Benson, AZ

We left Deming, NM on Sunday and arrived in Benson after meeting up with Rick and Y in Wilcox for a Subway lunch.  We are staying at the Escapee Park called SKP Saguaro Co-Op.  We got a nice site and everyone in the park is extremely friendly.  Too bad there is a 6 to 8 year waiting list to get one of the leased sites. 

As we were finishing getting set up, I was thinking I wonder if there is anybody here that we know.  Low and behold I hear voices and John is visiting with Art and Connie.  What a pleasant surprise.  Our paths have crossed over the years and we last saw them in Eagle Nest when they dropped by to say hello.  They had just arrived in the park a bit earlier than us from Wilcox LOL.  We also learned that they also will be heading to Tucson on Sunday and will be staying for a week at the same park where we will be wintering.  

Today, we went with Rick and Y for a drive to Sierra Vista and Tombstone to show them the lay of the land.  We also stopped at RV park Tombstone Territories (we've stayed there before) to show Rick and Y the park as a possible wintering site.  From their comments, we think they liked what they saw.

We lost an hour when we left New Mexico for Arizona and with that it is getting dark sooner. It seems we are all having a bit of adjustment as the four of us tonight were looking rather tired and yawning so we called it an early evening. 

Happy Halloween! 

Deming, NM

Left Elephant Butte at 10 a.m. and pulled into the Escapee's RV Park, Dream Catcher, here in Deming around noon.  I like those short travel days!  We will be here for two nights before heading west as part of our slow migration back to Tucson for the winter.  

A must stop for us was a linner (lunch/dinner combo) at Si Senor after getting ourselves settled in.  Linner did not disappoint and as usual John finished off what I couldn't eat.

Other than laundry, not too sure what is on the agenda which is fine with me.

Elephant Butte Lake, New Mexico

We arrived Sunday from Albuquerque.  We were shocked at how low the lake is as compared to when we were here in 2009.  We've heard that it is almost 50% below average.

As we were able to get the same site that we were in when we last visited, here is a picture of the lake taken in April 2009 from our site:

and yesterday from the same site:

Shocking isn't it?  The area all to the left is dry where there was once water.  Forecasters predict another dry year for the southwest.  If that is the case, who knows what the lake will look like next year.

We've done some geocaching and we were able to finally drop off our Madame Bajoules (a cute blue fish) that is a travel bug.  The fish has an identifying number that allows the originator to track the travels of the item as it moves from cache to cache.  Unfortunately, we had possession of Madame Bajoules for two years.  We picked her up in Valley of the Gods in Utah October 28, 2009 and finally deposited her in Elephant Butte October 24, 2011.  Must admit that there were times when we simply forgot we had her and when we did remember, the caches we found were simply to small for her size.  I don't think we want the responsibility of any more travel bugs especially one of any size.

We did have some excitement the other evening.  We have a bucket near our sink to contain our rinse water and such to help stretch out our grey tank as we have no hook-ups and will be here for five days.  Upon our return home from playing cards at Rick and Y's, I happened to look in the bucket as I went to the sink and much to my shock and surprise, there was a mouse trying to get out of the bucket with about two inches of water.  WHAT??!!!  Needless to say, the bucket and him/her went right out the door.  How the heck did a mouse get in?  We believe that when the grey tank was replaced, the underbelly as not stretched as tight as it had been originally so there were a couple of possible access points.  John took care of the biggest offender that evening and then was under the rig in the morning taking care of any other possible entry spots.  We don't believe the mouse was in the rig for that long as there weren't that many mouse droppings in the basement.  Everything in the basement was removed and checked (he got in to some sunflower seeds - must have been a happy critter) and the floor vacuumed.  So how did he get inside?  We think running up the sewer EZ Pivot, through an access point to the basement through the ductwork and then up through the vent.  When we went to town, we got some mouse traps and set them up in the basement.  So far, no more critters and we hope it stays that way.

Many thanks to Rick and Y, who so graciously lent us their Pep Wave signal repeater so that we could connect to their internet signal.  Otherwise, there would be no post.  Here is a picture of the parking of the two rigs:

Oops, just got word that Rick and Y now have a mouse visiting them in their rig.  Luckily, we have two extra mouse traps to share with them. This is the first time for them as well to have any mice/mouse issues.  We are in the desert but have been many times over the years with no mouse issues.  The only difference is that we've both had our underbelly's removed recently for tank replacements.  Coincidence?  Update on mice issue: Dyer/Prather 2 - Mice 0  whoo hoo.

Albuquerque, NM

Left Eagle Nest on Sunday. After saying our goodbyes, we got on the road around 10:30. After a stop for fuel (truck and us) in Las Vegas, NM, we pulled in to our RV park a little after 4 p.m. The traffic was light and the wind did kick up a bit but nothing like yesterday. We were very thankful we chose to leave when we did. I'm updating the blog on my cell phone as my computer does not have wifi access so I may not be posting to any great length for a while. Gotta go as we are headed to Trader Joe's this morning. Yahoo!!! It is wonderful being back in a big city . . . at least for a few days LOL.

Quiet and windy here in Eagle Nest, NM

The snow and power outage over the weekend has been the most interesting things going on here the past few days.  John has one more day of workamping and then we will turn our sights on to getting ready to  head out on Sunday.  That is, if a package that I am waiting on arrives prior to Sunday (I have my fingers crossed).  Where are we headed you ask:  Albuquerque for a week of hopefully warmer temperatures and some retail therapy.  Actually not retail so much but a visit to Trader Joe's and Whole Foods is big on my list.  

Until later . . . 

Snow + no power = cold

The weather forecast was for snow during the evening and overnight.  The forecast was correct as it started snowing around 8 p.m.  During the night, the power went off a couple of times and then stayed off around 2:30 a.m.  John was just getting ready to start up the generator when the power came on around 7 a.m. - yahoo! Trying to be good neighbors, we didn't want to start up the generator before 7 a.m. unlike our neighbor in a motor home who started their generator up around 3:30 a.m.  Outside temperature was 31.5* when we got up while the inside temperature was 44*.  The furnace was set to come on at 55* but with no power, we turned it off so that it wouldn't drain our batteries during the night.  The heat from the furnace was much appreciated this morning.

This is what we woke up to:

Took this shot of John's flip flops that he leaves outside.  Not surprising, he wasn't interested in putting them on LOL.

This storm was a bit unusual/early but weather will be back to normal within a few days.   The sun is now shining,  the wind has come up, and it is currently 33* at 9 a.m.  Who knows, we may get more snow later today.  As we have no place we have to be, we will just sit back and enjoy whatever mother nature throws at us.

Road trip, work, batteries

On Monday, we took a road trip with Rick and Y through Taos and up through the mountains towards Chimayo.  We stopped at Rancho de Chimayo were we had a very tasty lunch. Then on to Espanola where we made a quick grocery stop, headed back towards Taos and then back home to Eagle Nest.  Whew, it was a long day but a good one.

Here is a picture of Rick, Y, and John in front of the Rancho de Chimayo.  Notice all of the red chili ristras hanging like bead strands.

Tuesday thru Thursday were work days.  The retaining wall construction got finished up (other than back-fill).  Finishing up handling all of those creosote soaked railroad ties for the retaining wall was a relief to the guys.  Boy, were they dirty at the end of each day!

Next up will be fixing an erosion problem under the stairs from the upper level to the lower level.  This too will involve more railroad ties but at least not as many will be handled as in building the retaining wall.  Most people don't realize that there is always something needing to be done at an RV park.  

Here is a picture of John with Golden Eagle RV Park owner, Bruce Manakas, discussing who knows what LOL. 

Bruce and Bridgette provide lunch for the working staff.  Even though I am not working, I have been graciously included.  An added bonus this past week was that dinner was also provided with us bringing a dish to add.  The family style atmosphere has been very enjoyable and it is nice that everyone is so congenial.

Friday was our day to run in to Taos for some shopping.  Little did we know that our plans would include new batteries for the truck.  We went to leave Friday morning and the truck wouldn't start.  Rick gave us a jump start so we could get to Taos.  The batteries were four years old and we had been told that one cell was bad back in Cortez, CO but we were hoping that they would last until we got back to Tucson.  With the cool temperatures at night, it wasn't to be.  Now we should be good to go for at least another four years.

Saturday, John and Rick put in our new water pump so that deed is done.  John was also able to exercise the generator, vacuum out the basement, and reorganize the basement. Amazingly, every time John does reorganize, we have a bit more room.  The downside is that arrangement of the basement is much like a jigsaw puzzle, all the contents must go in their proper place. The basement is John's . . . an area where I am not allowed LOL!  We had a fun evening at Rick and Y's along with Lee and Connie where we shared a pot-luck dinner, played some Pegs and Jokers, and laughed a lot.

Sunday was a kick-back kind of day.  The six of us played Pegs and Jokers down in the Rec Room in the evening.  Bruce and Bridgette were able to join in for the final game.  After four games, we were tied as it was the gals versus the guys.

A while back, Rick bought new 17" wheels and J rated tires for their fifth wheel.  Lee and Connie are installing Rick's old tires on their fifth wheel as Rick's old tires are higher rated than what Lee and Connie currently have on their fifth wheel. So it is a win - win situation for everyone.  John and Rick are helping Lee to install the wheels/tires this morning.   What is left on the agenda for the day, who knows.

Life is Good!