POPPED THE CLUTCH ON MY KEYBOARD BEFORE PUTTING MY BRAIN IN GEAR AGAIN!!

ALL OF TO-NIGHT'S PHOTOS ARE FROM CITY OF ROCKS STATE PARK, NEW MEXICO.

Our 'after the rain' photos of the park are HERE

Was reading Joe's blog SOMEWHERE IN TIME this morning about the difficulties they were having finding a decent RV Park in Hope Arkansas. Some other bloggers had commented as well about deplorable parks so of course I had to go & put my 2 cents worth in as well ending my comment with the words, "RV Parks?? Bah Humbug!! Sometimes I am much more opinionated than I really need to be & that thought stuck with me this morning as I made a paint connection to Joe's blog while sitting on the floor painting our kitchen cabinets. Thought occurred to me that I have a habit of negatively painting all RV Parks with the same brush & that just isn't right on my part!! We have actually stayed in some nice RV Parks & would you believe I even had some nice things to say about them. Manzano's comes to mind in Silver City, New Mexico. We stayed there for a few nights & liked it so well I even wrote up a good review for a campground review site. We were there the first week in December of 08 & if anyone is interested they can find our blogs for our time at Manzano's in our archives under December 08. Before moving to Manzanos for a few days we had been at City of Rocks State Park just south of Silver City New Mexico Here are the photos I took of MANZANO'S RV PARK. It always annoys me though when I see RV Parks with sites jammed so close to-gether folks can hardly get their slides out. That smacks of pure greed by the RV Parks owners with no consideration whatsoever for the RVer. Jam as many people onto a plot of ground as humanly possible & then charge them astronomical rates for their stay on top of it. I do understand the need for RV Parks because without them there would be no RVing whatsoever for hundreds of thousands of people. It's just too bad that so many of them offer a minimum amount of comfort for a maximum amount of money!! I am a very fortunate fellow in that Kelly & I are alike in our RVing thoughts, ideas, plans, & dreams. Kelly comes from an RV snowbird family & as kids her Mom & Dad would load the family up in the old station wagon for camping & fishing trips into Canada. Kelly is actually from Spencerport NY where here parents, brother, & sisters still live. Her Mother & Dad had went to Florida every winter in their trailer, Class C, & Class A motorhomes so the RVing life comes natural to Kelly. Having raised 5 kids she came from a very hectic, busy, & socially active lifestyle & by the time we met back in 93 she had had enough of all that & was ready for a complete change of lifestyle. So was I & we've been pursuing the quieter, roads less traveled way of life ever since. We love the remoteness of the desert with all it's peace, serenity, & tranquility. Stars from mountaintop to mountaintop, only the sounds of the desert winds in the cactus. Morning walks in beautiful natural surroundings. No sides of buildings or RV's to look at, no traffic, no screaming kids, no noisy neighbors, & no people problems of any kind. I know we are in the minority with this kind of thinking but I'm glad we are because otherwise if people really understood the wonderful experience of boondocking they would for sure all rush out to the desert which would just turn it into a massive RV Park with paved roads, potted palm trees, pink flamingos, & golf carts. We would then be back to the place where I was when I originally started this blog. Oh dear, how did I get so off track again. Sorry Joe, I was just wanting to say a few words & apologize about my comment..........RV Parks?? Bah Humbug!!
Oh, & how's my day going?? Well, now that I asked.............it's not going worth a hoot. My right knee is killing me, my left leg is now sore from trying to compensate for the injured right leg, I got more paint on me than I got on the cupboards, our van is in the garage undergoing a transmission change & my planned blog for to-day about another ghost town will have to wait because.........I popped the clutch on my keyboard this morning before putting my mind into gear again & here I am!! Just read Jerry's comment from, OUR LIFE ON WHEELS & had myself a light bulb moment as to why I couldn't get RV DREAMS in our rotation list. Went back, made a simple change & Walla.............they are now in our, 'Blogs We Follow.'
GROANER'S CORNER:(( In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts... So in old England , when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them "Mind your pints and quarts, and settle down." It's where we get the phrase......."mind your P's and Q's"

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/
The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.

A COMPROMISE BETWEEN THE LAPTOP & DESKTOP

INTERNET CAFE IN DOWNTOWN SILVER CITY NEW MEXICO...Saturday November 29/08

Thanks to all the folks for their input on our website photo re-sizing.

This morning I reached a compromise regarding the website photo fitting the laptop & the desktop & it all has to do with the number that is inputted in Picasa's Export menu. The size number that worked for Rex was 945. The number I'm using right now for the current picture is 910. When I first started out a couple days ago working on this little project I was using the laptop & found that by increasing that 945 number I was able to stretch the photo perfectly across within the yellow border parameter lines. Think I was using 1045 or 1200. However, when I checked the desktop the photo had bled off the right side of the screen. This morning I worked those numbers again & got the photo to fit perfectly on the desktop with 910. But, this meant the laptop picture no longer fit the border format perfectly & was smaller with wider gray borders at either end. Figured that was OK & looked better than having it bleed off the screen on the desktop. Therefore a compromise was reached. Also should mention both laptop & desktop screens should be maximized for best results. Now, here's a tip if you decide to work on your blog header picture. I crop a lot of my photos which in turn alters the size of the picture & that's why I had to work with the numbers to make the photo fit. I will probably have to do this most times I change pics. And, I will do it on the desktop next time which will ensure the better fit on the laptop right off the bat. I'm happy we were able to figure this out because the next step would have been a trip to the drugstore for a tube of Preparation X. Would have had to put the oversized photo on the monitor & then smear Preparation X all over the screen to shrink the photo down. Messy, messy, messy!! I would not recommend this procedure if you have small children, pets, or pesky in-laws at home..........:))

The photos I have been using lately for the website header are from City of Rocks State Park in New Mexico just southeast of Silver City. If you are in the area be sure to stop there & have yourself a look around. It's truly a city of rocks & is aptly named. Great place for kids with lots of fun rock scrambling. And it's Senior friendly too. It rained one of the days we were there & that added up to a great photo opportunity with stormy skies & wet rocks holding small desert rain puddles. Great place, don't miss it:)) The following links are to our web album & the photos of our 3 day stay at City of Rocks State Park New Mexico in November of 2008.........................

http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/ADAYATCITYOFROCKSSTATEPARKNEWMEXICO
http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/ACOLDRAINYDAYINSILVERCITY

http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/SATURDAYINSILVERCITYSUNDAYSEMORYPASS
http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/NOVEMBER26

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

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/