Saturday, March 30, 2013

Bruce at Petroglyph

A busy few days!  While in Albuquerque we took in the Nat'l Museum of Nuclear Science & History which - among other things - told the story of the development of the atomic bomb and the Manhatten Project.  Very interesting displays and a great look back at some pretty horrific times in history.
We also took a hike at the Petroglyph State Monument
which is a huge area just on the outskirts of town.  The hike we opted for was a 2.2 mile hike that took you out into the desert and past over 600 petroglyphs - some they estimate to be over 2,000 yrs old!
We took a day trip up to Jemez Springs and on the way visited the Coronado State Monument and the Jemez State monument with various ruins from the 1600's Spanish incursions.  Very interesting.  The town of Jemez is very quirky and we had a fabulous lunch on a patio with the sun shining and a goat to greet you as you came in!  It was so cute and wagged it's tail like a dog!  You gotta like that kind of a restaurant!

How high up are we???

Made it to the top!

Another day we took the tram up to Sandia Peak which they say has the longest, highest unsupported tram lines in the world ... but we found out that Whistler peak-to-peak gondola is longer/higher.  Nevertheless it was an awesome ride up and we had a great hike around the top of the mountain.  Good thing I'm not afraid of heights ... or am I?

Lunch after biking

The last day in Albuquerque we went on a fantastic bike ride on one of the many, many trails around the city.  This one goes for 16 miles all along the Rio Grande and is all paved and pretty level.  Great for us as we haven't been on our bikes in months!  The sun was out and we stopped for lunch before heading back to camp.

Margarita Time!

The weather has gotten warmer - in the 70's - although it may get colder before too long.  We arrived in Santa Fe this morning and the wind is blowing again and the temps are somewhat cooler ... but we are over 7,000 ft!  Had a nice wander thru Old Town and then back for the obligatory Margarita!  We had to stop in at Costco to buy Tequila and limes as we were going thru so much ... oh well ... alcohol doesn't count when you're on vacation ... right?

March 25, 2013 Blown into Albuquerque

Windy or what??

March 24th  What a couple of days!  The wind in these parts is incredible!  We've had a couple of days with gusts to over 40mph!  It's really bad because it's not just wind ... it's the sand IN the wind!  We've got sand in every crevice you can imagine!  So it makes it not fun to do much of anything outside.
We had actually found a decent campsite at Sumner Lake State Park ... just outside of Fort Sumner ... no one there but us and overlooking the lake ... but it got so windy there was no point in staying.  We couldn't even go for a walk as you'd get blown off the trail!
So we decided to push on to Albuquerque as at least there's some inside stuff to see and do.
On the way we stopped at the Billy the Kid museum in Fort Sumner - which was pretty cool by the way - and then went to the Bosque Redondo Memorial at Fort Sumner State Monument just outside of town.  Very moving and told the story of the Navajo and Mescalero Apache long walk in 1863.  We think of other nations/peoples being brutal and savage ... none more so than what happened when the white man decided he had the 'God-given right' to take whatever he wanted.  Anyway.

Route 66

Then hit the road on the famous Route 66 which is interesting to say the least.  Some things haven't changed in all the years since it was the major route through here.

Long, LONG roads

The rest of the roads in this part of New Mexico ... not so interesting.  Long, LONG stretches of mostly nothing.  
We'll be here in Albuquerque for a week or so ... lots to see and do.  Plus we'll get a few things done on Rosy as we're staying right next to a Camping World. 

March 25th up-date ... it's been COLDDDDD!!!  The temperatures at night are going down to 26F and the last 2 nights we've found our water line frozen!  Brrrrrr.  The winds have dropped somewhat so at least that's a blessing!  But still ... the daytime temps are staying around 50+/-.

Old Town Albuquerque

Yesterday we opted to do 'indoor' stuff so we visited the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science.  What a GREAT place!!!  We spent over 3 hours there looking at dinosaurs of all descriptions.  They've also got a planetarium which we didn't get to but I think we'll go back today and see that and some films in their IMax.  It's very convenient around here as a lot of the stuff to see is grouped close by such as the museum and Old Town.  I like it here ... if it would just warm up!!!  Oh ... and the internet connection here sucks!

March 20, 2013 Roswell, NM

Entrance to Caves

Whales Mouth formation

A busy few days!  We camped at Brantley State Park outside of Carlsbad, NM and from there visited Carlsbad Caverns.  What can I say?  It's simply the most amazing place - short of the Grand Canyon.  About the same brain-boggling sights ... you almost can't process all of what you're seeing!  We took the self-guided 3 hour tour as all the guided tours were booked.  No worries tho as this one is amazing!  I've never said "WOW", "AMAZING", "OMG" in my life.  I don't think my jaw stopped dropping the whole 3 hours.  Super day!

Camping at Brantley State Park

Brantley State Park was good ... nice to stay out somewhere more rural for a change.
We took in the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens which was nice ... but nothing as great as the Desert Museum in Tucson.

Which one is the alien?

Then ... Roswell.  Kind of a letdown actually.  I didn't expect much and boy there wasn't much.  The UFO Museum  was kind of bogus ... oh, a lot of articles and stories ... but mostly reading reams and reams of stuff.  (No actual aliens!!!)
We'll head out tomorrow for the Valley of Fire Recreating Area near Carrizozo.  Sounds intriguing. The weather is cooler today ... only around 65 - 70 but very windy.  Lots of dust in the air and we're both feeling the effects of low humidity.  My skin feels like an alligator and we're both having nose and sinus problems.  Tomorrow it's supposed to go back up to 90 so we should just enjoy the cooler weather while we've got it.

March 16, 2013 Day of rest!

Old Mesilla

We've had a busy few days ... and decided to just get some domestic chores done around the RV.  Laundry etc.



We've walked around Old Mesilla on Thursday ... historic part of Las Cruces ... lots of history and beautiful original architecture.

Elephant Butte

Yesterday we drove up to Truth or Consequences (the "truth" is ... there's nothing much there!  We saw brochures about the hot springs but wonder if you need to be checked into one of the resorts there - which we didn't see!) then on to Elephant Butte.  We took the kayaks as there's a dam there with a large lake.  Well, there IS a lake ... but the water is very VERY low this time of year.  Plus they say they're in a major drought so that's not helping. ( I'd say there's a drought ... the Rio Grande was dust when we drove past!!)  We did put the boats in and paddled for an hour or so but not much to look at ... lots of rocks and more rocks.  We did see a large number of Western Grebes and even saw a turtle out sunning on a rock in the lake! 
It appears it's a very popular motorboating destination and in the summer it must be overrun with them.  The boat ramp has 6 lanes!!!  After a picnic lunch we drove back via Hatch, NM which bills itself as the "Chili Capital of the World"!  As it's not in the growing season all there was available was dried chilies and sauces, salsas etc.  Still a neat place.  You'd think it was 1960 there tho ... as seen in this cafe ... representing each of the major fast food franchises!

Spot the fast food characters!

This morning we ventured out to the Farmers' Market downtown which was HUGE!!  Lots of local crafts, foods, jewellery etc.  We bought a plaque for Rosy from a lovely 80-yr old artist.  What a character.
Well, we came to Las Cruces for 2 days and spent a week.  So many things to see and do.  We are definitely taking off on Monday morning and heading to Carlsbad.  I'll write more then! 

Me in my $4 dress!

This last photo is me in my dress I bought for $4 in Old Mesilla!  Not bad!
Note:  Temps in the mid 80's ... humidity in the single digits!   Luckily the temp is getting a bit cooler in the next few days although today in Carlsbad it's in the 90's.  Glad we decided to stay here a few more days! 

March 13, 2013 Whitesands, NM

Drove out to Whitesands today.  There's a Missle Range there ... museum ... lots of obsolete missiles etc.  Good museum with lots of history of the area and weaponry.  Whatever.  (Linda talking).

After that we carried on to Whitesands National Monument ... now THAT was cool!  Miles and friggin' miles of whitesand!  Here's the cool thing ... you can buy special sleds to sled the dunes ... for $16.99 each and then turn them in for $5.00 each.  So a net purchase to you of $11.99.  We were sitting there having a bit of lunch (microwaved burritos!) and got to thinking ... if we stopped someone before they turned in their sled for $5.00 and offered them $6.00 ... we could then turn them in for $5.00 and be ahead of the game!!  Duh!  So we stopped a guy with 2 kids who'd bought used sleds for $10 each and was going to get $3.00 to turn them in.  He sold them to us for $5 for the 2 of them ... we then used them ... returned them for the $3.00 each and came out $1.00 ahead!!  What a scam!!

Water ... I need water ...

Yahoo!

Anyway ... the dunes were amazing and so white ... and they went for MILES and MILES!!  Lots of people stopped to walk around them and to sled them ... quite a neat thing to do.  The sledding was fun ... but for us old folks ... we only got a few sleds in ... because we're at altitude and because it was hot (tho only about 70F) we didn't carry on for too long.  Just too difficult a climb and for Bruce ... didn't get a great ride down.  I however ... had a screamin' ride down and enjoyed every minute. 

Back to camp and Margarita time! 

March 13, 2013 Las Cruces, NM

El Paso Saddleblanket

We made it to Las Cruces on the afternoon of the 11th.  The drive thru Eastern Arizona and Western New Mexico was the largest chunk of nothing that I'd ever seen.  Miles and miles of nothing.  Worse than driving thru the prairies.  We amused ourselves by stopping at each 'tourist' trap along the way.  We had the "World Famous Date Shakes" at Dateland, AZ (they really are amazing), along with some killer new variety of dates, we found locally grown pistachios, "Really Good Jerky" (it really was good!), and so on.  Glad to be out of it tho!

El Paso

Las Cruces is a great place - we got a good campsite and yesterday drove down to El Paso, TX to tour around the historic district and saw some awesome old architecture from the 1800's.  Had to stop at another tourist attraction on the way - El Paso Saddleblanket - a 2 acre store full of TONS of blankets, rugs, jewellery, moccasins, hats ... and some good (and bad) Mexican pottery.

Margarita time!

We had an awesome meal at a Mexican restaurant - thought it might be good as it was full of locals chowing down ... and then took the scenic route back to camp stopping at a winery along the way.  Did some tasting, bought some wine and met some very nice people.  Then back to our campsite for some much needed Margaritas! 
The weather is nice and warm - up to 72F is today's forecast - but getting hotter as the week progresses.  We're off to Whitesands today and some touring in that area.  Should be fun!
Cheers!

March 10 ... spoke too soon!

Yes, once again water issues!  We woke the nite of the 7th with the toilet overflowing!  WTF???  We quickly turned off the water at the tap outside ... still there was water/bodily wastes flowing out of the toilet.  (Of course we happened to be at a camp with no sewer connection.)  What to do?  It's PITCH BLACK outside (but great for star-watching!).  So we tried dumping our fresh water supply ... thinking that somehow water was still coming in to the toilet via that.  STILL water overflowing!!!  No choice now but unhook power, etc. - drive off our leveling blocks and locate the dumping station in the PITCH BLACK.  Finally found it and off-loaded the tanks.  No more flooding thank goodness.  Now had to find our campsite again and get back onto blocks.  At about midnight we were finished mopping up floors and back in bed (although wide awake and cold!). 

Cottonwood Springs

We still don't have a clue about how we could keep flooding with no water in the RV.  Any thoughts out there?

The next day was better as we drove thru Joshua Tree Park and stopped at Cottonwood Springs to see the most magnificent stand of giant palms, cottonwoods etc. ... in the middle of the desert! A magical place! 
Onwards then to Yuma where we stopped for the night and opted to go out to dinner for our first Mexican meal on the trip.  We located one from the guidebook and it was quite acceptable.  Nothing outstanding, but the Margaritas were good (and big) and the homemade salsa was amazing!

Cheers!

Now we're just outside of Tucson and are spending a couple of days.  We'll hit the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum this morning, then try to find this Rillito River Park Trail which is a hiking/biking/walking trail along the Rillito river and runs for about 25 miles thru Tucson.  Sounds great.  The weather is going up to around 18C today after some cold and rain so should be perfect!

March 7, 2013 Joshua Tree, CA

After a marathon couple of days driving ... we made it to Joshua Tree yesterday.  Had a good sleep and enjoyed touring the park today.  The weather has gotten quite cold (7-8C) and a strong wind so we had to hike briskly to keep warm!
The desert is fascinating and we're enjoying our stay here.  The town of Joshua Tree as well as the neighboring Twenty Nine Palms are pretty basic ... you can't get milk but you can get ANY kind of booze you want!  Not that that's a bad thing ...
Rosy is still doing great ... all systems seem to be 'go' and we've had no problems with anything.  What a relief!  It was fun driving around really fast today in our car on all the desert (mostly deserted) roads ... woo-hoo.
We are off tomorrow to points east ... somewhere in Arizona but not sure where just yet.  We'll look at some maps tonight and make a plan (sort of).

March 4, 2013 Made it to California!

Hi All,
We made it into California today ... as far as Chico.  We opted to go a less hectic route so veered off on HWY 99 and lots more to see!
We didn't plan to go too far as we had some errands to do today - one being a liquor load-up at Costco!  I know ... I know ... but it's hard to beat Tequila at $18.99 for a one litre bottle!

We also had to deal with our phone issues ... plans in Canada are WAY too expensive to call or surf the internet so we wanted to go with our un-locked IPhone and stick in a sim card from T Mobile like we did before.  Not so simple anymore.  The only plan we could find that was cheap was thru Walmart and they don't sell sim cards.  So had to track down a T Mobile office who finally sold us the card ... then had to find a Walmart and wait while they figured out how to do what we wanted to do (about 1/2 hour on the phone to T Mobile!).  But we're good to go now for the next month anyway and will have to buy more time on a monthly basis. 

The weather is amazing ... up to 20C today and we're in short-sleeved shirts!  Rain expected tomorrow but tonight sitting out with our glass of wine (thanks Costco!) was heavenly!  We hope to make Bakersfield tomorrow but who knows?  We're taking things as they come and not getting too wrapped up in specifics. 

Time to clean up after dinner ... more later!

March 3, On the Road ...

We caught the 10:30 ferry to Port Angeles on Saturday the 2nd and arrived at approx. 12:05 +/-.  The crossing was good ... no winds or big swells to make me queasy!  We had some nice entertainment during the crossing ... a girl and guy with a guitar and banjo playing and singing bluegrass.  Very nice!

We made it to Vancouver, WA the first night in the dark and rain.  The mo-ho (btw ... we've named her Rosy ... as the interior is all upholstered in 1980's pink) works well although it does seem a bit light on the front end.   We think it's because all the weight is in the rear ... generator, fresh water, holding tanks, gas etc.  ... so it kind of floats as it drives.  It gives Bruce a real workout driving!  Two hands and paying attention constantly!

Tonight we made it only to Grants Pass, OR ... we did a lot of errands today.  We had to replace the microwave as the one in the unit sucked ... plus a few other things ... booze not being the least!  We found some good wine for $8.00 and another bottle for $2.50 which we'll try tomorrow night.  Tonight we went thru the $8 bottle and it was GOOD!  We've been seeing signs for some kind of liquor extravaganza which we'll HAVE to stop at tomorrow!  The only errand we didn't get done is find a phone place to get a new sim card for Bruce's phone so we can make calls without spending $1,000 a call.  We'll try that tomorrow.

Today's weather was sunny and warm ... hope that continues! 

The only complaints ... gas is a pain as most places only take $100 at a time (if they take credit cards at all) and we have to fill up every 200 miles or so ... not great mileage.  But it is what it is ...

Tomorrow ... California ... yeah!

So good-night for now!