We left Elephant Butte this morning heading east. We left behind the rain of the previous week which had caused a bit of havoc in the area. Normal annual rainfall in Elephant Butte is 9.88 inches, last week we had a little over 10 inches. Needless to say the arroyos were full, roads were washed out and unfortunately there were a couple of deaths. As I made my way east I noticed that water had been over the road at San Antonio NM where the Rio Grande was running bank full. This is good for the Elephant Butte lake which rose last week 4.5 feet. I ended the day just south of Roswell in Dexter NM, a drive of 230 miles.
Monday 9/23/2013
Today was a driving day. We proceeded from Dexter, NM to Fort Stockton, TX with a stay at the Hilltop RV Park. The hill top setting gives a nice view of the mountains to the west and the lights of Fort Stockton to the east. A fuel up at Pecos in route indicated my mileage was 10.59 mpg on the trip from Elephant Butte. More success, both the Bronco's and the Cardinal's won their games. Total miles 201
Tuesday 9/24/2013
Today's drive from Fort Stockton to Del Rio was uneventful. As usual traffic was sparse. Less than ten vehicles passed me on their way north. One thing I was really struck by on the trip today was the brilliant green colors in what is normally a brown landscape. Recent rains have really brought the area to life. Miles today 174.
Wednesday 9/25/2013
Today we took two trips. First leaving Del Rio we drove 153 miles to Encinal where we stopped for a little over 3 hours to watch the Cardinals sweep the Nationals in an afternoon game. We also took the opportunity to stock up on Chester Fried Chicken. Then because we had lots of daylight yet to burn we set out for just north of Edinburg and tacked on another 161 miles Total for the day 314.
We arrived in time to get in the middle of the butterfly migration. There are a few butterflies that won't be making their trip to Mexico this year. They stopped abruptly when the met Mel's front end. Here are the results.
Thursday 9/26/2013
After leaving the RV Park at the crack of nine am and a stop at the Flying J to top off Mel's tank we arrived at J-5 around 10:30 having successfully withstood the arduous days journey of 30 miles. Right away I saw a couple of familiar faces. Jack and Kathy and Mike and Shirley were the first to greet me. A stop off at the office and a meeting with the new manager, Marcella. I signed the necessary papers that are now a part of checking in. We now sign the Park Handbook and a bio sheet with emergency numbers, etc, nothing new or worrisome that I saw here. I then headed to rescue PaT and put him back in service. PaT didn't summer well. I found one low tire, the other three were totally flat. The power supply for the electrical wouldn't even accept a charge so I guess a new battery is in PaT's future, too. Other than that, the Cruiser is ready to roll. I then reclaimed Mel's spot and got the electricity hooked up. For some reason the satellite didn't want to lock on so I repositioned several times before it finally locked. By then it was siesta time and the rest of the setup will be done tomorrow.
Friday 9/27/2013
Today I worked on more of the setup and with the weather around here it presented problems. Today the temperature hit 98 degrees and the humidity has been running 98% . This combination makes it very difficult to get a good satellite fix. I ended up moving back and forth about 6 times before I finally locked on the bird and got a picture. The other project for today was to set up an appointment with the Pep Boys to get service on Monday for PaT. Finding 3.5 tires flat doesn't instill a lot of confidence in their ability to stay inflated so I decided to have a flat bed tow truck come Monday and haul us to the shop. New tires are in order plus a new battery should make things a bit more dependable. Time now to watch the Cardinals beat the Cubs.
Saturday 9/28/2013
Today was weekend mode with the normal activity of watching football and baseball. Cardinals won, Irish didn't. David stopped by this morning and Mel got his fall bath. After all the butterfly's were removed it turns out Mel is white, who would have guessed. Still too warm to do much outside, 100 today and 98% humidity again. another week of enjoying the good life has passed.
It's Sunday morning, and you blog post is up, now I feel much better. I will savor every bit of it and re-read it during the week to tease out every nuance. Good on ya, John!
ReplyDeleteThanks Russ, should be good for inducing a nap.
DeleteI really like your new way of blogging. I clicked on the picture of your truck. It looked bad (meaning covered with butterfly remains) but enlarged,.... my oh my You really had your work cut out for you cleaning that mess up!!! Have a great week. Looking forward to your blog next week.
ReplyDeleteThanks Betty, The wash about did David in even with his power washer.
DeleteGlad to see you made it to you "winter" home. Maybe you get those temps down before we get there next weekend.
ReplyDeleteWe both are cheering for winning teams. My Cleveland Indians are in the wildcard race....YIPEEEEE!
I'm working on the temperatures, not much luck so far.
DeleteMe thinks you arrived a wee bit early. With temps like that I'd probably not want to get there quite so soon. Hopefully AZ won't be quite that bad next week when we get there. I was sure glad to read that the lake had gone up so much. That really is a good thing. And green stuff in TX is just about unheard of. We didn't ride the train in Virginia City. We thought about it but Jim was tired and we just said, enough and went home.
ReplyDeleteThe train will be waiting for you next time. It's probably just as well if Jim was tired because the train arrives three blocks below the main street and you would be tired climbing that hill.
DeleteGlad to see you remembered to post. That kind of heat would about fry my brain.
ReplyDeleteI just kept wondering all week what that string was doing around my finger. Finally figured it out.
DeleteGlad to see you didn't try to reclaim Paul Dahl's record from him on your way back.
ReplyDeleteHaving to get Pat serviced so soon after getting home is not a way of Enjoying the Good Life. Be Safe!
It's about time.
The repairs were going to happen anyway so I wasn't surprised.
DeleteThat is a lot of road time!
ReplyDeleteAt a leisurely pace.
DeleteLots of driving for you this week but at least now you are settled in. But the temps are to much for me. That was what I found here in mid July. YUCK! Sure glad your back posting
ReplyDeleteIt's a little warm right now, but that will change in a couple of weeks.
DeleteYou returned to South Texas as I am leaving, I am in San Antonio and who knows where else I will end up this winter.
ReplyDeleteJust remember to stay warm.
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