June 23
After
10 days exploring Fort Stanton-Snowy River Cave National Conservation
Area it was time to move. So on over to I-25 and a stop at a Passport
America site we like right off the interstate and at US 60. Just south
of Albuquerque so we can make a mid day push through the city traffic.
50 amp and wide sites, all pull thru and for $14. Oh and great Verizon
4G
We had reservations for Cochitti
Lake COE but not until June 28 but I have been following closley
the Reservation.gov web site watching the only two walk-in sites
to see if we gould get there early and grab one of those. Site 55
was to open up on Thurdsay June 23. So when we got to the
campground it was occupied but they said they were packing up and would
be leaving. We waited for them to leave and were a little worried
as the guard shack didn't open till 4 PM. As we were pulling into the
now vacant site a park atrtendent pullled up and said not a problem
just come down at 4 to sign in.
This is why I wanted this site. Take a look. Remember alll weekends the
reservied sites are booked and next weekend being the 4th. And
the site I orig. had to book was not going to be very nice so getting
this site was a big WOW. So the attendent was nice and cancaled the
orig. site and made it all good for us to staty and check out July
6. The orig. reservation was in the old campground and not very
nice at all. Would have not been a happy camper at all. No views, no
shelter, no water, and not big for our rig, truck and car.
Now the site... We have stayed here several times over the years.
Close to Santa Fe sio Terry can explore. Gunna a be a great.
What a view.
If you look close you can see the water misters we hung in the
shelter. And my NEW Caravan Sports Infinity Oversized Zero
Gravity Chair which I ordered through Amazon. Now the rest of that
story. Since it was so big I didn't think I could get it sent
General Dilvery to the Post Office. So I started calling Private Mail
Services, UPS, and FedEX to see if they would let me send it to them.
The mail services refused said because of Homland Securty I would have
to have a box with them first. The guy at FedEx said ok send it
to them. To their wisdon Amazon shipped it USPS. Now how do I get USPS
to drop this off at a FedEx office. On Friday it was out for
delivery, so off we went to Albuquerque
to the FedEx Ship Center. As soon as a walked in the door my contact
came up to me and said their was a misunderstanding as they thought I
was sending it FedEx. I said with Amazon you can't choose. He
understood. But they did have the recliner and he rushed it out to our
car as he said he wanted to get it out of the office before his manager
saw it.
 
- 5.3 inches wider
than the standard model
- Durable textaline
fabric suspended by double bungee system
- Dual finger tip
locking system
- Relax with the
smooth recline function that locks in any position, adjustable
headrest/lumbar support
- Supports up to 330
lbs.
- Multiple recline
position
- Made with durable
textilene
And MORE to this I also ordered a small side Utility Tray.
Guess what Amazon sent it UPS. So I was able to get that diverted from
going to the FedEx location address, but to the UPS depot for pickup.
Now time to go out and sit in it and listen to Cusin Brucie on XM 6.
BTW I Love the recliner.
June 22
After
Roswell, NM for a week off to highter ground and cooler temps we hope.
So off west up US 380
to the Fort
Stanton-Snowy River Cave National Conservation Area
to
Historic
Lincoln, NM
Lincoln
is a community frozen in time. Lincoln Historic Site, a National
Historical Landmark, preserves numerous historical buildings much as
they were during one of the most violent periods of New Mexico history.
President
Rutherford B. Hayes called Lincoln’s main street “the most dangerous
street in America.” In this quiet one-street community visitors can
walk in the footsteps of Sheriff Pat Garrett, Billy the Kid, and other
infamous characters involved in the Lincoln County War, 1878-1881.
and
to Fort Stanton Historic Site
History of Fort
Stanton
Fort Stanton was built in 1855 by soldiers of the 1st Dragoon and the
3rd and 8th Infantry Regiments to serve as a base of operations against
the Mescalero Apache Indians.
The Fort was seized by Confederate forces in 1861.
In
1899, however, the US Public Health Service acquired the Fort as a
tuberculosis hospital for the Merchant Marine. Selected for its
healthful climate, it served some 5,000 sailor patients between 1899
and 1953, 1,500 of whom are buried in the Maritime Cemetery on a
hillside overlooking the Fort.
During the Great Depression, Fort Stanton was home to a CCC work
camp, which later served as the internment site for German merchant
seamen from the German luxury liner, S.S. Columbus, which was scuttled
outside of New York to prevent its capture by the British.
In
1953, the Fort was given to the State of New Mexico and used first as a
tubercular hospital and then, from the 1960’s until 1995, as the State
Hospital for the Developmentally Handicapped. For a short time it was a
low security women’s prison and has housed several juvenile, drug and
alcohol rehabilitation programs.
Just
a couple of places to explore. Our boondocking campsite. We have spent
10 days right here just relaxing and touring the area.
June 8
We have been happy campers for a change. That is after a stint of
having the truck in the Chevy dealer in Roswell for overheating issues.
 Our
03 Chevy Duramax overheated pullingthey 5th wheel going up to
Cloudcroft, NM on the HW that ascends 5 K ft in 16 miles. We took it
into Desert Sun Chevy in Roswell to have the oil changed and radiator
flushed. They called back and said the coolant was good but thought the
radiator was clogged not inside but outside in the fins as it was
running warm at idle. So they pulled it and took 6 hours to clean. Very
dirty. Also cleaned trans cooler, AC Condensor,
Changed air cooler. New coolant and changed oil all for $503. I thought
that was a bargain. They had it all day Thursday and Friday and Sat AM.
Said it was full of dirt and bugs. Oh, and the mechanic who did the
work said the radiator in my truck was originally designed for a gas
chevy engine so it was a little underrated for this truck. He didn't
want to return the truck till it was in tip top condition. An 18-year
employee in their service dept. I'm a Happy camper to be sure.
While they were working on the truck we went on down south and went
through Carlsbad
Caverns.
It was much more than I had expected. I did NOT like the elevator ride
at all. Going down was OK but coming back up was scary. They had
windows in the doors and you could watch the rock walls glide by only
inches away. You could see if it stopped there would no space to get
out the doors. And it was 75 stories straight down. The elevator has a
weight limit and good for only 8 people at a time. A ranger tried to
ride on our trip going up but the door would not shut so she had to get
off to satisfy the weight limit. At that moment I just wanted to get
off.
June 6
When
we woke up on Sunday we decided NOT to to back up to Lincoln NF to the
below overflow campground.
Ya know it just hit us as we don't want to support a FS concessionaire
who want to be like the airlines and charge for everything extra. $16
at the overglow area.
1-family
unit: $20
per night
Extra
Vehicle: $9
per night per vehicle
Showers (available at Silver
CG): $5 per person per use
RV
Dump Station (available at Silver
CG): $5 per use
Water:
$0.25 per gallon after 1st free 5 gallons
Trash:
$2.50 per bag per day
Firewood (if available): $6
per bag/bundle
Those prices for EVERY LITTLE THING is just nuts. You even have to pay
to dump when leaving a paid for campsite.
And $2.50 a day for trash.
So
we headed down to Roswell, NM to a CampgroundAmerica Parkr
Midway RV
Park NM
Nice pull through 50 amp (non metered) for week for $108. Now we can
relax and later go down to Carlsbad Caverns and just explore the area.
Ya we are in Roswell, NM home of the July 1947 UFO
Incident.
I was born in July 1947 at 7 1/2 months so kind of feel this is a
homecoming for me.
Before
we left Benson I ordered a TV wall mount
from Amazon so we could wtch DirecTV outside.
June 4
We
are up at Couldcroft, NM at a little under 9K feet. I wanted to
find a boondocking site I found on the web south of here. We spent
several hours using the car to scope it out but took many wrong back
roads and when we finialy found it, it was getting late and the site
was way more in the back country than what we wanted to pull teh
5er. So we moved the 5er from where we had parked it in
Cloudcroft and headed to a RV park we had seen on the main HW.
We found Cool
Pines RV Park a nice place to call home for a day or two as we
were tired of driving the car to scope out the area. Now
Cool Pines rates are $26.60 with 5% discount for over 62 or an RV club
etc. Not boondocking but with 50 amp/water and WiFi of over 11 Meg
what's not to like. Nice level and open so we could get the DirecTV
dish up and running. Sure we have our own Sat Internet but it is
about 1.2 Meg. Good when off road to be sure. And Cell phone Verizon
unlimited internet hotspot when in range so we are not hurting for
internet most times.
I commented to the host about the wonderful fast WiFi and she said...
Others (seasonals) are always complaining about the speed. I told her a
solid 11 Meg download was super fast for any RV park. I think I got a
smile out of her. As I write this I tested again and got 11 Meg.
WOW.
We went to Cloudcroft, NM for lunch a the popular Big Daddy's and
had a great meal.
It opened up with a afternoon cloud burst. It's what makes things
so green up here.
We miss the green over in AZ. So it's nice to be amongst all this
green.
Now we are thinking if we had trudged on down to the boondocking site
in the above pic. we might now be regretting it as only one area had
gravel and the rest had grass and even when we were there it was kind
of just drying up from rain. Think what we would have been in for if we
had moved there as it has been more rain. Might of had to wait it out
for days to get out of there, me thinks.
As for leaving here in the AM we found on a drive after lunch in town
an FS RV camping site with a huge 56 site overflow section. Now
I'm just pissed about FS service campgrounds in this area. $20 a night
$9 for an extra vehicle. Charge extra for garbage pickup at site, and
you get 5 gal of water and pay extra over that. And pay for dump even
if you already paid $20 for a site. RV parks are less than that
Concessionaire companies who the FS has let ran loose to over price us.
Not good. They are still just nuts that they lost the fight over
still letting us get 1/2 price for Golden Users campground fees. So
they can charge $9 for an extra vehicle still makes their profit
margin. .
But
we found a FS site (they callit an overflow site) so they can't charge
as much as regular sites. It has a huge area where we can park and have
picnic table and fires ring for $16 ($8 golden access) and no fee for
extra vehicle. And it's close to Cloudcroft. Think we are
heading on over there tomorrow. This is just a big parking lot
for overflow BUT around the edges are a couple of great sites to camp.
Not a great Google Earth shot but as you can see this is a wide open
area with plenty of sun for solar, unlike so many FS sites tucked back
in the the forest. We paln on going to the far right edge just up from
the out house where there are steps up to picnic tables and fires rings
in the trees, perfect. Sun from the south and shade on the north.
Sure this is a big open area but just what we are looking for.
This is what it looks like in prime season on the east side of the lot.
OK
so we are traveling. After leaving Las Cruses NM and several miles on
US 70, a four lane highway I heard a screeching noise and right away
thought a wheel bearing had gone out on the truck or 5th wheel. I got
pulled over low and behold it wasn't a bearing but the 5th wheel
leveling jack had dropped down and was scraping on the highway. Lucky
the end is tapered so it didn't catch and bend. Boy did we luck out.
Pic is from the web not ours.
Later
heading up to Cloudcroft NM the HW ascends 5 thousand feet in 16 miles.
Got to within 2 miles of the top and the truck overheated and I had to
pull over and let it cool down. Warning dings and dash readout said
Engine Coolant HOT and Low oil pressure.
NEVER had that happen in all the years we have been
traveling all over the West in the mountains. It also was hot outside.
Let it cool down and made it to town. And now in an RV park as our
planned on boondocking site was too hard to get to. One stressful day.
Per a facbook suggestion gonna get the oil changed right away.
June 1
It's
gonna be about 120° in parts of AZ this weekend. Time to get the
hell out of there. So after Terry working very hard for several days to
get everything ready it was time to go. But one last thing needed to be
done. Mow where the trailer has been parked. Got to keep the growth
down as later after the monsoon rains and things dry out have to worry
about wildfires. Note: to Myles... We try. Notice how well the trailer
shines. Terry removed the oxidation and waxed to it to a brilliant
shine. He also waxed the truck.
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