Death in the Desert

I bet you all thought we died whilst out here in the blistering hot, hot, hot because you have not heard from us in days.  Well we almost died.  OK maybe it was only me!  Desert life is certainly something you have to get use to and you definitely have to plan your activities around the sun.  Water, water, & more water is a must!  Here is the picture of the sketch campground we were at last.  Just had to include to let you see the wringer washer and the pleather couch outside.  There was a black plastic bag for a door.  NICE PLACE!!

We have been parked in front of a friends house for a week mooching off their electricity and using their pool and hot tub while having an awesome visit including hiking, disc golf, card playing, breweries, eateries, shopping and catching up and laughing a bunch.  Our sister in law Ann and niece Amy came from Wisconsin to visit as well and we did some fun touristy pictures.  There are more giant things in the pictures.  A roadrunner at a rest area was pretty amazing.  It was made of junk.  If you zoom in on the pictures you will see all the cool stuff.  I know you can't zoom in on pictures on your phone so if you want to see details or faces get out you laptop or look on that ancient desk top collecting dust in that office of yours! There was a giant chili was at a hotel that was kind of crazy.  Everything has chilis in it or on it including custard (which I just couldn't bring myself to try).  I did however love the green chili beer and the chili margarita!

The sign says people have DIED hiking these mountains!!  Perfect sign to tell me to turn back early!! Six people started the hike and 3 finished!!  The none finishers still had fun playing cards in the cool, cool shade at a covered picnic table in the park. 

I gotta say that we could get use to this weather.  Then the SNOW HAPPENED!! This morning we woke to 26 degree weather and snow on the ground.  Dick took Amy and Ann to the airport in El Paso and said interstates and all kinds of roads were shut down and it was the trip from hell and he almost died out there in the desert getting all turned around on out of the way roads that the GPS took him.  He thinks the boarder patrol was chasing him for a bit.  I am sure he is fine!  He called and sounded disoriented, parched & shivery but I am sure eventually he will show up sometime today.  His adventures were not all that bad.  He got to see some Oryx (long pointy horned creature).

We were to set out for San Antonio today but will wait for these southerners and there lack of snow knowledge to pass and hope for smooth sailing tomorrow.  Kind of crazy and I am certain there is more crazy to come!

Enjoy the picture of all the pretty and crazy.  October has been a busy month soon to end. We saw so much and did so many things. 

                              * Search others for their virtues, thyself for thy vices.*

Sketchy Cows

 Ok the cows are not sketchy but there were thousands and thousands and thousands of cows on our way toward El Paso.  We have never seen so many cows and we are from Wisconsin.  So with that.....it was a very fragrant drive.  

We arrived at our camp and it was super sketchy.  Probably the most dumpy place we have ever stayed at and we both have been camping our whole entire lives.  Now I know you can pick up and roll to the next place, but why!!  Every one need to experience sketch.  There were some pretty run down, boarded up campers and yes, people did live in them.  No pictures today so use your imagination.

I have come to the conclusion that if you want to see pretty towns and campgrounds you have to go to the very touristy area of New Mexico or maybe we are just traveling the wrong roads.  If you don't.... you will see trailer home after trailer home & junk all over the yards (not true for all but many). It appears that New Mexicans can purchase a piece of land and do what ever they want with it.  Yes this is the land of the free and home of the brave.  I love that there are no restrictions (or at least none that I have seen). It may not be what people call beautiful or scenic but it is REAL people living how ever they choose. 

We are heading to Las Cruces in a couple days to park on the street in front of a friends house for about a week.  Hopefully she has the time to be tour guide.  If not, we will be happy to just be planted for a week and have the use of her pool and hot tub. Hopefully I can post some fabulous touristy pictures for you all.  If not you may just get pictures of Dick in the hot tub!!! Yikes!!

                                            *Wish not so much to live long, as to live well.*

 

What a Mess

You would think I would learn when it comes to securing the stuff inside the bouncy trailer when we travel.  NOPE!! Thus far we have had a 1 lb. container of cinnamon fall, then a 1 lb container of cocoa powder, then the caramel dip fell from the cabinet (upright so no real mess), then it fell from the frig that opened (upright again thank goodness), then we keep forgetting that things shift in frig and cabinet so something is always falls out.  Eggs were a big mess then we broke 3 bowls into pieces. We hit up the flea market across from the campground and found such a deal on plastic bowls.  I am sure none of this will teach us a lesson and you will hear of more messes in the future.

Drinking helps when you have all these disasters so we drove up a mountain to play disc golf (I didn't play because I would certainly have died walking this course) then afterward we went to a brewery then rolled down the mountain super fast and used no gas for miles and miles. So pretty.  There was also this crazy cool bark on a tree so I had to take a picture of it and I found more beauty in a single flower on a prickly plant.

We moved on to Truth or Consequences for a couple of days.  We walked around the town and came

upon this wall made of cans. You can see cans on one side and the other is skimmed over.  Kind of funky.  I also like crazy old things so I took pictures of rusty metal!  Who doesn't like rusty metal!!!

YES another brewery was to be found on our walk about and then we drove to Elephant Butte State Park.  They would not let us in because we were not NM residents so they showed us on the map how we could illegally get into the park.  We walked around a bunch on the sand that surrounded the huge lake and took a couple pictures.  There are some crazy looking rock that I can not identify but they looked cool so I took a picture.

 We are not hoity toity resort RV park people. Mostly because they pack people in like those little gross fish in a can and you can hear the yapping dog in the next trailer all sad because their owners left them to go tour around.  We did however purchase a Passport America membership and this gets you 1/2 off the price of the campsite in some parks.  Thus far we have more than paid for the membership of $39 for two year membership and been really happy with the parks we have stayed at.  They are mostly just a bit off the highway but have the hook ups if we need it and 1/2 the price.  After all we have to save our money for beer.

And now for much anticipated worlds larges Pistachio.  I don't know about you but I find it fascinating to see how things are grown or produced.  I won't bore you with details but here are a few pictures of the pistachio and the trees that the real thing grow on. Also included is an up close and personal picture of a clump of them on a tree.  Enjoy and there will be more to come when we travel on to Las Cruces tomorrow. We have to move because the channel that the Packers is on does not come in on the TV where we are at.  

                                             *There are lazy minds as well as lazy bodies.*

Route 66

 We had no intention of traveling or stopping at any of the route 66 touristy spots alone the way and thus far have not.  What a crazy waist of time it would have been.  You see all the cool picture on line and in reality it is a bunch of run down towns much like Radiator Springs was before Mater and the gang revived it.  We did however only travel a couple hundred miles of it and blew right by all the crapola!  Yes there is history and yes it is a shame to see the towns just wasting away but on the other hand there is probably some really cheap real estate for anyone wanting to live in a desert waste land.

Dick golfed yesterday in the desert.  What a trip!!  Thus far I have not seen the beauty of the desert that everyone talks about but perhaps that is yet to come.  I may just be partial to grass and trees! I almost died when I saw a giant snake shed wrapped around a tumbleweedy cactus plant. As it turned out it was jus a piece of brown 1" weathered strap. Yea, I wouldn't have died any way. Snakes don't bother  me. We had plenty of black rat snakes living in our basement in Maryland. 

There was a pretty desert sunset at the camp last night and lots of prickly things!

we washed the bazillion bugs off the 5th wheel and the truck and are ready to roll. We should wait til tomorrow for there will probably be drinking and much needed R&R tonight! Going to visit the world biggest pistachio today. Watch for a most interesting update in the near future.

*Tricks and treachery are the practice of fools that have not wit enough to be honest*

Land

I have come to the conclusion that a lot of people out there own a shit ton of land that is just doing nothing. No farming, no animals, no nothing happening on it. Crazy wide open spaces!

We saw a million signs for FREE 72 oz steak in Amarillo, TX. We were pretty hungry so we decided to go. I am sure we could have eaten it in the alloted time. Who couldn't eat 4-1/2  pounds of steak!! S#%&!!  We missed the exit!! Granola bar/pretzel lunch it is!! Whats worse than missing the steak is missing the brewery which was on the same dang exit. AARG!! 

We passed by two herds of pronghorns! Sorry no picture cause we were flying by to quickly.  How do I know they were pronghorns???? I just do.  If you want to question my wild life identification skills, go ahead. I will unfriend you. Oh wait this isn't the Facebook!

No fun pictures today but if you want to make a gross dip to take to your next party.....this is it!!

Missouri/Oklahoma

Heading west through Missouri, we knew there would be more junkyards but never expected all the unique junkyards. We couldn't stop to take picture on the road we were on because there were no shoulders but we saw a soda machine junk yard and a construction equipment junkyard. There were also lots of car junkyards too. Sorry no junk pictures but they would have been awesome.

We got to our nightly destination (10/11) which was a casino.  We could have camped at a campground but why pay $40 dollars to stay one night when you can camp for free at most casinos & take that campground money and double it at the casino. Electric & water  are included with these free spots.  We visited with the Buffalo before heading inside to multiply our money but broke even. That's ok because then there was the beer money to play with now and just by chance there was a brewery! Yeah for us!!

We headed across Oklahoma which by the way is super boring most of the time and there were no stops for anything exciting. Ended up at another casino.  Still had our gambling money from the previous stop so tried our luck again and ended up even again.  We took a little walk and watched the sun set beyond the wind farm. 

Off tomorrow to a brewer in Amarillo, TX then to a campground in Tucumari, NM for two nights to replenish water and get rid of yucky water and stuff.  Should probably do laundry too.

                              * The most exquisite Folly is made of Wisdom spun to fine.*

 

 

On the road again!

We had a great last night in Kentucky with friends then headed out.

A great short visit in Fordsville, Kentucky with some of my family was next on the agenda! We parked a church parking lot close to my brothers and walked across the smallest graveyard ever to his house. A short but sweet visit roasting weenies and marshmallows for dinner and chit chatting!

We headed south and just like that...bam we hit the cotton fields!  We in the south baby!!  We criss crossed a few rivers to and saw a crazy bunch of people doing a relay run holding up traffic and passing batons.

We stayed at the WallyWorld in Dexter Missouri for the evening. 
More driving tomorrow. Hoping to end up at a casino near the Kansas border.

Until next time!!

*The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason.*