Day 6

We moved on!

Drove 250 miles to Las Cruces and checked into one of our "best ever" RV parks - The Hacienda.
A lot of beautiful USA on the trip but it is so hard to put to pictures what we are seeing

I've talked about pictures, but just have been too busy to put any on the blog.  We are here for 3 days so I have no more excuses.

Got in here about 4:30 pm and set up.  Had a glass of wine while the sun set.  Showered and went out to dinner.

It had to be about 70 here and sunny when we arrived. Officially maybe 65. But it was great to get out of the RV in a T-shirt and be comfortable.



Heading south on US70 out of Alamogordo on our way to Las Cruces

 

 

Getting close to Las Cruces

Closer yet

Day 5

Didn't quite get to freezing last night - only 38.
But the morning sunrise was nothing short of beautiful - extremely bright blue sky. And it stayed that way all day.  Got to what felt like 70 but I think officially it was 64 or 65.
It's comfortable here, with the current good weather and all.  Not too many people here.  And New Mexico State Parks are suffering with most others due to the poor economy.  Not quite as well maintained as years before and hardly any Ranger presence.  Hardly anyone at all - anywhere.  But we are happy to be out in the quiet desert.

I did get the RV washed and made some minor "tweeks" to the RV.  Ellen walked the girls. Late afternoon we drove into Carlsbad to grocery shop.  Ellen is cooking outside on the grill as I type and the wind has picked up a little - temp now at dark is 55.

Tomorrow the plan is to move on to Las Cruces for Super Bowl weekend.  But we have talked about staying here for a few more days.  Weather should stay great through the weekend and we could just sit tight and enjoy the sun and wait to drive on West when the rain is falling.  Spending a sunny day packing and traveling may not be the smart move. Won't know until morning what's next.

Day 4

Looks like the decision to bypass Galveston was good. They got lots of rain and minor flooding. But we had our share of moisture most of today as well. Misting and fog in Big Spring this morning and not such a good spot to spend another day. We left! Light rain stayed with us on most of our 200 mile trek west to Brantley Lake State Park, New Mexico. We knew the weather would get better. And by the time we got there the sky had cleared, the sun was hot, and we were finally happy campers. We brought with us a bottle of Champagne to open when we got to our first sunny and warm campsite. Today was the day.

My traveling chef prepared an exquisite meal tonight preceded by a short lake view trail walk. I had time to wash the CRV this afternoon (it was bad) and will take on the RV (just as bad) wash tomorrow. Vehicle washing is not encouraged here, but not prohibited. I'm going to do it. The next stop isLas Cruces at the Hacienda RV park and they only allow their "washer" to clean your RV at $3.00/ft - that's $90.00 for me!!!! No thank you, I'll do it myself here at the State Park for free. We love the Hacienda, but not when it comes to washing RV's. More about the Hacienda when we get there on Saturday.

Well, we are West. Feeling pretty comfortable with where we are and where we are going. Out of the "shit" and only good stuff ahead. But we know "shit" can happen anytime out here - only it's usually very short term if at all. Like tonight - could get below freezing, but the sky is crystal clear tonight with all the stars "a shining", but back into the 60's and sunny tomorrow. Not too bad!

So, getting into picture taking time. Should get more interesting from here on. Don't give up on us and don't forget to leave your comments. The good stuff is on it's way.

Our camp site with a view of the lake in the background

Dog walk

Champagne and blue sky!

It's All Good

Day 3

We did decide to skip Galveston this morning.  It took us about 2 hours to make the change in plans but after calling Galveston State Park to confirm the campground flooding due to the storm system working it's way across the area we thought it in our best interest to bypass the Gulf Coast this trip and just head West.  We were faced with at least two days of rain whatever route we took, and a wet, flooded, campground in Galveston just did not cut it.  Also, despite the flooding, the campground sites with electricity were full so we could not get one anyway.  We had reservations for next week when we thought we were going to be there, but leaving early required cancelling those.  No reason to hang out waiting to utilize our reservations for next week.

So, we drove 475 miles West to Big Spring, TX.  Staying in an RV park.  Boring!  But with all this rain camping in a state park would be extremely muddy for us, and intolerable with two dogs.  Temp now at 9pm is 40 and still raining.  All plans are up in the air now depending on weather reports tomorrow.  We could get to Las Cruces in one day, or take a long around-about route to get off the interstate.  Really won't know until morning what we will do.  Long day today - too tired to think about it.

Solved the BrakeBuddy problem by not using it.  Pressure Pro sensors all working now.  Front tires still out of balance but do not seem to require an immediate fix.  Will take care of them when the normal RV service is scheduled in Las Cruces.

Good Night!

Day 1 and Day 2

We left home at 9:30 Monday morning, a half hour later than planned. Had to deal with several issues beginning with a dead motor home battery. All loaded up ready to roll and the f--ker would not start. Even the "house" batteries were "dead" so could not use them to help us out. Had to get Ellen's car back out of the garage to jump start the RV to get going. But even before that, the BrakeBuddy supplemental braking system used when towing the CRV was non-functional when I tried to set it up for the trip, but we just left without solving that problem. Oh, I forgot to mention that the Pressure Pro tire pressure monitoring system for the RV was not fully functional either. Two of the six sensors were not working. Oh Well, we just left! What the hell!

Roads were good. Weather no problem. Drove 475 miles to Sikeston, MO. Went from snow in Indiana and Northern Illnois, to no snow further south, to a lot of snow (on the ground, not falling) as we continued south. Sikeston had a lot of snow on the ground. But not an issue as we were just "overnighting" anyway.

Today, Tuesday, we left Sikeston and drove about 400 miles to Texarkana, TX. Found a "very clean" RV park. Paved parking pads and grass surrounding. No snow and dry! This area has had a lot of rain and some snow, and while we prefer state parks they tend to be muddy when wet. This park is dry! Dogs are clean, we are clean, we are happy. And - sunny and lower 50's when we arrived. Not too bad!

During the first "leg" of this trip we also have an added issue of one or both front wheels being out of balance. Just bought new tires in December and this should not be an issue, but it is. Going to a tire shop tomorrow morning for re-balancing. It"s only two miles from the RV park.


Thinking about skipping Galveston due to weather (rain and flooding) problems, but will make that decision in the morning. Arizona is looking better as time goes on.

No pictures to post as there is nothing of interest yet.

That's it for now.