Saturday, March 17, 2018

Last day here.......REFERENCE POST




Our Location: 
BLM near Carlsbad, NM


I was awake around 6 am MDT but didn't get up. I was lazy and since there was no brightening in the skies I figured a cloudy day was in the offing. I grabbed my laptop and read blogs for a while. I can tell you that I finally closed the lid and turned on the water for a hot drink just shortly after 8 am. 

I don't think the clock works well....

I see a circus coming to town Matey......

We had plans this morning to find a place to rid us of our trash and to fill the Big Dog's water bowl. I can say we accomplished that feat within a few miles of our current location. Fuel was $3.19 per gallon and while I probably could have found it cheaper down the road tomorrow I am happy to have a full tank starting the day. 



On the way back home we checked out the other 'free' campsite area in this location. It's on Whites City Road and I can say that we wouldn't be staying there. However I will use this as a reference post again for future use or just information for others. 



Whites City Road is a hard packed dirt road (it may have been black top on gravel once) that is rough and somewhat washboard like, although not as ugly as it sounds. I would think after a rain it would be more muddy than anything else. There is a bit of dust but not much. We made note of two or possibly 4 spots that were okay sites for staying. The first two were best but close to the main road. The second two were further back but are currently being used by the construction company working/worked on the road. It appears they've buried something (possibly pipe lines but no signs indicating such) along the road. These two sites have been beaten up by the use of big trucks and we didn't see any fire pits there but all indications are they were once sites.  The other issue with this road is the quarry a bit further back. It's a working pit I would imagine the noise level would not be nice going all day. Numerous trucks of varying sizes are also visible. We went further back past the quarry but didn't see anything of interest although I'm certain there were other places further back. It would be too far off the main road on this less than wonderful road. So there you have it, not our cup of tea but definitely a couple of good over night spots if you could find some how to get level. 
 
Riley loves the Aliens...

She doesn't care what colour.....

We are parked at MM 10 on the east bound side of the roadway but there is no way to get to the road going west unless you go to MM 9 and make a U turn before coming back on the East bound road. Actually that's not quite true, there is no LEGAL turn road but many have simply crossed over the dirt median to get to/from the West bound lanes. It's a pretty big bump though and so you would need to be very careful. We did check out a well paved road just after using that LEGAL turn around over the median. I have no idea what it's called but it's between MM 9 and 10 east bound. There looks like a couple of spots that would be good for overnight but no signs of fire pits. If you think one of the side roads offers a spot, forget it, they lead to oil wells with no spots available. 
 
I believe this is a bat....

I think that one may be a chuck wagon...

So there you have it, our little tour of the day. We went less than 6 miles to get some fuel at a place that is between the roadway and the Cavern Parking lot. Multiple little things to see, an RV park there also, no idea the name though. 


Back home we noticed only ONE other rig, when we came back. There had been two when we left. The lone rig sits close to the road and is also a 5'er. Otherwise no one else is here, not a tent to be seen anywhere either. 

I'm guessing these are rental units. 

Tomorrow we'll be pulling out and making our way to a free overnight in Crosbyton, TX. We found this park courtesy of Ken and Shirley (Seeing America with Ken and Shirley) , so thanks for the heads up folks!! We'll actually be staying for two nights before getting back on the road as the wind is forecast to be pretty high and gusts will also be making life miserable for any drivers in the area from Sunday afternoon into Monday. Tuesday looks to be a great travel day.  Why do we not stay where we are located you may ask and I will say that we are heading toward Tennessee and that will be 250 miles closer for us. We hope that the two night stay will be a bit less rock 'n roll like as we will maybe have some protection from the town buildings, other RV's etc. Here we are out in the open with no where to hide. Also we're that much closer to getting out of the wind tunnel areas and flat lands. We will be on the road fairly early as the winds here are supposed to be minimal then, and be off the road by 3 pm hopefully before they pick back up.


So there you have it, thanks for stopping by. I hope you've managed to have a wonderful day. 
 
The Whites City Road location for free camping. See the quarry? That pile of gravel I believe is in one of the camping spots. The other picture is the road way, looks good but is a bit rough.

Until next time.... take care, be safe, 



Deb


8 comments:

  1. Hope the winds remain down and you make it safely to Crosbyton, Texas. I may check out your old place as I head home so thanks for the information.

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    1. I think you would like it there. You'd have no trouble with the motorhome getting in but you wouldn't do well to cross the pipeline. Yuma would love it, he would have cows to meet and new things to sniff. I do warn you though the winds pick up fast and can blow pretty hard there. No where to hide from it. Fantastic drive though, you'd enjoy it I'm certain.

      Thanks Doug.

      Take care, be safe,
      Deb

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  2. Nice to get out and enjoy the day for a bit hopefully the wind will die down and you can make your journey to Tennessee in buts and pieces.

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    1. It was nice to get out a bit and see a few things. I think we just have to learn to accept the wind here and make our travel arrangements accordingly. Which is one of the reasons we left so much time available to get back to Ontario so we can sit for a few days here and there to wait out such things.

      After Monday I think the winds are supposed to diminish and I doubt we'll have any issues reaching Big Buck.

      Take care, be safe,
      Deb

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  3. fingers crossed that the winds remain in your favour and you have no trouble getting to your destination. Nice that our friends continue to 'direct' us to favourable camping grounds/parks.
    Stay safe!

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    1. Thanks Patsy. The wind is a factor we have to accept out here I think as there really is no way to get around it. We left a number of days available to be able to sit and wait it out without feeling pressured to get back across the border.

      It was wonderful of Ken and Shirley to give us a heads up about this little park. The drive was easy (nothing too difficult in the way of towns, turns, etc) and very scenic. The speeds were up to 70 mph and it was a four lane highway all the way. The park is nice, clean and perfect for a couple of days. I think we'll keep this area in mind for another time.

      Take care, be safe,
      Deb

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  4. If you are dry camping point the trailer into the wind and lower your Jacks. That might help slightly. If it continues to bother you add Stabilizers, they make a big difference.
    Safe Travels and Enjoy the Adventure.

    It's about time.

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    1. I'm more concerned with towing in the wind than with sitting in the wind. I will admit I don't like the wind but I'm a chicken when it comes to tough driving, and I won't do it unless I'm caught in the situation with no options. We'll just sit here until it dies down and head out quickly as it looks like soon we'll be out of the wind areas for a while at least.

      Take care, be safe,
      Deb

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