggy happy dance" inside his tent. HA HA HA !

I did the 54,000 km. inspection on Lanoire. As we were driving this morning we were talking about the truck. We've had it for 11 months, and driven it 37,000 km. / 23,000 miles with nary a hiccup. What an extremely pleasant change from the nightmare of Dee-Dee. We gave Bo a haircut on his face, so we could see his eyes again. He had so much long hair hanging over his face he couldn't tell the difference between cows and farm equipment, barking at both as we drove. We went to the park's social hour, and chatted with a man from Drummondville, Quebec, and a couple from Elliot Lake, Ontario. The man from Quebec lent me his travel guides to the Baja California peninsula of Mexico. We intend to tour "The Baja" next winter. I will return the maps and books to him tomorrow morning before we leave. After social hour, I chatted with more neighbours, a couple from Texas, and a couple from near Ottawa, Ontario. Lots of Canadians here, all heading slowly north, eh ? HA HA HA!

We went to the park's clubhouse to check out their "bargain table". We're looking for something worthwhile on an Escapee park's bargain table to "trade" for our small 5 inch black and white AC/DC TV. There was nothing worth trading for the TV, so I guess we'll get rid of it at The Ranch in Lakewood, the last Escapee park we will be visiting this winter. I did pick up 3 Christmas music CD's, leaving a hard cover mystery suspense novel in trade. Joanne found a Passport America park with cable TV in Carlsbad, New Mexico, and made a reservation for tomorrow and Monday nights. Tuesday we'll go to The Ranch for 1 or 2 nights, with a full tank of fresh water which will last a couple of days. As soon as we get our mail, we'll leave.

 

DSK