Savannah & North

We arrived in Savannah and lazed around for a day, not sure what we wanted to see. We made online reservations for the next day on an open air on-off tour trolley. On that day we drove to the Savannah Visitor Center, and at 9 am we boarded our trolley. There are 15 stops along the 1-1/2 hour, 9.5 mile route with historical dialog during the ride. We decided to not get off anywhere but listen to everything they were talking about. Back at the beginning of the trip  we had to board another trolley with another driver who during his spiel added the same and more information along the route.

We decided to get off at a heritage center where we learned about the Indian and British influences in the area. General James Oglethorpe was commissioned by the King to start a colony between the British seaport in Charleston, South Carolina, and the Spanish colonies in Florida. The people he brought with him were skilled laborerswho had been put in debtors prison. In return for their service they could earn their freedom. He sailed up the Savannah River, found a high bluff, and decided that was to be the location of his colony. He was greeted by native Indians who helped them settle.  Several locations in Savannah are dedicated to the leaders of the natives. Oglethorpe even brought many of the to England to meet the King, and everywhere they went they were treated as royalty.

Oglethorpe had 4 rules for Georgia, two of which are: no lawyers were allowed (he had a friend who was poorly represented in England and was sent to debtors prison where he died); no catholics (he was concerned they would sympathize with the Spanish and subvert the Georgia colony).

After the Center we boarded the trolley and went back to the beginning of the tour, boarded still another trolley, this time debarking at the Prohibition Museum, learning about the history of that movement. We then had lunch, visited Paula Dean's shop, reboarded another trolley and drove back to the RV Resort. The remainder of our stay we stayed there.

We then drove to Fayetteville,  North Carolina, where we stayed for four days, not doing much but eating at some great restaurants. We also went to Camping World and purchased some items to make small repairs. 

Today we drove to Richmond, Virginia. Our campground  is located right next to Kings Dominion Amusement Park. Fortunately it is closed at this time of year except for weekends so we don't have a lot of traffic. We'll be here for a few days before moving on.

March 13- Georgia On My Mind

Monday we drove to Jekyll Island, one the many barrier islands on the Georgia coast. The island used to be owned by the Dubignon family who were from France. Theirs was a slave cotton plantation but after the revolutionary War they couldn't afford the upkeep, so the son and a son-in-law decided in the late 1800s to establish a hunting club and sell memberships. This was the start of the ultra rich owning the island. Memberships were $600, about $24,000 in today's money, a great sum for the day.

Members included the Vanderbilts, Rockefeller, Morgan's, Pulitzer,Goodyear  and other Uber wealthy families of the day. (It is interesting that Frank Goodyear never made a tire in his life. He was a lumberman from Buffalo, NY.  His son created the tire business). The owners of these mansions were so wealthy (how wealthy were they?) that their combined wealth was one-sixth the wealth of the entire world! 

They would arrive by ship, private yacht or ferry with all their servants and all their clothing. Evening soirees would be held every night, and since the ladies would never submit to being seen in the same evening gown twice during the season, that meant at least 90 gowns in addition to other daily clothing for each. Quite a lot of luggage!

Mansions were built on the island, and all had their backs facing each other. The club had one chef who prepared all the meals for all the residents, and if a resident wanted to eat at home, the servants were able to go to the club, collect the meals, bring it back, prepare and serve their employers without ever being seen by the wealthy residents. And these homes were only used from January to March!

In 1947, the Governor of Georgia wanted to buy the island to make it into a state park. He offered the residents a total of $645,000, but the residents refused to sell for that price, instead countering with $800,000. The Governor took them to court, and the residents countersued, unsuccessfully. The land was had by the Governor, at his price, and the rich abandoned their mansions and departed. It is interesting to note that the Club which was owned by the wealthy residents owed the state $500,000 in back taxes, so the state got it fairly cheaply.

We went on a tour of the island and was taken thru one of the mansions, originally owned by William Struthers, who made his fortune with his Philadelphia marble works. His marble was used to build Philadelphia City Hall.

After our tour, we visited the Georgia Sea Turtle Rescue Center also located on the island. They nurse injured or ill sea turtles back to health, and if they can't be released back to the wild, they are placed in aquariums across the country. They also receive sea turtles from other states for rehabilitation. We observed an operation that was being performed on one turtle.

Tuesday we drove to St Simon's Island, just north of Jekyll Island. We drove around, looking at the residences, going on the beaches and seeing the sand dunes. It was an attractive island, but the traffic was very heavy.

Wednesday we climbed aboard the Mary Jane, an old shrimp trawler that was being used for educating people about the estuaries around the barrier islands. They did three net trawls during the 1-1/2 hour trip while a Naturist discussed what was brought up. The estuaries are used by a variety of sea creatures for laying their eggs and for the newly born hatchlings to grow until old enough to venture into the ocean. There are fewer predators here than the ocean, and commercial fishing is prohibited.

We netted white shrimp, blue crabs, squid, sea trout, rays, various jelly fish, Hatchet fish, anchovies, sea straws, puffers, and many others. After each was  discussed they were released back into the water, where if they were lucky, would not be eaten by the gulls and pelicans that followed the boat.

The remainder of the week we stayed home due to storms and tornado watches. But as I'd walk the dogs near the lake I had to watch out for it's  reigning denizen:

Today we drove to a new resort outside of Savannah, Creekfire Motor Resort, which is now Nancy's favorite.

It has two pools, a lake (with alligators), a lazy river, all large paved sites, an event center, two restaurants, a grocery store and much more. Nancy said that our late friend, Bill Boyes, would have loved it here, and she is right! Here's to you Bill, we miss you!

Sunday already?

I know,  I said every Sunday and it's been over two weeks. So here goes:

Since being at Rich & Joanne's home, we hung around with Arthur and Helen about every other day, meeting  for lunch and/or dinner and just spending time enjoying their company.

There is so much to see and do in our area and that we DIDN'T do due to covid-19 that we decided to reserve 3 months for next year at the same site/campground. Anyone want to come down and visit?

While here we had our car serviced: new battery, battery cable, brakes, rotors, etc. We had our awning weather sensor checked out. It is supposed to automatically retract the awning when the wind gets too rough, but if it was plugged in to the control panel we couldn't operate the awning at all. Turns out that when the awning material was replaced last year due to damage from a storm, the repairmen got silicone on the connectors inside the sensor housing so we had no continuity. I removed the silicone and cleaned the connections and now everything works as it should. We also did a repair to the toilet.  In a toilet there should always be water left in the bowl to prevent odors coming up from the tank. Ours had a slow leak, so we replaced the gasket and all is now well.

We almost bought a Mini Cooper S convertible. It was beautiful. A neighbor of Arthur had it for sale at their campsite. Nancy saw it and fell in love with it.  I checked it out but wanted to review the ratings for that year. By the time I was satisfied with everything I was a day too late.  The seller had traded it in on a used Mercedes. So close!

Our resort had mentioned that since we had paid for a month but weren't able to get there at the beginning of the month that they would find another site for us for a few days. Sure enough, on March 1st we had to leave our site, but they gave us another location for 4 days at no charge. Very nice of them. 

Friday, when our 4 days were up we drove to Crystal River, FL, to meet up with Rich, Joanne, Arthur, Helen, and her daughter Denise and grandson Aiden. GA. Our reservation at our resort called for an elite site, but what a disappointment!  Most regular sites at the resort had concrete pads, and we expected at least that, having an elite site and paying a very elite price. No such luck!  Our ELITE site was a back-in, dirt and sand site that backed up to a pond (they referred to it as a lake). What a disappointment! 

We all went to a restaurant  named The Blackwater in Inglis, Fl. Someone, whom I won't name, made reservations to eat outside. But at that time of evening we were inundated with so many chiggers and no-see-ums that we couldn't remain, and there were no available tables inside for over 3 hours. We left and each group had dinner on their own. I only had 3-5 bites, but Nan y has counted over 50 on herself. The bites are extremely itchy and cause small welts on the skin. Three days later and they seem to stay as annoying and irritable as the first day, despite topical allergy medications. We both hope they clear up soon.

But on Saturday, 1/2 the group went kayaking and swimming with the manatees in Kings Bay, and the other 1/2 went spotting manatees on a pontoon boat. The manatees are such gentle creatures. Their appendages are rounded flippers but  with toenails at the end, and their body tapers down to a flat tail that is shaped like a paddle. They are close relatives of the elephant. Who knew?

That is Aiden in the background 

You aren't allowed to touch, chase, or disturb the manatees, but we saw some people doing just that.  We should have turned them in to the Park Rangers.  It's a $100,00 fine and up to a year in jail.  After viewing the manatees we all went out for dinner (outside patio).Overall, it was a great day and 

Today we left Crystal River and drove to Brunswick, GA. Our campsite is gorgeous. 

 This week we plan to go to St. Simon and Jekyll Islands and tour the rest of the area. Next week we leave for Savannah, Ga.

February 15, 2022

Well, we were there until the end of the week. First thing Monday morning at 6:30 am, I was outside walking the dogs when they showed up to remove our windows. We started with 6 being removed but added a seventh. They would remove the entire window and frame, then tape plastic wrapped cardboard over the opening. This made the inside of the RV very dark, but it was effective. Although temperatures at night would drop into the 20's, it didn't get too cold, and it kept the rain out of the RV. 

Within an hour we were enveloped in darkness, which we mostly stayed in all week. We streamed a lot of TV shows. The T-Mobile Home Internet we have provided good signal all week. During the week we watched RVs come and go, as they had fewer windows to repair. Their priority is the fewer windows to repair the sooner you get fixed. As I would walk the dogs during the week, I had to be careful not to have them walk on broken glass fragments or razor blades. They use the latter to cut through the seals around the windows but then apparently toss them on the ground. During the week I picked up 17 blades.

So there we sat until 7AM on Friday morning. They came and reinstalled the 7 windows,  but we had bad news. Of the 14 panes of glass which comprised the outer layer of the windows, 11 were so badly etched that they had to be replaced, of course, at additional cost. Further, they only had enough glass in the tint required to replace 8 panels. They had to order more, requiring us to schedule another time to go back and have 3 windows removed, replaced, and then reinstalled.  This will take place the first week of March. 

Friday at 10am we left Hudson and arrived at Fiesta Grove RV Resort in Palmetto at 11:30 am. We spent the rest of the day setting up and scoping out the area. We called Arthur (cousin) and Helen and arranged to visit them on Saturday. We both took covid antigen tests to ensure we were safe and wouldn't be spreading anything. We expected to be negative, and we were.We joined them for lunch and dinner and had a great visit with them. So great that we met them again on Sunday for another great visit. Monday, Valentine's Day, we called them and we met and went out for dinner nearby to celebrate the day.

Tomorrow,  Wednesday, we are meeting  them at Richard (brother) and Joanne's rented home to go swimming and have dinner. Earlier this week Richard declared himself a snowbird, never wanting to remain again up north during the winter. 

And this ends this weeks entry.

Sunday, February 6, 2022

This week we relaxed in the campground. The place was nice, only about 10 sites so far. It was strange, however.  The way the sites are set up everyone  has to drive over grass to get to their concrete slab.

Two days ago we drove to a bonsai (bone-sigh) shop and looked around. Beautiful plants. Here are some:

And my favorite 

Nancy spotted that little frog in one of the trees. We left with two plants, a juniper tree for a gift, and a fukien tea plant (from China) for ourselves.

Fuel in Florida is expensive. In some places it is over $5/gallon. When we left this morning the price in town was $4.21/gallon. Luckily we have a fleet card for the RV (no, not an enema card, a card that is owned by an organization,  namely Nancy & I. It provides us a discount,  in this case we saved $0.43 per gallon). 

We departed this morning at 8:27 am CST and drove 277 miles to Hudson, Fl, arriving at 2:50 pm EST, which included two driving breaks. The weather was cloudy and misty but we made good time, considering all the little towns we drove thru.

Tomorrow we will be awoken at 6:30 am for the window repair guys to begin the process of recreating a vacuum and resealing 6 of our double pane windows. We were told we may be here til the end of the week. Will let you know next week.

Ground Hog Day, 2022

Before I enter anything else, just want to inform anyone who reads this that I will be updating only once a week, on Sunday evenings. Sometimes not enough goes on to write about every day.

Two weeks ago,, we sat around til Thursday, when we went, finally, to get our dishwasher installed. They did a great job and it looks like it was installed when the RV was manufactured. (The black dials above the door are for our stove.)

The same crew installed our new mirror which was broken off by another driver when we were having our shades adjusted.

Our Saturday appointment for buffing out our scratches (see our post from December 15, 2021) was changed to Sunday due to a request by the specialist. We had one area that needed to be repainted so that was done also. But the color was too dark, so we went back the following Tuesday for the corrective work.

While there we asked them to adjust our slide topper as two of the four were too loose. Turns out the jerk we had install new ones three years ago were sized and cut wrong. Two of them were cut on a bias instead of straight, and all of them were too small; they didn't adequately cover the slide out. We knew something was wrong with them, and every year we came to Red Bay we would have the installer adjust them, but he kept shining us. This time we did not go back to him. Wednesday our newly selected installers came out to measure our slide outs, and Friday they came and installed brand new toppers. We are very satisfied with them.

Saturday I scheduled the RV to be washed on Monday afternoon, when we were done with our appointment at Bay Diesel. They changed all the fluids and filters  as part of our regular service schedule.  While there we asked them to check our dash air conditioner as we never got cool air. They found a leak but couldn't repair it that day, but they squeezed us into their schedule for the next day. So we went and had our RV washed. Hand washed! A crew of 6 washed our roof and applied a protectant (the roof was really filthy from sitting under the trees at Old Cedar all summer) and the RV.

BEFORE

AFTER

Tuesday morning at 7am the crew came back and hand waxed the entire RV and polished the wheel rims. In the afternoon Bay Diesel repaired the a/c leak and we were back at the campground by 3:05 pm.  The leak was caused by Freightliner in Oklahoma. Two years ago we went thru Oklahoma and had no air. They removed our dash, did whatever they did, and put the dash back together. We had cool air for a while but that soon ended. What they didn't do was replace a rubber gasket with a new one. That is where the leak was, and we had absolutely no freon in the system. Bay Diesel replaced the gasket and hooked it up to a machine which creates a vacuum throughout the system and we now have very cool air. 

We contemplated heading toward Florida last night as we could stop overnight near Birmingham and knock over 100 miles off our trip, and we would also avoid the rain and thunderstorms that were due. In the end, we stayed in Red Bay overnight.

This morning  we left at 7:37 am and traveled 371 miles to Marianna, FL, arriving at 2:50 pm. It rained until we passed Tuscaloosa,  but then we had high winds for the rest of the trip. 

And now dear readers, you are caught up. The next missive will be on Sunday evening. Til then!

January 14th

Not much to write about. On the 12th we purchased the largest convex auto mirror we could find, which was only 4-1/2" x 6". We taped it against the driver's window frame which allowed me to see any vehicle on the driver's side of the RV. In conjunction with our rear view camera they provided some warning of passing vehicles, even if only a second in advance. But it was enough to allow me to change lanes relatively safely.

Our repairs were completed Wednesday afternoon so we planned to leave the next day.. Originally we were going to spend several nights in Little Rock then proceed to Red Bay, AL, on Sunday. However, snow was expected early Saturday in Little Rock and Sunday in Red Bay. We drove the 300 miles to Little Rock Thursday, had dinner, then drove another 300 miles to Red Bay today. Never want to drive the RV in snow. Tomorrow night temperature will be down to 28 degrees with up to 3 inches of snow into Sunday morning. So much for going south to avoid the cold.

Monday we have an appointment to have a bed lift installed. Push a button and the foot of the bed lifts to get to the storage area beneath. The new mattress we got in October is 4 times heavier than our old one, making it more difficult to manually raise it.

Thursday we are having our dishwasher installed. More modifications and maintenance will happen over the next 2 weeks. 

Stay safe, wear your masks, and stay warm!

Writing Again!

Yeah, I remember I said I'd start again on Monday,  and that was several weeks ago, but here I am.

We had an enjoyable time with Marjorie and Mom, but it came to a halt 1/2 way thru when Marjorie came down with Omicron. She felt as if a cold was coming on,but a home test for covid was positive.  She then had a PCR test done  week after she began to quarantine which confirmed the diagnosis. Mom, Nancy and I got a test the following day and we were all negative. But it did put the cabash on our activities the rest of our stay. We put up a small greenhouse for mom's plants and completed a list of items they had created for us. 

Last Thursday mom fell when getting a cup of coffee and was taken by ambulance to a nearby emergency room. Her scalp was cut and bruised a rib, as well as a possibly bruised  liver. That further restricted any possible activities for us. I regret I didn't get to visit the cemetery to see Dad or Rob. Sunday when we were getting ready toleave Ron came over to say goodbye. He was sneezing but denied having covid. Marjorie gave him a home test to use and he says it was negative, but today he is feeling horrible and nauseous.  Hope he is right, but I doubt it. 

We left Sunday morning and drove 5-1/2 hours back to McKinney where we had our new shades installed in November. The front windshield shade was fraying. They looked at it today and are working on a solution, but said we probably wouldn't be done til Thursday. So I called our next two location's to modify our reservations. Later I was told they might get us done tomorrow,  so I may have to change reservations again. We'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out.

We are parked in the parking lot of the factory where they have numbered spots for the RVs. This afternoon a guy backed into the spot just to our left but was told that spot and the next further ones were to be left empty so tractor trailers can utilize the spots to maneuver when backing up to the loading docks.  He was told to use the spot to our right, between us and another RV. He had pulled in very close to us. and when pulling out to changes spots cut his wheel to early. He didn't wait for his wife to move their car and guide him and when pulling out to change spots cut his wheel too early. I banged on the side of his rig to stop him, but it took him a few seconds to realize I wanted him to stop. Too late, for he snapped off our drivers side mirror, but early enough before he hit and crushed our slide out. But only by about two inches.

He apologized,  offered to pay for a repair, but the earliest we could arrange is the end of the month in Fort Worth. We have other appointments before then, so I will have to drive 600 miles to Red Bay, AL, without the mirror. It worries me not to be able to see down the driver's side while on highways. The company that will be installing our new dishwasher said they would be able to procure and install a new mirror the same day, almost 2 weeks earlier than here, so that is our plan.

December 18th

Our last day in Center Point we spent a few hours in the indoor hot tub and then flew the drone for some video of the campground.

Friday we left for Schertz. It was a windy day so I only drove 60 mph while the speed limit was 75. Any faster and the crosswind made it hard to control the rig. We arrived in Schertz at 11:10 am. Before we parked the RV in the driveway, we walked in on mom and asked if she wanted to go to lunch. Needless to say, she was surprised since she wasn't expecting us for a few more days. Marjorie was at the gym at the time.

When she got home we did go to lunch, then thru the car wash, as the car looked white from all the caliche that had been accumulating on it. Finally we drove to U-break iFix to have my laptop screen replaced. It was shattered about 4 weeks ago, and they were gracious enough to order the screen ahead of my appointment, which is not the norm. It took about 20 minutes to replace, and it is now back in action.

We had a strong storm this morning, with reports of hail up to 3/4" in size. Fortunately the hail missed our area. I spent the morning andpartof early afternoon working on a partial list of technology corrections for Marjorie. The rest of today and tomorrow will be relaxation days, so I probably won't have an update til Monday.

Today my son Chukk is 43 years old! Happy birthday, Chukk!

Pecos to Center Point

Yesterday we asked for and got a late checkout. We went to the West of Pecos Museum and spent a little going through the 50 rooms. The museum was originally the Orient Hotel and was built in 1896 of Pecos Valley red sandstone. It was a hotel from 1904 to 1946, across the street from the only crossing of the Pecos River for 60 miles in either direction, which made an ideal location for travelers on stagecoaches to stop and rest. Rooms rented for 25 cents a night with up to 3 people in a bed. Stabling of horses was free. After the hotel closed it became the museum. 

Some of the rooms were occupied by the town doctor (4 rooms), the barber (2 rooms), a church, and a bar, the original room in the hotel. There was a gunfight here and the original bullet holes are still in the wall.

Now the rooms contain memorabilia of the history of Pecos and the surrounding towns. They include the Texas Rangers, Sheriff's posses, Buffalo soldiers, gunslingers, and bank robbers. Local organizations like the Freemasons, International Organization of Odd Fellows, army and airforce posts, Hispanic organizations, Native American groups, womens organizations, local ranches and prominent personages that all made up the history of the area.

Afterward we returned to the RV Park, finished getting ready to depart and left at 11:27 am. We then drove 313 miles insuring cross winds and more beautiful scenery to Center Point, 63 miles northwest of San Antonio. Our GPS had us turn on a "road" which was used to be a road to our new RV Park, but is now an unused path leading to nowhere except a vacated barn in a field. We turned into it between two posts and realized it was wrong, but the path was too narrow to do anything but go forward, in the process getting the sides of the RV scratched by tree branches. We proceeded to the end, drove around the barn thru dips in the field, and continued in the direction we were going before we turned. Lo and behold there was a sign for the RV Park 1/2 mile further down the road.

We arrived after hours, at 5:20 pm (fuel stop included). The park has wide level sites, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, and an indoor hot tub,all alongside the Guadalupe River where campers go tubing in the summer. I was too tired to write anything yesterday and went to bed early.

Today we went to breakfast, The Coming King Sculpture Garden, had lunch, went to Lowes and Harbor Freight, and Nancy did some laundry. As we will be visiting with Mom (96 years young in 6 days) and Marjorie soon, and we've been traveling all over the country, we also had Covid-19 tests (negative).

Not much on the schedule for tomorrow and this is a long blog, so I will end it here.

Pecos - 2

Today we drove to Wink, TX, about 40 miles Northeast of Pecos to visit a one-room museum about this guy... any ideas who he is? This is his entry in the Wink High School yearbook of 1954.

and this picture might give you more than a hint...

If you haven't figured it out, the guy was Roy Orbison, 1936-1988. By the way, Nancy is wearing a real pair of Roy's glasses. Wow, are they thick!

The museum is all about Roy, from his elementary school life forward. He was actually born in Vernon, TX, but his family moved to Wink (a shortened name of Winkler County, where it is located) since his father was an oilfield worker. He was the graphic artist for his yearbook and started a group called the Wink Westerners while in high school with some friends who remained with him after he became famous. They later renamed themselves the Teen Kings and that is the group that first recorded with him on the famous Sun Record label in Memphis, Tn.

The museum is staffed by an alternating group of 5 volunteer women. We called before we left for the museum to make sure someone would be able to open the museum. Barbara was our host, and she gave us a lot of interesting information about Roy and his life. We spent 1-1/2 hours there and then drove home.

We will be doing a late departure tomorrow so that we can spend an hour or so at The West of the Pecos museum before heading to Kerrville. 

Pecos, Tx

Park. We left Carlsbad at 10 am MST, and arrived at 1:10 pm CST in Pecos. Kings Road is a HUGE RV park. The office is open 24/7, it is 300 sites, more or less, and every one is covered so the RVs are not in the sun. It has a gym, swimming pool (not in season now), and they provide recommendations for nearby eateries and RV service.

One of the things we planned to see here was The West of Pecos Museum, which has 50 rooms of West Texas memorabilia and history. We planned to go Sunday  or Monday, and as is our luck, they don't open until 10 am Tuesday,  the day we are leaving. I'm sure there are other things to do here (hopefully) so we'll keep you informed. 

Relaxation Day

Our plans changed this morning. We were awakened last night with 35 mph winds, and very frequent gusts of 55 mph that had the rv shaking and rocking like it was at a 60's sock hop. These continued all day until between  4 pm and 5 pm.  We knew this was coming and despite temperatures in the low 60s we decided to forego Sitting Bull Falls and stay home.

We read, ate our meals, and watched TV. We discussed and agreed to modify our travel plans. Instead of going to Marfa, which would take us south, then southwest, we are going to Pecos, Texas, which is southeast of Carlsbad and more in the direction of Schertz, which is our holiday destination. Marfa would have put us between two of our destinations, Big Bend National Park,  and MacDonald  Observatory near Fort Davis in the Davis mountains of West Texas,  but our time there would not have coincided with available observatory sky viewings. So we will add them to a future trip. It cost us our camping fees in Marfa which were paid in full and due to their reservation policy was non-refundable. But our route now is more in line with our original plans. 

The winds have died and should be only 6-8 mph tomorrow, much more suitable to driving. The sky is cloudless tonight and it seems that we can reach up and touch the constellations.  The temp will be 33 tonight and a more suitable 52 degrees during our drive, which will only be 2 hours.

The Caverns

Today we went to the caverns. We had made reservations last week, which are required. We had 11:30 reservations which meant we could arrive between then and one hour later. Any later than that and we wouldn't be allowed in. Our National Parks pass saved us the entry fee, $30. 

Nancy was on her electric scooter and we took the elevator down 750 feet to the Big Room. I am SO proud of her! She is claustrophobic, but down she went for the one and a half mile self-guided tour. We took dozens of pictures of the formations, then we were done. An hour and twenty minutes, and Nancy was fine during the entire tour.

When we left, we drove down a one-way trail that was 9.5 miles long, with a maximum speed of 15 mph, and at times 5 mph. We drove through canyons, along ridges and valleys, but again, the scenery was gorgeous. It took us 1-1/2 hours to reach the end of the trail.

Afterwards, we came home and let the dogs out. We drove back into town and had BBQ for dinner, then returned and ended our travels for the day.

Tomorrow we are heading for Sitting Bull Falls. 

Roswell, NM

Today we drove to Roswell, where in 1948 an UFO exploded and crashed 50 miles north. It created a defense department incident for many years, and was the basis for many movies, tv shows, and books.

It was a long 60-some mile trip north to Roswell, in the Permian Basin, in the Chihuahuan desert. The basin extends from New Mexico across Central Texas,  and is the home of most of Texas' oil wells. We stopped at IHOP in Artesia, 20 or so miles north of here.. Most of the towns, like Artesia, Roswell, Odessa and Midland owe their existences to the oil industry.

We spent some time at the International UFO Museum and Research Center learning the history of the UFO crash, but as far as a research center, even a museum, it was a dud. Most of the stores across the street and around the block sell "alien" t-shirts and souvenirs, but otherwise Roswell is a small city owing to their existence and a former Army Aviation Training Field, remade into Walker Air Force Base until 1967.

We then left Roswell and returned to the campground. Tomorrow we will be getting wind gusts of 35-40 mph, and Friday up to 50 mph. Fortunately the winds are expected to be a more normal  15-20 mph on Saturday,  when we leave here.

Carlsbad, NM

We left El Paso this morning and three and a third hours later we arrived at our next site, which we thought was in Carlsbad, but instead was 16-18 miles north, in a place called Seven Rivers, even though the campground is named the Carlsbad KOA. Unfortunately that puts us 55 minutes NORTH of the caverns.

We drove along the Texas Mountain Trail, which had us cross over the Guadalupe  Mountains and Guadalupe Mountains National Park, ascending to 6280 feet, then into the Chihuahuan Desert. It was 73 degrees when we arrived and will be going down to 34 degrees tonight.

After setting up the RV we drove back to Carlsbad for dinner and are now watching Designated Survivor, season 2, for the 3rd time thru the years. The campground is situated in an area where we have very good wifi signal; ours, not theirs. I think its the strongest wifi we've had on this trip.

We are about an hour or so south of Roswell so tomorrow I think we'll head there to see all the alien kitsch. Thursday we have a reservation for the caverns via the Big Room Entrance so that Nancy can use her electric scooter and an elevator to descend into it. The other entrance, the Natural Entrance route, is not wheelchair/scooter accessible and is too steep for her to go down. It is a 1.25 mile, 750 foot descent down switchbacks into the cave.

Friday we may visit Sitting Bull Falls, a 150 foot waterfall. Aside from that,  we don't know what we will be doing. Saturday we will be heading back to Texas where we will stop in Marfa for a few days.

El Paso

Thursday we took the pups to Banfield and they wouldn't take them. Here in El Paso apparently there are no walk-ins, only appointments. They couldn't be seen until December 20th, so we left.

Next we went to Wal-mart to pick up Nancy's prescription. On Wednesday the doctor had called in her prescription,  on Thursday we waited in line for 40 minutes to pick it up, only to be told Nancy wasn't in their computer (she IS in every other Walmart system, so why not this one?). So her information was added to THIS computer system, and then we were told it wouldn't be ready until Friday . We stopped at What-a-burger for lunch, then came home.

Friday I woke up with a killer headache and stayed in bed until after noon. Even with the headache we picked up Nancy's prescription, only a 15 minute wait this time. Then came home and did nothing.

Tonight we went to Cattleman's Steakhouse at Indian Cliff Ranch, which is about 15 miles east and 5 miles north of our campground. It is a 430 acre ranch situated in the Chihuahuan desert with a small zoo; partridges, ptarmigans, golden pheasants, fancy ducks, peacocks, long-horned sheep, bison, etc. 

Oh yeah, and fantastic food. We both had shrimp and filet mignon, baked potatoes with butter, sour cream with chives (Mark) and bacon chips (Nancy), sweet mushrooms, pineapple coleslaw, spicy ranch beans, bread and butter,  apple pie ala mode, and drinks, and it was considerably less expensive than that "ritzy" place in Truth or Consequences  whose food was tasteless and chewy. Cattleman's food was delicious! 

Here are snapshots of the ranch 

and the sky as we drove home

TorC and El Paso

Monday in TorC we drove around, scouted a few new RV parks for future trips, and visited Elephant Butte, a city next to a reservoir of the same name. The reservoir was created by a day on the Rio Grande and named for, naturally, a butte they say looks like a reclining elephant. But the dams explain the lack of any water in the Rio Grande to the south which our route to El Paso crisscrossed several times. We got back to our site and decided to forego another hot tub experience. They were very nice. Here are a few daylight pictures of those we were in.

Yesterday we moved to Mission RV Park on the east side of El Paso, a short 160 miles from TorC. The landscape in New Mexico is so beautiful! Then we hit the traffic in El Paso. Imagine I-295 in rush hour, then at least double it. But we made it to our site easily, set up, then did something we hadn't done yet on this trip: we went grocery shopping. We stocked up, got a prescription renewal phoned in to Walmart for Nancy, then had dinner at Peter Piper Pizza. Then we relaxed for the evening.

Today was a maintenance day for Nancy. She did the laundry, gave Cocoa a bath and me a much needed haircut, while I did ... well, nothing in comparison. The cable here doesn't seem to work, the wifi is intermittent at best, so we connected to the satellite dish. Lots of channels. That is, if you like shopping channels. We have maybe 5 TV channels to choose from. But we can get Netflix over the dish, so that helps a little.

Tomorrow is another day. We'll do something. I know you can't wait to find out what that will be, and neither can we.

TorC

That is the abbreviation for Truth or Consequences,  New Mexico. Yesterday we left our campground in Bernalillo, north of Albuquerque,  and proceeded 165 miles to TorC. It was a straight shot down Interstate 25, through a bunch of Indian reservations.

A little history of TorC. Originally called Palomas Springs in the 1800s because of the doves (palomas) and the hot water springs, the town was renamed Hot Springs in the early 1900s. In 1950, the radio show Truth or Consequences was a big hit. Ralph Edwards, the host, announced that for the 10th anniversary of the show, he would broadcast from the first town that would rename itself after the show. The citizens of Hot Springs, wanting to rename the town, feeling that they wanted a new name to differentiate from all the other towns in the United States named Hot Springs, changed the name tto Truth or Consequences by a ratio of 10 to 1 votes on March 30, 1950.  Ralph Edwards broadcast from TorC the very next day. There is also a park here named for him, Ralph Edwards Park.

Anyway, we got here at noon and pulled into our trash heap. Sorry, campground. I don't think there was an RV in the place that was manufactured after 1985. It looked like a squalid village from the middle east! The office, we found out later, was outside the campground across the street. We had to call to find out where our site was and the owner told us he would stop by for payment. He never did. We backed our rig into our site with the back against the fence and our front sticking out halfway into the road. Later, I went to the office and was told the owner was in Las Cruces and would be back Monday, and to go to a particular site and we could pay the campground handyman.  Well, he had gone to his mothers for Thanksgiving and wouldn't be back until Sunday. 

Once parked and while I was setting up outside, Nancy went to walk the dogs when they all got attacked by a pitbull whose owner didn't tie it down and who couldn't control the dog. Nancy had Cocoa in the air with the pitbull jumping on her to get at Cocoa. I rushed over to help and got the pit onto its back so the owner could get him. At that point, the owner's next door neighbor rushed over and asked HER if she was alright. No care or concern for Nancy. Later, when I went to walk our dogs, the pit tried to attack us, but this time it was tied and couldn't reach us. I was ready to shoot it.

So with the condition of the campground and the "neighbors" we packed up early this morning and went to another, much nicer campground.  Here is our view from our windshield: 

Tonight we have a 2-hour session at one of the hot springs. We might go to another tomorrow and a third on Monday.  After all,  that's why we came to TorC.

Santa Fe

Cathedral of St Francis of Assisi

We started off today wanting to take our dogs to Banfield Pet Hospital in Albuquerque,  but found them all closed until Friday.  We changed plans and instead drove to Santa Fe, about 40 miles north. At 75 mph it doesn't take long to get there, and the wide open scenery is gorgeous; the sun passing thru the clouds which creating shadows on the hills, which had snow on their peaks, and on the arroyos deep and long. You can literally see for miles in all directions. Getting into town you drive along the original  Old Pecos Trail. 

In town we drove around looking for a parking spot, which are at a premium. As soon as a car starts to leave a spot another is right behind to fill it. Cost: one dollar per half hour.. We went into Winding River, the largest seller of Indian artcraft; jewelry, pottery, clothing, paintings, statuary, all of which was beautiful. Nancy looked at a ring, but we were shocked when the price tag showed $4800. The clerk told us not to worry; everything in the store was half-priced. We just happened to have a spare $2400 -- NOT! One young woman thought it was a good deal as she purchased a small pottery bowl for $1800. Remember, that's half-price!

We stopped into a native American Indian art gallery but it had artwork from indigenous people's from Australia,  Canada, Greenland, Japan,and the US, all of it speaking to the mining of uranium and nuclear testing on these people's lands without their knowledge or consent. It was very informative but also depressing. 

We walked around town and we love the architecture there, but it is clearly for a different breed of person, the RICH! We had lunch at the Inn of the Anasazi. Nancy had a bowl of tortilla soup and I had chicken enchiladas. We both drank water. The price: $52! Everyone in the Inn were dressed to show off; we were slumming in jeans.  We drove around the town and decided to return home. Again, the scenery was just as beautiful on our trip home.

Tomorrow  is Thanksgiving,  and we will try to get into Albuquerque, but we expect everything to be closed as tight as a turkey's . . . well, you know! And if you're  reading this, we wish you a happy gobblers day!