El Paso (11-06-14)

I don’t know where the last week went, but it’s gone, that’s for sure.  We have been visiting with Paul’s mom in El Paso.




She usually puts together a short list of projects that she would like help with while we are in town, which is good for Paul because he likes to stay busy.














While Paul was occupied, Dozer helped my with my projects.  I got caught up on my paperwork and organized my pictures.

I have also started back up with my genealogy research and recently  made contact with an 81 year old priest, who is my third cousin once removed. He has a lot of family history information and has even written a 200 page “book” outlining the family tree.  He was nice enough to send it to me.  Now I have a lot of work to do!

Actually, he and I are related on both my mother and my father’s side of the family which makes the connection even more fun!



Just like with a house, the trailer has wear and tear issues and needs occasional updating. On the way into El Paso, Paul noticed that the airbags in the hitch that keep the trailer riding smoothly had lost their air.  We can travel without them but prefer not to go too far.

Once he pulled it apart, he could see that the airbags had worn through.  We ordered new ones, and the company who makes the hitch is sending us an upgraded “bed” for the airbags to sit in so they won’t rub.

After spending the summer with AGM batteries in the camper, I knew it was just a matter of time before we upgraded the batteries in the trailer. 
Having dealt with batteries on an ongoing basis on our boats, we long ago instituted a “battery rule”.  We don’t mess around- once a battery doesn’t seem to be holding a charge, out it goes.  Well, that time has come, and the old batteries are out, and new AGM batteries are in. Well, one is in.  Sam’s Club only had one, so we still need a second one.

Both Arizona and Texas have spectacular sunsets and we were treated to some awesome ones while we were in El Paso.

El Paso (09-29-13)

The last week has been a flurry of activity while Paul and I visited his mom.  We started our visit with dinner at the local country club- what a view!

Paul spent a few days helping his mom with some projects around the house, and also took advantage of her workshop to refinish a couple of our cabinet doors.  As in most homes, the doors in front of the sink take a bit of a beating so he added a coat or two of polyurethane before they showed any wear.  






Of course, we don’t call his mom the energizer bunny for nothing ( if you ever wondered where Paul gets his energy and his intelligence, look no further!). She is extremely busy with her many philanthropic endeavors so we took some time to do some hiking.

  The nearby Franklin Mountains provide plenty of hiking  trails, so we set out on the Ron Coleman Trail. 

We were supposed to get to the peak of the mountain, but after almost 3 hours of hiking, we turned back.  We’ll get to the peak some other (cooler) day. The views from the trail were still spectacular, including this one, where we could see not only the City of El Paso, but into New Mexico and Juarez Mexico.

The week flew by and pretty soon it was our last night in town.  We spent it attending the first of a month long series of events celebrating the city of El Paso.  We heard two famous El Pasoans tell the story of “their” El Paso.  The first was Ginger Kerrick (who attended via video), a flight director with NASA, and the second was astronaut Danny Olivas.  It was interesting hearing what it was like for them growing up in El Paso, and the influence their childhood here had on their success.

We are now on our way to Santa Fe, New Mexico.  We’ve had to adjust our plans and our campground reservations because of the government shutdown.  For us, its just a minor inconvenience.  Others have been much more adversely affected by the shutdown.