Thursday, January 13, 2011
Adventure Texas Resorts, Mathis, TX -- 12/31-????
The next morning we were able to get the slideout in on our own, and we moved a whole 2 miles over to this much nicer park with excellent WiFi -- but still in the middle of nowhere! That afternoon (Thursday) there was a lot of good talk but not much action towards getting anything done. After an even more frustrating Friday morning, followed by a flurry of phone calls as we frantically tried to figure out where we could move to on Saturday, we decided it was not fair to expect a lot from them on what was essentially a holiday. We received the service manager's promise to get with us first thing Monday - before 10 am - to put some sort of plan into action. Which, of course, may still mean we will not know anything exact, but at least we may be moving in the right direction. And other businesses available for the repair will be open at that point!
Now we are trying to be patient and see what will happen -- which is fairly difficult when we don't even know where to have our mail sent! Our friends Fred & Linda Lanoue, who used to be full-time RVers, live about 45 miles from here. We visited them yesterday afternoon and plan to see them later in the week. We have other friends nearby, but we will be happier when we are closer to all of them!
We have decided to cancel our reservation in Donna and just stay up here at a park closer to Rockport when the repairs are done -- or to get them done elsewhere, also closer to Rockport (worst case scenario??). We basically don't want to double-pay for camping, since we already paid a deposit for the place in Donna. When we know more about the repair "schedule" (or lack thereof) we can make plans for the rest of this month.
Mathis Motor Inn & RV Park, Mathis, TX -- 12/30
We were dry camping at Hondo, and our last night there our batteries went REALLY low; so low that we were running around with flashlights before going to bed early! We thought it wise to stay at a park with hookups, and remembered this rather sleazy Passport America park where we had stayed once before. It made a convenient one-night stop on our way to Donna (we still planning to spend the month of January there).
Unfortunately, when we arrived, one of our slideouts refused to extend all the way out; nor would it come back in. We called a nearby repair shop (Maximum RV Repair) and one of the owners, along with a worker, came over and basically brute-forced it out so we were set for the night. It turned out that he was also co-owner of the companion RV park behind the repair & sales shop, and he encouraged us to come over and stay there and get the needed repairs done. We thought this sounded like a fine idea, since that slideout had been an on-going source of worry for at least of couple of years, and we would be nothing short of elated to finally get it behind us.
Lone Star Corral SKP (Escapee) Co-op, Hondo, TX -- 12/28-29
I don't know why they say this park is in Hondo, when it is in D'Hanis. I guess Hondo is where they get their mail. Anyhow, Hondo is actually 8 miles east, and there isn't much cell phone service here either! It is a friendly place, and we got in a brief visit with friends Larry & Claudia King, who have a lot here. It would have been a better visit if Larry hadn't gotten sick a few days before we arrived. We tried to have a nice visit without exchanging many germs! We spent all afternoon Tuesday at the Hondo library using their WiFi, which was much better than what the park had to offer. Taking this route meant we were traveling through a much more attractive part of Texas, which we enjoyed. Still, it's pretty desolate in the winter!!Caverns of Sonora RV Park, Sonora, TX -- 12/27
We planned to spend the month of January in Donna, TX and our original route took us to Del Rio & Laredo. We decided to change our route in order to make a few more desirable stops. This RV park, which is 6 miles off the highway, offered an attractive spot for a night. We had toured the lovely caverns here last time through, so didn't need to do that again. We had no cell phone service and thus no internet, so we felt quite cut off from the world.Escapees TraPark RV Park, Pecos, TX -- 12/23-26
This is an easy drive from The Ranch and seemed to be a good choice for a Christmas stop, since they would be having a communal dinner and we wouldn't have to eat alone on Christmas Day! It worked out well, although this is a pretty desolate place for a 3-night stop. We had a nice Christmas dinner with 15-20 fellow travelers. Funny though, after years of having Christmas dinner a little on the late side (for us!) with Doug's family at 6-7 pm, we found this dinner way too early, starting at 1 pm. Gosh, we were just barely done with breakfast (Goldenrod Eggs) at that time!The Ranch SKP Co-op, Lakewood, NM -- 12/15-12/22
So here we are -- "on the road again"! We had planned to stop somewhere along this 250+ mile stretch, but the stops are not at all convenient. There is Vaughn, about 100 miles from ABQ, a bit too soon, and a real pit of a place. The other option is Roswell, which is 200 miles from ABQ -- and overpriced to boot -- and by the time you're there, you're almost to The Ranch. So we came on in, arriving too late for a full hookup spot so we camped in boondocking (dry camp) for one night. We moved to a nice hookup spot the next day. While here we were able to relax and get some chores done (including this email!!) and also partake of the friendly line dancing and bridge games in nearby Carlsbad.
El Rancho Mobile Home Park, Albuquerque, NM -- 9/28-12/14
This is the same place we have stayed every time we have been in ABQ for longer than a couple of weeks. This time we got a spot that was even harder to back into than usual, so we were glad to be staying almost 3 months.
While in ABQ, we did the usual activities -- line dancing, duplicate bridge, Met Opera Live in HD ("Das Rheingold" and "Don Pasquale"), and many pizza & movie nights with Doug's father, Gayle. We also went to the ABQ Balloon Fiesta for a day. This turned out to be mostly a "learning experience", since it was our first time, and we learned a lot of things the hard way. We picked a day with lovely weather, but unfortunately there was the smallest little rain cloud that passed over just at the right/wrong time and caused most of the balloon activities to be cancelled. Then, in our rush to see the very brief inflation of the special-shaped balloons, we got separated and spent about an hour trying to get back together and not really enjoying ourselves like we should have. We didn't buy the food we initially wanted because we thought there might be "something better" down the way. When we found out there wasn't, we were too tired to go back! However, if we go again, we'll know a lot of things to make it more pleasant!
A real highlight of our time here was actually a trip away from ABQ. We flew to Peoria, IL, to visit Willie's sister, Cathy Barry, and her niece Jennifer & her four children for 5 days. Her nephew's wife and son were also able to visit over the weekend, so we had a very nice family gathering. Unfortunately, nephew Michael had a weekend of intense Master's degree classes and couldn't be there with us. However, he did complete his Master's degree recently, so it was worth it. We were able to have some really nice family time together and are looking forward to our return next spring, when we'll have our trailer and be able to stay for a month.
As usual, brother Bob and his wife Paula prepared a delicious Thanksgiving dinner, and Doug's daughter Erin and her husband Bryan were able to visit briefly. The next morning the four of us had a marvelous breakfast at the Owl Cafe.
Once again, we seriously contemplated buying something more permanent in ABQ and possibly "settling down" here; however, the road was still calling to us, and it seemed unwise to spend any money on a more permanent dwelling at this time.
Storrie Lake SP, Las Vegas, NM -- 9/24-25
We never figured out what was happening near here that caused the place to be so full, but we got the last spot with hookups. It actually has a nice dry camping area, but we were wanting electricity this time.
Another place we had wanted to visit and finally got to was Fort Union Natl Monument, 20 miles north of Las Vegas. We arrived to find that we had lucked into one of the two days a year that you can visit the site of the First Fort, which you have to drive on private land to get to. Fort Union, actually three different forts at this location, was founded in 1851 and remained active until 1891. It was vital to the settlement of this area. In addition to the First Fort tour, we went on the self-guided tour of the main ruins.
Afterwards we visited "downtown" Las Vegas in order to find the Tome on the Range Bookstore, since we had fallen in love with the name when we heard their sponsorship of the local NPR station. It was wonderful, as are almost all bookstores. Their newsletter is called "The Tome Ranger". We worry about the future of the small bookstores with the popularity of ebooks. There was all sorts of activity at the town plaza park, less than a block from Tome of the Range, which turned out to be the Las Vegas 175th Anniversary celebration. It looked like it was going on well into the night.
Another place we had wanted to visit and finally got to was Fort Union Natl Monument, 20 miles north of Las Vegas. We arrived to find that we had lucked into one of the two days a year that you can visit the site of the First Fort, which you have to drive on private land to get to. Fort Union, actually three different forts at this location, was founded in 1851 and remained active until 1891. It was vital to the settlement of this area. In addition to the First Fort tour, we went on the self-guided tour of the main ruins.
Afterwards we visited "downtown" Las Vegas in order to find the Tome on the Range Bookstore, since we had fallen in love with the name when we heard their sponsorship of the local NPR station. It was wonderful, as are almost all bookstores. Their newsletter is called "The Tome Ranger". We worry about the future of the small bookstores with the popularity of ebooks. There was all sorts of activity at the town plaza park, less than a block from Tome of the Range, which turned out to be the Las Vegas 175th Anniversary celebration. It looked like it was going on well into the night.
Trinidad Lake SP, Trinidad, CO -- 9/22-23
We have stopped at this nice SP many times on our way through Trinidad. Although Trinidad is in the midst of a multi-year interstate construction project, which always causes confusion when driving through, it is still a nice stay. Luckily, we have learned a "back way" in/out of the park which takes us south of Trinidad and all the construction. We do have to go through it for shopping though. There is a very nice Safeway store that we always like to visit on our way into New Mexico, because there are no Safeway stores in Albuquerque for some reason.
While here we hiked on the Long's Canyon Trail, a part of the park we had not visited before. From the state of the trail and the road into it, not many others had visited it either! It was an enjoyable outing despite the dilapidated structures & signs.
While here we hiked on the Long's Canyon Trail, a part of the park we had not visited before. From the state of the trail and the road into it, not many others had visited it either! It was an enjoyable outing despite the dilapidated structures & signs.
John Martin Reservoir SP, Hasty, CO -- 9/20-21
This is another Colorado SP that we have wanted to visit for a number of years. We decided to get maximum use out of our annual pass on this trip. We liked this park a lot more than Bonny Lake. Our spot was right on the water (below the dam, not on the reservoir) & we did some birding here enjoyed the lovely view.
Travelors[sic] Lodge, Eads, CO -- 9/18-19
The whole reason for our easterly route back to ABQ was to visit the Sand Creek Massacre Natl Monument with Mark Collier. Our original plan was to dry-camp at a State Wildlife Area, but the predicted hot weather & vague answers regarding the camping available at the Wildlife Area made us look around for other options. A quick Internet search revealed a motel in Eads, which had a different name when we brought it up on our mapping software, but with the same phone number that, when we called, they answered with a third name. They assured us that they did indeed have RV parking, and since it would be closer than the SWA, we decided to stay there. The town of Eads has certainly seen better days, and the motel even more so. The office said "closed" so we walked around & finally found a few very scroungy-looking RV spots that, for all appearance, had not been used for years. One seemed suitable, and we drove in & set up. Doug went to pay & found the "manager", a very pregnant young woman who proceeded to regale Doug with the trials & tribulations of her & her boyfriend's love life over the past couple of years. After detaching himself from her, he called Mark C, who was on his way down, to let him know exactly where we were. The next day we drove out to Sand Creek Massacre NM and we were all suitably appalled & depressed. Even a month at Badlands learning of the US Govt's despicable treatment of the Lakota people did not temper our shock at the disregard for human life exhibited during the slaughter, or for the praise awarded the participants afterwards.
Bonny Lake State Park, Idalia, CO -- 9/16-17
Since we're still Colorado residents we can camp at their State Parks for an almost reasonable rate. This was our first time at Bonny Lake SP ever, and it was sort of weird. We were disappointed to find that the campground does not overlook Bonny Lake. And while the weather was sunny & warm during our stay, the park roads & Visitor Center parking lot had obviously flooded recently. Bonny Lake is also supposedly a good birding spot, but it was windy the whole time we were there, far too windy to spend much time outside.
Creekside RV Park, Chappell, NE -- 9/15
We diverged from our route up, heading east to this very pleasant Passport America park for a one-night stop. The owner gave us a dozen eggs for staying there. Chappell is a small town in the heart of farm country in the Nebraska panhandle. If you've ever been to a Cabela's you can thank Chappell since the founder of that sporting goods chain was born here.
Sunset Motel & RV Park, Alliance, NE -- 9/14
We continued to retrace our path, spending one night here on the way back.
Heartland RV Park, Hermosa, SD -- 9/7-13
This was the same park we stayed at on our way to the Badlands, and what a difference! There were far more empty spaces, and the weather was noticeably cooler. Our reasons for staying here a full week were to spend more time with Dave & Diane (as always, we had a blast), and to play in the sectional bridge tournament.
It had been a while since we did anything "touristy" in Rapid City, so we all took the City View Trolley around the city for most of a day. This tourist trolley makes stops at many of the local attractions. Our favorite stop was the Chapel in the Hills, a replica of the famous 850-year-old Stave Church in Borgund, Norway, built by Rapid City's Scandinavian community.
The last night we were here, we were able to get tickets to see Country Current, the Country Music branch of the US Navy Band. As one would expect, these are excellent musicians, and we thoroughly enjoyed the way-too-short program.
It had been a while since we did anything "touristy" in Rapid City, so we all took the City View Trolley around the city for most of a day. This tourist trolley makes stops at many of the local attractions. Our favorite stop was the Chapel in the Hills, a replica of the famous 850-year-old Stave Church in Borgund, Norway, built by Rapid City's Scandinavian community.
The last night we were here, we were able to get tickets to see Country Current, the Country Music branch of the US Navy Band. As one would expect, these are excellent musicians, and we thoroughly enjoyed the way-too-short program.
VIP Campground, Badlands Natl Park, SD -- 7/30-9/6
When we last wrote, our stay here as Astronomy Volunteers was winding down. We did manage to visit the Minuteman Missile Silo & Museum, and our timing was perfect as they had a volunteer who had served in that silo during the early 60s, and he quit for the day after our tour. The displays presented a very realistic portrayal of the necessity of the Minuteman program, and of the sheer boredom that the servicemen had to overcome while on duty.
We also visited the South Unit of Badlands NP, which exists entirely within and is overseen by the Oglala Lakota Nation. There is, in fact, talk of splitting off the South Unit completely and making it an independent Lakota National Park. This area is much more remote, and the scenery is much more dramatic than the North Unit. We definitely recommend that anyone visiting Badlands plan an excursion to the South Unit.
We also visited the South Unit of Badlands NP, which exists entirely within and is overseen by the Oglala Lakota Nation. There is, in fact, talk of splitting off the South Unit completely and making it an independent Lakota National Park. This area is much more remote, and the scenery is much more dramatic than the North Unit. We definitely recommend that anyone visiting Badlands plan an excursion to the South Unit.
VIP Campground, Badlands Natl Park, SD - 7/30-9/6
We decided to try volunteering somewhere that had paved roads leading to it, since we are reluctant to take our aging truck & trailer back down the Chaco road. We want to continue traveling for several more years (unless we decide otherwise this fall in ABQ!!), and finances necessitate that this rig holds out if we are to do that.
This is the first park that has put us on a real schedule: 32 hours each per week. It is way too much like a "real job" for Willie's taste. It is not what she retired to do. It is nice to volunteer and give SOMETHING back to the parks, but over half of your "productive" week seems too much to ask. Our work days are Friday through Monday, our schedule is 2:30-11:00 with 1/2 hour off for a quick dinner. We have various assigned duties throughout the day, including "personing" the solar telescopes from 3-4, "personing" the Visitor Center (VC) desk from 5-7, and attending Night Sky programs from 7:45-11ish. The telescope work is quite enjoyable and the rest of it is minimally rewarding but mainly quite tedious.
The most exciting thing that has happened here is that, after our a/c continued to decline in function, and the temps shot up to over 100, we were getting desperate. When it got to about 94 inside, Doug tried running water on the roof to see if that would cool off the trailer a bit (evaporative cooling). We then left for an ice-cream social for park employees & volunteers, but not before Doug shut off the water, or thought he did. Evidently what he did was turn it up, since a couple of minutes later there was lots of water gushing off of our trailer. This caused a big commotion among the park staff, because they are always conscious of water usage (and wastage!). Doug explained the problem to one of the supervisors who suggested we talk with Brian, the guy in the trailer right across from ours, who is the main HVAC guy in the park. Within two days, he had looked at it and found a wiring problem that was fairly serious. He corrected this problem and now our a/c is functioning properly. Aren't we lucky that CW was not able to install a new a/c? If they had, they would have never checked where this wiring was and the problem would have still been hidden. The wires were bundled together inside a large "wad" of electrical tape, and all was getting overheated and slowly melting. We lucked out again!!
The first week of our stay here, our friend Sue Horne visited us. She came for 6 nights, and we did a lot of sightseeing and had an excellent visit. Since we find the work schedule to be fairly exhausting, plus we "have to" spend a good portion of our free time over at the lodge on their WiFi in order to continue our games on Facebook, we find we only do one or two major activities on our 3 days off.
Last Wednesday, friends Dave & Diane from Rapid City, met us at Wall Drug Store, where we had lunch and played cards in their cafe for several hours of fun & laughter. The next day we went down to the South Unit, which is on Oglala Lakota (formerly called Sioux by white people) tribal land and managed jointly by the tribe and the NPS. We visited Sheep Mountain Table, which is more lovely than any of the more accessible areas in the north unit, and the White River VC, which is staffed by Lakota. We then visited Oglala Lakota College and Historical Center in nearby Kyle, SD. The museum gives a pictorial and audio history of the Oglala Lakota from the early 1800s through the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890. It was enlightening but also very sad to see how much we have changed the lives of the Native Americans in ways that can never be made right again.
This is the first park that has put us on a real schedule: 32 hours each per week. It is way too much like a "real job" for Willie's taste. It is not what she retired to do. It is nice to volunteer and give SOMETHING back to the parks, but over half of your "productive" week seems too much to ask. Our work days are Friday through Monday, our schedule is 2:30-11:00 with 1/2 hour off for a quick dinner. We have various assigned duties throughout the day, including "personing" the solar telescopes from 3-4, "personing" the Visitor Center (VC) desk from 5-7, and attending Night Sky programs from 7:45-11ish. The telescope work is quite enjoyable and the rest of it is minimally rewarding but mainly quite tedious.
The most exciting thing that has happened here is that, after our a/c continued to decline in function, and the temps shot up to over 100, we were getting desperate. When it got to about 94 inside, Doug tried running water on the roof to see if that would cool off the trailer a bit (evaporative cooling). We then left for an ice-cream social for park employees & volunteers, but not before Doug shut off the water, or thought he did. Evidently what he did was turn it up, since a couple of minutes later there was lots of water gushing off of our trailer. This caused a big commotion among the park staff, because they are always conscious of water usage (and wastage!). Doug explained the problem to one of the supervisors who suggested we talk with Brian, the guy in the trailer right across from ours, who is the main HVAC guy in the park. Within two days, he had looked at it and found a wiring problem that was fairly serious. He corrected this problem and now our a/c is functioning properly. Aren't we lucky that CW was not able to install a new a/c? If they had, they would have never checked where this wiring was and the problem would have still been hidden. The wires were bundled together inside a large "wad" of electrical tape, and all was getting overheated and slowly melting. We lucked out again!!
The first week of our stay here, our friend Sue Horne visited us. She came for 6 nights, and we did a lot of sightseeing and had an excellent visit. Since we find the work schedule to be fairly exhausting, plus we "have to" spend a good portion of our free time over at the lodge on their WiFi in order to continue our games on Facebook, we find we only do one or two major activities on our 3 days off.
Last Wednesday, friends Dave & Diane from Rapid City, met us at Wall Drug Store, where we had lunch and played cards in their cafe for several hours of fun & laughter. The next day we went down to the South Unit, which is on Oglala Lakota (formerly called Sioux by white people) tribal land and managed jointly by the tribe and the NPS. We visited Sheep Mountain Table, which is more lovely than any of the more accessible areas in the north unit, and the White River VC, which is staffed by Lakota. We then visited Oglala Lakota College and Historical Center in nearby Kyle, SD. The museum gives a pictorial and audio history of the Oglala Lakota from the early 1800s through the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890. It was enlightening but also very sad to see how much we have changed the lives of the Native Americans in ways that can never be made right again.
Heartland RV Park, Hermosa, SD -- 7/26-29
This Passport America park is about 15 miles south of Rapid City. Staying here meant we had to drive further to visit our friends & do errands in Rapid City, but it also meant not having to tow the trailer an extra 20 miles. It seemed like a good option. After another hot travel day and a trailer that wasn't cooling off (the a/c continued to shut off intermittently), the first thing we did was hop into the pool. This sufficed to lower our body temps so we could be comfortable for the rest of the evening, but the pool is quite small and full of playful children. We spent our time here visiting our friends David & Diane West from Rapid City and doing final stocking up on groceries for our month-long stay at Badlands Natl Park.
Sunset Motel & RV Park, Alliance, NE -- 7/24-25
We have stayed here before and found it adequate for a short stop "along the way". We had tried to call and could only leave a message which was never returned. Luckily, when we arrived there was one spot left for us. It was a big reunion weekend and everything in the town was hopping (for Alliance)!
Brush Memorial Park, Brush, CO -- 7/23
We finally left CW in Longmont around 1pm and drove through blistering 100-degree heat a short distance (thankfully) to the town of Brush, which has a nice city park that is free for one night and $10 per night after that, with water & electricity. The trailer was so hot inside that the a/c couldn't keep up (it kept shutting off, which is why we had wanted CW to replace it), so we were quite warm. Luckily, the town municipal pool was in the park, so we went over & joined many of the locals & got nicely cooled off.
Camping World, Longmont, CO, and Sue Horne's house, Niwot, CO -- 7/21-22
Since it was tricky to manoeuvre the trailer into our parking space at Skylark MHP, we decided to tackle the Camping World repairs at the end of our stay here. We had visited and made sure they had all the right parts for the job that ABQ failed at and set up an appointment. We had to add on the repair of the back window awning that tore in the strong winds in ABQ. We decided to bring the trailer up the night before and take the cats to Sue's house where we would all sleep. She very kindly gave the 5 of us the use of her bedroom & bath for our stay. This worked out very well. The cats must have been comforted by the smell of their friend Sue everywhere, because they settled down quite comfortably and were ready to live there forever. They did wonder about the other cats they could sense!!
The CW work went somewhat better than before. At least they got the main part of the work done on the slideout awnings and window awnings. They were not able to work on the air conditioner at all, which continued to operate somewhat problematically. They needed an extra 4 hours to complete the long window awning project, since despite their "careful" measuring, CW in ABQ had ordered the wrong sized window-awning. Luckily, what they ordered was too long, so it could be cut down to fit, which just took extra time. There was also a lot of hassle with the paperwork, due to the fact that ABQ had not entered things properly into their computer so Longmont had problems getting it all figured out correctly. They did give us about $100 off for our "trouble", which ALMOST made up for the aggravation! We still will try to find someone other than a CW to do work for us in the future!
The CW work went somewhat better than before. At least they got the main part of the work done on the slideout awnings and window awnings. They were not able to work on the air conditioner at all, which continued to operate somewhat problematically. They needed an extra 4 hours to complete the long window awning project, since despite their "careful" measuring, CW in ABQ had ordered the wrong sized window-awning. Luckily, what they ordered was too long, so it could be cut down to fit, which just took extra time. There was also a lot of hassle with the paperwork, due to the fact that ABQ had not entered things properly into their computer so Longmont had problems getting it all figured out correctly. They did give us about $100 off for our "trouble", which ALMOST made up for the aggravation! We still will try to find someone other than a CW to do work for us in the future!
Skylark MHP, Lafayette, CO -- 5/22-7/20
This was our "home" for almost two months while we visited friends and participated in activities. It's a nice, reasonably priced mobile home park, which calls itself a "Mobile Home Community"! We arrived just in time for the annual Mahlerfest concert in Boulder. Friends were able to get us comp tickets to the performance of Mahler's Third Symphony and an invitation to the party afterwards. The concert was excellent, as was the food and visits with musician friends.
We were able to play in one session of the Rocky Mountain Regional bridge tournament, teaming up with a pair from ABQ. None of us were at our best, and our finish was mediocre. Unfortunately, this signalled the beginning of some very mediocre bridge-playing by the two of us in Boulder. We only went about once a week, and our results were so un-stellar that we finally gave it up for activities that brought us more pleasure. We'll pick it up again when we're back in ABQ!
Other noteworthy events that we attended were "Ignite Boulder 11" (You'll need to research this online for more details! Briefly I would describe it as mostly very young adults giving a "spark" or brief talk on how to make some aspect of life better.), Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys (or some of them) in a disappointing less-than-60-minute plug for all of their separate CDs (on sale there, of course), one concert by the Colorado Music Festival, a Joan Baez concert (Willie only -- it was EXCELLENT!!), and various "music-in-the-park" type concerts in venues around the area.
The highlight was seeing all our friends who still live here and relaxing and enjoying the area. When friends Pat & Dennis Wood came through in their RV (staying at a nice Adams County Regional Park not too far away), we were able to do a couple of touristy things we hadn't done in years. We spent a day up at Brainard Lake, where at 10,000+ altitude, it was almost 30 degrees cooler than the 95+ in the Boulder area. It was delightful! We also visited the newly refurbished Denver Art Museum and enjoyed seeing the new 6th floor exhibits and the newly built large wing, and went on a tour of the Celestial Seasonings factory in Boulder.
We were able to play in one session of the Rocky Mountain Regional bridge tournament, teaming up with a pair from ABQ. None of us were at our best, and our finish was mediocre. Unfortunately, this signalled the beginning of some very mediocre bridge-playing by the two of us in Boulder. We only went about once a week, and our results were so un-stellar that we finally gave it up for activities that brought us more pleasure. We'll pick it up again when we're back in ABQ!
Other noteworthy events that we attended were "Ignite Boulder 11" (You'll need to research this online for more details! Briefly I would describe it as mostly very young adults giving a "spark" or brief talk on how to make some aspect of life better.), Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys (or some of them) in a disappointing less-than-60-minute plug for all of their separate CDs (on sale there, of course), one concert by the Colorado Music Festival, a Joan Baez concert (Willie only -- it was EXCELLENT!!), and various "music-in-the-park" type concerts in venues around the area.
The highlight was seeing all our friends who still live here and relaxing and enjoying the area. When friends Pat & Dennis Wood came through in their RV (staying at a nice Adams County Regional Park not too far away), we were able to do a couple of touristy things we hadn't done in years. We spent a day up at Brainard Lake, where at 10,000+ altitude, it was almost 30 degrees cooler than the 95+ in the Boulder area. It was delightful! We also visited the newly refurbished Denver Art Museum and enjoyed seeing the new 6th floor exhibits and the newly built large wing, and went on a tour of the Celestial Seasonings factory in Boulder.
Hugo State Wildlife Area, Hugo, CO -- 5/21
In the ongoing attempt to find somewhere suitable to camp near Limon that isn't as expensive as the KOA nor as run-down and trashy as the MHP we stayed in last time through, we hunted up this State Wildlife Area about 12 miles south of Hugo and about 35 miles SE of Limon. It was very remote, in the middle of a prairie with a very small "lake" nearby, quite deserted, with a pit toilet that you couldn't have paid either of us to use. It was totally adequate for a one-night stop. We even had a fine Verizon signal!
Trinidad Lake SP, Trinidad, CO -- 5/19-20
Since we're still CO residents & get a nice senior discount at the CO SPs, it is nice to take advantage of it when possible. We took an extra day here to look around the town of Trinidad and the Trinidad History Museum, which encompasses several historic houses and gardens. These properties, the tour guides, and the museum displays gave a nice depiction of the lives of some of the early settlers.
Storrie Lake SP, Las Vegas, NM -- 5/17-18
This is an adequate State Park with nice dry camping sites overlooking the lake. The hookup sites are not attractive at all, so it is wise to visit when it's cool enough for dry camping.
Enchanted Trails RV Park, Albuquerque, NM -- 4/27-5/16
We finished up our stay in ABQ with the planned visit to Camping World for a long list of "to-dos". It took a supreme effort to get up & organized for the day and then make it to CW before 8:30 (8:25!!) with the cats along to spend the day with Doug's dad, Gayle, at his apartment. It might have been worth it if they had done even ONE of the tasks. However, at 2:30 we received the call that they had the wrong parts and would not be able to do any of the work. It seems that, despite our going in there over 3 weeks ahead of time, getting them to measure "correctly", and calling several times to verify that they had everything, they still neglected to check their inventory and wound up not having what was needed. This ended our time in ABQ on a less than happy note and we resolved never to return to this CW again!
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Enchanted Trails RV Park, Albuquerque, NM: Apr 27-May 17
Ah, back to ABQ -- almost a complete circle, and it really did feel somewhat like coming home. We wonder if it will be so much fun to be here when we aren't welcomed like celebrities whenever we show up!! It remains one of our favorite places. This park is Passport America, but we are staying much longer than the 2-night limit. We wanted to be way out west here (about 10 miles from downtown ABQ) because we needed to get some work done on our slideout awnings at next-door Camping World. We were a little worried since, when we checked in at CW, we had a list of 4 or 5 things that needed to be done. We were warned that we would be dealing with a trainee by Jeff, the asst manager, although they were both so stupid & incompetent that it was difficult to tell which was the newbie. It took over 45 minutes just to measure & discuss the slideout covers. Then, when Newbie was entering in the order, he would have to pause at each line & stare dumbfoundedly at the screen until Jeff (who was off fouling up some other people's orders) came by & told him what key to hit. We wanted a replacement for our a/c, but they showed such a lack of comprehension about what we were saying that we finally dropped that idea. Same with replacement entry steps -- we were beginning to worry that we had both simultaneously been hit on the head & were speaking gibberish together. But the fault was not ours, but theirs. We spent over two hours there & came away with only one of our tasks addressed.
They called us twice to let us know our order had arrived, and each time sounded so vague as to whether we really had an appointment to have it installed that we called the day before to MAKE SURE they were expecting us, which, in fact, they were. Be here between 8 & 8:30. *ugh* We're not early risers. But we bundled the cats into the truck & dropped off the trailer -- they estimated 5-6 hours -- and drove over to Gayle's to spend the day. Trixie immediately hid under the bed, and Pandora refused to come out of her carrier; she finally slunk out & hid behind the couch. Jasmine had a fine time sniffing around & checking out various laps. Gayle wanted to buy some plants, so after lunch he & Doug drove to a couple of nurseries & got exactly what he wanted. When we got back Willie was livid -- CW called & said they couldn't do the work. After coaxing Trixie & Pandora (who had moved from behind the couch) out from under the bed, which eventually required moving the bed, we drove back to CW to find out what the hell was going on -- Willie thought they had ordered the wrong parts. It turned out that the order was completely correct, but they did not bother to verify that they had all the necessary parts in stock that we would need, which, in fact, they did not. All that time & energy for nothing -- AND, we would have to, at some point, go through it all again! We agreed to have our order shipped up to the Longmont Camping World, where we will start over again.
We fell right back into the line dance & bridge routine, although not going in quite so often due to the much longer drive. We also were lucky enough to squeeze in the last Met Opera HD broadcast of the season -- "Armida" by Rossini. This infrequently performed opera is somewhat silly, had rather strange staging, and left you feeling there should be another act, with some excellent music. It's a real tour de force for soprano Renee Fleming (who has real stage presence & sand beautifully) and SIX (count 'em SIX) tenors -- played by five actual individuals due to some sort of conflict or illness of the actual sixth. There was even a Tenor TRIO, which is a rarity and may be the only one of it's kind.
We enjoyed visiting with friends, eating out at ABQ's interesting restaurants, and just being here in general.
The cats are happy & healthy. We were worried about Trixie's health for a while, but she seems to be fine now. We are wondering how much of what we thought was her failing was just her not being able to navigate as well on our vinyl flooring. She does much better on carpet. If we had realized this, we might have held off getting it, but we sure aren't going back to carpet now!!
They called us twice to let us know our order had arrived, and each time sounded so vague as to whether we really had an appointment to have it installed that we called the day before to MAKE SURE they were expecting us, which, in fact, they were. Be here between 8 & 8:30. *ugh* We're not early risers. But we bundled the cats into the truck & dropped off the trailer -- they estimated 5-6 hours -- and drove over to Gayle's to spend the day. Trixie immediately hid under the bed, and Pandora refused to come out of her carrier; she finally slunk out & hid behind the couch. Jasmine had a fine time sniffing around & checking out various laps. Gayle wanted to buy some plants, so after lunch he & Doug drove to a couple of nurseries & got exactly what he wanted. When we got back Willie was livid -- CW called & said they couldn't do the work. After coaxing Trixie & Pandora (who had moved from behind the couch) out from under the bed, which eventually required moving the bed, we drove back to CW to find out what the hell was going on -- Willie thought they had ordered the wrong parts. It turned out that the order was completely correct, but they did not bother to verify that they had all the necessary parts in stock that we would need, which, in fact, they did not. All that time & energy for nothing -- AND, we would have to, at some point, go through it all again! We agreed to have our order shipped up to the Longmont Camping World, where we will start over again.
We fell right back into the line dance & bridge routine, although not going in quite so often due to the much longer drive. We also were lucky enough to squeeze in the last Met Opera HD broadcast of the season -- "Armida" by Rossini. This infrequently performed opera is somewhat silly, had rather strange staging, and left you feeling there should be another act, with some excellent music. It's a real tour de force for soprano Renee Fleming (who has real stage presence & sand beautifully) and SIX (count 'em SIX) tenors -- played by five actual individuals due to some sort of conflict or illness of the actual sixth. There was even a Tenor TRIO, which is a rarity and may be the only one of it's kind.
We enjoyed visiting with friends, eating out at ABQ's interesting restaurants, and just being here in general.
The cats are happy & healthy. We were worried about Trixie's health for a while, but she seems to be fine now. We are wondering how much of what we thought was her failing was just her not being able to navigate as well on our vinyl flooring. She does much better on carpet. If we had realized this, we might have held off getting it, but we sure aren't going back to carpet now!!
Bar S RV Park, Milan, NM: April 24-25
After all those earlier one-night stops, we vowed "never again" (at least until the next time!), so we made plans to stay here two nights. It's a good thing, since the winds were terrible. Luckily, we had a tailwind that was barely noticeable while driving. This is not a Passport America park, but at $15/night doesn't need to be. This is what all stops "along the way" should be like -- wide, easy to get into pull-through spaces, level & clean, friendly owner/managers. There was a really close train, which did not ever blow its whistle, but it was loud enough to startle us and the cats a few times. But you aren't going to get away from trains anywhere you camp along I-40 in this area.
Cottonwood Campground, Canyon de Chelly Natl Monument, AZ: April 19-23
We visited here before, in 2002, and enjoyed it so much we decided to come back and meet our friend Sue Horne (from Niwot, CO) for a 5-day vacation. The campground is free because it is owned by the Navajo Nation (as is all of the Natl Monument!), and they have a 5-day limit. We were able to visit friends Brad & Carol Shattuck, who recently transferred here from Chaco. They work for the Park Service; Brad is Chief of Maintenance and Carol is an Interpretive Ranger. We very much enjoyed seeing them, and Carol did some of her wonderful cooking for us, including a delicious cherry pie!! We especially enjoyed our time with Sue. It was relaxing & fun, and we saw some great sights. Sue & Doug took a challenging hike through the canyon & river, slogging through water, sand & mud, to some interesting petroglyphs & pictographs. All three of us did the lovelier hike down to White House ruin. The ruin is interesting, but the hike itself is GORGEOUS. It is an EXCELLENT trail, well constructed with a nice slope, not too much exposure, with lovely views all along the way.
Root [sic] 66 RV Park, Sun Valley, AZ: Apr 18
This is another conveniently located Passport America park. It was very close to the interstate and you could hear the noise, but it didn't seem to bother us much. The free wi-fi actually worked at our spot, which is more than you can say for a lot of the high-pricedparks! This would be a good place to stop for visiting the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest if you wanted hookups; otherwise, there is free boondocking just south of Holbrook near the western entrance.
Cordes Junction RV Park, Cordes Junction, AZ: Apr 17
We could have either driven two really long days with a two-night stop or three shorter days with one night stops. We opted for the latter, and this was the first stop, located only about 100 miles from Mesa. However, most of those 100 miles were through Phoenix, so it wasn't a relaxing drive at all. We were glad it was short! Nothing much to say about this stop except that it was conveniently located, cheap (Passport America) and easy to park in.
Silveridge RV Resort, Mesa, AZ: Apr 3-16
We settled in here for our 2-week trial -- two weeks for the price of one and still VASTLY overpriced at almost $300. This is REALLY the resort with all the amenities you could want and a lot more than we would ever want or need. This "clubby" lifestyle is not for us, but it was nice to see what it is like and find this out. We did go online to the World Linedance Newsletter and were able to find some conveniently located line dance classes taught by Fran Dewar and Cindy. These were great classes and we met some really nice people and learned some new dances.
Our main reason for stopping here was to play in the Roadrunner Senior Regional Bridge tournament -- questing for still more gold points. We had made plans to meet up with friend Ron & Lana and play in all the team games with them; however, due to difficulties caused by Ron's ailing father and AZ cutting the Medicaid funding for seniors, they were relegated to caregivers, so we were on our own. We decided to be bold and go to the Partnership Desk in search of teammates and see how that worked. The first pair we got were very compatible, and we made it to the finals of that knockout before losing to a clearly superior team -- and we moved up one bracket so we we're not in the lowest! Since they could not play again until the Sunday Swiss teams, and since there were some excellent line dance classes those days, we decided we'd also take off from bridge and focus on line dancing. By Saturday we were ready for more bridge, so we came back to the Partnership Desk. This time we were not so lucky. We got a pair who were quite novice at team games. We entered a Compact Knockout and did manage to come out 4th out of 12 teams, which was not too shabby. Back with our other partners in the Swiss teams on Sunday, we were not so lucky. We managed to "place" at about 15/16 and get a few red points but no more gold. So now we lack about 10 gold and 20 silver, plus some more black points, for our Life Masters.
Our main reason for stopping here was to play in the Roadrunner Senior Regional Bridge tournament -- questing for still more gold points. We had made plans to meet up with friend Ron & Lana and play in all the team games with them; however, due to difficulties caused by Ron's ailing father and AZ cutting the Medicaid funding for seniors, they were relegated to caregivers, so we were on our own. We decided to be bold and go to the Partnership Desk in search of teammates and see how that worked. The first pair we got were very compatible, and we made it to the finals of that knockout before losing to a clearly superior team -- and we moved up one bracket so we we're not in the lowest! Since they could not play again until the Sunday Swiss teams, and since there were some excellent line dance classes those days, we decided we'd also take off from bridge and focus on line dancing. By Saturday we were ready for more bridge, so we came back to the Partnership Desk. This time we were not so lucky. We got a pair who were quite novice at team games. We entered a Compact Knockout and did manage to come out 4th out of 12 teams, which was not too shabby. Back with our other partners in the Swiss teams on Sunday, we were not so lucky. We managed to "place" at about 15/16 and get a few red points but no more gold. So now we lack about 10 gold and 20 silver, plus some more black points, for our Life Masters.
Valley of the Sun Mobile Home & RV Park, Marana, AZ: Apr 1-2
We needed to visit Tucson again, and this seemed a lot easier than driving all the way up from Benson, since we had to pass right through it on our way up to Mesa. We also wanted to drive by the Westward Look house where Doug lived for 10 years, as well as visit our friend Stephanie Hanson, whom we haven't seen for 2-3 years. We visited some of our favorite stores (AJ's Fine Foods, Trader Joe's, The Apple Store (those Mac experts are really smart!), Rubio's Fish Tacos (they have a new salmon taco that is really excellent). Later we had a real nice visit with Stephanie.
SKP Saguaro Co-op, Benson, AZ: Mar 8-31
Ah, back at the co-op and able to visit all our STUFF! What fun! Also fun to see old friends we hadn't seen in months/years. Due to spending so much time in the cold with the ventless propane heater running -- and feeling like it was too cold to open the windows much -- we accumulated quite a crop of mold in all the closets and other nooks & crannies. We spent the first two weeks here emptying out every closet and cupboard and scrubbing them down well with bleach and spraying with Lysol. This enabled us to go through and get rid of a lot of things we no longer needed. In order to make room for things we wanted to keep but didn't want to have with us in the trailer, we also had to clean out the casita. We made numerous trips to the "Neiman Marcus Table" at the clubhouse, which is where you donate things for others to purchase for a donated price of their choosing. We took many bags of trash to the Dumpster and mailed off several boxes of "treasures" that needed to stay in the family. When we left, the casita was in excellent order, with boxes on shelves all labeled and organized. The books were all categorized and alphabetized and also cataloged in a spread sheet.
Continuing the Mac theme, Willie purchased our friend Lloyd Treichel's used MacBook, and she is working on mastering it. It will take some time, but there are friends in Boulder who will help.
We only played bridge twice, due to the longish (35-miles one way) drive to the nearest sanctioned game in Sierra Vista. We line danced at the club house and found it to be nice exercise but pretty "tame" for our tastes. We then tried the line dancing at the Benson Community Center, led by Mary McCool. These turned out to be LOTS of fun with some really challenging dances taught later in the evening. We also became friends with Mary and went to her house twice to learn & teach some dances. GREAT FUN TO SHARE!!
We spent many evenings playing silly card games with friends at the clubhouse --- most frequently Shoot -- a version of Euchre for 6 or 8 people that is really silly and LOTS of fun.
Continuing the Mac theme, Willie purchased our friend Lloyd Treichel's used MacBook, and she is working on mastering it. It will take some time, but there are friends in Boulder who will help.
We only played bridge twice, due to the longish (35-miles one way) drive to the nearest sanctioned game in Sierra Vista. We line danced at the club house and found it to be nice exercise but pretty "tame" for our tastes. We then tried the line dancing at the Benson Community Center, led by Mary McCool. These turned out to be LOTS of fun with some really challenging dances taught later in the evening. We also became friends with Mary and went to her house twice to learn & teach some dances. GREAT FUN TO SHARE!!
We spent many evenings playing silly card games with friends at the clubhouse --- most frequently Shoot -- a version of Euchre for 6 or 8 people that is really silly and LOTS of fun.
Fort Willcox RV Park, Willcox, AZ: Mar 7
Yet another one-night stop. We actually wanted to change our minds and head on in to Benson, but when we called, our spot was already taken for this night. We like this small RV park. It is friendly and cheap (also Passport America) and has good pull-through spaces.
Dreamcatcher RV Park, Deming, NM: Mar 6
Another one-night stop -- we really don't like them (and the cats hate them!), but sometimes it's just what works best. We stopped here in order to visit our friend Gail Zimmerman, whom we met while volunteering at Chaco, and who lives in nearby Mimbres. We had a nice visit and then ate out at a local Mexican restaurant.
Western Sky's [sic] RV Park, Vado, NM: Mar 4-5
This Passport America (half-price) RV Park, about 10 miles south of Las Cruces makes about as long of a day as we want from Carlsbad. It is a good place to stop for a brief visit in the Las Cruces area. If we were going to stay longer, we'd probably go up and park in our friends Paul & Stephanie's yard, where they have two nice RV spaces. We did go up to Las Cruces and play bridge and then had dinner with Paul & Stephanie. Las Cruces seems like a nice enough place to live but doesn't have the variety of shopping and activities that we like in ABQ.
While only here one full day, Willie managed to find time to go to Best Buy and buy a new iTouch, which she loves. She is becoming somewhat of a "Mac person" -- but still needs lots of help!
While only here one full day, Willie managed to find time to go to Best Buy and buy a new iTouch, which she loves. She is becoming somewhat of a "Mac person" -- but still needs lots of help!
Keystone Mobile Home Park, Carlsbad, NM: Feb 2-Mar 3
The back-in here was even worse than expected due to the large inconveniently located tree and some abandoned vehicles nearby. Doug finally made it with Willie's guidance plus some help from a passer-by. We needed spotters on all sides since there were so many "hazards"! Once settled, Willie ran off to the library to load up with books for our month here. Once she returned, she started feeling like she was coming down with something and laid low for 2 days with some sort of flu. At least she had plenty to read!! Once she was feeling better we were off to our usual Carlsbad activities, which are the same activities we do everywhere -- line dancing and bridge -- plus some meals out with friends we have made here. Carlsbad doesn't have enough to offer for us to want to stay here much longer than a month, but it is sure a pleasant place to visit!
Spring River RV Park, Roswell, NM: Feb 1
We thought we might be able to make it all the way to Carlsbad, but when we got here, after about 200 miles of driving, which is already over our "limit", we knew it would be better to stop and get a fresh start the next day. It was only about 45 more miles to our park in Carlsbad but we knew there was a fairly difficult back-in to face once we got there. This was a wise decision. This is a nice little RV park adjacent to the city park & zoo. It is located on a quiet street and has reasonable rates -- $20/night and $100/week.
El Rancho Mobile Home Park, Albuquerque, NM: Nov 1-Jan 31
We stayed out our month in ABQ with many enjoyable highlights and some very cold weather. The weather was more tolerable due to our purchase of a new ventless one-brick Empire propane heater and two MEDIUM-room electric heaters. The medium-room heaters do a much better job heating our small rooms than the small-room heaters -- despite their all supposedly being 1500 watts.
We were able to get tickets to the Met Opera HD broadcast of Carmen and were treated to one of the highlights of the season. The singers were excellent, the staging was gorgeous, and she must be the sultriest Carmen in opera history -- or at least Met history. These HD broadcasts spoil you because you get such great sound, great views, informative interviews, backstage tours, and fun views of the audience between acts.
Another unique activity we attended was First Friday Fractals, which is held monthly at the NM Museum of Natural History Planetarium. For more information see their website at http://fractalfoundation.org/. It was excellent and something we want to return to when we're here again.
The main reason we extended our stay through January was so we could attend the Regional Duplicate Bridge tournament held annually in January. It really turned out to be worth it for us. Wescheduled lots of playing dates for team games with a variety of partners and did fairly well with each one. The highlight was winning the lowest bracket of one of the 4-session knockouts. There isn't much gold awarded at such a low level, but it's still fun to win. We did well in another knockout and in two Swiss Team events, so we ended up with almost 13 gold and even more red points. This means we have over half of what we need for our Life Masters, which seems like a pretty attainable goal at this point. We will continue to strive for it at our minimal level.
The final highlight of our stay in ABQ, and the reason we stayed through the 31st, was the visit by our good friends from Cleveland, Sally & Tom Mortimer. They could only be here one night and their schedule was inflexible, so we stayed a day longer and had a wonderful afternoon with them and a delicious breakfast the next day before we both went our separate ways. It had been around 20 years since we had seen them, but it seemed like only a few weeks. No one seemed to have aged!! I hope the next 20 years treat us as kindly.
We were able to get tickets to the Met Opera HD broadcast of Carmen and were treated to one of the highlights of the season. The singers were excellent, the staging was gorgeous, and she must be the sultriest Carmen in opera history -- or at least Met history. These HD broadcasts spoil you because you get such great sound, great views, informative interviews, backstage tours, and fun views of the audience between acts.
Another unique activity we attended was First Friday Fractals, which is held monthly at the NM Museum of Natural History Planetarium. For more information see their website at http://fractalfoundation.org/. It was excellent and something we want to return to when we're here again.
The main reason we extended our stay through January was so we could attend the Regional Duplicate Bridge tournament held annually in January. It really turned out to be worth it for us. Wescheduled lots of playing dates for team games with a variety of partners and did fairly well with each one. The highlight was winning the lowest bracket of one of the 4-session knockouts. There isn't much gold awarded at such a low level, but it's still fun to win. We did well in another knockout and in two Swiss Team events, so we ended up with almost 13 gold and even more red points. This means we have over half of what we need for our Life Masters, which seems like a pretty attainable goal at this point. We will continue to strive for it at our minimal level.
The final highlight of our stay in ABQ, and the reason we stayed through the 31st, was the visit by our good friends from Cleveland, Sally & Tom Mortimer. They could only be here one night and their schedule was inflexible, so we stayed a day longer and had a wonderful afternoon with them and a delicious breakfast the next day before we both went our separate ways. It had been around 20 years since we had seen them, but it seemed like only a few weeks. No one seemed to have aged!! I hope the next 20 years treat us as kindly.
