We went into the main alien museum. It was mostly boring for me and Kylie.
Last night we drove to Ruidoso and so far we are having fun.
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Ryan's First Report
Yesterday we went to Roswell. We could not have picked a better time to go there because the alien festival was happening. We looked at the shops but most of them had aliens painted on their windows and still sold regular things :(
We went into the main alien museum. It was mostly boring for me and Kylie.
Last night we drove to Ruidoso and so far we are having fun.
We went into the main alien museum. It was mostly boring for me and Kylie.
Last night we drove to Ruidoso and so far we are having fun.
Friday, June 29, 2012
Carlsbad Caverns
Things were relatively boring yesterday compared to the previous 2 days - thank God!!!! We spent the afternoon in the caverns - Kylie and I would view it as time spent trying not to get hypothermia! And we went prepared for it, which wasn't easy considering it was 103 outside. We decided the 1.5 mile hike down to the natural opening in jeans carrying jackets wasn't appealing so we took the elevator down!
We are on the road to Roswell. Ryan is going to report in on that. After learning all about our alien friends we finish the day in Ruidoso and will be there for 3 days.
TaTa For Now!
We are on the road to Roswell. Ryan is going to report in on that. After learning all about our alien friends we finish the day in Ruidoso and will be there for 3 days.
TaTa For Now!
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
On The Road Again
A 2:45 start with shiny, nice new tires and off we went! 5 minutes down the road a nice friendly person is trying to get our attention. Ahhh, we left the RV antennae up and we are now pulling over. Fixed that, no problem and we are off! About 15 minutes down the road Tim is once again exiting....he forgot to rotate the RV door handlebar back in. And now we are off and have been driving for an eternity according to our children. Who are actually being very good sports.
We were so excited at dinner when we thought we were only 2 hours away from Carlsbad. Carmen (yes we named her) Garmin had our arrival time for 9:00. Over an hour later we had to stop for diesel (side note, Dad, we are averaging 8.6mpg) and we came to the realization that we were not 45 minutes away but another HOUR and 45 minutes. We are now in a new time zone. Yippee we have just gained an hour! Tim looked overjoyed. I think he was more upset than the kids.
As I write this we are driving on the straightest, flattest road in the world. We are, hopefully, 30 minutes away from pulling into our RV camp in the dark. No problem! What could go wrong?!
We were so excited at dinner when we thought we were only 2 hours away from Carlsbad. Carmen (yes we named her) Garmin had our arrival time for 9:00. Over an hour later we had to stop for diesel (side note, Dad, we are averaging 8.6mpg) and we came to the realization that we were not 45 minutes away but another HOUR and 45 minutes. We are now in a new time zone. Yippee we have just gained an hour! Tim looked overjoyed. I think he was more upset than the kids.
As I write this we are driving on the straightest, flattest road in the world. We are, hopefully, 30 minutes away from pulling into our RV camp in the dark. No problem! What could go wrong?!
Day 2 off to a slow start.
Betsy's post summed up yesterday pretty well. My only thing to add is that after a full day we ended up only 120 miles away from home. At this rate we might make it to Oklahoma and back in six weeks.
So last night after dinner we found a local tire dealer (Mike) who made arrangements to get four new tires delivered to his shop at 8:30 in the morning. We would be on the road by 9:30 and after a 7+ hour trip (including stops) we would be in Carlsbad by 5:00 and back on schedule. No problem. Heard from Mike this morning and the truck arrived but our tires didn't. On to Plan B. If things don't get a bit smoother I am thinking of changing the name of this blog to "Plan B". Now the tires are supposed to be here by 12:30 so hopefully we will be on the road by 1:30. If all goes well then into Carlsbad by 9:00. Hopefully we can get there before dark. I am a complete rookie with getting the RV into place and not looking forward to doing that in the dark.
So last night after dinner we found a local tire dealer (Mike) who made arrangements to get four new tires delivered to his shop at 8:30 in the morning. We would be on the road by 9:30 and after a 7+ hour trip (including stops) we would be in Carlsbad by 5:00 and back on schedule. No problem. Heard from Mike this morning and the truck arrived but our tires didn't. On to Plan B. If things don't get a bit smoother I am thinking of changing the name of this blog to "Plan B". Now the tires are supposed to be here by 12:30 so hopefully we will be on the road by 1:30. If all goes well then into Carlsbad by 9:00. Hopefully we can get there before dark. I am a complete rookie with getting the RV into place and not looking forward to doing that in the dark.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
And So It Begins...
We are off! Well, sort of! Our 1:00 departure plan turned into 2:30, preceded by no less than 3 meltdowns from my sleep deprived, stressed out self. Tim throws the truck into drive and off we go....into a very solid tree branch! Ok, no problem, throw it into reverse and slam the branch back over the a/c and away we go.....
We happily turn onto Tudor Lane and neither of us see the sign saying the road is closed today. We turn the corner and oh crap! Tim gets to back out a 1/4 mile of curvy road.
Phew! Now we have the pleasure of making a hairpin turn onto 407 but luck is on our side! There are no cars coming so we jump on our opportunity and make our fast, very tight turn. And then the emergency brake cable pulls loose and our trailer tires lock up as we are trying to pull out of the oncoming traffic lane (picture the big rock truck coming). So we oh so gently...drag the trailer to the meager shoulder and Tim plays dodge cars and hops out and puts it back in. You may wonder how he knew so quickly about the brake cable...that is a whole other tale of last week, which was a "live and learn" experience that has already come in handy - note to self, we need a longer cable!!!
Ok! Away we go!!! We are "flying"! We are golden! We are over 2 hours into our trip....we are traveling on a "steep" Texas hill and....now we are shimmying! Now the truck is shaking and shimmying. Big time. And we have somehow entered a construction zone that is single lane, no shoulders and lasts FOREVER! For once in his life Tim has driven below the speed limit in a construction zone. The long line of trucks and cars behind us must have appreciated that.
Our trusty GPS guide (we have yet to name her) has told us there is a Love's Truck Stop just a mile and a half away. We love her! After navigating some back roads that are making us start to worry she announces we have arrived. We had arrived at a small town High School with a huge, deserted parking lot!!! Which is a wonderful thing to see when pulling a 40' trailer! So we stop and try and figure out what to do. It is now after 5 and there wasn't much help to be had but we finally determine it is a tire issue on our truck. And yes, I had 2 different places tell me last week my tires were fine. Fine if you like your tires to have dry rot.
Our luck continues because just 5 shaky miles down the road is an RV park! Here is Tim enjoying our view and the sunshine (105 degree sunshine). Just a shimmy down the road was Shooters Restaurant. The only sit down joint in town (cigarettes required but they let us stay) With a $9.95 16 oz New York Strip - the waitress informed us that the owner's of Shooters also own the meat company across street. Fresh Meat! Ok, it was crazy good along with everything else we ordered. Including Kylie's chocolate pie!
With 4 new tires on order for the morning we can't wait to see how our Adventure unfolds tomorrow! Our itinerary has us down for Carlsbad, NM tomorrow. That will be a 6 hour drive. Should we start making bets if we will make it?!
We happily turn onto Tudor Lane and neither of us see the sign saying the road is closed today. We turn the corner and oh crap! Tim gets to back out a 1/4 mile of curvy road.
Phew! Now we have the pleasure of making a hairpin turn onto 407 but luck is on our side! There are no cars coming so we jump on our opportunity and make our fast, very tight turn. And then the emergency brake cable pulls loose and our trailer tires lock up as we are trying to pull out of the oncoming traffic lane (picture the big rock truck coming). So we oh so gently...drag the trailer to the meager shoulder and Tim plays dodge cars and hops out and puts it back in. You may wonder how he knew so quickly about the brake cable...that is a whole other tale of last week, which was a "live and learn" experience that has already come in handy - note to self, we need a longer cable!!!
Ok! Away we go!!! We are "flying"! We are golden! We are over 2 hours into our trip....we are traveling on a "steep" Texas hill and....now we are shimmying! Now the truck is shaking and shimmying. Big time. And we have somehow entered a construction zone that is single lane, no shoulders and lasts FOREVER! For once in his life Tim has driven below the speed limit in a construction zone. The long line of trucks and cars behind us must have appreciated that.
Our trusty GPS guide (we have yet to name her) has told us there is a Love's Truck Stop just a mile and a half away. We love her! After navigating some back roads that are making us start to worry she announces we have arrived. We had arrived at a small town High School with a huge, deserted parking lot!!! Which is a wonderful thing to see when pulling a 40' trailer! So we stop and try and figure out what to do. It is now after 5 and there wasn't much help to be had but we finally determine it is a tire issue on our truck. And yes, I had 2 different places tell me last week my tires were fine. Fine if you like your tires to have dry rot.
Our luck continues because just 5 shaky miles down the road is an RV park! Here is Tim enjoying our view and the sunshine (105 degree sunshine). Just a shimmy down the road was Shooters Restaurant. The only sit down joint in town (cigarettes required but they let us stay) With a $9.95 16 oz New York Strip - the waitress informed us that the owner's of Shooters also own the meat company across street. Fresh Meat! Ok, it was crazy good along with everything else we ordered. Including Kylie's chocolate pie!
With 4 new tires on order for the morning we can't wait to see how our Adventure unfolds tomorrow! Our itinerary has us down for Carlsbad, NM tomorrow. That will be a 6 hour drive. Should we start making bets if we will make it?!
Is This Really Happening?!
Well, we are down to about 5 hours to lift off! And that's about as much sleep as I've had in the last few days....ok, not really but it feels like it! Still have more setting up in the RV but I'm almost there. The next big question is what will everything look like when we get to Big Spring, Texas? I have the feeling that there may be a big mess in some of my kitchen cabinets! Oh, that is, of course, assuming we make it out of the driveway!!!!!
Betsy
Betsy
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
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