Travel to Rawlins, WY

Sunday, June 28, 2020 - Rawlins, WY

The first part of the drive was not bad.  Pretty much the same as we saw yesterday.

Off on the right it looked like a big rock was getting pushed up out of the ground.  It was kind of cool.

After we got on I-80 it became a little more mountainous.

Also, the wind and the traffic picked up.  We saw a trailer that had been flipped over by the wind.  That was a little unnerving.  

Soon Mike came over the radio to say he was hearing a strange noise.  I drove up next to him and did not see anything obvious.  So we decided to get off at the next exit, so Mike could take a look.  Before we got there I saw smoke coming from the truck, so once again I found myself yelling "Stop!" over the radio.  The bracket that held the air leveling valve broke, which caused air to leak out of the rear suspension leveling system.  Unfortunately that means the bed settles and starts riding on top of the tires.  We obviously didn't have the right parts to repair it, but fortunately, Mike knows how to fix things!  Two rubber bands and a c-clamp later, the truck was back up in the air and we were back on the road.  :)

Fixing anything on the side of an interstate with lots of traffic around is no fun!

While Mike was fixing the truck I took a picture of the mountain off in the distance.  The mountain still has snow on it!

We only had 35 miles left to go to get to the RV park.  The repair held and we finally made it. :)  After arriving, we met another couple that told us they saw two more trailers after the one we saw that had flipped in the high winds.  No more towing in high winds for us!!

We are at the Rawlins KOA and will be here until Wednesday.  I am just happy to be off the road, I really did not like the wind!  Tomorrow Mike will go look for something to make a new bracket out of.  :)  

It was another wonderful day!

Travel to Fort Morgan, CO

Saturday, June 28, 2020 - Fort Morgan, CO

Once again we were up early to get on the road.  Today the drive was 4.25 hours.  When we first started out I commented to Mike how it looked a lot like driving through Indiana.  But it really doesn't look like Indiana in the picture.  :)

Then it just became rolling hills and not much to look at.  I was surprised by the number of oil fields we drove by.

Next we drove by a very large wind farm.

This part was pretty.  :)

I sure do like to drive on state and US highways better than interstates.  Just a lot less traffic.  We did go through one construction zone, which wasn't bad until the lanes became uneven.  Mike went off the edge and had a little trouble getting the rig back on.

Eventually we made it to Emerald RV Park in Fort Morgan, CO.  Fort Morgan is a bigger town than I thought it was going to be.  

The RV park is mostly a big parking lot.  There are quite a few monthly tenants here.  I think most of them are oil field workers.  The staff was very nice and the restrooms were clean.  It will be a good place to spend the night.  :)

A lot of the reviews that I read said The Flame Steakhouse next door was the best part of staying here, so for dinner we tried it out.  It does not look like much on the outside.

But the inside is very nice.

The menu is very limited:  Rib-eye, T-Bone, 2 sizes of Sirloin, or a grilled Chicken Breast.  But the food and the service were very good.  Good enough that the Governor of Colorado, Governor Polis, had 3 tables reserved.  

His party did not arrive while we were there.  :)

It was another wonderful day!

Travel to La Junta, CO

Wednesday, June 24, 2020 - La Junta, CO

While we were in Santa Rosa we would have liked to have seen the Blue Hole and maybe even take a dip in it.  But like all parks in New Mexico, it is closed.  Here is what the website has to say about it: 

Blue Hole appears in the midst of the desert like a great blue gem.
(Agua Negra Chiquita) Once known as Blue Lake, it is one of seven sister lakes connected underground by a vast system of water. This wonder defines Santa Rosa even as it seems to defy the surrounding red mesas. Born of a geological phenomenon called the Santa Rosa sink, the place is magic—as water always is in a land of little rain. Nomadic tribes, cowboys driving their dogies cross the Pecos, and Americans going west on the Mother Road, Route 66, all sought respite here.

In 1932 Blue Hole became a National fish hatchery, morphed into the Blue Hole Recreation Area in the seventies, and more recently expanded to become the Blue Hole Dive and Conference Center. Not just for drivers wanting to get out of the fast lane or divers eager to get on down, it’s more than just a watering hole. Now it’s a destination meeting site for everyone from brides to board chairs. Halfway between Albuquerque and Amarillo, it’s within two hours’ drive of 80 percent of all New Mexicans.

We drove by, but couldn't get in to take a picture.  Here is a picture I got from the web.  It is the only picture I was able to get.  :(

This morning we were up early.  We wanted to be on the road before the wind starting picking up and the rain started.  The first part of the drive was beautiful.  The pictures don't do it justice.

While driving on I-25 we saw a motorhome that was pulling a Jeep off on the side of the road.  Unfortunately,  it appeared the Jeep may have had a flat tire and either they didn't realize it or something, but the tire and wheel were both gone and the Jeep had been running on it's brake rotor as even that was almost completely gone..  They had their lawn chairs out and were probably waiting for a tow truck.  Their Jeep is not going any where any time soon.  :(  Things like this make a good case for  a TPMS that monitors your toad (towed vehicle) also.

Once we turned off I-25 on to 350, the landscape went from mountainous to rolling hills.  And nothing really to look at.

Eventually we made it to La Junta KOA in La Junta, CO.  We will be here until Saturday.

This evening we did take a dip in the pool.  :)

It was another wonderful day!

Travel to Santa Rosa, NM

Sunday, June 21, 2020 - Santa Rosa, NM

We were up early this morning to get on the road before the heat of the day.  It is supposed to be 106 here in Carlsbad today, so we wanted to head north as quickly as possible.  :)  We were on the road by 8:30AM local time.  We are now on Mountain Daylight Time.  As we drove north we saw a couple of oil fields, but saw very few of the oil pumps pumping.  The terrain became very flat!

You can't tell in this picture, but there are mountains off in the distance:  the far, far distance.  I think the haze we are seeing is smoke from the wild fires in the area.

Mike came over the radio and said quick take a picture.  You can't see them very well in the picture, but ahead and on the right side of the highway is a tall cowboy figure pointing at another tall cowboy figure on the left side of the highway.  No explanation or anything, just the 2 men.  :)

Eventually we made it safe and sound to Santa Rosa RV Park in Santa Rosa, NM.

This is our view looking out the door.....not crowded at all.

We will be here until Wednesday.

It was another wonderful day!

Travel to Carlsbad, NM

Saturday, June 20, 2020 - Carlsbad, NM

The magic day is finally here.  We are back on the road and moving again!  :)  Maybe life will feel somewhat normal again.

Originally, we were going to take 285 all the way up, but several people warned Mike that 285 north of Pecos was very rough due to all of the oil rig traffic.  So we opted to go via 90 to 54.  When we first got on 54 the road was very uneven, which jostled the trailer around a lot.  After about 20 miles it smoothed out and ended up being a very nice ride.  The views were beautiful.

We drove right by the Guadalupe Mountain.  It was beautiful.

When we got closer the road was too twisty-turny for me to take another picture.  :)

As we drove by all of the entrances to Guadalupe National Park, they were all blocked with "Park Closed" signs.  Even Carlsbad Caverns National Park was closed.  :(

Soon, we made it to Bud's Place RV Park.  Most of the RVers in the park were oil field workers.  In fact Mike and I figure there are more temporary oil field workers in the city of Carlsbad than there are permanent residents.  The town has grown tremendously since we were there in the early 90's; RV parks and short term housing units abound.

When we took Gracie for her evening walk, we found they have a small fishing pond at the back of the RV Park.  Mike threw rocks in the water and she charged in after them and got to go swimming for a little bit.  She loved it!

It was another wonderful day!

Suburban Checked Out

Friday, June 19, 2020 - Alpine, TX

This morning Mike ran the Suburban back over to Alpine Auto Maintenance to have them adjust the steering one more time.  This afternoon on his walk back over to pick it up he took a picture of this flower.  I think it is some kind of weed; the leaves and stem look kind of mean.  The Suburban steering is much better now and is finally back to normal.

It was another wonderful day!

Rig Washed

Thursday, June 18, 2020 - Alpine, TX

This morning we were up at regular time. I worked for a little bit, then about 8:30am we hitched up the trailer and went to the RV wash area at the back of the RV park.  We have been sitting under an evergreen tree and we have sap all over the side of the trailer, that and it is very dusty.  

Now that it is clean we are ready to move on.  We will be leaving first thing Saturday morning.  :)

And oops, I forgot to take a picture of our nice, clean rig for the blog.

It was another wonderful day!

Drive to Limpia Creek

Saturday, June 13, 2020 - Alpine, TX

Rod and Diane are building a home up at Limpiua Crossing near Limpia Creek.  Rod has told us a lot about it, so today we decided we would drive up there and check it out.  On our way up, we stopped for lunch at the Fort Davis Drug Store.  We sat out on the front porch and had a very relaxing lunch.....social separation and no masks required

After lunch we set out to see if we would be able to find their lot.  It took us a little bit to find the right road and while we were driving around I saw these really tall, neat looking flowers.  So of course I had to stop to get a picture.  :)  They made us think of Dr. Seuss type trees.  :)  

I had Mike take a picture of me standing next to it, so you could get an idea of how tall it really is.  

Eventually we did make it to their property.  They have some really nice views and I am sure they will enjoy the area once the house is done.  Right now it is still just dirt with the well already in.  :)

It was another wonderful day!

New Property Option

Thursday, June 4, 2020 - Alpine, TX

Mike was able to find the name and contact information for Amigos Del Cielo Airport.  It turns out he is from Valparaiso, IN.....the same place our son, Tony, lives.  :)  So Mike gave him a call to see if he would be interested in selling any of the land near the runway.  Well, it just so happens he is interested, but he is getting ready to head to Indiana this weekend and will not be back in the area until late July.  He plans to keep in contact with us so we can set up a time to come see the place.  One of the properties has a house and hangar.  The house is 1800+ square feet, which is a LOT bigger than we were planning to build.  We are interested in checking it out, but we will have to wait.  

We contacted Helen and told her we were looking at something else and if this property fell through and the 43.14 acres was still available, we would reconsider it at that time.

It was another wonderful day!

Offer Rejected

Wednesday, June 3, 2020 - Alpine, TX

Well, we did not hear anything from our real estate agent, so we sent her an email.  She finally replied to let us know the sellers did not respond to the offer at all.  She was trying to get a hold of them to see if they wanted to counter or what was going on.  Eventually she did and she sent us another email stating they thought she was going to counter for them.  By this time we were fed up with the response from both.  We told her we would have to think about it.

Poor Gracie's allergies are acting up again, so she will need to wear her doughnut for a couple of weeks.  She is not happy about it at all.

It was another wonderful day!

A Man Walks into a Library

Monday, June 1, 2020 - Alpine, TX

Mike was interviewed by the gal that writes articles for the Alpine Public Library Newsletter.  She did a real nice write up on him.

Today we also made an offer on the 43.14 acre property.  The sellers have until Wednesday night to accept, reject, or counter the offer.  We shall see.  :)

It was another wonderful day!

Check out Properties

Tuesday, May 26, 2020 - Portal, AZ

Helen, our real estate agent, arrived at the lodge at about 9:00am to take us around to see the properties we had discussed with her.  The first property she took us to was 39.39 acres with a house, well, power and septic.  

Well the house was not much of house.  It was an old railroad depot that had been moved to the lot and was up on blocks.  It was not in good condition and mostly just needed to be taken away.  It was very obvious that the land gets very wet and very muddy.  There were cattle hoof prints deep in the soil, deep ruts, and serious cracking.  We found out it was in a Flood Zone "A".  This one is an absolute "No!".

Next we saw a 75.32 acre lot with a house and a couple of out buildings.  This one is also a "No!".  Nice looking but the road frequently floods and becomes a muddy, quagmire.

Neither site was where the GPS took us yesterday.  :)

Then on the way to a 40.01 acre lot we had to stop and wait for a cattle drive to pass by.  :)

Mike really liked this lot. It is a nice lot and away from people.  Our biggest concern was how far away power was.  We would have to run it about 1/3 of a mile.

There were a couple of these mounds on the land.  I am not sure what lives in them and I am not sure I want to know.  :)

Helen took us to a new listing with a couple of small structures, but it was also a "No!".  We spent more time there than I wanted because Helen needed to get pictures for the listing and Mike had to work on getting the 12' x 16' "house" and out buildings open for her.

By this time it was getting late in the afternoon and I was hot, tired and hungry.  We had 2 more properties to see, but I was almost ready to call it a day!  We did finally see the 43.17 acre lot, which is the one I really wanted to see.  

I would have to say overall this was my favorite.  We saw one more property after this one, 40.14 acres, but it was "cattle burnt" (had been overgrazed and mesquite had taken it over).  And they wanted too much money for it.  It is a "No!".

We finally said "Good-bye" to Helen, then we stopped by the Sky Islands Grill and Grocery for some much needed dinner.  It was very good!

After dinner we headed back to Alpine.  After entering New Mexico and before turning on to Hwy 9, we drove by an area with a "land-for-sale"sign that said Amigos Del Cielo and thought we would look into that when we got back to Texas.

It was another wonderful day!