Left Texas for New Mexico......

Our Location: Gage Rest Area, Gage, New Mexico

 

 

We slept well at Fort Stockton Walmart and were up, out the door and filling with fuel before 7:30 AM. On the road before 8 AM and moving right along. For future reference, the Walmart was easy to find but very crowded with rigs later in the day, the Dot Rest Area a few miles further down the road was very nice, spacious and not a typical Texas rest area. The parking area for all vehicles was not lineal but more like the others with individual spaces designated for rigs, cars, etc. Very big lot, lots of room and a very nice rest center as well. I would definitely stay there in the future. 

 

 

The flat views along I-10 in southwest Texas.

Can you see the mountains way over there?

We are getting closer and closer....mile by mile, minute by minute.

 

For the first time we actually drove through El Paso, usually we take a bypass of some sort, I think maybe the Loop but today we just headed on through. A pretty easy drive on a Sunday before lunch. In fact we moved to Mountain Time before we entered the city and so are now 2 hours behind Ontario. The roads were good, not too busy and we motored right along. 

 

 

Tiny little hill in Texas.

I think George calls these Century Plants.

This was hanging over the valley as we approached El Paso.

 

We checked out a few other stops and made note of them in our little journal for future use. Always nice to know things along the route that you've travelled before. Memories aren't all they should be when you get a bit over 19. 

 

 

Interesting sculptures in El Paso.

 

We climbed into New Mexico with ease and continued along I-10 West for the remainder of our drive today. Smooth sailing, only a few slow downs here and there even with all the construction areas. 

 

 

Neat idea, street names on the overpasses.

I think Patsy might have posted this but it's a new one for us.

 

We are close to Butterfield Station, just past their exit of #62, I believe. We would have pulled into the Cabana area to park but couldn't get to the roadway leading there. For future reference, to get to the lane take the car pathway. The big rigs park in front of the lane and you can't get to it. We pulled forwarded into a large gravel area some distance from the washrooms but still in front of the casitas. We can stay for 24 hours. Behind us are train tracks, in front of us is I-10. It's for one night and I think we will sleep well. 

 

The rest area at Exit 0 in Anthony, not sure if it's Texas or NM.

 

Called dad when we arrived and let him know where we are. He was happy to hear from us. The hunt is over and Jesse was the only successful one in our bunch. Congrats Jesse!!!! 

 

We have entered this fine state for an overnight visit.

 

Sunny, warm and blue skies, we are fortunate to have had such a wonderful travel day. Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit. 

 

 

The Roadrunner!!!!

 

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

 

They are not Louis L'Amours  Far Blue Mountains but they are still inviting, and addictive. 

 

Deb

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not much going on today.....

Our Location: BLM on Ogilby Road, Winterhaven, CA

 

A somewhat restless night last night for me. I have no idea why I have those nights. I was certainly tired enough to sleep but oh well. 

 

The beginning of sunset tonight.

You can see the not so defined image as it sinks slowly.

 

A nice sunrise but I didn't get any pictures so you'll have to take my word for it. Today was a do nothing kind of day but of course we never do nothing, do we? However I did take the day off from walking, instead opting to make a turkey pot pie using fresh veggies and making up the recipe as I went along. It turned out well and thanks to George (Our Awesome Travels) for the idea of using crescent rolls for the crust instead of the actual crust. Riley doesn't like pie crust but enjoyed the pot pie with the crescent roll crust. 

 

The sky was more orange than it appears.

you can see the pink in the top of the picture and soon that will turn darker.

 

The wind picked up this afternoon as we started packing away a few of our outside items in preparation for leaving in a few days time. We tend to pack up things we won't be using for the remainder of our stay to lighten the work load on moving day. 

 

 

I did a bit of research this morning as well as spending time reading my book, Deadline by Sandra Brown. I finished the book this afternoon. It was pretty good, a very interesting twist or two in the plot kept one guessing in a spot or two. I've since started reading a Tony Hillerman book, The Wailing Wind based in the area in which we've passed through recently on our way to the southwest. 

 

 

After our wonderful lunch we spent the rest of the day doing a bit of this and that, a bit of reading and a chore or two as well. Not an exciting day but we enjoyed it. 

 

 

A few phone calls to Ontario tonight had us chatting with Courtney, message on Bradey's machine, and friend Linda. Very cold back in Ontario, Canada and will remain so for the next number of days. Courtney, who lives in Toronto says they are predicting between 10-30 cm /4-11 inches of snow. The temps are in the -16 to -20 C / 3 to - 4F range for the day time highs for the next week or so. Glad we aren't in Ontario. 

 

 

Happy Birthday to son in law Matt. Matt turns 32 today. Matt is a research doctor and is currently working at York University in Toronto after a 2 year stint in Switzerland. Matt and Courtney started dating in high school and have been together ever since. We are fortunate to have Matt as part of our family. 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by I hope you enjoyed your visit. 

 

 

 

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

 

 

Goodnight from California.

 

 

 

Deb

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A cloudy day, a bit of shopping, and no sunset....

Our Location: Quartzsite, Arizona

Today's pics are totally 100% this morning's sunrise.

It's started.....

I woke this morning about 4:30 am, played a few rounds of CrossyWords on my iPad before drifting back to sleep until 7 am. I think I snored and woke myself up, either that HRH Miss Kitty was hacking up a fur ball. I’ve yet to determine which one it was.

I grabbed my fleece jacket, mini gloves and the camera heading outside to catch the sunrise. I even caught the moon before it slipped out of the sky. The sun rise was once again a thing of beauty. I never did actually see the sun, as the cloud cover prevented that but the sky was telling me that the sun was there with no doubts. 

Back inside about 7:35 am I started getting myself settled down to read blogs from yesterday. Of course HRH Miss Kitty demanded food before I dare sit on the couch. I will admit she had only one or two morsels of food left in her bowl but somehow I doubt she’s in danger of starving. 

Do you think they might be beaming folks up?

 
The morning temps upon returning inside read 44F/ 6.6 C and while it was a bit chilly outside it wasn’t cold. A slight breeze made you know it could be crisp if it wanted to be.

A huge thanks to Bill Richards (On Our Way) for his offer of assistance and generous advice regarding my little water pump issue. I appreciate it very much Bill but I’m truly not too worried about it. You are truly a gem, as Miss Patsy alludes to often.

This morning after Riley staggered out about 8:30 am we enjoyed a hot drink and chatted about what we had to get accomplished today and what we’d like to do but that wasn’t necessary. By 10 am we started loading the truck with a large propane tank, smaller water jugs, two drinking water jugs, and a bag of garbage. We were soon off, our first stop to fill up the small jugs, and get rid of the garbage. After that we headed into town to RV Pit Stop where we payed $2.10 per gallon for our propane, from there we headed off to The General Store (I think is the name) to fill up our drinking water jugs at 5 gallons for $1, what a good buy. After that we headed on back home to get these things put away before we went off to do some looking around at a few of the vendors we noticed along our way into town. 

 
We managed to find 2 BBQ Grill mats that George Yates (Our Awesome Travels) has been using for some time and he says works fantastically. We bought the same ones George showed us some time ago. We paid only $5 for two. I also bought a half dozen extra fuses even though I have a lot of spares already. We didn’t buy anything else but we enjoyed looking at some of the little exhibits. 

Leaving the area we bought ourselves that ice cream we didn’t get yesterday. Although it claimed to be home made I don’t think it was, didn’t have the right flavour to me, but oh well, we enjoyed it anyway. 

Back home we discussed that due to the over cast day and the wind which seemed to be picking up that Miss Riley (who has offered to be chef for a while) would make a ONE DISH meal inside. Totally suited me. I of course, made our salads while she prepped everything for the one dish meal. She included sweet onions, asparagus, fresh mushrooms, carrots, cauliflower, sweet Italian Sausage (out of the casing), diced tomatoes, a few spices and some Parm cheese. Tossed it in the oven for a bit and it was excellent. It really hit the spot. 

After lunch which we didn’t finished until almost 4:30 pm we cleaned up the dishes and tidied up a bit. I grabbed my fleece sweater and the camera but there was no sunset tonight at all. Too much cloud cover but the temps weren’t really cold, just a bit coolish.

Inside I wrote my post, and edited pictures, while Riley did what ever it is she does that causes her to chuckle and talk to whoever it is that doesn’t answer her. I think she’s playing a game but since she wears headphones she doesn’t answer when I talk to her. So I guess we’ll never know. 

So there you have it, our busy type day. Nothing too exciting but we enjoyed it a great deal. We are totally enjoying this location, today we had one vehicle go past along with 2 ATV’s. It’s a fantastic location and we’re enjoying it very much.

And this was going on opposite the sunrise....see the moon?

Thanks for stopping by, hope you had a great day as well. Feel free to leave a comment, I do appreciate them all.

Good morning from Quartzsite, Arizona.

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


Deb

New place to call home, amazing sunset....

Our Location:  Saddle Mountain BLM Land, Tonopah, Arizona

A trip to the clubhouse last night to post my blog, no one was there. It was quiet but the net lagged so I used my own jet pack to post but for just doing face book and email the free wifi was great. 

The view out our front door.

Up this morning around 4 am, think I'm finished sleeping for the day. Read some blogs, made some comments, did a little internet surfing.  The coyotes are howling at 5:30 am, not yapping, just howling. Sound pretty far off in the distance but who knows. 

Coyotes hanging around Why Not Travel Store

Not as cool this morning as it has been lately. The wind has died away now and that's always helpful with over night temps too. Today is moving day so we'll be up and about earlier than usual. Or at least Riley will be, I'm usually up between 4 - 6 am here. 

HRH Miss Kitty

I think I'm kind of getting used to the time zone thing. I'm usually an early riser back in Ontario as well. At 4 am here it is 6 am back there, which is usually when I'm getting out of bed at our summer location. I'm out the door, walking the 1/4 or so mile to Dad's house for morning coffee by 6:15 am. I think the 4 am thing makes me tired just thinking about being up so early. Know what I mean?

Near Buckeye, Arizona, very green....

We left Coyote Howls East around 8:30 am, after dumping and dropping our tag off at the office. As we just finished dumping George popped around the corner to wish us safe and happy travels. Bye George, safe travels ahead for you and Suzie!!

Barry Goldwater Air Force Range area....

 
We stopped around the corner at the Why Not Travel Store for propane, filling our two small cylinders. It took just about the same as the big tank did, and we were happy to leave with all four propane cylinders full.  Two coyotes hanging around the gas pumps weren’t easily scared away and kept returning hoping for a hand out. They were still there when I last looked in my rear view mirror. 

Look more like jagged teeth and mountains.

We pass through the little town of Ajo (Ah -ho) and continued along AZ-85 toward Gila Bend, (He - la) we were enjoying the amazing scenery. We passed through the Barry Goldwater Air Force Range and the mountains were literally standing on end, looking more like jagged teeth than anything else. It was an amazing sight to see. 

Standing on end ....

We neared the suburb of Buckeye (out laying area of Phoenix) and missed the turn for Salome Hwy, but no worries we just picked up I-10 toward Los Angeles. The interstate isn’t the smoothest ride we’ve been on but it wasn’t the worst either. Lots of big trucks passing us by at a very high rate of speed. 

Medium between the two roads....

We pulled off in the little area of 441 Ave in Tonopah. I was surprised there was no public area with an outdoor spigot and we finally asked at a fuel station if we could fill with water and they agreed. Seems they are all on wells in this area. Another time I’d fill in Buckeye, I’m sure it would have some where public to fill up. Needless to say we will be frequenting that fuel stop while in this area. 

We aren't far away now....

Off we headed down the road looking for Courthouse Road. From there it was easy to find the BLM land at the base of Saddle Mountain. We checked out all three roads and settled in the first spot we had liked on the first road taken. Isn’t that just the way?  We have a strong AT&T signal here, and first thing after setting up and starting the Weber to heat up,  I called my Dad, chatted for 15 minutes. 

Sunset shining on the mountain behind us...

We have an amazing spot with a breath taking view out our side door, and all around us in fact but the view out the door is truly the reason we picked the spot. We can see I-10 from our location but can’t hear a thing. A few noises here and there like shooting or something way off, but nothing to bother us. We have a huge site all to ourselves, with our nearest neighbour more than shouting distance away. 

Looking toward the north east....

We went for a walk after lunch, I have no idea how much distance we covered but we were gone for about an hour. When we returned home I started doing some clean up around our site but broke my little folding rake so I had to stop. I’ll pick one up in Buckeye on our trip in there and continue at another time. The roads here are pretty good, with a few that are unfit for long rigs to traverse but they are far back near the base of the mountain.  I think these roads join each other back at the base of the mountain and aren't necessary to travel as each road can be reached from Courthouse Road. The only other issue of any kind might be the exit from the hardtop to the dirt road. Like most of the BLM lands I’ve driven in so far there is quite a lip from the flat surface to the dirt road. However there are a number of different kinds, shapes and heights of vehicles here including some large and small motor homes, some tow behind campers and of course a few 5’ers as well. As they all seem to be parked and staying perhaps the lip is not a problem. Lots of spots, most of them are pretty good, maybe need a wee bit of leveling but nothing too drastic. 

The sun is heading down....

We’ve seen no evidence of coyotes but I’m certain they are around. It’s quiet, peaceful and inspiring. As it is BLM land we can only stay 14 days but according to a fellow we chatted with, no one has been around to check and he’s been in the area for a while. I didn’t ask what a while is but it sounded like at least a week. 

Sinking further and further...

It is now 5:40 pm, the sun has gone down and I’m still sitting outside in shorts but with a fleece sweater typing my post. The windows and vents are shut but the big door is open. The temp reads 63F/ 17C. Not a bad way to spend our first evening here. 

Streaks of red in the night sky...

Our first impression, excellent. I’ll let you know in a few days if our first impressions were correct but I’ll tell you right now I can hear absolutely NO noise from any of the rigs parked here. We can’t hear the Interstate and nothing except maybe a few crickets. Should be nice sleeping here.

Sunset over the Dogsled and Igloo

So there you have it, our travel day. We left Why, Arizona around 9 am and arrived  at Tonopah, Arizona right around 11:30 am. We traveled a bit over 100 miles/ 160 km. It took us a while to select a site, set up and set the Igloo to ‘home’ status again. However I was cooking lunch and chatting with my Dad by 2:15 pm. The drive was easy, no major towns, or no major interchanges to deal with and it was scenic as well.

The last gasp.....

Thanks for stopping by, feel free to leave a comment.

Until next time…take care, be safe,

Deb