A PETROGLYPH, EMORY PASS, & A MOVE TO SILVER CITY

Noticed right away this morning the condensation wasn't as bad on the windows so knew the outside temperatures were finally on their way up. Not a cloud in the sky as the sun rose over Cooke's Peak to the east. It was the beginning of our last day at City of Rocks.

Disassembled the satellite dish for the last time & stowed it away in the hatchback of the car. The tri-pod, dish, & satellite arm with an additional Starchoice LMB are all in good shape so we'll try to sell it. Modem is no good but can be replaced. Never thought, but I should have taken a picture of the set up before taking it down.

There are a few petroglyphs here in the rocks so with a sketchy little map, we set out this morning to find some of them. Clambered here & there, & scrambled through some rocky cavelike overhangs but to no avail, we couldn't find them. It wasn't until later in the afternoon while returning from our daytrip that were able to stop at an empty campsite where we knew of one near the sites garbage can. I've included a picture of that one in to-day's web album. SEARCHING FOR PETROGLYPHS
We headed off in the car for the Emory Pass around 10:15. While staying in the town of Truth or Consequences for a week late last February we had taken a day trip with the car through Hillsboro, Kingston, & on up through the Gila Forest to the Emory Pass, whereupon we threw some snowballs around & then headed back to Truth or Consequences. Someone later told us we should have continued that drive through to Silver City because that was the nicest part. So, to-day, 9 months later we made that drive from the western end. A great winding road complete with hairpin turns, 10MPH corners, steep drop offs, rock walls, tight curves, & steep grades. Always fun to be jammin gears in tight turns & our little 5 speed Hyundai Santa Fe handled the roads with no problem at all. It has been a great car for us. THE VIEW EAST FROM EMORY PASS
Made it back to City of Rocks around 2 in the afternoon & immediately set about packing up our campsite & readying the motorhome for our move to Silver City some 35 minutes to the north. In the meantime couple of older fellows driving by noticed the Canadian flag decals on our rig so pulled in to say hello. Fellow Canadians out on a daytrip. One fellow had been stationed in Clinton during the war & the other fellow knew some people living in St. Joseph just south of Bayfield. Couple of nice guys.

Always sad to leave a place where nice memories have been created, & so it was as we said good-bye to our little campsite beside the big rocks. We will remember City of Rocks as one of the nicest State Parks we have ever been in & I would highly recommend it to anyone traveling in the area.
http://www.gilawilderness.com/travel/cityofrocks.htm

Didn't bother hooking the car up because Silver City wasn't that far so I lead the way in the motorhome & before long we were pulling into Manzano's RV Park right on highway 180 on the southern outskirts of Silver City. Found us a cozy little spot & got ourselves settled in. I'm not big on RV Parks but we had scouted this one out yesterday & found it to our liking. Units are not ram jammed in plus there is lots of greenery & it's obvious that this is a very well maintained RV Park. Kelly met the owners & was very impressed with their friendly manner. A hard working couple who have developed this park from scratch beginning back in 1999. http://www.manzanosrvpark.com/manzano6_002.htm No idea how long we'll stay but as long as the doggy guys don't get us kicked out we might be here for a few days. OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

AN INTERNET DECISION IN SILVER CITY

SATURDAY AFTERNOON IN THE JAVA INTERNET CAFE...SILVER CITY, NEW MEXICO

Well, it's been quite a day & we're finally back from Silver City. Before dropping into that Internet Cafe where I sent the earlier blog from this afternoon we had gone to a Verizon Cellular place to check out prices & programs for a Verizon air card. Because of our problematic satellite internet system from time to time & then the break down this morning, we knew it was time to make some decisions. The technology in cellular air cards has advanced in leaps & bounds the last couple of years & it just made sense for us to get on the cellular wagon.AND THEY HAVE GOOD COFFEE HERE TOO

While at the internet cafe Kelly looked up additional info on Verizon & then we made the decision to go with it. The monthly cost is the same as what we were paying for the Hughes-Net satellite program so that cancelled itself out. Because of the great TV reception we've been getting with our antennae this year we will probably discontinue our Star Choice program as well & that will save us another bundle of monthly money. INKING THE DEAL ON OUR NEW VERIZON AIR CARD PROGRAM

We had a young fellow at the Verizon store load the software into our laptop & get everything up & running. Within minutes we were on-line right there in the store. We stayed on line as we carried the computer out to the car & Kelly was on-line all the way back to the park getting caught up on all her Deerpark correspondence. For us, this was truly amazing. There we were, driving down the road while still connected to the internet. We thought to ourselves, why didn't we do this in the first place but after a little thought we realized that when we bought the satellite system a couple of years ago, all this new cellular stuff was just beginning to come into it's own. Anyway, so far so good. We've been on line with the air card for about 4 hours now & it's working flawlessly. Next test will be in a few minutes when I attempt to upload this blog with some pictures. AND WE HAD INTERNET ALL THE WAY HOME:))

To-morrow we plan to move the motorhome to a park in Silver City for a day or two. After that.....who knows:)) Didn't upload any photos to the web album to-day.

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

GREMLINS ARE AT WORK

The Gremlins began their dirty work in the wee hours of the night. It was 2:30 a.m. when the cold woke me up. One glance over at our propane powered Blue Flame heater told me it was not working. Temperature was down to 52F but I managed to re-ignite the heater. Back to bed, but of course couldn't sleep. Figured I'd fire up the computer & check the emails, but like I said, the Gremlins were up early to-day. Computer was fine but our Hughes-Net satellite system modem would not connect. Power light was on but the other 4 lights refused to light indicating the system was dead in the water. Then, the Blue Flame heater quit again & I couldn't get it re-started. Ok, time to fire up the RV's furnace. Hadn't used the furnace since last winter before getting our Blue Flame heater hooked up in Quartzite, Arizona. Remember the Gremlins.......yup, the furnace wouldn't light. Blower worked fine, furnace finally fired up but only for a few seconds & then would go out. We had just filled our propane tank back in Deming a few days ago but I went outside & checked the tank anyway & we had lots of propane. By this time Kelly was up working on the computer modem problem but it was still a no-go:(( She managed to get the Blue Flame fired up but it only ran for about 20 minutes before going out again. The furnace finally got itself going sort of OK so at least we've got some heat. It is now 5:30 in the morning & Kelly is reading the Blue Flame manual trying to troubleshoot our problem. And me, well I'm just sitting here with all my winter clothes on banging away on the keys as fast as I can trying to stay warm. RVing.....yep, ya just gotta love it!!

UPDATE!!.......12:50 P.M. Saturday
Sometimes the best laid plans of mice & men sometimes go astray.... & so it is with us to-day. Our Emery Pass & Gila Cliff Dwellings day trip is on hold. Right now we are in Silver City at an internet cafe because our satellite system is ka-put. Kelly phoned Hughes-Net this morning describing the problems were having & they said our modem is shot & we would have to get a new one. We do not want to do that because they are not cheap & combined with some of the other problems we've had with the satellite system we are right now looking at alternatives!!!! Also still working on our heater problem & another gremlin has popped up with one of our holding tanks.
Will stay at City of Rocks to-night & then move to an RV Park here in Silver City to-morrow to work on the ongoing problems. This little blurb will have to do for to-day.
Oh by the way, if any of you folks out there have any extra problems, just send them along to the Bayfield Bunch just in case we run out of all ours forcing our stress levels to drop!!!! Don't want to be caught with low stress levels you know. Geeeeeezzzzzzzzz!!
Will be back on-line as soon as we can........... AL

A COLD & RAINY DAY IN SILVER CITY

MORNING DIP
The nearby coyotes were sure kicking up a storm about 5 a.m. this morning & that got Checkers to growling, which in turn got Al to waking up, so figured it was time to get myself vertical for another day. We have always been early risers no matter what time we go to bed. The smarter folks in these parts sleep in till 10 & wait for the morning sun to warm things up first. Outside thermometer says it's 43F & that's a lot better than back home where it could be 33 or 23 or...

While in Las Cruces a few days ago I used a pair of scissors & some black electrical tape to tape up a couple rope ends I had just cut. Laid the scissors & tape on the hood of the tow car, proceeded to hook the car to the rig & then promptly drove the scissors & tape all the way to Deming & then up here to City Of Rocks State Park. The scissors & tape were pretty much where I had left them when we got here & the bra on the front of the car had prevented them from sliding off. I imagine the truck drivers got a kick out seeing that stuff riding on the hood as they went by in the passing lane. Maybe that's why they always shake their heads at me with big grins on their faces.

Lots of sunshine this morning but it sure was cold. The higher you go in these parts, the colder it gets. Really nice morning walk among the big rocks. The dogs loved it too as they clambered to & fro. Noticed that this State Park has a theme and all the campsites are named after constellations & stars. Because Astronomy is a hobby of mine I'm able to look at each site & know exactly where it's namesake is in the night sky. And speaking of the night sky, the cooler air here is soooo crystal clear. Stars from horizon to horizon. And, those two really bright ones in the early southwest sky right now are not stars, but actually Planets. Jupiter & Venus are drawing ever closer to each other. Venus is the brighter one & right now is below Jupiter.

HORSES ON THE MAIN STREET OF SILVER CITY

We headed off for Silver City about 9:30 with a load of laundry & a couple of addresses to look up. The closer we got the blacker the sky became & by the time we rolled into Silver City it had started raining. And, it was COLD!! Some RV friends had told us of a good place to eat on Bullard Street so that's where we headed. Nice little place with lots of ambience. Food was good too. Another recommended place was the Curious Kumquat so I busied myself with taking a few photos while Kelly browsed around in the Kumquat. From there it was a few more blocks to a local Laundromat & while the grungy clothes were doing their tumbly tumbly, swishy swishy thing, we walked over a neat little bridge to the downtown section. Kelly went her way through the shops while I hung out on the main street snapping photos here & there. It's a nice looking town with shades of Mexico & the type of place a person could get used to. Reminded us a bit of Jerome, Arizona & Palomas, Mexico. Narrow little side streets with colorful shops & quaint little restaurants. An eclectic mixture of people with Jaguars parked on the main street to homeless people rummaging garbage cans & dumpsters. One cowboy looking guy asked me where I was from & said, he "always wanted to get up to Canada someday," while another snappy dresser guy tweaked my arm going by saying, "sneakin some pictures are ya." Guess he saw me pick him off with my telephoto lens when he was across the street. He's in to-day's photo album:)) BRIDGE OVER "THE BIG DITCH" TO DOWNTOWN

Headed back to the Laundromat & scooped up all the nice smelling threads, picked up some bananas & milk at a grocery store & then headed off to find the first of two addresses we had. Last winter while in California we had heard about a man & his family who lived for years on a mountaintop with no accessible water or electricity. His name was Marshal South & we drove west of Boreggo Springs to Blair Valley where his homestead was located on Ghost Mountain. We hiked the 700 foot rocky path up to what was left of Yaquitepec & spent awhile looking around at things. I found it a very serene & special place despite not knowing anything about the man & his family. There was uncanny peacefulness to this place & it has had a lasting affect on me. A week after being there Kelly bought the book entitled, Marshal South & The Ghost Mountain Chronicles. It was to be the first book I would read from cover to cover in the last 30 years. Marshal South's oldest son, Rider, is still alive to-day & lives in Silver City. I had looked up his name & address on the internet awhile ago & just wanted to drive down the street & see where he lives. So, that's what we did. If I wasn't so sensitive about bothering people I would have went & knocked on his door to say, hello. THE CURIOUS KUMQUAT

Our next look-up was a fellow RVer. We have been reading his blog for awhile & communicated back & forth via emails a few times. When he knew we were coming through this part of the country he said for us to drop in & say hello. We found him in a nice RV Park on the edge of Silver City. Nice fellow, just like most RVers we have met in our travelers. Didn't overstay our welcome & we were soon headed back to our little temporary home on wheels in one of the nicest State Parks we've ever been in. So nice to drive out of the dark, rainy & cold sky's of Silver City into the sunlight of the lower altitude & City of Rocks State Park. SOUTH OF SIVER CITY

Lots of wagging tails when we got back but I think the cold air had followed so it wasn't long & we had our Blue Flame heater going full tilt. Nachos for supper & another nice relaxing night ahead. To-morrow we're hoping to head east over to the Emory Pass & then backtrack up to the Gila Cliff Dwellings north of Silver City............................. OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

MOODY SKIES AT CITY OF ROCKS

BETWEEN RAIN SHOWERS

A long time ago in a land far away when I was younger, the sound of rain on the old canvas tents always gave one a very cozy feeling. Last night, the rain on the RV roof just simply woke me up & gave me an annoyed feeling. Oh how things change as we age. A few wind gusts were thrown in for good measure just to keep me awake long enough to give up on going back to sleep. Fired up the computer, dashed off a few quick emails, surfed myself around the world a couple of times & went back to bed about an hour later. Awww, what a life, what a life:)) Those rains continued right up to the time we were ready for our morning walk. A few well placed sun splashes & we were out the door & on the move. It became immediately apparent that this is truly a beautiful State Park. It was hard to get the camera pried away from my face. What a great opportunity to get a few photos after an all night rain. With the 3 doggy guys we walked up around a column of rocks where another motorhome was parked & boy did we set off a huge ruckus. All of a sudden that motorhomes dash erupted in 5 fiercely barking dogs. That's right, 5 dogs all trying to pile through that windshield. And they weren't small dogs either. Wished I had cracked off a couple shots with the camera but I was too busy trying to keep our guys under control. Felt bad for the people who were obviously still sleeping so we quickly hustled ourselves down the road, round the corner & out of gunshot range. The rains began again just as we got back to our rig & so it was to be for the rest of the day. Heavy rains followed by short bursts of sunshine. Managed to take Max for a walk up into the big rocks between rain deluges & bang off a few more photos. Kelly caught up on her reading while Checkers & the little Motormouse caught up on more snoozes.I SEE AN INDIAN MAIDEN'S PROFILE IN THIS ROCK

About mid afternoon Kelly was setting the lawn chairs out to dry when a couple from British Columbia walking by, noticed our satellite system & stopped for a chat. They had not been able to access their Outlook Express since their ISP Provider had made some changes back home awhile ago. We had encountered a similar problem one time so Kelly had an idea what the problem was. Lynn & Addie walked back to their camper, picked up their laptop, & brought it back to our place. Wasn't long & Kelly had the problem solved, making for a couple of very happy campers:)) Always feels so great to be in a position to help people from time to time. Lynn & Addie are a couple our age with all the same interests in boondocking & hiking that we have & we've all been to some of the same places. Nice folks. Sun was going down quick in a mass of broken clouds so grabbed the cameras, raced up the hill & managed to grab a few parting shots of the day. What a totally beautiful park this is & what totally lucky people we are:)) OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

A SHORTER DRIVING DAY

IT'S EARLY MORNING & WE'RE AWAITING OUR FATE AT SUNLAND RV.....SEE THAT LITTLE PUDDLE OF WATER AHEAD OF THE COACH....Hmmmmmm:))

We were up early in case we had to move the rig out of the employee parking area where Sunland RV had let us stay. Didn't want to get off on the wrong foot by parking in the number one mechanics spot.

Service manager was on the job by 9:15 & moved the motorhome into one of the big service bays. Because of insurance policies we were not allowed to stay in the couch, but the dogs were so I can imagine the mechanic guy working on our leveler problem most likely had lots of furry help.

We waited patiently in the customer lounge while I mathematically calculated in my head what $89.50 an hour shop rate was going to do to us, not to mention any parts that had to be replaced. Surprisingly, the
motorhome re-appeared in the parking lot about an hour later. Oh no, was it so bad that they had given up on it already. This is not a good thing I thought, so it was on shaky legs that I approached the service counter looking for any signs of shock & awe on Kelly's face. Well, there was shock & awe alright. The bill was only $56.62. IS IT OUR TURN TO GET OUT YET DAD??
Turns out the hydraulic fluid was low in the reservoir & that had caused an air lock in the shock furthest from the system which happened to be on the rear passenger side. We never did receive a manual on that HWH hydraulic leveler system & just weeks before leaving Ontario I had requested via email a manual which apparently arrived by post after we left. Thanks to the folks on the RV Net Forum I was able to locate the reservoir but was unclear on how to interpret the dipstick reading because it was not like a car's oil dipstick & I was confused. With my track record of making bad situations worse I was reluctant to add fluid last Saturday for fear of blowing a hydraulic line so decided to err on the side of caution & just take the rig in to have the problem diagnosed properly. We will just stop eating for the next two weeks & that should make up for the lost $56. Thanks to all the people out there who offered their tips & suggestions.

We were happily back on the road & headed west by noon. Great stormy cloud formations were in the sky as we swung north at Deming heading for the Silver City area. We had heard a lot of good things from friends about a State Park on the way called, City Of Rocks, so that's where we headed. http://www.gilawilderness.com/travel/cityofrocks.htm Just 4 miles off highway 180 this park is like no other we have seen. Not many people here but we had a hard time finding a suitable site because very few of them are level if you don't want electricity. Had hoped to find a site where we could utilize our solar panels which meant the coach has to face east/west. Only flat site we found was north/south so we took it anyway. Not the absolute best spot in the park, but nice nevertheless. Hope to take some nice photos here over the next few days. THIS IS GOING TO BE A PLACE TO DO SOME GREAT EXPLORING
No problem setting our satellite system up & within about 20 minutes we were online surfing our way around the world once again. Amazing things these computers.
Have booked in for 2 nights so far at $10 a night so depending on the weather we will either do a bunch of exploring & rock scrambling here to-morrow or head off for Silver City first. We will decide that to-morrow morning. We're still a little stiff from our Dog Canyon hike. Ohhhhh, I do not like this aging process!! OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

DOG CANYON HIKE & WHITE SANDS NATIONAL MONUMENT

THE ROCKY DOG CANYON TRAIL

Decided yesterday we would leave for Las Cruces on Tuesday afternoon instead of early Wednesday morning. Figured it was better to be at Recreation America/Sunland RV well in advance rather than dragging ourselves in at the last moment, first thing in the morning.

Oliver Lee State Park has a steep rock strewn trail running 5 miles into Dog Canyon just behind the ranger station so we decided to at least see if we could maybe get a mile's climb in first thing this morning. Apache Indians used the steep canyon as a stronghold because of water located there. The Cavalry led 5 different raids into this canyon in pursuit of the Indians. On one of the those pursuits, the Indians escaped & the only thing left behind was a stray dog, thus......Dog Canyon.
KELLY GETS AL TO POSE FOR A PICTURE
The trail was very steep in many places with a lot of loose rocks so we had to pay attention to what we were doing. Didn't take long for the huffing & puffing to start but it felt great to be getting into some good healthy exercise again. Rock scrambling like this is one of my favorite things because of the moderately easy challenges it presents. Not life threatening but not just a boring walk on a hard flat surface either. Following the switch backs Kelly made it up about 800 feet & went a few hundred more beyond that. What a perfectly great way to start the day. The view out over the valley floor easily stretched for 70 or 80 miles. Maybe more. And, not a sound in the canyon, not even a bird. Only the beating of one's own heart. Prickly pair cactus, Agaves, & Ocotillo, were but a few plants that filled the rocky landscape sweeping up the canyon walls to the towering mountains above. Be sure to check the photo album for some of the photos I took along the rocky path. http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/ WE COULD HEAR A SMALL CREEK TUMBLING DOWN THROUGH THE TREES

The descent is always much harder than the ascent. It's on the descents that most accidents happen for hikers. The legs are in a totally different dynamic situation when feet are pointing downhill instead of uphill. I sure was glad Kelly had made me get a new pair of good Merril hiking boots before we left on our trip. Had I been wearing my old smooth bottomed Rockports this morning I very likely would have been upside down at some point for sure. Our rock scramble lasted about an hour & a half & by the time we made it back to the parking lot my legs were beginning to feel rubbery. I was glad we hadn't pushed ourselves any further on our first real hike of the trip. COMING DOWN IS ALWAYS THE HARDEST PART
The climb had really spiked our appetites so a bit of breakfast was high on the priority list when we reached the motorhome. Began packing things up for departure. Slides in, furniture squared away, satellite dish dis-assembled & put away, doggies loaded up, bins locked etc. Always so much to do but it sure beats sitting at home watching television & looking out the window. We stopped at the dump station & emptied our gray & black water tanks & it was at this point I made a little mistake that would embarrass me later in Las Cruces.

Rolled out of Oliver Lee State Park about 11 a.m. & headed for the White Sands National Monument which was on the highway to Las Cruces. An overcast cloud cover had rolled in on our way there & I figured things might not look as nice at White Sands but upon arriving I immediately realized the stormy skies were perfect for some great photos. We drove the motorhome on the 8 mile drive through the dunes stopping only one time for pictures & the rest of them I shot from the rig's window. Especially the people ones. This is quite a place to see & I'm glad we took the time to stop here.

Photos here... http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

WHITE SANDS NATIONAL MONUMENT 8 MILE DRIVE The highway between Alamogordo & Las Cruces is a straight & flat drive until you reach the base of the San Andres mountains & the hefty climb over the mountains begins. It's a long uphill grade to the summit & we were down to about 40 MPH & sluggin it. Then, all of a sudden it's over the top & hang onto your shorts Lucy, we're heading for the bottom. The descent into Las Cruces is like an inverted rocket ride. Gear down, short bursts of brakes, more gears, more brakes, more "holy craps!!

Las Cruces is a very spread out city but we found our way through the 8 lane highways, ramps, & turn offs alright & were able to drive right to the Sunland RV dealer in the southwest end of town with no problems.
Pulled into the parking lot & checked into the service department. They said it would be ok for us to stay right in their lot for the night & they would supply us with electricity. Shut the rig down & decided to go out for supper for a change because we had spotted a Crackle Barrel a few blocks away. Grabbed myself a nice long hot shower in the rig & thought about life & everything great & wonderful. A few minutes later I noticed a couple workers walk by looking under the rig. Remember me saying I made a little mistake earlier in the day that would later embarrass me. Yep, I did alright. I had forgot to close the gray water valve back at the dump station at Oliver Lee so all of my shower water went down the drain, into the holding tank, out the holding tank pipe & right out into the parking lot. There was so much hot soapy water under our rig that I swear I saw a flock of ducks coming in for a landing!!

It's the first time I've ever had supper at Cracker Barrel & "wow" was it great. Roast beef & real live mashed potatoes with gravy. Kelly makes me eat a lot of ho-hum leafy green healthy stuff all the time so this was a real great blow-out for me. Yes Toto, there is a yummy food God afterall.

So, here we are, tucked away in the Sunland RV parking lot for the night awaiting our financial fate in the morning when they check out our hydraulic leveler problem. If you don't hear from us for a very long time it just means we are sitting on a corner in downtown Las Cruces selling pencils to pay off our mammoth repair bill here at Sunland................... wish us luck:((

OUR OVERNIGHT SPOT AT SUNLAND RV IN LAS CRUCES

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CLOUDCROFT, PISTACHIOS, & OLD ROCKETS

INTERNATIONAL SPACE HALL OF FAME
Another cool start to the day but that is normal for this part of the country. Thought I would take a chance & head over to the parks shower facility. I think orders from headquarters must have come down the pipe to all State Parks regarding some cost cutting measures. I'm sure they save an extra few dollars by turning the dial down on the water heater for the showers because the water was hardly warm again. I would never have made a good Eskimo!! And for sure whoever designs these showers for parks & campgrounds, has never used one!! For the most part, they are not well thought out at all.

A few more adjustments to our satellite system this morning & Kelly was able to use our Skype phone set- up with the computer to phone HWH, the hydraulic leveler company. We were given the phone number of Recreation USA in Las Cruces who service HWH hydraulic leveler products. A second Skype call to Las Cruces & we had an appointment for Wednesday morning at 9:30 to check the problem leveler. HAVE TO BE CAREFUL WHERE WE STEP
Hopped in the car around 10:30 & headed into Alamogordo. Nice sunny morning with temps in the low 60's. We had heard about the nice drive up to a town in the mountains to the east of Alamogordo so off we went. A few grades, a few tight curves & a tunnel led us up 16 miles & 9,000 feet to the small Alpinelike town of Cloudcroft. It was another 15 miles to the solar observatory so we decided not to go that far. I had been up to Kitt Peak in Arizona two winters ago so had seen lots of observatories up there. Back down the winding road to Alamogordo again & headed off to the International Space Hall of Fame, a fairly new complex with a nice display of old rocketry on the grounds. There is an IMAX theater here & a large 4 or 5 story building with more artifacts relating to the White Sands Missile Range. A TUNNEL ON THE WAY BACK FROM CLOUDCROFT
Kelly wanted to check out a Pistachio farm she had noticed a few days before on our way in from Tularosa so we headed off to Eagle ranch where the Pistachios are grown & processed. Nice neat & clean little operation & we bought ourselves a stash of Pistachios. A few more errands, coffee, frozen custard, & we were back out to our RV site at Oliver Lee State Park. This picturesque park is nestled into the Sacramento Mountain Range. Just before getting there we deaked off the road & took a drive around some dusty old laneways & ramshackle tumbledown dwellings in some kind of community cluster. I was able to get a few pics from the car window. Reminded us a lot of Slab City in California. Hard to imagine people living in some of these places......but they do. A NIKE MISSILE USED TO INTERCEPT HIGH FLYING AIRCRAFT (ALAMOGORDO IN THE BACKGROUND)
The doggy gang welcomed us back with lots of barks & wagging tails. Awhile later we heard & felt a detonation of some kind so assumed it had to do with rocket testing. There was also the sound of jet aircraft in the direction of the missile range. Holloman Air Force Base is here & it is the home of the F111 Stealth Bomber. KELLY CHECKS OUT THIS DUSTY LITTLE WESTERN STORE
Kelly lit up a nice campfire & roasted a couple of hot dogs for supper. Pretty sunset over the San Andres mountains & that was about it for another day. Took Max for a short walk under a crystal clear canopy of stars around 7. The wavering multi colored lights of Alamogordo off in the distance, the peeping of frogs in the desert darkness, & the twinkling of diamonds in the black satin sky made for a beautiful night. Now, if we could only get a little heat into this nightly desert air................. THE SAN ANDRES MOUNTAIN RANGE
I will start the next photo album to-day.
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A BUSY PROBLEM SOLVING DAY:((

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 23/08 CHECKERS OUT FOR A STROLL NEAR OUR CAMPSITE
Nice to wake up to 54 degree temps instead of the 32 F stuff of the past few mornings. Decided to try setting up our satellite system this morning because that way we could get in touch with the hydraulic leveler company either by email or Skype phone. Had been over eight & a half months since the last time we set up that system so we were pretty rusty in getting things going. Out set up times last year were about 5 to 10 minutes & this morning it took us three quarters of an hour. Two thirds of that time was spent just getting the cobwebs out of our brains but between the two of us we finally managed to get things working & we were back on line. A BUSY DAY FOR GETTING THINGS RE-ORGANIZED, SET UP, & PROBLEMS SOLVED
In the meantine I had devised a plan in my little problem solving head on how to get that rear leveler retracted. So, with hammer, hatchet, & a small flat wrecking bar & crawled under the coach & began digging a hole just behind the grounded leveler. My theory was to dig a hole deep enough to set my scissors jack into, put a block of wood on top, pry up the leveler about half an inch off the ground & then back the motorhome up about 5 inches until the leveler was directly over the jack & piece of wood. Figured I would then jack the leveler back up into it's retracted position. Well, it all sounded good in theory.........................and it worked:)) Why it worked I don't know, but it did work. We will contact the company to-morrow & find out where the nearest HWH facility is & take the motorhome in to have that leveler problem checked out & repaired if necessary.
TOOK ME OVER HALF AN HOUR TO GET THIS LITTLE HOLE DUG
In between getting our satellite system set up & digging my hole under the rig we did manage to stretch ourselves out in our cushy lawn chair recliners & soak up a bunch of New Mexico sunshine on a beautiful 75F day. We are far enough off the beaten path that no human sounds reach us & we just have the twitter & flitter of small birds & coyotes in the distance. Small yellow butterflies dart about amongst the prickly pear cactus & miniature yellow flowers grow in abundance around the campsite. This American southwest is such a beautiful place & despite our little problems from time to time we absolutely love being here. Can't imagine going anywhere else. KELLY MOVES THE MOTORHOME INTO PLACE
We plan to stay here for a few days & take in some of the area attractions. White Sands National Monument, the Space Museum, tour a Pistachio farm, take the scenic drive to Cloudcroft & check out the Solar Sun Observatory, Petrogyphs north of Alamogordo, & anything else we can think of. Maybe we can slip into the missile range itself & play on the rockets:))
OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

THE DAY STARTED OUT OK, BUT...............

SATURDAY NOV. 22/08

HEADING WEST FROM TEXAS TO NEW MEXICO

Another cold 32F degree morning with frost on everything, but no wind, so not too bad. Quick doggy walk in the park, packed up the motorhome, dumped the tanks, & we were on the road by 8 o'clock. The land is very flat here just like the Canadian prairies with gently rolling hills and the road from Brownfield to Roswell New Mexico is as straight as an arrow with little traffic. We would drive for miles & miles & never see another vehicle. Grasslands with scrub brush & very few trees. It is the land of the huge Buffalo herds a hundred years ago. A quiet land, a peaceful land.

Saw the dim line of our first mountain through a thick haze along the far horizon. Probably 75 miles away & about an hour later we rolled into Roswell, New Mexico. I knew exactly where Wal-Mart was because we had spent a night in their lot early last March on our way home from the west. When you travel in a solitary mode like we do without a lot of human contact along the way it's always kind of nice walking into the big Wal-Mart stores with all it's hustle & bustle & people skittering around to & fro. Wal-Mart is where we get the majority of our groceries while traveling.
Gassed up at the Wal-Mart gas bar as well & according to Kelly's calculations we have spent about $200 less in our first week of travel than we did last year in our first week of travel. Our grocery expenses are down over last year as well. Average gas prices we encountered have been around $1.89 a gallon. Didn't fill the gas tank because we had some moderate mountains to go over so lighter is better.

The drive from Roswell up into the foothills is a gentle climb & it soon becomes apparent the plains are behind us as we see forests of pine trees beginning to fill the fields & roadside ahead of us. We roll through towns like Picacho & Hondo. Soon we are in Ruidoso, birthplace of Billy The Kid. Mount Sierra Blanca is near here. We reached the summit of Apache Pass & began our gentle descent to the picturesque little town of Tularosa. Another 14 miles south we were at our destination for the day, Alamogordo New Mexico. Another RV couple we had met in Brownfield told us there was free RV camping at the fairgrounds in Alamogordo so that's where we went, pulled in, & quickly pulled right back out again because the whole fairgrounds parking lot had just been coated in small crushed stones & fresh oil. What a mess that would have been!! Well, plan B. Noticed a State Park about 12 miles south of Alamogordo on the highway to El Paso Texas so that's where we headed.

Oliver Lee State Park is a great little place with 48 privately quiet sites about 4 miles east off the highway & snuggled right up against a mountain range. Found a neat-o site with a view of the whole valley floor below & nobody near us. We were on the eastern side of the large valley & the San Andres mountain range was on the far distant horizon to the west. The White Sands Missile range was to our north. Unhooked the car & drove the rig onto the slightly uneven site. Put the right hand levelers down on the passenger side of the coach but it was a little more uneven than I thought so decided to retract the levelers, put some blocks of wood under them & re-level. When I got out to get the blocks I noticed the rear leveler had not retracted & no matter what I did I could not get that leveler to come up. Big problem 10-4!!!! The motorhome was now immovable & I had visions of huge expenses coming up because it looked like were going to need the assistance of tow truck personal with experience in dealing with hydraulic problems. Not a nice way to finish an otherwise real fine day. Nothing we could do about it to-day so now I can now I get to lay awake all night & worry about the problem. RVing......ya just gotta love it!!

OUR RV SITE AT OLIVER LEE STATE PARK NEAR ALAMOGORDO, NEW MEXICO

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Will add new photos to the photo album shortly..........

A DAY OFF FROM TRAVELING

COLEMAN CITY RV PARK IN BROWNFIELD, TEXAS

After checking the weather back home this morning I had better not complain about waking up here in Brownfield, Texas to 32F. Big sunny day going on right now but it's going to stay cold all day around the 40 degree mark. A friend from back home just emailed & said they had more than a foot of snow come down in the last 48 hours with more on the way.

Because we have free high speed internet service, water & electricity we've decided to stay right where are for the day & rest up from our 6 days of traveling. Had a better look around on our morning walk & this is a nice RV spot with a huge park area for walking, flying kites, landing small aircraft, or whatever you like. 12 sites complete with a dump station, cold water showers & a washroom. Will probably head out in the morning for either Tularosa or Alamogordo, New Mexico, with a short stop in Roswell to check for any recent alien encounters. Kelly said she would like to book me aboard a spaceship & send me off to the far side of the Universe for a few days. Wow, I think that would really be Neat-O:)) So thoughtful of her..........

One year ago to-day we were standing on the north rim of the Grand Canyon. If you go to our blog here..... http://thebayfieldbunch.com/2007_11_01_archive.html & scroll just about half way down to November 21 you can read about that, & if you check out our web album at......... http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/ALBUM17GRANDCANYONNORTHRIM you can have a look at a few photos I took that day.........................................................

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