Truth Be Told

April 5, 2014

Insane winds again today. My beach walk kicked my butt... really it was the relentless wind that wore me out.

dust devil...quick close up the tent!

I was so exhausted by the time Sitka and I returned, I needed a nap... I never nap!

I spent the day yesterday, riding down to Las Cruces again with our camping neighbors Greg and DeeJay, who are originally from Minnesota. In fact, DeeJay was born and raised in Duluth. They now live in Truth or Consequences. It was great to just be the tourist and take in the sites. Everything is blooming and on the west side of Las Cruces are the most beautiful haciendas with their pecan and black walnut groves.

Like I said in our last post, we will head out on Tuesday early morn and travel on a low wind day. We are waiting for the part that broke on the trailer. It is suppose to arrive at UPS on Monday and then off we go.

Even with the wind, we are enjoying our time in our tiny abode.  There is a fire ban here, so no grilling or cooking outside over the fire. I am playing with my 12volt crockpot and loving the meals we are making. I am turning out some awesome frijoles on a regular basis. There is french toast cooking for tomorrow morning in the crockpot. French dip sandwiches are a favorite and Honey Garlic chicken is awesome over udon noodles. I am also taking advantage of the microwave as long as we have electricity. Who knew chicken and dumplings could come out so great. 

Still finding our way around the trailer. I spend a lot of time figuring out mileages and gas stops since we can't seem to get very far without needing to fill up. We have a 15 gallon tank. We go just over 100 miles before needing to fill up again. I think we will need a new vehicle.

We are learning that we fill the grey water tank in about 4 days and then we water the trees. That's without showers. We have been showering over at the camp showers. We will dump the tanks on day 14 and we will probably have filled the black water tank by then. Not quite sure where we will get freshwater before we head into our next camp that will be in BLM land out in the middle of nowhere. Not wanting to haul water clear across the state, but if we have to... 
Then there are the trials of stumbling around inside such a tiny space. The place where the table leg goes in the floor is dangerous for toes. Not sure if I broke it, just grateful I can get the foot in a shoe and hobble around.

middle toe twice the size it should be

Spring is here in southwestern New Mexico and the temps are rising into the 80s and even 90s far east. We decided we don't want to go north where the temps are in the 50s... it's in the 50s somedays in Duluth right now! So we are going to chase the warmth. We are heading to northwest New Mexico for an excursion into the Bisti Wilderness and if all goes as planned we expect mid 70s the days we are there.

in the Bisti Wilderness...other worldly

If I am giving up Utah, with all its towers and extraordinary rock formations, I have to go to the Bisti.... it is other worldly and not well known at all. On the other hand we may head to Utah, but we are definitely coming back down into New Mexico.

With this new plan of staying down south, we will head home from Tucumcari, following, as best we can, Route 66. Truth be told, we are grateful we don't have to pull the trailer over the Rocky Mountains... at least this trip. We hope to catch Matt and Suzi in St. Louis,  and then on to Chicago before heading home to Duluth. Although, homeward bound won't be until at least mid-May.

If you ever plan to motor west
Travel my way, the highway that's the best.
Get your kicks on Route 66!