The Start of Summer (06-12-20)

It took us a couple of days to pack up the rig and the house before we could leave.  The vehicles in the garage look like  interlocking puzzle pieces, and still we had to leave a couple of things outside.  Geez.









Our basic plan for the summer is to hunker down, stay away from most people, and do some hiking. But first, we had to do two things. We needed to see our daughter and we needed to check on Paul’s mom.


Our first stop was Indio, CA, where we spent 3 days at an RV resort with Jess and her boyfriend Michael.

Having stayed here before, Paul and I knew this place has a great pool, and lots to do. We checked to make sure it was all open before we booked.









We had an awesome 3 days with the kids, relaxing, swimming a lot (it was HOT) and using the park amenities.  Paul and I thoroughly enjoyed Bocce—we might actually see if there is room in our yard for a court (yes, I am aware that this picture is not of Bocce- apparently no one took a picture while we were playing).













We had such a good time, I wasn’t ready to move on, but Jess had to go back to work.












 Technically our next stop was to see Paul’s mom in El Paso, but we weren’t in a rush so we detoured to Silver Springs NM for a few days. Being at a higher elevation it was a lot cooler there.

We got our “feet wet” with the hiking by taking the 3 mile Pinon Loop trail. It has a spur to the peak that we didn’t take because the trail was long enough and had 500 ft of elevation gain as it was.

Off in the distance we could see the wildfires.  There are a lot of them right now it seems and one of them caused us to cancel our original plans- we were headed to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, but it was being evacuated due to a wildfire.










Moving on to El Paso, our stay there was the shortest its ever been. We stayed only one night, and Paul saw his mother for less than an hour. I chatted with her outside for a few minutes, keeping a distance between us.

Before we even made it  to El Paso, we had two issues with our rig.  The rear air conditioner is clearly not working well- it cools some, but not nearly enough.  So, we had to make a plan to get it replaced.  The second issue was more urgent, but also, luckily, easy to fix.  One of the tires on the truck started to separate, but the local Discount Tire had the tires we needed.



From El Paso it was a straight shot to Albuquerque NM. At this point we were still formulating a plan for the summer.  Not that we plan a lot, but I wasn’t sure how busy RV parks would be so I didn’t want to leave reservations to the last minute- less stress that way.  We decided to kill 3 birds with one stone so to speak.  We knew we were going to want to see our friends Tom and Dianne in Colorado, so we ordered an air conditioner to be sent to their house, and told them we would be there by the 4th of July. Now we didn’t have to worry about reservations for the holiday!


While in Albuquerque, we managed to get in another hike, albeit a short one. We hiked 2 miles of the Piedra Lisa Trail which is part of a large web of trails. I didn’t think the trail was that bad but apparently I didn’t think it was that good because I didn’t take any pictures!

Sitting in our campsite one day we looked at the building next door and realized it was a brewery.  A brewery with OUTDOOR seating.  I looked at their website and they were requiring masks and reservations, and each party could stay for 90 minutes.  Reservations made, we had our first meal at a restaurant in 3 months!








The view was very relaxing and so was the meal.  I tried two of their Amber beers and liked both.  When it was time to pay, they provided us with a QR code and we paid online, no contact needed.

Back again to….Yep, New Mexico (07-20-17)

After the July 4th holiday Paul and I headed back to El Paso for another 10 days or so, to finish up some projects for his mom. The 3 of us had one last outing, up to Las Cruces for lunch.












Our first stop after leaving there was Albuquerque New Mexico, where we had a date for dinner with our friend Teresa.  Of course, I forgot to take a picture. We didn’t hang around long, just one night- before heading to our destination- Cochiti Lake.

We used this COE campground as our base to do a little hiking and exploring. First up was Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument. We had tried to hike here before but it was barricaded when we tried- during the federal shut down in 2013. 

There was a lot to like about this hike.  The tents, or hoodoos, are mostly comprised of tuff, or volcanic ash, spewed from numerous volcanos that erupted regularly 7 million years ago.

The tent-like shapes were really cool to see. Many of them started out as over 1000 feet thick.

We love hiking slot canyons and this trail features a little bit of that as we worked our way through the hoodoos and up to the ridge above them.














The view at the top was pretty nice- this picture doesn’t do it justice.
The trail was only about 3.5 miles long, with 750 ft of elevation gain.











In general, that would be pretty easy for us, however, it was 98* outside, and there was very little breeze, and very few clouds (whine, whine, whine).

By the time we were done, I wasn’t feeling that well, and I wasn’t at all surprised to see the buzzards circling!

Our exhaustion after that hike resulted in what we call a “down day”- a day when we don’t do anything exciting or physical.  What we did do is get out the maps and try to do some long range planning.  It’s not our favorite thing to do, but its necessary.  Actually, its more necessary now that we have the house, because we already have a “bookend”- a date when we want to be back in Havasu- so we need to decide where we want to explore in the meantime.

I also took advantage of the free time to get out my good camera and get in some practice using it again. I believe this is a black chinned hummingbird, a variety that is common here, but one that we don’t see in Havasu.

After a full day of rest, we were totally ready for a long day of adventuring.  Bandelier National Monument is about an hour or so from Cochiti Lake.  There are two ways to get there- the highway, and the back way. Of course, Paul chose the back way.

Up and over the ridges we went, wending our way through the Santa Fe National Forest.

There was lots of evidence of previous forest fires, and the ranger confirmed that there was one as recently as last week.  Still, you could see the new growth in some areas.

Bandelier National Monument protects some of the homes built here by the Ancestral Pueblo people.    Built in about 1150 AD, they only lived here about 300 years before moving on to other locations.

Although some of the buildings seem typical of that time period, such as this one, which was built on the ground, using blocks of Tuff (hardened volcanic ash), others were more unique:

Many of the “rooms” are Cavates- rooms that are carved into the rock.

Although some of the cavates are at floor level, many of them are up high enough to require a ladder.

Once inside, you could explore several of the rooms.

We hiked the extra mile to get to Alcove House, which sits 140 above the ground and is reached by a series of ladders and stairs. Paul made the trip all the way up the ladders, but I got caught up talking to several  college students who were on a week long photography field trip.

Once we got back to the visitor center, we saw that there were some telescopes set up.  This not so great picture is of the sun, taken with a hydrogen filter.  Pretty cool.
















With temperatures still in the mid 90s, we decided it was time to continue our trek north.

Michigan Road Trip-Day One (04-30-15)

Lake Havasu City to Albuquerque New Mexico

(520 miles)

We were anxious to get out of town, so we were up and moving pretty early.  After buttoning up the trailer for a month long abandonment, we hit the road.

:

Within a short time we came across a recent accident. The police hadn't even arrived yet, but it didn't look like anyone was hurt.

  Standin’ on a Corner in Winslow Arizona.  I did that, while Paul fueled up the truck.  It wasn't the corner and there was no girl in a flat bed Ford, either.

This is the corner, but it isn't my picture.  I stole it from the internet because we blew by at 30 mph, so my picture came out blurry.

Driving through Winslow, and not stopping to see “the corner” again ( we drove by it a few years ago) reminded me of a feeling that I had about 11 years ago.  That feeling is a huge part of why I wanted to RV full time when the opportunity presented itself.

About 11 years ago, Paul’s parents gave us a car.  The only thing we had to do was go get it.  The car was in El Paso, and we lived in Massachusetts.  So, we both flew out to TX, spent a couple of days visiting his parents, and then took off for Boston. 

We drove 13 hours a day- from sun up to sun down, to make it back in 4 days.  We needed to get back to the kids as soon as we could.  So along the way I took pictures- pictures of Welcome signs. 

Lots of Welcome signs.

I got my first glimpse- and just a glimpse- of the Mighty Mississippi, as we drove by at 65 mph.

So many places looked intriguing.  I had never been to Nashville or Memphis (you can bet I have since remedied that!).

We drove past places I had heard about in songs- like the Blue Ridge Mountains, and West Virginia…













The signs enticed us to get off the highway…..












….but we didn't.  We kept on driving. Past it all.  We didn't stop to see anything.









It was on that trip that I realized that there was so much to see in this country, that we needed to find a way to explore it. When we got home, I told Paul I wanted to do that same trip some day, but I wanted to take a month to do it- not 4 days.



Of course, real life delayed the realization of that dream.  We had two teenagers at the time, Paul was entrenched in the corporate world, and he soon after that trip he was informed that he was being relocated to Michigan. I wouldn't trade that time of our lives for anything. We enjoyed Michigan and have great memories of our 4 years there, but when Paul got the notice to retire in 2009, we knew it was our chance to escape the rat race and explore all the amazing things that this country has to offer.  And that’s just what we've done!



Ok, that’s enough of that.  See what happens when I have too much time to reflect???

Back to today- after 520 miles, we called it a day when we made it to the Elks Lodge RV parking in Albuquerque New Mexico- pretty satisfied with the amount of miles we got under our belts.

Speaking of miles- today the odometer on the truck passed the 100,000 mile mark.  Paul forgot about it, so no pictures, but he says its the most miles he has ever put on a vehicle.