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Day # 2. It rained most of the night and most of this morning. This place is a mud bath. Needless to say the contractor didn't get anything done today. Now my trailer is out in the street with an electric cord stretched across part of the construction to an empty current bush. (Electric Box) They asked if I wanted to move into one of the sites that were vacated this morning. I did and couldn't even get out of my truck without sinking in mud. So I pullled back out and parked beside the RV Park next to the curb on the side street. The owner said he had contacted the police and they will ignor any rig parked there because the street ends half a block away and there isn't any buildings on it except Americas Mail Box. I got my new truck and Trailer insurance taken care of over the phone. It saved me about $150. They will send the policy to my new address. Americas Mailbox is getting my plates for me and said it probably wouldn't be ready until Tuesday. Next comes opening a bank account with Wells Fargo so that I can use any of the offices in the west to conduct business. Trying to get my new credit card here after the old one expired taught me a lesson. I'd better have a bank out here I can get money out of fast as well as one back east. Then I'll contact a Liar (Lawyer) to make sure I don't have to do anything to my Will or powers of attourney or Living Will because of the State Change. Chances are I'll die in some other state but this will be my address of record. Then last but not least I'll go to the DMV and get my Drivers license. So it looks like I'll be in this mud bath for about two weeks.

They got one of the sites packed down and put a motorhome on it that was too heave for the soft dirt in the front sites then got anther site almost ready and notified me I could move into it just as soon as they got it compacted. Just my luck. They had it almost done when the compactor broke down and they couldn't get it started again. So they all picked up their tools and went home for the night. I'm still in the middle of the road boonedocking. Better luck tomorrow.

Well, I got here. I'm in the America's Mailbox campground in Boxelder, SD. I was led to believe that the campground was completed but when I got here I found there is a paving crew working on it. They hope to get one row (the back row) tamped and ready for black top tonight and be able to blacktop it tomorrow. There are NH's 5er's and TT's parked everywhere. The front part of the campground is soft and a lot of the big DP's have sunk in and their jacks just shink in to the dirt instead of level the MH. I'm on a 90 degree corner of the driveway parked on blacktop boondocking. He said I could run a cord to an electric post but it is about 50 feet away. I don't think so. I hope to get into a paved spot by the weekend. Oh well, I'm used to boonedocking so that should not be a big problem but I'm not to happy about having to pay $20 a night for such a mess. Looking on the bright side I'm only about 70 yards from the Office so it will be easy to get things done. I hope. DAVE: pray for a oold north wind it will blow that smoke out but put some rocks in your pocket because it wuuld blow you out with the smoke.

Well, I'm at the F E WARREN AFB, Military campground in Cheyenne, WY. And as usual for Cheyenne the wind is blowing like mad. I had a strong cross wind all day today coming up here but my Hensley Arrow Hitch smoothed things out so I could hardly tell it was windy except for the rotten gas mileage. Tomorrow I hope to make it the rest of the way to Rapid City, SD. It's still a little over 300 miles up there but I have to move right along so I can get my new address and registration before my insurance expires. Sorry, Jeri. I was refering to the 400 plus miles per day that you were making earlier this spring. I hope you get those doctor appointment out of the way so you can make some more long mileage days that I can harass you about. I was stationed here at F E warren back in the 50's. The Air Force sent me to a clerk typist school up here. The place has changed so much I don't recognize anything. As soon as I get my business taken care of in Rapid City I'm planning on drifting slowly toward Duluth, MN to be near there when my niece returns from NY. But, if it gets too hot across the northern plains I might just pull another Jeri and do another one of those 300 mile + days. But boy that gets expensive with the cost of gas being so high. I like to spend it slower so I can count it every night and think I'm rich.

I'm alread to head out in the morning. I'm all hooked up and raring to go. I hope to make Cheyenne, Wy befor I stop for the night that way I can ge4 to Rapid City by wednesday night. I called the insurance company today and they told me not to send in the money for the renewal but to hurry along up there and get my new address and registration them call them right away so they can make a new policy. He said he would re-figure the premium while I was still on the phone and I could pay over the phone with my credit card to get everything going before my old policy runs out on the 15th. I also called the Propane company that said I was past due on a $79 charge on the account I closed in Sept 2008. The gal brought up my old accound and said your right it was closed there must be a glich somewhere. I'll find it and correct it and told me to forget about all the dunn letters and she'll see that I don't get anymore of them and appoligized for the error. So that is out of the way. I also called America's Mailbox up in Rapid City and ask them for the address of a campground nearby. She told me their campground is completed and in use but wasn't very busy right now so just drive right on in when I get there. The new place is at Exit 61, I-90 in Boxelder right behind the flying-J. And, To just look for the American Flag. They are under it. So that should be easy to find. The road they are on is new so it wouldn't be on any GPS but that should not be a problem. So bright and early tomorrow I'll be on the move again driving like Jeri and Terry doing 300 mile days. I've jotted down a few other RV Parks along the way just in case I get tired early and need a place to hole up.

Another day has gone by. I was planning on goofing off today but the cleaning job lasted all day and still isn't completely done. I still have the stove and microwave to clean and the inside of the Frig to muck out and put new soad boxes in there so I don't pass out every time I make a sandwich. The nice thing about my frig is the bears run the other way when they smell it. Tomorrow I have a bunch of phone calls to make then gas the truck and get it hooked up in the evening. Otherwise I might be able to get the goof off day in. I got the truck and trailer washed today. It Rained.

Dave: We can see that smoke to the south off us but didn't know where the fire was. North east and west of us is clear but the south is very hazy. Send Millie out for an Oxygen bottle. All my packages and mail came today so I'm good to go on Tuesday. I haven't had a chance to read all my mail yet but I see I have a new insurance policy in the stuff that came from the Excapee's Mail Service. That means they want some more money. I'm going to hurry on up to Rapid City and get my address changed and maybe I can get it done before the insurance runs out and have them send a new policy which should be cheaper. Rates in SD are much cheaper than in Texas. It is pretty well set in jello that I'll be going to Duluth to see my Niece. She has to make a trip to NY to help her sister get their Mother's house ready to put on the market, She died just about a week ago. So I'll have to spin my wheels a while and time my travel to be in Duluth when she is back there for the duration of her husband's job there. I drove back out to Sugarite Canyon this evening to see another friend that just arrived. On the way out there we saw a herd of about 15 mule deer grazing beside the road. About half of them were on one side and half on the other side of the road so I slowed way down when I went between the two groups. They didn't even look up at the truck as I went between them. They sure know when they are in protected territory. tomorrow I have to get my Hacienda mucked out and made respectable again befor I hit the road on Tuesday. When I get that done I'm going on strike and goof off the rest of the day. Marsha: Tell your girls that growing older may be manditory but growing up is optional. And that it is your turn to pull all those teen age stupid things they pulled while you worried about them. Now it's their turn to worry.

Steve you sure look messy with all that Ice Cream On You. As for the truck, I have never ridden on the other side of my truck so I may not own it but I'm sure the Drivers side is mine. It was a crazy day today. Beautiful this morning with no wind and cool temperatures. This after noon a few 35 MPH gust of wind came roaring through but lasted only about 10 minutes then calmed down again to about 10 MPH. I received my mail from my PO box back east. My new Bank Card was in it. When I tried to activate it, it wouldn't activate from the cell phone but I went to the RV Park office and used there phone and finally got it to activate. I haven't used it yet but will get some gas tomorrow and make sure it is working. Then in that same package of mail I got some threatening bills on a LP gas account that I closed 3 years ago. Because of the time lag I cant get a hold of anyone at Suburban Propane except their automated phone service which is worthless. I'll try again Monday morning. It I can't find a people to talk to then I'll write them a letter but I had better use fireproof paper. Then I did my laundry. I was going to mop my floor and clean the bathroom walls and shower but I ran out of steam so here I sit. It is now 10 PM and it is still 75 degrees outside. I have the door and all the window open. Fortunately there is a 6 MPH breeze, so it is very comfortable. After balancing 3 bank accounts I'm ready to really pull a steve ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Happy Birthday Marsha, Don't let these guys call you 39. Tell them your 19 like I am. They'll believe that as much as they will 39. It was a little warm today and windy (30 MPH) My friend, that was out at Sugarite Canyon, moved into town today so she is set up in the space next to me. I sat in the lee of my truck and carved most of the day. Tomorrow I'll have to put the carving up and do a laundry and start mucking out this trailer. Yesterday, I got my Quarterly tax sent in and did all the running around I needed to do and answered all the email that has stacked up while I was hitting the Vanishing Cream. Now all I have to do is wait for all the forwarded mail and stuff I ordered to get here. Remember Marsha, 19. And that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Believe me, I was running a little short on oxygen before I got half way up the hill. I'd walk about 100 feet then stand there for a while to catch my breath. And, there isn't a sitable rock on that mountain that didn't leave it's imprint on my rear end.

What? Where is that Ice Cream Machine. I like that even more than Vanishing Cream. I moved into town this morning from Sugarite Canyon State Park near Raton, NM where there is NO phone or data signal at all. Sorry to worry you all and I would have came to town and posted to let you know where I was but the battery in my notebook has curled up it toes and died. I'll be here in Raton, NM for a week to wait for my mail and to order some stuff and give it time to get here. Then I'll be going up into Colorado and moving right along toward Rapid City, SD where I'll change my legal residence. Two of my friends from the LOW's pulled into Sugarite Canyon right after I got there. We've been having a ball out there. The canyon has protected us from the wind and the days have been warm and sunny. When I first got there we had a little soft hail. The balls of ice were about the size of a marble but soft like snow. It was too warm for any build up on the ground so as soon as it dried up thing were back to normal. The Campground is at a little over 7000 ft elevation so the nights are chilly but the days have been mostly in the 80's. Sugarite Canyon is an old coal mining town with a lot of history. The had a special progam last Sunday with a reenactment of that era and a very good FREE B-B-Q lunch. I walked up to the old coal mine with a friend. It's a mile from the visitor's center and all up hill. The view from up there was fantastic but it sure tuckered me out going up that hill. I took a nice long "Steve" when I got back to the trailer. The foundations to all the old homes are still there but the building are gone. The mine entrance has been purposely blown up to prevent entry. The big wooden wheels that ran the cable car system are still there and in pretty good shape. The weight of the goal going down the mountain would pull the empty cars back up to the mine entrance from the Railroad a mile away down the mountain. The Town's people dressed up like the original inhabitants acted out the past as the onlookers (ME) walked by on there way up the hill to the mine. If anyone gets mail from my Yahoo email address. Don't open it. Just delete it. Someone has got my email address probably from someone elses mailing list and is using it to spread a virus. This has happen while I couldn't get on the internet. I'll scan my machine several time but I'm sure its clean. If I send anything to any of you I'll use my gmail account. I'll try to contact Yahoo and have them close my old email account and issue me another. It's good to be back with the gang and that wonderful Verizon phone signal.

I think you're right Dave, Today they predicted Windy, It start out with just a breeze, not bad at all, Then gradually increased to somewhere between tornado and hurricane. This eveining it's calmed down a bit. The trees are only at a 45 degree angle. I'm all hooked up, tanks dumped, full Fresh Water and I even have the jacks up just incase the wind dies down too much and I don't have anything to rock me to sleep with tonight. I should only be about a 2 to 2.5 hour drive and I'll be at Sugarite. Just incase I can't get into Sugarite I have the direction to all the commercial RV Parks written down. I sure nope it get me out of this wind. When I first got here I had a very good data signal. Now the signal is strong enough but tne speed has dropped off util it's as bad as Villanueva and they didn't nave any signal that would register on the phone till I turned on the amplifier. I'm noping for a better signal at Sugarite. I have a bandage on one of my index fingers (No I didn't bandage the wrong finger.) (and I didn't cut it. It's for a hang nail that gets so dry I can't touch anything with it without making it bleed.) (I'm tring to soften it up with triple antibiotic salve.) Anyway it hits about 4 keys every time I try to use that finger . I've about worn the backspace out.

I was watching a toddler walking in the camp site across the street. It would walk about 5 steps then a gust of wind would make it loose its balance and it would fall on it's prat, Let out a bellar, then get up and try again. repeat repeat. Yep our friend the wind is still with us. However today it put on a show for us. About a dozen young people pulled in all in a White van. I don't know how they all got in there but they all got out and started unloading a ton of equipment that was in there too. The fun came when they started putting up some fairly large tents in this wind. They finally got all 4 tents put up but it was quiet a show watching the process. I thought I was loosing weight by eating all my veggie raw. I'd better have my scales checked. I was sitting outside in my campground folding directors chair. As I started to get up the bottom split from front to back. I'm glad I was in the process of getting up or I would have ended up on the ground. I think there is an RV center in Raton, NM near Sugarite Canyon. I hope so or I'll be doing a lot of standing. I don't think there is a Wally World there. At least my 2005 Wal-Mart book doesn't list one and there is one in Trinadad, CO just 22 miles up the road. All the rigs moved out of the sites they marked as Reservable yesterday except me. Now they are all empty except for when the kids in the van parked. They stretch out over 3 sites but only have the chains down on one. Talking about a bunch of people in one vehicle, a local bunch pulled into the site across the street this morning to use the site for DAY USE. When they left this afternoon they piled 11 people (about 6 of them kids) in a pickup truck, plus a rather large bar-B-Q grill with LP tanks. Tomorrow about 1PM I'll hook up and take the rig to the dump station. When I'm finishe there I'll just circle back around and pull into the site across the street which is not a reservable site and leave it hooked up ready to pull out the next morning. And wouldn't you know, they are predicting high winds for the next 3 days. Not that we haven't been having high winds every day. They just didn't predict them. When I get out of the wind I'll have to practice untill I get my land legs back. I may not be able to sleep without the topper popping and the trailer rocking back and forth all night.

Well the wind is back with Vengeance. I take that back. Vengeance got tired of the wind too and left the state. I suppose I should be thankful for the one day out of 12 that was pretty good. Yesterday we didn't get much wind until evening and even then it wasn't too bad. Today a truck pulled up beside my trailer and the guy got out and bolted a sign to one of the post there. I went out to see what it was and it was a Reservation only sign. The guy was the new Host who will be running the park. Later I saw him and ask if it is now a reservation site when will I have to move out. He said you have to be out of that site by noon tomorrow. I ask him why in the hell can't they give a little notice. I've already made plans to leave Tuesday to meet someone at Sugarite Canyon. He said I had to take my wife to the hospital and I just got here. I told him they knew it would be a reservation site when I came in. Why didn't they let me know and give me the chance to select a site that wasn't reservation only. Later I saw him and the ranger together and walk up to them. He told me he got the reservation list for Sunday night and my site wasn't reserved so I could stay Sunday and leave Monday. Then he said check with me tomorrow after noon and maybe you can stay there Monday night to if it isn't reserved. A stupid way to run a State Park. Yesterday a car with a gal driving it came down the wrong way on our one way loop. She was going about 30. The posted speed limit is 5. She pulled into the site across from me and sat there. A little while later a truck with a guy driving it came the wrong way down the road and pulled in behind her. She got out of her car and got into the truck and they both took off. The Car sat there all day. That evening the guy came back with a little travel trailer. (an old one) and parked it then took off. About an hour later the truck came back and the lady jump out and got into the car and drove off with the guy in truck right behind her. Today people started showing up. I didn't count the cars but there were a bunch. They parked two cars and a truck pulling a boat on a trailer behind my rig in my driveway without asking or even letting me know. The two cars have gone but the truck and boat are still there. I'm glad I didn't have any friends expected to show up and spend the day with me. They couldn't get within a block of me to park. I think I'll be glad to leave this campground.

Well, What do you know. The wind mainded it's manners today. It was really a nice day. The wind kicked up a little this evening but just enough to make me put a lite jacket on. I'm beginning to believe the superstition about Friday the 13th. I broke the point off my knife about 6 or 7 times today. Mostly because I dropped it and naturally it hits on the point every time. One time I broke it while putting the blade protector back on afte fixing it from when I dropped it before. I use clear plastic tubing for a blade protector. I put it over the blade and started to press it down on the table so it would stay on the knife and the tubing buckled and broke the point again. I know the gremlins are out to get me. That's all right I'll drown them in my Cranberry Juice. Now I know why you guys all have a dog. You can blame all the mishaps on the dog. If you blame them on your other half, you might get your head caved in. I guess I need to get a dog.

The wind was a little better today. It started out calm then about 10 we started to get an East wind. A half hour later we were getting a wind from the North. Then another half hour after that the wind switched back to the west. It would be calm for about 15 or twenty minutes the a gust would roll through and blow thing off my work table. I layed my knife down on the table to take a sip of coffee and a gust came along and blew the knife and the cane I'm working on off the table and broke the point off the knife and put another dent in the beak of the eagle handle on the cane. I went inside and reshaped the knife and came back out and it did it again so I took everything inside and worked in there. That didn't help much because I was stroping the knife and wasn't watching what I was doing and ran off the side of the strop and bent the point again and had to shape for the 3rd time. The blade on that knife was only a half inch long to start out with. If I break it many more times I'll be minus a blade. One of my LP tanks went dry today so I had to go into town and get it filled. I drove right past Wal-Mart and didn't even look at it. That's one way to save money.

I detected a little California, Japan and China Dirt migrating past here. The wind was almost a strong as it has been the past two day but most of the day it came strait out of the west so it wasn't hitting my door and it didn't shake the trailer quite as bad. It's now about 8:20 here and the wind has died down considerably. The wind was very cold today. It finally got up to 60 degrees but that was about 5 PM. It's going to be a two cowgril night though, it's getting colder fast. I got in 3 short walks today but it was too windy and cold to do any more. I tried to sit outside in the lee of the trailer and carver but that didn't work so I'm just as bored today as I was yesterday. I was going to hook up and head for Sugarite Canyon but a friend called and said she would meet me at Sugarite Canyon. She won't leave Oklahoma until the 18th so if I leave now I'll use up most of my time there before she gets there. So, I'll sit it out here and pretend the wind really isn't blowing. Boy, That's going to take a lot of Cranberry Juice.

Man this place is dangerous. Twice today I opened the door from inside and the wind pulled me right out of the trailer. It did slow the door a bit so that it didn't break anything but with my old bones that's a long way to the ground. It's a wonder I didn't break something. I told Dave that I was going to tie a rope to the door and the other end to my piano with only 6 inches of slack. Then I could play some music for him while he was out flying Millie. The weather man says more of the same tomorrow. That's no surprise it's been windy every since I got here. I'm thinking very seriously about moving on and going to Sugarite Canyon a little early.

Man the wind is worse today by a long shot than it was yesterday. I'm getting sea sick in here bouncing around. My rope trick is still working. At least the slid topper is still intact. However, todays wind points out a possible problem. I can't bring in the slid with the rope around it. So, If the wind got to the point that it was making the slid tip in at the top and bang against the facer when it fell back out. I'd have to take the rope off to bring in the slid and if I did that in this strong of a wind. I'd loose the topper for sure. Oh well, maybe I could catch a calm between gust to take the rope off and quick roll in the side. I'm thing of leaving Las Vegas, NM and heading for Raton, NM and Sugarite Canyon State park a little earlier than I was going to. The word Canyon is beginning to look very good with all this wind. Steve if you find out what caused the age reversal, LET ME KNOW. I need to try it.

Yep, I saw Millie FLYING overhead with Dave in tow at the end of the leash several times today. I got my walk in early this morning but have been cooped up every since I whittle a while then get up and sweep the floor, Then bang on the piano for a bit and make a cup of coffee then whittle somemore then sweep the floor again. I hope the boys in the white jackets aren't look through my window. I'll be here one more week then I'm going up to Raton to Sugarite Canyon State Park for a while. At least that is in a canyon and if it's not lined up with the direction of the wind it should be a little more calm.

Well, I did remember to wake up this morning inspite of my Alzheimer's. I took a nice long walk and the wind got an early start just as I was ready to turn around and walk back toward the trailer the wind started blasting at me. So I had to walk at a 45 degree angle against the wind. I played around with some carving stuff for a while then went in to eat some dinner. I didn't fix very much so as I was finishing I still felt a little hungry. I didn't want to blast the weight loss I've been having from eating my veggies raw. So I got out the Blue Corn Chips and set them on the table and opened the frig door to get the Hot salsa. The bottle is a little hard to get out of the shelf on the door of the frig. So as it came out of the shelf it hit the shelf above and I lost my grip on it. It hit the floor and splattered glass shards and Salsa from one end of the rig to the other. So Now I'm in a Mell of a Hess. I have Dropsy to go along with my Alzheimers. I am a little short of paper towel so to clean it up I took my teflon cutting mat and covered it with cling wrap. I scooped the glass and salsa onto the cutting mat and then took it to the waste basket and dumped the cling wrap and salsa in the waste basket and I still had a clean cutting mat. Then it only took two paper towels to finsing cleaning the floor. One wet and the other to dry. Then so I wouldn't find where the scattered glass shards were tonight on a trip to the bathroom with bare feet. I swept the whole trailer. Now all I need is someone to explain that all that red stuff splattered on my pant legs is really not blood.

Thanks Steve. I know how to get there that's right down town (New Town) Now I know I have Alzheimer's. I made a wash of Acrylic paint to dip a small carving of an Indian in because I didn't want it to be so dark you couldn't see the grain in the wood. It was a very weak solution. We'll I dipped it and sat it on a napkin so that it would dry. I knew it would be a little too weak to give the color I wanted so I sat the Acrylic solution to the side and went about another project. Well while I was scratching my head trying to figure out how to do it. I unconciously picked up the cup of Acrylic solution and took a big slug of it. Man that stuff taste worse than my cooking. I tossed the pain out on the ground so that I wouldn't do it again. Well the paint job was too light so I mixed up another cup. I darn near took another swig of the stuff but I caught myself that time and broke out the cranberry Juice instead. Dave: man you work fast I just read the email saying you had to go back to Belen.

When I got up this morning the weather was beautiful so I took a long walk. When I got back to the trailer there was NO wind so I got my tools out and started to carve. About 2 hours later Holy Hell broke out. A gust of wind come tearing through and turned my table over and scattered my tools. Luckily, I had replaced all the blade protectors so no damage was done. However it knocked a cane I was carving for next years raffle for the children of Niland, CA at the SLABS. It put several dents in it where it hit the gravel. They will have to be sanded out and the whole thing repainted again because I had mixed colors together to get the shade I wanted. I'd never hit the same color again. I got so busy this after noon that I forgot to eat lunch, After the wind forced me to quit I took another short walk and couldn't figure out why I was so darn hungry. That has been remedied. Sue: Congratulations on your new protable Hacienda. I'd hate to have to buy a new trailer with all the Mods I've done to this one. I don't think I could do them again. Steve: Do you remember what street Charlie's is on?

Thanks Steve, I'll give Charlie's a try. I have to fine it first. This morning the wind behaved so I took a nice long walk. This afternoon the wind didn't behave so I took a nice long nap. I did get a couple of little projects taken care of this afternoon and put all the tools back away. It's Friday and most State Parks would be full to capacity. This one is almost empty. There were about 10 rigs here when I first got here. Most of them left. Now there are only 4 other rigs in the whole park. I had planned on staying here 3 weeks but I think I'll cut that back to two weeks.

They predicted wind yesterday and we got it. Today they predicted calm. It's windier than it was yesterday. Oh well the rope trick on the slide topper is working pretty good. I went to town today to get a haircut and got all of them chopped on. Maybe the dog catcher will stay off my tracks. After the wind came up I decided to go back into town and buy a wireless wind gauge. I couldn't find any at all. I saw them at the Wal-Mart in Belen. NM and at Deming. This Wal-mart doen't have much of anything. It's very poorly stocked. I drove through Old Town and took a trip around the Plaza. It was interesting. I was looking for the Post Office. I haven't found that yet. I want to make sure there is only one Post Office in this town before I have things sent here. My Bank card is about to expire and I sure need to have a new one sent before the end of the month. I might have to take a job as greeter in Wal-Mart and that wouldn't work out too well when I send everyone to a different store. I've got another credit card but every time I buy something after changing places they holdup the transaction and call to see if I'm the one buying it. Sometimes I can't get a phone signal so they don't let the sale go through. It gets embarassing. I'm going to call and cancel the card but I'll wait till I get a new bank card.