'19/#34 Friends Near And Far (Very Far!)

Yee Haw! We are finally in Texas. That usually means two more overnight stays before we are in the Rio Grande Valley but not this time. We will be staying in north Texas for a couple of days to see some friends that we think the world of and can't pass this close without stopping.

Of course we had to make some new friends before we left New Mexico so we drove up to Roswell and the UFO museum. The 1947 UFO sighting near Roswell may be one of the most famous in history based on the number of people who agreed on what they saw. The military's "cover up" only made it more of a story and the locals have done their part to keep it alive. The story, not the aliens. That is the military's job in the grand scheme of the cover up. LOL! We are not necessarily believers but there is always the possibility. Besides we have to do some of the corny tourist things. That is all part of the fun.

Picked up a hitchhiker from Roswell!

We will overnight near Ozona and head east to see our friends tomorrow. For now it is time to relax in our home just off I-10 because ......


Home is where we park it,
Frank and Mary

'19/#33 This Is Why We Head South

I am writing this with the furnace on and sitting in front of our electric fireplace. The high temperature yesterday and forecast for today will not get out of the 50 degree range. With overnight lows in the low 30's with feels like temperatures in the mid 20's  South Texas beckons us with warmer temps and open arms. The winds here in New Mexico have also been strong enough to rock the trailer and loud enough to wake us up during the night!

That being said, we did have a good day in Carlsbad Caverns. People say once you have seen a cavern you have seen them all. To a point that is true but each cavern has it's own uniqueness. Yes they all have stalagmites, stalactites, soda straws, drapes, and all the other formations created by water and time but they are all with their own personality. Some are distinguished by their size or their length or the colors in the formations or just a unique formation of the calcified minerals that did not form the same as any other cavern. We have been to Mammoth Cave, Luray Cavern, Howe's Cavern, Wind Cave, Florida Caverns, and now Carlsbad Caverns and each was an experience to remember.

Mammoth's overall size is mind boggling, Luray's singing stalacpipe organ, and the boat ride on the underground river in Howe's Cavern are some of the things that distinguish these from any other cavern. If you have ever been impressed by a cavern tour do not bypass any others just because someone said "Oh it's just another cave". The size of Carlsbad's Great Room is staggering and the history of how it formed from an inland sea is well worth the trip. It is definitely not just another cave.

We were going to do the White Sands National Monument but the cold and wind and road closures due to missile testing at the nearby missile range will have us put it on the agenda at a later date. For now we are staying warm and planning the rest of our trip south. We will stop in and see some friends in north Texas for a few days before our last stretch into south Texas and our winter home.

For now I am staying warm in our home in Carlsbad New Mexico because.....

Home is where we park it,
Frank and Mary

'19/#32 Rest And Reflection

We are now in New Mexico and will sit still for a few days. There will be tourist things we want to do and a little relaxation from he days of driving. Some people don't understand that driving an RV is not the same as driving a car. It is much more fatiguing both physically and mentally. That is why we limit our selves to 300 to 400 miles a day and try to keep it all during daylight hours.

We are one week out of Petaluma and the trip has been eventful, both good and bad. We are closer to our winter home in Texas, we did have a lot of fun in Las Vegas, and we again get to enjoy and marvel at the great expanse of the countryside that can't be seen from an airplane. On the other hand we did have a blowout on the trailer in Barstow, truck problems coming into Las Vegas, and another tire needed replacing outside of Aburqurque.  Problems that happen on the road and that we are prepared to deal with. Also we don't let these problems ruin what has been a fantastic journey. I have said it before and I will say it again that RVing is not for everyone.

Breakfast is ready and we will do some sight seeing and some grocery shopping. Our meals that we prepared in advance are gone as well as the leftovers from our dining out. I will blog again from our home in New Mexico because.....

Home is where we park it,
Frank and Mary

'19/#31 Leaving Las Vegas

Well we are on the road again, our stay in Las Vegas is over. We had a great time but feel that we are done with "Sin City". It just doesn't do it for us anymore. We had a fantastic RV park to stay at and got to do the things we wanted to do. Also found a great Ford dealer that was able to get us back on the road in record time.

Mary wanted to fly over Freemont Street on a zip line and had a blast doing that. Not my thing so I took pictures as I could. There is more on Mary's FB page. Took a trip out to Hoover Dam and saw the new O'Callaghan-Tillman bridge. It was quite impressive to see after watching it's construction on line.

We also went to the Neon Museum and Brilliant Light show. It was cool to see all the old signs from the hey days of Vegas come to life. Rather that restore them they showed them in their current condition and brought them to life with laser lights and music.  The boneyard was another collection of more of the old signs saved from the scrap heap in their current condition. Having seen so many of these landmarks in movies and on TV now past their prime does make you think about the evolution of Las Vegas.

On a side note, we did go into the casino at Sam's Town and signed up for their players card. I am not a gambler at all. I just don't get it. Anyway I got $5 of free money to entice me to join the "fun". Mary steered me over to the penny slots, sat me down, and told me to have some fun. The card went in and I started pressing buttons not knowing what the hell I was doing. At some point the machine started going wonky on it's own and playing game after game after game. Apparently I had won some free plays and the machine took care of everything. All the noise and lights and me sitting there like an idiot while Mary is going "isn't this fun?" eventually won me $50 dollars. Not fun! Profitable? Yes. But not fun. That's fifteen minutes of my life I will never get back but at least it bought us dinner.

Well we are on the road from our home in Las Vegas because....

Home is where we park it,
Frank and Mary

'19/#30 The Jello Has Shaken

Just a picture of our rig somwhere in our travels.

I always say our plans are written in jello and tell other RVers that the best tools they can carry with them is preparedness and the ability to adapt. Things happen and you have to deal with them. Let me get to the point. Our jello has been shaken and drop kicked on the wall.

We left Petaluma early Tuesday morning with plans to stop in Bakersfield. That would be about the 300 miles we usually do in one day. Because we got such a good head start and we made good time the decision was made to motor on through to Las Vegas. That would put us a day ahead of our schedule and give us a little more breathing room on our journey to south Texas. Enter the shaken jello.

As we approached Barstow CA the tire monitor went crazy and a trailer tire blew. We safely got to the side of the road, change the tire, and were back on the road in 25 minutes. A personal best for us on a tire change. Does NASCAR need another pit crew? In Barstow we got a new tire and set out for Las Vegas only losing an hour and a half. Still making good time.

A ways down the road we heard something that sounded like a tire blow out but the tire monitor and our mirrors show no tire problems. Opting to play it safe we pulled over to see what made the noise. Tires good, trailer fine, truck had nothing in the grill or underneath so we decided to keep on going. Started off fine but started to lose power. Mary called a Ford dealer in Las Vegas who could see us the next morning so we chose to limp on in to Vegas. The truck had other ideas.

Power was dropping rapidly and there were hills ahead of us. The jello is now on the wall. It was time to call road service. A trooper showed up and stayed with his lights on until the tow truck showed. Another two hours and we were on our way to "Sin City" on the hook of a tow truck. We got to our RV park destination at 11:30 pm instead of the 7pm we had hoped. Considering the jello in the fan day we had not too bad. We were still a day ahead of schedule.

There was some good news. The problem with the truck was minor and will be good to go at minimal cost. And it will all be done in the time frame that we had set aside for our stay in Las Vegas. Still on schedule and time to make a new batch of jello.

That is enough for now. I will sign off from our home in Las Vegas because.....

Home is where we park it,

Frank and Mary

'19/#29 Going Out With A Bang, Oh And A Woosh!

No more count down clock. It has reached zero and we are getting ready to roll. After our last day of work we had a fun day planned in San Francisco. This is something we have been looking forward to since June and one of the reasons we stayed until now. This is Fleet Week in San Francisco and we had the opportunity to watch the Navy's Blue Angels perform over San Francisco Bay from out on the water! I saw them a million years ago over Jones Beach in NY and saw the Air force Thunderbirds at MacDill AFB. It never gets old!

Mary took a lot more pictures than I did because I just wanted to enjoy the show. Also the pictures don't do the experience justice. It is the sights and sounds and speed of the amazing choreography in the sky that has to be seen in person to be appreciated. If you ever have the chance DON'T miss it. Our boat was one of hundreds on the water watching and enjoying the beautiful weather. It did get a bit chilly out on the water but other than that it was a perfect day anchored off Alcatraz Island with San Francisco's skyline as the backdrop for the most awesome show in the sky.

Today we have to work around the trailer. Laundry needs to be done, holding tanks need to be emptied, and everything that we have out to make our trailer a home must be stowed and secured for travel. Tomorrow is "D" day and the "D" stands for driving. We hope to be on the road early in the morning so we can get past San Francisco before rush hour traffic gets started.

Well I have to go fold some laundry so this will be my last good bye from our home here in Petaluma because.....

Home is where we park it,
Frank and Mary

'19/#28 Another Thing To Leave Behind

We are into our last week here in Petaluma California and if you have been following us you know we are excited about leaving. There are number of reasons that I have mentioned in the past and I am sure Mary has posted a few of her own on Facebook. Well let me add a couple more.

Petaluma, even with it's proximity to San Francisco, is an agricultural community. Yes it has it's Hippie roots that extended from San Fran in the '70s but it is in the middle of farm country. Being in Sonoma County there are hundreds of vineyards. Sonoma is even a bit snobby about their cousin vineyards in neighboring Napa County. Of course they think their wine is better. They think everything they have, do, and think is better. What they don't tell you is how many cattle farms are in the area and the smell that comes with them. Depending on the wind it could be barely noticeable or it can be unbearable. Either way it is a constant and the smell has permeated everything we own. When we get to Texas we will have to fumigate the trailer and everything in it!

On top of the bovine aroma we are living in a campground. What do we have in campgrounds? Campfires of course. But these people don't just burn "fire wood", they burn everything. Treated wood, undetermined types of wood, trash, plastic, rubber and who knows what else. Eyes may water and breathing could be unpleasant but if I survive the noxious clouds I am pretty sure I will leave California with cancer or some other lung disease. California's strict pollution controls are a joke. They are created because if the irresponsible residents of the state. Yes we do get a lot of visitors from other states but it is worse now that most of the guests here are locals.

Well it is time for me to go to work. Maybe a gas mask should be part of the uniform? I will say  goodbye (cough,cough) for now from our home in Petaluma because.....

Home is where we park it,
Frank and Mary