This is just an update till we get someplace where we have a really good cell phone signal. We have been at the Rally where we were dry camping (no hook-ups), and some places where we had little or no signal. We have some great pictures to share, but the signal has to be good to get the pictures all downloaded to Picasa. We revisited Tucumcari, New Mexico, and have spent some time in the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge. What a great place that was. Wait till you see the pictures.
Tomorrow we will be heading toward Branson Missouri. We are hoping to stay at the SKP park there, and then attend the Escapade. Maybe take in a couple of shows. As you can tell we are heading east. We hope to be home come the second week of June. It'll be good to be around family for a while. I have finished another blanket, and will be donating it for the CARE booth. It just needs the finishing touches. While we sit for a few days I'll catch up on some things that need to be done.
Right now we staying at an RV park that is loaded with bird life. They have feeders and houses out all over, and I am so enjoying it. I purchased a new bird book, and it is proving to be great. I bet we wake up to beautiful music tomorrow. Here's hoping for a great connection.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Trips From the Ranch
The area within a few miles of the Ranch SKP park is rich in history and places to visit. Yesterday we did the trip to Carlsbad Caverns. It's about 50 miles away. As we drove up the National Park road we knew we would stop to take pictures on the way back. Very scenic. You have to check in as soon as you get into the building, pay for what ever tour you would like. There were quite a few to choose from. We opted for the self guided walking tour. Down we went 75 stories. Then we started walking. It was quite breathtaking. It's hard to get really good pictures because of the darkness. Tom did what he could. Other people had tripods set up. Really like pros. Well, we like what we saw, plus we got some good exercise while we were at it. When we came out we took some photos of the view from the top of the mountain. Magnificent. You could see for ever and a day. On the way down we did the same. Nothing like the high desert.
Today we went of to Roswell. About 70 miles away, it's the home of the UFO Museum. We walked around the exhibits and saw the short documentary. It's a lot of reading, and some repetition. Everyone makes up their own minds about what really happened in 1947 in the month of July. It was all pretty interesting, and we were glad we went. After the museum we went to get some Mexican food at the place down the street. It was OK. I would say average. Then we hit a T-shirt store for the grandson. Then we were on the way home.
In the little town of Artesia we stopped to take some pictures of the Trail Boss. It's a sculpture in the middle of town. In a couple of days we are going back to take the walking tour to see the rest of the sculptures they have located around the town. That way we get to see some of the place, and we get to meet some of the locals. That's what we like.
Tomorrow is a some cleaning and down time. It seems the wind is coming back as I'm writing. I hope we get some sleep tonight. Good thing we have nothing planned for tomorrow.
Today we went of to Roswell. About 70 miles away, it's the home of the UFO Museum. We walked around the exhibits and saw the short documentary. It's a lot of reading, and some repetition. Everyone makes up their own minds about what really happened in 1947 in the month of July. It was all pretty interesting, and we were glad we went. After the museum we went to get some Mexican food at the place down the street. It was OK. I would say average. Then we hit a T-shirt store for the grandson. Then we were on the way home.
In the little town of Artesia we stopped to take some pictures of the Trail Boss. It's a sculpture in the middle of town. In a couple of days we are going back to take the walking tour to see the rest of the sculptures they have located around the town. That way we get to see some of the place, and we get to meet some of the locals. That's what we like.
Tomorrow is a some cleaning and down time. It seems the wind is coming back as I'm writing. I hope we get some sleep tonight. Good thing we have nothing planned for tomorrow.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
The Drive to The Ranch
The day started out with our slide popping. We didn't know where the sound came from. Tom went up to the office to pay, and I found the problem. We had forgotten to remove the censor for the indoor-outdoor thermometer. I opened the slide and took it off. It closed fine. We started the 2 hour journey. A few miles up the road we saw a sign that said no vehicles over 11,000 pounds. Well, since we are about 26,000 we took the detour road. It took us miles out of our way. The road was so bad it was a miracle that anything worked when we stopped. We went on and on for miles. Then the wind came up. It was really bad. At one point we had to stop for Tom to check on things because a gust had blown something at us, and it made a terrible bang. We thought we had blown a tire. It must have been a stone or some sort of litter. Our 2 hour journey ended up to be about 4 hours of rough road and terrible winds.
When we finally got to the Ranch, we pulled in right behind a fifth wheel. We couldn't believe it was Deb and Rod from our class rally. That was the second time we met them by accident since leaving Bourne. They will be here for about 3 nights, We may stay for the week. The Ranch is near Carlsbad, and we want to see the Caverns. There is plenty to keep us busy while here. The folks greeted us with big SKP hugs. The wind just keeps blowing. In fact, it is still blowing. Here it is after noon on Saturday, and the wind isn't letting up. Poor Emily has been rocking for 24 hours now. It was so bad during the night that Tom got out of bed about 3:00 and stayed up. I stayed in bed just going in and out of sleep. This is the worst we have seen. No one is outside, and we don't plan on go out either. It's like a 24 hour earthquake. It's not supposed to stop till later on tonight or tomorrow morning.
I'm going to make dinner, and we'll enjoy some movies or whatever. Later the NCAA games will be on. We'll make it though and travel on. They say if you don't like the weather today stick around. That's what we plan to do.
When we finally got to the Ranch, we pulled in right behind a fifth wheel. We couldn't believe it was Deb and Rod from our class rally. That was the second time we met them by accident since leaving Bourne. They will be here for about 3 nights, We may stay for the week. The Ranch is near Carlsbad, and we want to see the Caverns. There is plenty to keep us busy while here. The folks greeted us with big SKP hugs. The wind just keeps blowing. In fact, it is still blowing. Here it is after noon on Saturday, and the wind isn't letting up. Poor Emily has been rocking for 24 hours now. It was so bad during the night that Tom got out of bed about 3:00 and stayed up. I stayed in bed just going in and out of sleep. This is the worst we have seen. No one is outside, and we don't plan on go out either. It's like a 24 hour earthquake. It's not supposed to stop till later on tonight or tomorrow morning.
I'm going to make dinner, and we'll enjoy some movies or whatever. Later the NCAA games will be on. We'll make it though and travel on. They say if you don't like the weather today stick around. That's what we plan to do.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Pecos SKP Tra Park
After leaving Abilene we headed off to Pecos. Birthplace of the rodeo. We left early and had a nice travel day. It took us till about 1:30. We had stopped for a sandwich and to check the car about noon, so we could just set up when we stopped. Some friends of ours, Bobbi and Jim, and Leslie and Bill, had just been here before us. Through reading her blog we know sort of what to expect. The folks are very nice, but the park isn't much. The plan was to stay only a couple of nights.
When the office opened at 3:00 we went over and did the check in thing. Of course at SKP parks you don't pay till you leave, so they just took our info and sight number. The laundry is located in the office building, and as we were leaving someone stopped us to talk. The more we talked the more folks came in. Barb, one of the workers here, finally said we should all go to lunch the next day(yesterday). Everyone thought it was a great idea. The consensus was we would go to Alfredo's. So that's what 10 of us did. It's not much to look at, but the food is good, and you get a lot for your money. Tom and I both had the Mexican Plate with 1 taco 1 tamale, 1enchilada with red sauce, beans and rice. We were well pleased. The plate was only $6.95. They also start you off with this great salsa and chips. It was great. Hot, but great. My tongue hurt when we left. The food itself was not spicy, but that salsa sure was. They kept filling our drinks, too. If we were to stay another couple of days we would probably go again. At 7:00 we all met to play some Farkle. No one knew how to play, so Tom and I taught them. We played till around 9. Then called it a day. Nothing like and Escapees Park to meet great people.
Today we did the West of the Pecos Museum. It housed in the old hotel and saloon. There are even bullet holes in the wall and plaques that tell you where folks were shot. The whole history of the town and surrounding area is within the walls of the museum. They have so much stuff in there you could go back several times and still miss somethings. There are old clothes, furniture, doctors' office rooms, barber room, and off course the bridal suite. In the saloon this animated bartender talks about things that happened here in Pecos in the early days. From then on you are on your own. Lots of saddles, and western gear, kitchen tools, old pulpits from churches. You name it, it's in there. There is even an accounts receivable book from the mercantile. We really had a good time looking through the old place. Not a bad way to spend the morning.
After we came home for a sandwich we headed out for the park and zoo. Zoo, I use the term loosely. What a poor excuse for a zoo. It had peacocks and pea hens. 2 ostriches, 2 buffalo, 3 long horn cows, donkeys, and goats. That's it. So much for our trip to the zoo. Once there we found out we could have walked from the park. It sits right behind us.
There is an old train station that will house the Rodeo Hall of Fame, but it not open yet. I guess it's a work in progress. Pecos reminded us both of old route 66. It's a lot like Tucumcari New Mexico. There are so many old abandon gas stations and eateries along business 20. Buildings right out of the 50's. You can tell Pecos has seen better days. They are trying to build up downtown again, but there is a lot of work to be done. It's a great place to stay for a day or two. I suppose it gets quite busy during rodeo.
We have been having some very high winds. Last night we were rocking in the bed. It woke us up several times. Now today it is cooler, but very nice and sunny. Tomorrow we head out for the Ranch. It's another SKP Park, so we will be with friends again. If you aren't friends when you get there, you are when you leave. I hope the weather cooperates with us and the winds don't blow too hard. It's only about 2 hours away, so it'll be a short trip. I'm glad we stopped here. The home of Pecos Bill.
When the office opened at 3:00 we went over and did the check in thing. Of course at SKP parks you don't pay till you leave, so they just took our info and sight number. The laundry is located in the office building, and as we were leaving someone stopped us to talk. The more we talked the more folks came in. Barb, one of the workers here, finally said we should all go to lunch the next day(yesterday). Everyone thought it was a great idea. The consensus was we would go to Alfredo's. So that's what 10 of us did. It's not much to look at, but the food is good, and you get a lot for your money. Tom and I both had the Mexican Plate with 1 taco 1 tamale, 1enchilada with red sauce, beans and rice. We were well pleased. The plate was only $6.95. They also start you off with this great salsa and chips. It was great. Hot, but great. My tongue hurt when we left. The food itself was not spicy, but that salsa sure was. They kept filling our drinks, too. If we were to stay another couple of days we would probably go again. At 7:00 we all met to play some Farkle. No one knew how to play, so Tom and I taught them. We played till around 9. Then called it a day. Nothing like and Escapees Park to meet great people.
Today we did the West of the Pecos Museum. It housed in the old hotel and saloon. There are even bullet holes in the wall and plaques that tell you where folks were shot. The whole history of the town and surrounding area is within the walls of the museum. They have so much stuff in there you could go back several times and still miss somethings. There are old clothes, furniture, doctors' office rooms, barber room, and off course the bridal suite. In the saloon this animated bartender talks about things that happened here in Pecos in the early days. From then on you are on your own. Lots of saddles, and western gear, kitchen tools, old pulpits from churches. You name it, it's in there. There is even an accounts receivable book from the mercantile. We really had a good time looking through the old place. Not a bad way to spend the morning.
After we came home for a sandwich we headed out for the park and zoo. Zoo, I use the term loosely. What a poor excuse for a zoo. It had peacocks and pea hens. 2 ostriches, 2 buffalo, 3 long horn cows, donkeys, and goats. That's it. So much for our trip to the zoo. Once there we found out we could have walked from the park. It sits right behind us.
There is an old train station that will house the Rodeo Hall of Fame, but it not open yet. I guess it's a work in progress. Pecos reminded us both of old route 66. It's a lot like Tucumcari New Mexico. There are so many old abandon gas stations and eateries along business 20. Buildings right out of the 50's. You can tell Pecos has seen better days. They are trying to build up downtown again, but there is a lot of work to be done. It's a great place to stay for a day or two. I suppose it gets quite busy during rodeo.
We have been having some very high winds. Last night we were rocking in the bed. It woke us up several times. Now today it is cooler, but very nice and sunny. Tomorrow we head out for the Ranch. It's another SKP Park, so we will be with friends again. If you aren't friends when you get there, you are when you leave. I hope the weather cooperates with us and the winds don't blow too hard. It's only about 2 hours away, so it'll be a short trip. I'm glad we stopped here. The home of Pecos Bill.
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