sailbad

We've been in a drought. But from the news cast it would seem a lot of folks are getting real wet. I'm glad you are high and dry. Hopefully it won't take too much to get your camp ground up and running.

Well, we've got the winds but not those temperatures! It has been in the 90s here. Fortunately Terry and Jeri loaned me a Honda generator last winter when my Yamaha took a powder. I fell in love with it and went to Parker and bought one. Well, today I went to Albuquerque and bought the "Companion" that makes it possible for me to run the air conditioner. 80* in the trailer is much better than 96* I had when I hooked them up this afternoon. It will take a day or two to cool down everything in the rig but I'll be sleeping better tonight. Millie is already practicing, she's spread out on the floor sound asleep.

The last time we heard from him he was headed for Sugarite. (page 22) He wrote about having a cell signal but was having trouble with it hooking up. Maybe he's having equipment problems. The other problem he may be having is that very large areas of both state and federal parks here in New Mexico have been closed due to the drought and very high fire dangers. He may pop up in Colorado or Utah.

Don't tell them the ice cream machine is in the "shelter".

Time to check in...Been an interesting week. Went to Belen for breakfast with one of the neighbors, and on to Wal-Mart. Managed to overstock the trailer. I must have been thinking of winter in Quartzsite. Came back, opened the gate, and started to unload the truck when I noticed a young horse near the north fence. I went and spoke to him and went back to unloading the truck. He walked around and came in the gate. There's no water within a few miles, so I went into the trailer and filled a bucket. He drank that one in one nose dive. Meanwhile Millie is starting to have a fit. She's afraid of the horse. I went in and refilled the bucket, came outside, and the horse was sorting out the groceries on the tailgate. I gave him the 2nd bucket and went back to carrying the groceries in. He stayed. I talked with him a few minutes, scratched his ears, and went back inside. He took the hint and wandered back out the gate and went back to grazing. I guess I made a friend. What was interesting to me was there was no brand. I don't think there are any wild mustangs around here. The way he responded to me makes me think he is very accustomed to people. This is open range. I think someone just turned him out to graze.

They have been predicting those winds. You just are not familiar with the terms. It's taken a while but I have deciphered their code. When the weather folks in New Mexico say "breezy" they mean "gale force". When they say "windy" they mean "hurricane force". Their idea of "calm" is steady at 35 with gust to 50.

Friday the 13th. I have considered my lucky day. When I was 16 I screwed up and totaled two cars. The one I was driving and the one I hit. Both myself and the other driver walked away without a scratch. Fast forward to today. I'm driving in my own yard and managed to bury the truck up to the spare tire. I called a neighbor and had her bring her Lincoln Towncar. It wouldn't move the truck. She called a couple of people to help but no one had a rig big enough to pull out a 7,000lb truck buried to the frame. So, I'm taking a break and the phone rings. A fellow. I have never met, tells me to set tight and he will be over within the hour to pull me out with something called a feed truck. He shows up with the biggest 10 wheeler I've ever seen. Think of a very large dump truck with a dump bed reaching 10ft above the frame. He had driven over 7 miles to help a neighbor. He pulled my truck out with no trouble. It turns out he owns a "small" dairy with 600 cows milked daily. No wonder he has such a strong truck. All he would accept was a handshake and "thank you". My luck on Friday the 13th is still holding.

We got a break in the wind today. But the MONSOON season has now started. Heavy cloud cover most of the day including a heavy rain drop! (maybe two). It reminded me of a 14yr old virgin. All promise.... no play. Lee glad to see you have a friend showing up on the 18th. Enjoy your 3 days with her. The world is going to end on the 21st.

I really understand what Lee was saying about opening the door! It's really a two handed operation. Fortunately Millie has it figured out. I only open the door a dog width and she is out or in. No horsing around on her part. She doesn't care for these winds anymore than I do. I guess we have one more day of Arizona dirt migrating to Texas.

Flying Millie has become a sport up here. But it will be harder tomorrow. The weather folks say it's going to calm down a bit. The gusts will only be 50mph.

Yep, these gentle breezes are becoming a pain. I have noticed the local weather folks don't even call it "windy" until it's blowin GALE force. I have found how to really stabilize the trailer though. I had been using normal wheel chocks, forgetting that I had a Bal-Chock in the storage. I installed the Bal-chock yesterday. It locks the wheels up solid and has really taken the shaking out of the trailer during this wind event. I watch the weather in several areas and have noticed that east Texas and Quartzsite are also experiencing excessive winds this year. I'm glad I'm parked right now. I'll have to suffer by keeping the satelite dish down. It is only guaranteed to 50mph and it's blowin that hard now.

Well Hello, from Bernardo, a 1/4 mile from the end of the earth. I've been busy the last few days getting my water tank plumbed up and wired. The project worked exactly as designed. The pump transfers water from my truck's 210 gal tank, runs it through 2 filters and puts it into my "casita's" 550 gal storage tank. From there, by turning a couple of valves, the pump once again runs the water through the filters and supplies the trailer with filtered steady 65psi water. The whole system is running 12V DC from my trailer batteries which are recharged by the solar system. Can't ask for much better than that. Now to find the wheels to fit the casita so I can drag it along to Quartzsite.

I hate to keep posting about the weather but, with Jim and Sandy wandering back toward Albuquerque, I thought it might be appropriate. It's Gale force winds today out of the east and possible snow in Albuquerque tonight. I wouldn't want to try I-25 unless I had a 18 wheel flat bed with an earth mover on it. Tuesday might be a good travel day.

CONGRATULATIONS STEVE NOW YOU CAN "GET OUT OF DODGE" AND ENJOY THE SUMMER! Just don't head toward New Mexico just yet. We've got GALE force winds blowin.

Hey Paul,WELCOME TO TORNADO ALLEY!!!!

Well, in my area the winds were strong and gusty but I don't think there was anything over 50mph. They did clock winds in Albuquerque over 60mph and one 18 wheeler was blown over on I-25 by Santa Fe. I tried to get Millie to fly, but she won't even jump.

With this El Nina weather pattern going, it's really hard to predict. They just said to expect winds in excess of 75mph on I-40 east of Albuquerque. If I remember right, that's getting real close to hurricane force. I do know an 80mph micro burst took the roof off my house and garage a couple of years ago. I just finished a couple of preparations. I hooked up the truck and really tightened up the landing gear and stabilizers. Being parked beside the "casita" will also be a big help. It's a 8,600lb. wind break. I could put a leash on Millie tomorrow. Then I could try flying a dog.

I get a chuckle when the weather folks attempt humor. They are saying tomorrow the winds will be an "event" and if you are allergic to small children and lawn furniture, you might want to stay inside. Almost all of New Mexico will be under severe wind conditions with gusts up to 70mph. It seems the jet stream is going to pay us a visit.

Today didn't start out well. Yesterday I was running the batwing and neglected to take it down last night. This morning, without checking, I fired up the satelite dish and they had a bit of conflict on the roof. So I had interlocking antennas. One of the wings on the batwing is a little bent now but it still works. The hard part was getting on the roof. I had to stop and have a glass of milk and a few cookies. I hate heights. It would have been a good day to go rabbit hunting. But I repented and went to church. It's a good thing too, because I discovered I'm going to have to go back to Los Lunas for a few more plumbing parts in order to get the water tank straightened out. I've replumbed 7 houses in the last few years and I don't think I made it through any of them without two trips to the hardware store. One would think I could install a simple tank with only one trip. This time I'll make up a list instead of relying on my mouse trap mind.

Thanks for the heads up on IYQ. I thought maybe he was upset. I thought $45 a night was reasonable.

UMMM. UMMM. UMMM. UMMM.

I don't think you'll be going anywhere fast Monday. If the weather folks are right, it's gonna be a high wind day. You and your leaking fingers! If that keeps up, we are going to have to remove all those sharp objects you're playing with! You could bandage the whole hand. Then remove a small piece at a time until you find the leak.

After a day of winds it's time to get back to work today. Thankfully I don't think it was blowing as hard as predicted. It did rattle the trailer a bit but things really calmed down inside when I hooked up the truck and really tied the trailer down. There is nothing like a 7,000lb anchor to take the sway out. I think I may need to look into one of those 5th wheel stabilizer kits. Also now that I have the septic installed and the "casita" to store tools and other junk I carry, the trailer is lighter and more succeptable to the wind. I need to get off my duff and take a run to Los Lunas to the Lowes store today or tomorrow and pick up a truck load of parts and pieces to install my water tank. It's going to require several plumbing parts, pex line, and all the associated fittings to get it hooked up. I'm going to have to be careful with my list. I had a hardware store 1/4 mile from the sticks and bricks but Los Lunas is over 100 miles round trip. Even as I write this, I'm thinking of things that need to be added. This little project should keep me out of trouble for a day or two.

BATTEN DOWN THE HATCHES!!! Here we go again....Weather folks estimating 70mph winds tomorrow... That ought to be fun. Today after Lee ran off his cranky neighbors, we went into Belen for breakfast. Had a nice chat. He also showed me the carvings he had in his trailer. ENVY ENVY ENVY. I can't paint a wall with a roller and here is a guy that would not have to take a back seat to anyone at the Laguna Art Festival. His work is exquisite. Other than that, I came home and double tied the pole with the trucker's antenna in anticipation of tomorrow's wind event. I don't want to loose my internet.

The wind finally let up yesterday. I had been rationing water but was able to fill up. After all the digging/dust with the propane line and septic tank, I just need a fire hose to clean this trailer out. To top it off, the ditch witch's exhaust was pointing directly under the trailer and the CO2 set off the alarm. So, without thinking, I immediately opened the vents and door and turned on the fans to air the trailer out. He was still digging.... Today will be better. I'm going to take a neighbor Lady to Walmart. I'm going to get a couple of boxes of those Swifter Dusters, and Lee is coming to town.