Colorado Springs and Warmer Weather

Wednesday 22 May 2019

Our site, yes there is snow,

but it all melted the next day!

We got up to a decent day, packed up and headed out of Raton Pass by 10:00.  We watched for Moose, Elk and Mule deer on the way down the hill, but nothing.  We get through Trinidad and head back into the flat field area, when we notice not one but two bull elk on the right side of the road.  The antlers weren't tall and they were still in velvet, but they were pretty awesome.  We rolled up I-25 pretty much uneventful, stopped for lunch at a rest area and arrived in Colorado Springs around 2:00.  Colorado Springs is like so many other towns here in CO., it has just exploded with growth both building and population.  We haven't been here since the mid 90's and the open range we remembered is now all housing.  Anyway, The campground is very nice in a wooded area with a fair amount of space between sites.  Burgers for dinner and the usual walks to figure out the campground.

Thursday 23 May 2019

A cool damp cloudy morning temps in the 40's so breakfast in.  After a walk for Rudy we headed

View from the CG

over to check out the BX and Commissary then down to Manitou Springs for some tourist shopping, lunch and a coffee shop afterwards. Diane found us an arcade with all the old games, Pac-Man, Centipede, Galaga,  old pin ball games, etc. and the games were still a quarter, we still managed to go through five bucks. Oh, the good old days.  For a cold damp day there were a lot of people(kids) walking around.  Then we found out the local school's last day was today and they all let out at lunch. Aren't we the lucky ones.   We made a few purchases of things we just couldn't pass up.  Headed home, walked Rudy but still were not hungry enough for dinner so just snacks.

Friday 24 May 2019

Another chilly 39 degrees this morning Diane made us a nice breakfast and then a long walk for Rudy waiting for the sun to warm things up.  We went to Monument CO for some more touristy

A little art work in Monument

stuff.  It was a much nicer day and we hit all the stores some twice. And again found a few items we just needed.   Had a real nice lunch at the 2nd Street Bistro.  Diane had lobster ravioli and I had tuna wasabi salad both were really good, the wasabi was a little to spicy for me but I finish it anyway.  An afternoon coffee again and then back home. We cleaned up all the leftover from pot roast, turnips and carrots, it is just as good as leftovers .

Saturday 25 May 2019

We haven't have breakfast on the grill for quite some time so today we did.  A little chilly 50 degrees with a few patches of snow but the sun was out and so were we. We had a few errands to run and off 

Stopped at the Thunderbird overlook!  

we went.  First was returning stuff to Walmart (Diane made me wait outside) then Bed Bath and Beyond which was almost beside Walmart but you had to drive two miles to get there.  Just happened to be a Skecher's outlet in the parking lot so off we went and wouldn't you know it a coffee shop beside Skecher's.  Back to base stopping at the BX for wine and a few supplies and back home.  As soon as we walked in Diane put our bagels away then remembered we didn't have cream cheese so I went right back to the commissary. Finally I got back for happy hour.  Homemade meatloaf and fixing for dinner almost the perfect day.

Raton Pass, 7,888 Elevation!!

Sunday May 19, 2019

We got up, a quick breakfast, packed and on the road about 9:45.  We are headed up to Raton, NM to

View out our front window!!

the CG at the Raton Pass, elevation 7888, on the border of New Mexico and Colorado.  It was an uneventful ride, a stop for fuel and another for lunch, but we were here, parked and settled in by 2:00 PM.  It is absolutely beautiful, the views you can see forever and the wind blows at a constant 35 MPH.  Needless to say there is no sitting out up here.  We are only here for 3 nights, so we'll enjoy the view and be happy with that.

Monday May 20, 2019

We headed down the north side of the mountain into Trinidad, CO about 10:30.  First stop was the Visitors Center then a trip down main street.  We ended up parking on Main Street and walking about

Sleet on the truck and ground!

4-5 blocks to visit the shops that were open and stopped at a place called the Café for lunch.....not bad and we beat the crowd.  The museum was closed, and only a few stores and junk shops were open, seems over half the shops are closed on Mondays but we stopped at what we could.  We ended up heading home about 2:30 and by 4:00 the wind has picked up and it was sleeting.  We were glad we were here and enjoyed a roast and turnips for dinner.

Tuesday May 21, 2019

We woke up this morning to 5-6 inches of snow on the ground, what a shock.  Now what do we do, we had planned on heading into Raton, NM, but.....  About 11:00 the snow was melting pretty good so we took our chances and headed down to town.  We drove through town just to check things out and then stopped and got some wine, a trip through Bealls, then off to find a place for lunch.  We stopped at K-Bob's Steak House, the food was OK and we don't really need to stop at another one.  After that a trip to the Chamber of Commerce and then a trip up 2nd street to the museum.  But first we walked a block or so and stopped at a country western store, a store that had soooo much stuff it took us about 45 min. to walk through it, then off to the Raton History Museum.  We paid our fee and the curator offered to give us a tour or we could take our own, we opted for our own.  Now it just so happened that the first two things we stopped to look at he gave us the history on it from the front desk, so yep we asked him to be our tour guide, he was so knowledgeable and we wouldn't have gotten 1/10 out of that museum if we had walked through it alone.  This was a big coal mining area and there is a mine here called the Blossburg Mine, named after the guys home town of Blossburg, PA....what a small world.  There is a lot of history in this area, now we are thinking we need to come back and spend some more time touring the area.....that seems to happen every where we go. 

5-6" of snow Tuesday morning! And at 5:00 pm 58 degrees and Sunny.

Everything is melted and it's beautiful and no wind!!

Old Route 66

Wednesday May 15, 2019

Traveled Wednesday from Alamogordo to Santa Rosa NM. We traveled NM route 54 a good two

lane road.   First was a stone chip in the windshield when a truck passed us.  We stopped for a lunch break started down the road hit a bump and the step cover would not go out.....about 5 min later hit another bump it did, just hoping it goes back in when we stop.  Pulled into our site and the solar shade over the sofa was down, I pulled on it for it to go back up and I ended up with the whole thing in my hand.  Don't touch the night shade, it is down and can stay that way until we get the chance to look at it.  The not so traditional burgers on the grill (buffalo burgers) and just hanging out, watching the CG fill up. We traveled 190 miles in just under 5 hours.

Thursday May 16, 2019

💔  For Shawna (It has been two years)

This AM Brad called the insurance company about the windshield and to our surprise they would

Natural fed water hole called

'Blue Hole'

81 feet deep 

have somebody here today. While we waited for the window guy we worked on the shades that fell down yesterday. We worked for hours watching you tube videos, removed it, rewound them, hung it back up and it had to be the biggest shade in the Moho.   Windshield guy was to be here about 12:30 and showed up about 2:30 and he can't fix it anyway.  The window is to straight up and down, but he has a buddy that has the right equipment so he called him.  To make a long story short...we don't have a clue if it will get fixed, but his buddy was to call, so we got cleaned up and headed into town to explore.  After about 2 hours we hit all the sites but the route 66 museum, so we headed home to figure out dinner.  We decided to order food from the CG and eat about 6:30.....right about 6:00 the windshield guy pulled in.  He fixed the windshield and talked with Brad until after 7:00, so Brad got to eat a cold meal, but it was actually not bad. The wind continues to blow at 25+ mph.

Friday May 17, 2019

A quick breakfast and we wanted to go to Tucumcari to see two museums and a section of old route

One of the many cars.

66.  We just had to wait on the windshield guy to sign paper work.  He was to be here by 9:00 am.  He finally showed up around 12:30, so we stayed in Santa Rosa, first was lunch at the Silver Moon a Mexican dinner, Diane had the tamale special and I had tacos.  Both were good but we are tired of Mexican.  We stopped at  the Route 66 museum which was nice, the owner still restores old cars to put in his museum. After that we headed off to see Lake Santa Rosa State Park.  It is a nice COE lake but it was way to windy to walk any of the trails.  Back to town we stopped to wash the truck and then back home. Left overs for dinner and off to bed.

Saturday May 28, 2019

We had really good intentions of heading to Tucumcari early.  But first was a good breakfast cooked inside, prepared by chef Diane, fresh sausage patty with eggs over fried taters.  Cleaned up and decided to look for a camp ground for the 4th of July week. Well several hours later we headed over to Tucumcari to get groceries and check out the town.  Once again we had to little time and to much to see. The wind is blowing so hard, dust and debris continually blowing across the parking lots. We had lunch at Del's dinner which was very good, Diane had grilled fish and I had chicken and rice without green chili or anything Mexican. We drove through town and hit a few old route 66 historic sites that were nice.  It is really a shame how these towns have deteriorated over time.  The town is just a shell of what it was with at least 50 percent of the buildings are closed and/or abandoned.  Even most of the campgrounds were closed. Next was the dinosaur museum it was OK then off to the grocery store and back to Rudy.  By now it is 7pm so snacks for dinner a walk for Rudy.  Tomorrow we head up to Raton Pass NM elevation 8700 feet and the temp's are to plummet.  

Pictures from Route 66 in Tucumcari.  The hotel was great, each room had a garage and the inside of the garage was painted with the Route 66 theme.

Last days in Alamogorda

Saturday May 11 2019

A beautiful morning breakfast on the grill and then sat around trying to decide what to do.  A hour later we figured it out.  We would do nothing today!  That worked for about 20 min, then Diane

This is just an interesting

camp site.  

started to get stuff out to clean and I headed outside to vacuum and wash the truck.  Diane started cleaning and the more she cleaned the more stuff she tore apart. By mid afternoon the truck was cleaned and washed inside and out.  The Moho was cleaned top to bottom(inside).  We poured a glass of wine, got the chairs out and just sat down to enjoy, when the wind picked up something fierce and the rain chased us inside.   Diane ended up making the pork roast in the oven.

Sunday May 12 2019

We had a lite breakfast and headed off to the  Museum of Space History around 10:30.  On our way Diane checked and the Museum didn't open until noon.  So we decided to have lunch first.  A place we have been wanting to try was just up the road so pulled in to the Hi-D-Ho drive-in where they actually came to the vehicle to take your order and then bring you your food. A flash back to the old days.  We just had burgers but they were huge and juicy(needed lots of napkins). Then it was off to the Museum.  It was very interesting and includes the International Space Hall of Fame. "Ham" the first monkey into space is buried here(who would of thought).  There was a lot of missile testing and research done here at White Sands over the years. It all started in WWII when the government leased/borrowed hand from local ranchers to test bombs.  After the war they liked the area for testing so they refused to give to back.  And eventually they just confiscated it, (go figure).  Back home, walks for Rudy and just hot dogs and beans for dinner.

Just a few pictures from the space museum.


Monday May 13 2019

We decided to try something new for breakfast so after Diane sliced, chopped and diced I made us an onion, mushroom, and cheese omelet with fresh sausage patties.   Worked around the camper, washed windshield, and made reservations.  Making reservations is always a challenge and today was no different but after two hours we are now booked for the rest of the month and we already had reservation in Golden CO so we are good until the 10th of June. Yea. Just as we were cleaning up the neighbors came over and we enjoyed happy hour with them.  They are also full timers and into their first year, it was a nice chat.  After they left we had ka-bobs on the grill but it was almost 7:30 until we ate.

Our last night at 

Holloman AFB

Tuesday May 14 2019

Another beautiful morning sunny 60 degrees warming quickly into the seventies.  After a quick breakfast cleaned up then off to Walgreens, coffee store and groceries  and of course lunch. Back to the Moho unpack and start preparing for our trip tomorrow.  We did get a new neighbor today and when they pulled in they were leaking hydraulic fluid, from their slide motor...oops.  Len and Barb our other neighbors came over about 4:30 for happy hour, then they headed out for dinner, while Brad had shrimp and I had left overs from yesterday.  All in all, it was a good day.

Alamogordo, NM

Tuesday May 7, 2019

We were up early and out of here by 8:10, Brad with the Moho and I had the truck and Rudy.  I got to the Moho shop just as Brad was finishing up with the technician.  We sat for a few minutes then we all got back in the truck and headed out in search of some coffee.  We finally settled on a coffee shop, 'Mad Coffee', but they didn't have any decaf, so we had up the road to a truck stop.  Brad got gas while I headed inside for coffee and a breakfast wrap to share (oatmeal and yogurt fades fast).  We finished there head out to the neighborhood park to eat, nice park but the wind just never lets up.  After that back to the shop for the Moho, no work done as it would take about 3 weeks for all the parts, and repairs and we are only here for a week.  Back home all set up by 12:30 and then nothing to do for the rest of the afternoon.   Brad did make chicken on the grill for a nice evening meal.

Wednesday May 8, 2019

We had breakfast on the grill then got ready and headed out to the White Sands National Monument.  We stopped at the visitors center and checked out the small museum they had and watched the 17

We made it to the top

of the Dune!!

min. film about the dunes themselves which ended up helping us appreciate the dunes when we got out there.  We then headed into the park, first stop at the Inter dune Boardwalk.  It was a short boardwalk over the dunes that had descriptions of some of the plants in the area.  Back to the truck and off to the heart of the dunes.  Now the sand is really gypsum that get tumbled and breaks down into tiny particles and looks like sand.  It was beautiful and absolutely  white when the sun shown on the dunes, we parked and actually climbed to the top of one of the dunes, that was not as easy as it sounds either.  We watched people sledding down the dunes, I think they would do about 2 runs and then would have enough of the climb.  Now the kids seemed to enjoy the challenge and would do a few more runs.  There were lots of picnic tables (all covered) and  a lot of them were being used.  We spent about 3 hours there then headed back to get Rudy and do some more walking.  We had a lazy dinner night and ordered wings from the Oasis Bar and Grill here on base, not bad.


 Pictures of White Sand click here:     White Sands

Thursday May 9, 2019

Oatmeal and yogurt then off we headed to Cloudcroft at 8500 feet elevation.  That really messes with us, we end up having to eat a breakfast bar and drink lots of water just to settle our stomachs. We stopped about half way up in High Rolls, NM  at the Old Apple Barn.  Now I thought I had seen junk

The Lodge reminded me of 

something out of 

'Dirty Dancing'

stores before, but this place put most of them to shame, it was rooms and rooms of stuff.  Nothing anybody would really need but they must sell a bunch of it to still be in business.  We headed up to hill and found the Chamber of Commerce and got some information on the town.  Found a local place to eat, chicken sandwich for Brad and I had the chicken quesadilla, both were good.  The museum was closed so our next option was a long drive, ah but then I spied the shopping area, so we turned in there.  There were a lot of little shops, the 'Off the Beaten Path' shop had some great things, but most of what I wanted was well over $100 and really wouldn't have fit in the Moho.   I had an iced tea from lunch, but Brad wanted to stop at a coffee shop and actually got a drink (Dirt Chai) that didn't make him sick, she made it with Almond Milk and decaf espresso....he was in heaven.  We walked around town until about 3:00, even making a purchase, then

I love all the whirly gig

artsy item up here!!

headed up to 'The Lodge' to check that out.  We thought about having Mother's day dinner there, but $42.00 for a buffet and I just can't eat enough to make that worth it, but the place is beautiful, built in 1899 and even has a resident ghost named Rebecca, no we didn't see her.  We were heading back down the mountain and decided to stop at the Wild Game Bar and Market.  Based on their recommendations we got some Bison burgers and a pack of wild boar sausage....I'll keep you posted on how they end up tasting.  A quick stop at Albertson's then home to rescue Rudy, a walk around with him then sitting outside trying to hide from the wind.  In for left overs for dinner and to watch The Big Bang Theory, it's getting close to the end of the show.

Friday May 10, 2019

We got up this morning with no real plans, so just hanging out at the Moho, Brad headed off for a bike ride and I jumped in the shower.  Brad came back, got cleaned up and we headed into town for lunch.  We stopped at the Patio Pizza restaurant and had Green Chili pizza, a bit spicy and not to bad, but I think once is enough for me.  A quick stop at the Lowe's Market to check out the store then off to the 'Tularosa Basin Museum of History'.  We spent about 2 hours in there, first a bit of an orientation from the lady at the desk, then off to tour the museum on our own.  After that we found an antique store to roam around....boy the stuff was expensive, but I did manage to make a small purchase.  

Carlsbad to Alamogordo

Saturday May 4, 2019

Beautiful drive down

the mountain side

We got up and headed out of Carlsbad about 10:30 in the morning.  First stop is Walgreen's for Brad's prescription, then off to Artesia for Fuel and a lunch stop. What a great little town, lots of art work, shops and history, we might need to stop there again.  As we were pulling out from our lunch stop there was a sign warning of steep grades and sharp curves, seemed funny in the desert.  Now the elevation in Artesia is 3379 feet and we drove through part of the Chihuahuan Desert (straight and flat) heading to Alamogordo NM.  After about an hour of desert travel(flat and straight) we noticed a bit of an incline and then very slowly things started to turn green and our elevation increased to 5500 feet.  After that our climb increased dramatically and curves got sharper then we were in a little town called Cloudcroft at 8600

Our first view o f the

White Sands!

feet.  What a difference, it is a little cooler, but everything is green and there are actually trees.  We decided we'll be doing a drive back to here for a visit and some sightseeing.  After that we started the descend, now it was probably about 90 miles to get this high and the downhill side is 17 miles to 4066 feet, wow what a rush, but the Moho did great.  Diane so enjoyed the down hill trek with the straight down view/drop out her window.   We got to the Holloman AFB, found the Famcamp and were set up by 3:30.  Not a fancy campground, but it's nicely located for seeing all the sights in the area.

Sunday May 5, 2019

Oh yea, I forgot to mention, yesterday when we stopped for lunch, we had the generator running so we could run the AC.  Just as I was getting ready to shut the AC off, there was a loud bang.  As it

We are staying about 10 miles

south of this sign.  Makes 

me wonder if we're safe!!

turned out one of the 3 AC's decided crap out.  So first thing this morning was a call to Brad's nephew, our HVAC guy, who thought it might have been the fan, so that'll get checked tomorrow.

 We headed into Alamogordo to find a place for lunch and found a Mexican restaurant open.  I had the chicken and green chili burrito and Brad had a shrimp burrito, mine actually had much better flavor.  After that a google search showed that the visitors center in town was open so we headed there to get some information on the area and the sights we need to see. The lady at the visitors center was very nice and most helpful. We did make the mistake of asking how she was doing, wrong question, after 15 minutes we started to slowly back up toward the exit. phew! We made it out.  We have found out  in the South most things are closed on Sunday, so it was a quick trip to the Military Exchange and then the commissary just to check them out and off to home to Rudy. 

Monday May 6 2019

Off to the RV dealer after breakfast to check about the a/c unit and as you would guess they really couldn't say anything until they look at it.  So tomorrow we will be taking the coach in for work, appt at 9:00 AM.  But we made the most of the trip,  First was a stop at McGinn's Pistachio Land to taste and buy pistachios and other touristy stuff.  They also had a wine tasting section which was free, we couldn't pass that up.  Then off to The Heart of Desert Pistachio Farm and darn they had free wine tasting there too.  It was a nice day so we got a small pizza and a glass of wine, sat on the patio and enjoyed lunch.  We stopped at the mall walked around for awhile, Diane found a dress she couldn't live without and then back home.  We sat outside for some time chatting then a walk for Rudy and sausages for diner.

This is the McGinn Pistachio Farm and Winery.

They claim to have the worlds largest Pistachio.

The winery is beautiful with the white sands in the background.

This is the Heart of the Desert Pistachio farm

and Winery.  I love the Pistachios here, I've been ordering them for years!!

Carlsbad NM

Tuesday 30 April 2019

We were up early even though we are only traveling 80 miles to Carlsbad, NM, just a bad nights sleep.  We were on the road by 10:15 stopped just once for lunch and arrived around 12:45.  The first 

Welcome to Windy

Sandy New Mexico!

40 miles were OK but after lunch the wind picked up a lot.  I guess it was 25/30 mph with gusts up to 40mph.  And out here in the flat land that means dust.  Sometimes we thought it was fog but no as you get closer it was dust.  We set up camp then went to the visitors center for info, drove around town for a little then back to camp. The wind was so bad Diane made chicken wraps and we stayed inside. Hot, just around 90.

Wednesday 1 May 2019

We had a quick breakfast and headed to the Carlsbad Caverns around 9:30.   The 30 mile ride down route 285 was lovely (in a desert kind of way) then a 10 mile drive up to the edge of the Guadalupe Mountain to the Carlsbad Cavern Visitor's center.  We stopped at an information pull off on the way up the mountain and while reading the plaque 5 mountain sheep walked by. That was cool.  We walked up to get our tickets and the lady wanted to know if we were taking the elevator down. We said no we will walk, well she looked at us (really me) and said are you sure!

I'm good I said and off we went.  I'll just give you some info,  it is a 850 foot descent to the bottom, that is 85 stories,  it is wet, slippery, very dimly lit, and very, very steep.  About half way I had to sit and rest watching younger people walking by both up and down.  After a little rest we made it to the bottom. Yea, there is a snack bar and restroom we were both relieved. We had a bunch of pictures from the caverns I think she has a link but they were awl inspiring and we didn't do the extra tours.

I think we spent 3 hours walking around looking at everything.  It was hard to imagine the early explorers climbing rope ladders with just a dim lantern. We were ready to head back up and Diane asked if we were walking back up, but it was to late I was already in the elevator.  Up to the top, walked around the souvenir shop bought a few things and then home.  As we were leaving Diane found a side road down through the canyon and of course we took it.  A nine mile road at ten mph plus slow down for the switch backs and it becomes a 1 hour detour.  After that a ride home to rescue Rudy, burgers on the grill and pain killers for my knees/legs and the day is over.

Click here:      Carlsbad Cavern


Thursday 2May 2019

  We woke up about 4:30 am to the sound of the slide out covers flapping in the wind, next was the lawn chairs flipping over then the Moho was rocking.  It was just wind but a lot of it.  We went to Happy's for breakfast, it was OK no need to return.  Came home walked Rudy and on our way out by 10:30.  We had several stops to make, drug store, hardware store, lunch, money and groceries.  With the town being over run with oil field worker everything is congested.  Some times making a left turn is a nerve racking event. The first stop was for money at a (free CU) they wanted to charge me $4.00 no way. And headed to next one after making two more left turns it also charged me $4.00 no way.  So Diane got out of the truck walked around and her card worked. Ugh   I was trying to use my credit card, switched to my debit card all was well. I  missed the turn to the restaurant and had to turn around in traffic.  The rest of day went OK the grocery store is always full and you have to hunt for a parking spot.  We made it home unloaded groceries and happy hour was on. The wind died down enough for burgers on the grill.

Friday 3 May 2019

Very warm today but calm so I'm  not complaining.  We headed out to the river walk and few errands to get ready for our trip tomorrow. First was the river walk it was very nice along the Pecos River but just to hot.  We walk for almost a hour then headed back as temps were around 85 degrees.  Next was lunch we stopped at Junior's a Mexican restaurant we sat down and waited the food delivered to other tables looked good but after ten minutes no one waited on us so we left.  I guess they don't serve

English speaking people.  Next was the BLM office for some info then lunch at the Red Chimney. Once again we split "The Hogs Plate" and we brought left overs home. Then it was the second trip to the drug store trying to get scripts filled and again no luck.  The grocery store for stuff we forgot yesterday and gas station.  Then it was three o'clock so no Desert Zoo this trip. Back home walk Rudy left overs for dinner and start preparing for tomorrow.