Friday, November 12, 2010

TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES TO RUSTY’S RV RANCH NEAR RODEO, NEW MEXICO….THE RUSH IS OVER:))

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TUCKED IN AT RUSTY’S RV RANCH

Managed to get a few more blogs read this morning so that was a plus.  Kelly needs the computer for work related issues first thing in the morning as well but once we land in one spot for any length of time we’ll make the necessary changes to our internet routines.

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FIRST GLIMPSE OF THE CHIRICAHUA MOUNTAINS ON THE HORIZON

In Thursday night’s post I mentioned about not taking an alternate route around Albuquerque New Mexico because our Mountain Directory book told us of some poor roads.  Don from Brandon Manitoba sent us an email this morning about that route which may be of interest to other travelers in the area…. “Al - for future info if you had gone south at Santa Rosa on Hwy 54 to Vaughn then west on 60 to I25 about 30 mi north of Socorro you would have saved a lot of miles -All good roads NO high mtn passes. How do I know?? This was on our route to Az for 15 years. Would highly recommend it as we don’t like city traffic either!

Our Wilson antennae sure came through for us in our Truth Or Consequences overnight location.  Being surrounded by hills we could only get one fuzzy TV channel so didn’t hold out a lot of hope for a Verizon connection.  In fact, we only had one bar & it wouldn’t connect.  A couple years ago while in Borrego Springs CA we bought a ‘Wilson’ antennae to help with weak signals & last night it was that antennae that gave us a super fast Verizon connection despite only having 2 of 4 bars lit.  Set the antennae on the dash, plugged into the Verizon modem & we were off like a herd of turtles in a cloud of heifer dust.

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HEADING INTO THE SAN BERNARDINO VALLEY

I was surprised by the pitter patter of rain on the roof last night but around 4:30 when I took Max out there were a ka-zillion twinkling stars in the light pollution free inky black New Mexico sky overhead.

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THIS CLOSE TO MEXICO THE BORDER PATROL IS ALWAYS PRESENT

By 6:50 a.m. we were rolling quietly out of sleepy Truth Or Consequences & southbound on I-25.  A good tip from Bill in Illinois this morning reminded me of the route from I-25 through Hatch to Demming.  Thanks Bill, I would have forgot about that & ended up doing battle in Las Cruces this morning.  What a great drive it was in the early morning light on that road to Deming.  I recognized some old friends right away.  Cooke’s Peak, the north end razor backed mountain of the Little Florida Mountain range just south east of Deming & the Three Sisters mountain cluster down near Columbus.  I don’t know what it is about geographical points but they have a definite pull on me.  Just as the night sky does.  And, just like the movie years ago, Close Encounters Of A Third Kind’ that ‘Three Sisters’ cluster on the southern horizon from I-10 has always called to me ever since first being in that area back in December of 06.

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CHIRICAHUA MOUNTAINS DEAD AHEAD

We popped into McDonald’s in Deming & then hit I-10 west motoring through Lordsburg to the highway 80 exit & hung a left heading south.  Can’t even begin to tell you what a great feeling it was to see the mighty Chiricahua Mountain range appear ahead as the road curved west through the lower Peloncillo range.  It felt like our old neighborhood & home.  I could see the Cave Creek Canyon dead ahead & knew Portal Arizona lay at the head of that canyon. 

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THE CAVE CREEK CANYON ENTRANCE IS DIRECTLY ABOVE THE ROAD & RUSTY’S RV RANCH IS ABOUT 6 MILES TO THE LEFT ON THE VALLEY FLOOR

Rolled into RUSTY'S RV RANCH about 11:15 a.m.  Rusty was her usual cheery self & had her Dad lead us to our # 38 site.   In fact, she put us in the same site Doug & JoAnn were in just a few short weeks ago.  (can’t get their blogsite to open)

We are only an hours drive from our ranch sitting job now so our hard drive from Ontario is over.   Hooked up some water & electricity, pulled out a couple lawn chairs, tipped ourselves back & totally soaked up a big dose of warming southwest sunshine.  As Jackie Gleason of the Honeymooners used to say, “how sweet it is:))”

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I ALWAYS PUT THE TV DISH IN THE LEE OF THE SLIDE TO GIVE IT SOME PROTECTION FROM THE WILY WEST WINDS

I took a lot of pics of Rusty’s last year so no point in repeating them.  If anyone is interested in my posts & pics from a year ago just type Rusty’s RV Ranch in my blog’s search bar.  Pics can be found in our PICASA WEB ALBUMS under the dates November 1,2, & 3 of 2009.

We sure had a rough time setting up our Star Choice satellite program for the first time since the Lost Dutchman Park in Apache Junction last March.  Had to re-acquaint ourselves with Azimuth, Skew & Latitude etc.  Programs had to found on the computer.  I always do the manual dish set up & Kelly does the inside brainy stuff.  Today it took 7 phone calls (thank heavens for Skype) to Star Choice before we  successfully had a satellite connection.  They finally had to do a factory reset on our receiver…..amongst a half dozen other things.

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THIS IS WHERE I GENERALLY WRITE THE BLOGS

As I watched Kelly patiently & efficiently dealing with all the tech stuff for over an hour this afternoon I couldn’t help but feel that those days are behind me now.  I just don’t have the tolerance, patience or interest for all that techie stuff anymore.

No doubt we will be up at the crack of dawn tomorrow morning because that’s just the way we are but we sure won’t be dashing off down the road anywhere.  From here on in we will just kinda be blowing along with the wind…..wherever that wind may take us.  And you know what, for us, it just doesn’t get any better than that.  And, guess what…..Rusty’s has free wireless internet, so for now we both are contentedly on our laptops at the same time:))  

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THE RUGGED PEAKS OF THE CHIRICAHUAS

GROANER’S CORNER:((  What do you call a snake who works for the government ? A civil serpent!

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The only thing better than right now will someday be the memory of right now…AL.

13 comments:

  1. Crossed your trail near Liberal, Kansas today Al. Good thing you had your "Herby-go-Fast" tires on or you might have been caught in the snow there.

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  2. looks like a mighty nice spot..enjoy the night show!!!

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  3. my very favorite spot in the usa (so far) is portal and the CHIRICAHUAS...
    enjoy!

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  4. Electricity, water and free WiFi - sounds pretty good to me!! Soak up lots of that sun and warm weather too, it must be nice!

    Satellite hook-ups are strange. Sometimes, I get a connection within minutes, other times I have to walk away for a while, come back and try again as it can be pretty frustrating trying to lock-on.

    It's great to hear your long drives are over so now you can slow down and just take it easy!

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  5. I'm glad you made it safely to where you can now relax and enjoy the leisurely life.

    I sure agree with you about leaving the techie stuff to someone else now. I have no desire to stress myself out on it, as long as there are folks who are willing to help me out. Gotta get my s-i-l on my iPod within the next week! (But I know I could do it if I have to.)

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  6. Welcome back to the desert!!!! It's strange to see you in the site we were in just 4 nights ago! We loved it there! Say "hello" to Rusty for us.

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  7. Glad to see the Bayfield Bunch switching from the travel mode to the relax and pass the ice tea mode. Have a lot of fun you guys deserve it. Be safe out there, Al watch out for low leaping kangeroo's...

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  8. I think this is why I enjoy reading your blog so much....I can relate to so many of your challenges and emotions. As to the Verizon card....we "fight" over ours as well. Glad you are safely tucked away for now....enjoy those wide open spaces as I know you will!

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  9. Oh yea, those satellite dishes can be a real character builder..Now we have an HD TV dish that Dennis has to deal with, AND our internet..We look like we are trying to contact aliens....Glad the Bayfield Bunch is tucked in...Now...let' get to some stargazing, Stargeezer!!

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  10. You are headed through areas we passed a few weeks ago so fun to read about. We have the cradle point router and it does a great job of allowing us both to use the internet at the same time. Now we just have to watch out for going over our usage! After all your photos I started using Picasa and it eats up some.

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  11. Al, we were there, but not that site, just a month ago. We're even planning a SKP rally there next October. How long will you be there? We'd love to pop on over and say "hi howdy!" But if you are going to be at the ranch later on, that's an easier drive.

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  12. Al,

    I found your picture above the caption "THIS IS WHERE I GENERALLY WRITE THE BLOGS" of interest.

    This morning, before reading your blog, I ordered a Lap Desk. I think it is by a different maker but was the answer to my built in desk or no desk question. I'm glad to see that a 'Ol Pro' is using the same solution.

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  13. Darn! I just returned from the Chiracahuas yesterday evening so I guess I missed the Bayfield Bunch rolling along. We have a family deer hunt in that area every year in November. That's our version of a family reunion.
    Emjay

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