Day One in Big Spring

Oct 9^th

We really wanted to go to the Air show in Midland but it was a fifty mile drive and after talking it over we decided to just take a day off.

No photos today.

Van Horn to Big Springs

Oct 8^th

Well, it was a nice drive… no winds to speak of, no dust storms, only a light sprinkle the last three miles and we got in and set up by 2:00 PM. Oh yeah, it’s only about 55 degrees out, but the thunder and lightning seem to be passing to the northwest.

Working oil derricks everywhere

Some sort of big chemical processing plant

One we left I-10 and got on TX-20 it looked like we were passing through a serious oil basin. Everywhere we looked along both sides of the road are oil derricks and what appear to be big chemical factories. The air has a noticeable petroleum aroma mixed with overtones of burning methane and natural gas.

When we arrived in Big Spring and turned off TX-20 we noticed two BBQ places. Later research shows they both have a four star rating from customers. I think we may have to do a Sunday dinner at one of them. Report to follow…

On the pad at Texas RV Park of Big Springs

A few miles after arriving in Big Spring we drove into Texas RV Park of Big Springs we were met by one of the owners. He gave us our registration papers and said to check back Monday morning and pay for our stay. Then he had us follow him to our site where we got set up and squared away.

Since the dogs needed to go out, we hooked them up and went for a walk. Stopping by the new game room we met the owner again and he gave us the cooks tour of their facility and told us about the trails we could walk. His last comment was about their indoor pool. When I asked where it was he said, “over by the office.”

We continued our walk and went over to the office building to check out the pool. We managed to go all around the building before we found the entrance door. Looking in we found the pool. It looked really nice and inviting except for one problem… drum roll please… it was empty! 

Oh well, I really didn’t want to go swimming anyway – heh, heh. Yikes! That’s a good example of “Cognitive dissonance”. I found this term when I was researching one of the authors I’m reading, Nathan Lowell – www. http://solarclipper.com/.

I see that our after dinner tea is ready so I’ll sign off for now.

Miles driven today, 229. Total for the trip so far, 2,553 miles.

To see all our photos, go to:

http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdolanski

Las Cruces, NM to Van Horn, TX

Oct 7^th

Leaving Las Cruces NM for Van Horn TX

Left Las Cruces about 9:30 this morning. 

Leaving El Paso - the city that never ends...

Other than steady crosswinds , the drive was nice once we got through El Paso. 

The rocks above our rest stop

We stopped once for fuel and once to walk the dogs. Because we crossed into Central Time we actually arrived at 2:45 PM. So we had a late lunch/early dinner and settled in for the rest of the day.

On the pad at the Van Horn KOA

In planning our drive for tomorrow, I called the RV Park in Odessa and found out they were full – there’s an Air Show in Midland this weekend. After consulting our Trailer Life Campground Guide and the internet we finally found a place to stay in Big Springs, TX. It added another 57 miles to the day but we really wanted to do some exploring in the area.

Miles driven today, 168. Total for the trip so far, 2,324 miles.

To see all our photos, go to:

http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdolanski

Benson to Las Cruces, NM

Oct 6^th

Since we planned a short drive today, we spent a relaxing morning reading and watching TV. Around 9:00 AM I headed in to town to the RV Repair place to find a bulb for our built-in night light in the WC. This place turned out to be the local towing company, auto garage and repair shop in an old, old adobe garage. But, they had the bulb! Simply amazing! With two bulbs in hand for a total of $1, I headed back to the coach and replaced the burned out bulb. Success! 

With that out of the way, we loaded the car on the tow dolly, brought in the slides, brought up the jacks and disconnected the septic, power, cable and water. After a final walk around we pulled out of the campground and headed for I-10 E and Lordsburg New Mexico.

Because of revisions to our stops in Arizona and recognizing we didn’t want to stay in El Paso and due to not having RV Parks that support big rigs just anywhere, we spent some time with the maps and internet to set a route that kept us from doing a 285 mile hop to get past El Paso. What we ended up with was a couple of short days, Buckeye to Eloy – 100 mi, Eloy to Benson – 100 mi, Benson to Lordsburg 109 mi and Lordsburg to Las Cruces – 114 mi and then a 168 mile drive to Van Horn Texas.

From Arizona to New Mexico in the blink of an eye

So today we drove to Lordsburg, NM. Very little traffic, light winds, an easy drive. The miles went by quickly and soon we pulled off the freeway and drove to the Lordsburg KOA. The normal process is to pull up outside the office, go in and register and follow the camp host to your site. The sign on the office said “Back at 2:00”, so we checked their site map and figured we’d just pull into a spot and register later.
Unfortunately, though there were plenty of sites, most were too short for us to do a “pull thru”. So we talked it over and decided to push on to Demming as that was only another 60 miles down the road.

TeePee at the Continental Divide Trading Post

We made one stop at the Continental Divide Trading Post to walk the dogs. Located on I-10 between Lordsburg and Deming, it offers tons of odd, strange souvenirs as well as (strange enough) fireworks. A few steps from the store are the remains of an abandoned gas station and a large teepee (which, as far as I could see, does not serve any obvious purpose). We walked through the "store" and Tina bought some postcards then we headed back to the coach to have lunch.

Continental Divide

Returning to I-10 we pulled onto the freeway and continued east - into more dust storms and major gusting crosswinds! As we crossed the Continental Divide the wind died down and there was little dust in the air. Surprisingly we had gotten up to an elevation of 4,585 feet. 

Ya Think?

The start of a dust storm

Then it was back to the high crosswinds and dust. With Tina checking the map, we decided to try and get past the dust so we opted not to stop at Deming but continue on to Las Cruces hoping to escape the high winds and blowing dust. Fortunately the dust storms were never as severe as the one we went through south of Tucson. But the gusting crosswinds really kept me on my toes to keep the rig in our lane!

On the pad at Hacienda RV and Rally Resort

With light traffic continuing to favor us we made it into the Hacienda RV and Rally Resort in Las Cruces right around 3:30 PM, we got registered and set up within 15 minutes of our arrival. It’s still very windy but at least there’s no dust. Taking the dogs for a walk we talked about our plans and after reviewing our route, it looks like we’ll only spend one night here and at the next couple of stops so we can get to the Texas Hill country. We want to spend about ten days in the general area between Odessa and Austin.

After dinner I finished the blog and photos and settled in to relax for the rest of the evening.

Miles driven today, 223. Total for the trip so far, 2,156 miles.

To see all our photos, go to:

http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdolanski

Eloy to Benson

Oct 5^th

Well, things seem to be getting back to normal with everything working – yea! We planned a short drive today so we could have time to do a thorough cleaning to get the dust out. With morning chores taken care of we pulled out and crossed the freeway to the big Travel Center for diesel and a truckers breakfast.

On the pad at Pato Lakes RV Park

We hit the freeway headed east about 9:40 AM and made the 100 mile drive to Benson, pulling into the Pato Lakes RV Park by 11:30 AM. Once we were parked and set up, we got the cleaning stuff out – vacuum, steamer and dust rags. Tina started with the fridge, wiping it down inside, throwing out all the spoiled food and opening a new box of baking soda. Then it was on to wiping down all the surfaces, yuck, then vacuuming the entire coach with the steamer running across the hardwood floors as a final clean. Whew!!

With that done we dropped the car and headed for Walmart to get grocery’s and to replace all the food we lost in the fridge. From Walmart we stopped at Subway to grab a sandwich to take home for lunch. Returning to the coach we unloaded the car, put most stuff away and had a bite to eat. After we finished lunch and putting away the rest of the groceries Tina stripped the bed and collected the laundry to take over to the laundry room.

While the wash was started I changed into my swim suit and checked out the pool – cold, only about 70 degrees. So I went in the hot tub instead for a good soak followed by  letting Tina in to the pool area so we could sit and read for a while, letting the laundry run. Eventually we pulled all our stuff out of the dryers, folded the clothes and hauled it all back to the coach.

Punky and Tina watching TV

Once the bed was made and clothes put away we pretty much called it a day… in fact it was almost 5:30 PM so we had a late dinner and watched a little TV before heading to bed.

Total miles for today, 100. Total for the trip so far, 1,933 miles.

No photos today.