sailbad

I gotta put that truck driven hat away......Knocked out 500 miles today. Now sitting just inside the gate of the LTVA South in Quartzsite. That's a pretty good day, Las Cruces to Quartzsite.... Millie slept. You should have seen her when she realized where she was. What a happy dance! She loves it out here. She will really go nuts when we move out back tomorrow. Then she can play with Don's dog, BD. Carol, you can go back to Riverside now. I brought almost every fly in the state with me!

On The Road Again. Did stop at Leasburg Dam State Park. Nice little spot. Comes complete with a train! That would bother most people. But I was raised about 200' from a main line so it will be good sleeping tonight. The weather folks said something about the wind picking up in Albuquerque by Wednesday. I don't know if that means southern New Mexico or not. So I think I'll dig out the ol' truck driven hat, and knock out a few miles tomorrow. It will be another chance for my 30yr old mind to get my 69yr old butt in trouble.

We're almost out of here. Spent the day winterizing the Casita, dumping tanks, house cleaning and route planning. Millie and I will hit the road tomorrow with the first stop being Leasburg Dam State Park by Las Cruces. That's not very far but it will put us on the road and leave a couple of 300 mile days to finish up. Lee thanks for the heads up on Jim Korstein Park. That would be a great place to overnight Monday night before a run to Quartzsite.

GOOD GRIEF!!! You guys flat dropped the hammer! You are right. You'll be in PHX almost before I leave New Mexico. We'll have to make that dinner on a later date. I started the Chinese fire drill yesterday and really made some headway at getting this trailer cleaned up. But then I checked the 5 day forecast and realized the weather was going to be good all 5 days. So I slowed down a bit. We'll be pulling out probably Sunday, Monday at the latest. This trailer is going to be lighter this trip. I'm sorting out tools and clothes. Some of them are staying here. I can almost see what is in the wardrobe. Lee, for me it will be a 2 day run. I'll be in Quartzsite either Monday or Tuesday night.

It looks like I'll pull out of the Tourist Trap either Sat. or Sun. for the run to Quartzsite. Been trapped in the trailer the last couple of days due to weather. I still have a bunch of chores to get done but it is looking better. If I've got it figured right, I think Lee, Jeri and Terry, and I have a meal coming in the very near future.

boomer

Jeri, So many toys. So little room. You need to go HDT in the form of an auto transport. Lee. I'll see your Tiger, and raise you one mangy coyote. The ranchers have turned their cattle loose out here trying to save their herds. There is very little grass but that's all there is. This is a very large area so it's hard to count. But my guess is there are at least 400 head out here now. Hay is up to $250 a ton and a cow eats a bunch. Example: I have a friend that has a small dairy. He milks 600 cows. The cows require #1 alfalfa milk cow hay. There is no milk cow alfalfa in New Mexico. He estimates he will need 1,000 TONS to support his cows until next May. He is paying $300 a ton because of the shortage. There are 3 large dairy farms in our area. 2 have 2,500 cows and the 3rd is the largest in the state with 5,000. I think the price of milk is going up. I just checked the weather for the next 10 days. I'd better get busy. I've got 3 or 4 days and then it's gonna start getting cold. I want this place shut down and be wandering toward Quartzsite by the 1st of November.

Lee, That's terrible news. Is there anything we can offer in the way of help?

BOOMER!!!

Jeri, take it from an old truck driver that has overnighted about every where you can think of. The rest areas along the highways were always my last choice. Too many strange folk out there particularly at night. I don't really even like to sleep at a Cracker Barrel or Wal-Mart. The safest place I've found is a nice truck stop. They normally have security if for nothing more than to keep the lot lizards or door knockers off the property. A little trick that will save you some iritation. Hang a Bra off the entry door side mirror. That tells the door knockers there is a lady in the rig. They won't bother you.

Jeri, take it from an old truck driver that has overnighted about every where you can think of. The rest areas along the highways were always my last choice. Too many strange folk out there particularly at night. I don't really even like to sleep at a Cracker Barrel or Wal-Mart. The safest place I've found is a nice truck stop. They normally have security if for nothing more than to keep the lot lizards or door knockers off the property. A little trick that will save you some iritation. Hang a Bra off the driver's side mirror. That tells the door knockers there is a lady in the rig. They won't bother you.

He He He That makes my whole season. It will be quiet in Texas for a WHOLE year.

Put the weather dog (Millie) out this morning and she came back wet! It was just a mist. But later it turned into a gentle rain that is the type farmers pray for. No wind just 5 hours of rain. It's the best thing that has happened up here all year. Too bad it's going to take so much more to break the worst drought in New Mexico history. Lee, you might want to check that weather forecast for the Slabs one more time. I just took a look at Quartzsite and in 10 days they are saying it will be back in the mid 90s. I too am suffering from hitch itch. I just had a call from friends tonight asking me to come on down. I need to find enough busy work to hold me here at least a couple of weeks. Then we're outa here. Oh Oh... I almost forgot.....BOOMER!!!

Well Carol we had the high winds also today. Millie couldn't practice today. She doesn't have a dust mask. We're supposed to have one more coming through tonight or tomorrow. Then it will clear up for a week or so. I can't believe how soon November is creeping up. I'm actually going to have to do my fall cleaning and think about winterizing the Casita before long. I'm starting to watch the weather in Quartzsite. It should break around the end of the month. Then it will be time to wander down the hill and join my friends in the LTVA.

Millie the Mooch was trying to get your attention......She wanted the BONE!

Well it must be Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque. They might get some flying in tomorrow morning. But if the weather report is even close, its going to be windy and rain for the next few days. I would think it's not a good idea to launch a balloon unless you want to wind up in Nebraska. Of course that mean Millie will get in some of those touch and goes Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

Hi from the Tourist Trap. Jim and Sandie I'm glad to see you have made it back on the road. IYQ, I'm with you on using the cheap tires until you get that axle straightened out. I also must warn you, Millie has been practicing. I did go back to the doctor Friday, at his request. I knew what he wanted to discuss. It's back to cardboard and water. Oh yea, he wants exercise. He doesn't think jumping to conclusions and running off at the mouth counts. Now if I could just find one of those cowgirls IYQ keeps stumbling across..... I had an interesting experience today. I went to Los Lunas running errands and happened to spot a Chev. dealer. Well I was due for service so I pulled in. I told the service writer I wanted a lube, oil change, oil filter and fuel filter change. Being a new to me dealer, I checked their work and service recommendations when I got home. They noted the trans fluid was "dark and smelled burnt". I pulled the dipstick and found the trans fluid, full, normal purple color and smelling just as it should. They recommended repairing the high pressure line on the power steering ($400). It has seeped a bit since new but they didn't even pull the cap off the reservoir to check the fluid level. It's down about 1/4" in 6 years. The fuel filter was damp when I checked it. But it might have been they didn't wipe it down. And the "lube" part. There are 11 zerk fittings on my truck and they missed all 11. Then there's the "Safety Check". I wonder what they were thinking when the display indicates "SERVICE AIR BAG" every time you turn the ignition on. I think Monday I will call the Service Manager and let him know why he lost a customer!

Lee, you should have gone for the lick therapy. I finally got cornered into seeing a doctor a few days ago because my prescription was running out. But my experience was the opposite of yours. I had the blood work done at the same time. Good news, I was out of there in about an hour. Bad news, his office called and he wants to see me again. I think I know where this is going. It's probably because I slipped from the cardboard diet over the years. Way too many cookies, cup cakes, breakfast pastries, and all the rest of that stuff. I know the rules. If it taste good, don't eat it. Just after I found a really good Burito in Belen. On other fronts... I started wondering why the a/c didn't seem to be cooling as well as it once did. It took a few days for me to wise up and look up. I hadn't thought about the air intake filter. I pulled it down and was rewarded with a cloud of dust, dirt, dead insects, and dog hair. (how does dog hair get on the ceiling?). Any way after giving it a good cleaning. I fired the a/c up and almost ran for the long johns. Now it looks like, by next week, the weather will finally break and I won't need the a/c at all for another year. Other than that.... All that's left is.......BOOMER!!!!!

Sleepy Lee I hope you get that problem quickly straightened out. Constant pain can really drag you down. But cheer up. If the Docs can't fix it. I'll bring Millie. She is an expert at lick therapy. I have figured out how to change New Mexico weather. All you gotta do is put your generator in the shop. When you bring it home the temps will drop 10* and you won't need the a/c any more.

It's becoming apparent that you need to go back to that "medicinal" mud bath you took. Things here at the tourist trap have been looking up. In May I bought a 5' cubic freezer with the hope of running it off my solar panels. Well, that didn't work. It was drawing way too much power for the panels to keep up. So it became an additional pantry. Earlier this week my son suggested lining the inside of it with styrofoam. So I went to the hardware store and bought a sheet of 1" blue board. After some slicing and dicing, I had it in. NOW the solar will keep up just fine. My other project was too see if I could get the Yamaha generator correctly repaired. I found a Yamaha shop in Albuquerque that actually had the correct diagnostic equipment and trained staff to repair it. They called. It's ready to pick up. It seems there is a little computer that controls both the engine and the inverter that had gone bad. They had to order the part from Japan. So now I've got a spare generator and after running the Hondas really hard all summer, they will get a break.

IYQ, I have some left overs from that surgery 4 years ago that could really change your attitude toward that pain. They wouldn't help the healing at all, but you wouldn't care! Today is my semi annual stock up the trailer run. Wal-Mart is going to love me. I normally keep a thirty day supply on hand. One never knows where one is going to land. But being here at the Tourist Trap, I've let those supplies run low. The other thing I'm having trouble adjusting to, is the thought of giving up my 500gal water tank and septic system for the winter. It's gonna be a bit of a change when I get back to Quartzsite.

I think when IYQ drove by yesterday he had one on "those" clouds following along. About 3:15pm the wind started to pick up a bit so I dropped the sat. dish and went on the internet to see what was coming. I caught the radar just in time to watch the storm form directly overhead. It rained hard and the wind blew hard for about 25 minutes. Then it just broke up and quit. Sort of my personal rain storm. One thing, God is keeping my solar panels clean! Monsoon or no monsoon we are still in a severe drought. ALB should be around 5" right now and they have only had .7" of one inch. They should move their rain gauge down here. We've had at least an inch or two in the last couple of weeks. Today I get to try to remember how to bleed brakes on a 1988 Lincoln. This should be fun.

She makes a better ATV than a Float Plane!

Lee as much as I would enjoy a meal, this place is no place for a "tourist" right now. The locals know how to get around. But if you came in like you did last time, you would bury that Ford. I've got to talk with the neighbors and get some instructions on which roads I can take just to make it to the highway. Fortunately I'm well stocked. I don't need to move for a while. I may just wait for it to dry out. Save me a piece of pie. I really don't plan on heading for Quartzsite until the middle of October. But you know how those plans, written in Jello usually work out. Millie still has her student license. She has been having problems with landings. After discussing it with her, she has decided she isn't going to work toward the amphibious ticket. She would rather play in the water rather than land on it.

It's been so dry here the lizards have been carrying canteens. But last night we had a little rain. The kind that just soaks in. I was thrilled. But then..... This afternoon we really got hit with the high winds (65mph) or so and a driving downpour that limited visibility to less than 1/2 mile. That lasted for over an hour. They said we were getting 2 inches an hour. That has turned the neighborhood into one very large mud bog. Fortunately, when I bought the tourist trap, I brought in a couple of loads of gravel. So I'm on gravel and on one of the higher pieces of property. I've some neighbors that can't get out of their drive way. Of course I can't drive anywhere. The low spots on the roads have turned into lakes. This would be a great place for an ATV.