We have changed a time zone…

 

Our Location:

Lordsburg Welcome Centre, New Mexico

Our time at Road Runner BLM is now behind us. We spent a little quiet time there, leaving home only once or twice. Once we joined   Doug, Bill and Patsy at the Outback for pizza and a last visit for this adventure! We also waited at RV Lifestyles for an inside connection for our heater and a couple of little things.

Riley, Doug, Patsy and Bill at the Outback, Q, AZ

The Cholla are everywhere, as are the Saguaros.

The views get better and better.

The weather was interesting, windy, cool, warm, sunny, overcast. It was a very mixed bag. We enjoyed our time there and look forward to returning next year.

This morning , April 2, we were sitting at the Quail Run RV dump with 15 mins to go before opening at 8 am. From there we headed out, catching I-10 EAST as we start the wheels seriously turning homeward.

The roads were okay, pot holes, rough pavement, grooves, ripples, the standard stuff. We hit the road by 8:30 am, stopped twice and had a major slowdown for about 45 minutes, we drove farther than expected and were off the road at 4:30 MST, but 5:30MDT. Yes, Arizona stays on standard and New Mexico moves to daylight savings.

Just for those that wish to know, we travelled 408 miles/657 klm, approx 8 hours, at approximately 60 mph/96 klm, and we used approximately 30 gallons/113 litres. Our fill up today was the cheapest anywhere, $3.69 gallon. I’m not good at math but I think about 14 mpg, towing with a strong head wind for about an hour. We did well! The cheap fuel was in Bowie, Az at the One 9. Use the front pumps, not the truckers, easy in and out. Outside island has two pumps but only one has diesel and gas.

Our original plan was to stop at Bowie for the night but we opted to head for the Gage Rest Area, NM, however according to information Riley found, it is temporarily closed, so we dropped into the Lordsburg Welcome Centre instead. We are tucked in for the night.

Dad is getting very high easterly winds, with rain, possibly turning to snow by morning. Temps are above freezing so maybe it will stay as rain.

Snow on that mountain top.

Happy birthday Aunt Eileen. A most wonderful lady, with a big heart, and a winning smile.

Thanks for stopping by. Todays pics were taken through a dirty window while hurtling down the rough roads, but you get the idea of what we witnessed out there.

Until next time….

Take care, stay safe.

Deb

Busy morning.......

Our Location:  Quail Ridge Rv Park, Hauchua City, Arizona


A very quiet night here in Quail Ridge RV Park.  A fantastic night’s sleep with comfortable temperatures for sleeping. We didn’t really have any plans for today but it turned out to be a productive morning. It started with me going to give the oven a quick scrub as our Shepherd’s Pie spilled a bit the other night. Well of course you know that there is nothing quick in cleaning an oven and so I spent some time giving it a good scrubbing down.

 

Historic Marker at Lordsburg, NM rest area.

 

Ocotillo growing at the Lordsburg, NM rest area.

From the oven I moved on to the Dogsled and pulled out the vacuum to give it a good clean. Wiping down everything and tidying up all the nooks and crannies. Riley cleaned the windows to finish off the Dogsled’s clean up, while I vacuumed some of the accumulated debris from one of the cubbies in the Igloo. After that I cleaned up the cubbies, set up the BBQ, and even managed a bit of a walk to the dumpster. 

One of the many plants at the rest area.

 

A call to dad around noon Mountain Time to shoot the breeze had the information that brother Rick has broken a bone in his leg but I’m not sure which bone as I haven’t talked to Rick or Barb yet. He will be seeing an Orthopedic Surgeon on Tuesday.  Dad also told me all of the snow has melted except under the trees but they are once again calling for more snow and so their respite was short lived.
 

Numerous of these plants growing here at Quail Ridge.

 

 

Lunch was a pasta dish today as it is our usual standard Sunday fair. We watched some tv and just enjoyed the afternoon. By 4 pm the sun started going down and so of course the air started cooling down. The daytime highs of 78F/  25.5 C started dropping quickly.
 

 

Dark settled in before long and we spent the evening entertaining ourselves with a movie called the Dirty Dancing. We always enjoy watching it. 

 

A much bigger version but this one is located at Quail Ridge RV, Arizona.

 

So there you have it, our first full day here. Thanks for stopping by I hope you enjoyed your visit. Today’s pictures were all taken with my phone. I forgot that I had snapped a few while we were walking at the rest area in Lordsburg but I’ve included them tonight as well.

 

One of these huge plants trimmed up here in the park.

 

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

One of the clubhouses here, the laundry room is also in this building.

 

Deb

We have arrived in Arizona to some nice warm weather ......

Our Location:  Quail Ridge Rv Park, Hauchua City, Arizona

Lordsburg was too noisy for me, and I didn’t sleep well at all. It’s not a place I would stay again unless pressed to do so. I would however next time try the Rest Area at Gage, NM as it would be easier to get away from the big rigs that run all night. The rest area filled up with at least 3 big rigs, and 4 or 5 RV/Campers. 

 

Some of the mountains we viewed today.

 

A cool night that hovered around the freezing mark but the sun warmed everything up quickly. We were up and ready to go after a bit of a leg stretch before 8:30 AM. We didn’t want to rush as we didn’t have far to go today. Only a couple of hours drive. A stop at a rest area on I-10 on the Arizona side of the state line was our only stop today. We motored right along with no issues once again.

 

Trees turning colour, a helicopter in the sky and the western scene on the over pass near Willcox, AZ.

 

We reached Quail Ridge RV Resort on North Yucca Drive in Hauchua City just before noon. Upon checking in we were happy to find they had a spot for us as they are pretty much full now. We were sent to spot #137 which ironically was exactly the same spot we had last year. However the folks in the spot were not planning on leaving any time soon and so another trip to the office had us finding a different spot. Some discussions back and forth with the office lady and we settled on spot #28 on the front east side. Big spot, easily backed into but we were later told we could have just pulled through from the back. The lady in the office told us it was a back in and so we did. Anyway, not  a big deal we met our neighbour to the west of us, he's a  retired Marine from Texas. Interesting fellow for sure.

 

Some of the many road signs we noted on our drive.

 

Called dad, left a message and then just spent the rest of the day doing not much. I’m finding the lack of sleep last night and the couple hours drive today kind of wore me out and I think I’ll sleep much better tonight.

 

Very scenic rest area in Arizona on I-10 West.

 

Warm enough to have the windows open and the big door as well for a while. I’m looking forward to sitting outside reading over the next number of days. Riley even had on short pants today. A sign that we have arrived in the land of warmth!!!!!

 

A few more views of the drive today.

 

So there you have it, nothing exciting but a positive day all the day same. Some great views on our drive today. Some plans for a day or two of day trips while we’re here but nothing too much. I do hope you enjoyed your stop here at A long and lonesome highway and that no matter where you are that you too had a good day!!! 

It took me a while to figure out what is odd about the truck. It's a big hipped truck with the outside wheels missing so they could get it on the trailer.

 

Until next time….take care, be safe,

 

 

Deb

Windy, but scenic drive today....

Our Location: Rest Area, Lordsburg, NM



A belated Happy Thanksgiving to our American readers. Sorry I didn’t post yesterday I was lazy and just couldn’t make myself do it. We spent a quiet day at the White’s City BLM, the sun was out, the warmth in the air allowed me some reading time outside as well. We roasted a chicken, had mashed potatoes, stuffing and acorn squash for our feast. We had no complaints of any kind. 

 

Some sights along the way. Stop at a Texas picnic area.

High winds last night through the night had us rocking and rolling until around 4 AM, but then they quieted as quickly as they arrived. This morning we woke to pretty warm temperatures and needed only a zip up hoodie to be outside. We quickly packed up and we were pulling out of the area before 8 AM. It was a bit of a white knuckle drive through the Guadeloupe Mountain Range as the winds are rough in the area, cross winds, head winds, side and tail winds, some all at the same time, or so it felt anyway. We moved along steadily and crossed into Texas pretty quickly after leaving the BLM land. Uneventful drive took us through El Paso, Texas and westward through Las Cruces,  Deming and finally Lordsburg, all of course in New Mexico. We pulled off at Exit 20 at the Lordsburg Rest area where I had read that one could pull up to a little picnic area and spend the night. Ummmm..not quite. It’s at Gage, NM that one can do that, NOT the Lordsburg rest area. So for future reference, I-10 GAGE, NEW MEXICO both directions have nice little rest areas which have picnic areas that include a road way to the little covered area. Areas look big enough to turn a rig around and one can stay for 24 hours at either of these stops. The Lordsburg Rest Area is just long slots like most truck parking at rest areas. FYI, a train track runs past both areas and trains can be heard, both are located right beside I -10 was well.

 

Sorry for the fuzzy pic but it was an action shot, we were driving. Roadrunner at Las Cruces, NM.

 

We did stop in Deming to check out the Walmart parking lot as we have plans for only one night stopping tonight. The lot was full and the empty lot beside where we stayed last time has a ‘Code of Conduct’ sign which says No overnight parking, but a few people looked to be parked there anyway. We however opted to continue after a fill up of Diesel for $3.07 per gallon.

 

Some mountains we seen today on our drive.

 

We pulled into our Lordsburg Rest Area around 2:30 MT, dropped the feet so we aren’t as prone to Rock ’n Roll, and had some lunch. I called Dad, chatted for 20 minutes or so catching up on the deer hunt. Two deer, Rick and his son  Jason were the lucky shots. After that Riley and I took a few loops around the rest area to get some leg stretch in before coming inside and closing the curtains for the night.

 

Signs along the roadway today.

 

Some sad news from sister in law Janet yesterday. Their friend Peter passed away yesterday. Peter and his wife Vicki are wonderful people and I am certain Peter will be missed. Peter has been battling a very aggressive type of cancer for a while, his passing is still a shock of sorts. Vicki and family are in our thoughts. Janet and Dennis flew back to Toronto today but will return to Indian Wells in the near future. 

 

A few sights including El Paso from the downward side of the mountain, top right picture.

 

There you have it, our last couple of days. I hope you enjoyed your visit.

 

Some more views of our scenic drive today.

 

Until next time…. take care, be safe,

Deb