Arriving in New Mexico

Leaves where there were none last night

May 20 – Bill couldn’t wait to get up today and survey the damage. A few dings in the truck but no real damage to the RV. I got on the roof and checked and swept off a lot of leaves. One of the gutter spouts was off and one was cracked and I accidentally broke one with the broom. No rain got in our repaired window. There were lots of leaves covering the ground.

We had cereal today so we could get going. It was pretty chilly out this morning. Enough so we got jackets out. Big change from the past week. Made it on the road at 8:30, continuing west. We stopped at 9:30 for fuel at the exit where we had planned to visit Washita National Battlefield. Once we stopped I thought it sounded really familiar so I went in the RV and checked my National Parks Book and we went there in 2009. So that saved us a couple of hours as it’s 30 miles off the interstate.

We stopped at the Texas Welcome Station and it was really windy but the sun was trying to come out. We had expected to be driving in lots of rain by now. Just sprinkled enough to make you put the wipers on the lowest setting. We knew the change of plans for the day was putting us in at our RV park way early so we called and moved it from Vega, TX to Tucumcari, NM. We drove through Amarillo and from the road saw the famous Cadillac Ranch that we visited several years ago. It’s 6 old Cadillac embedded part way in the ground, nose first, all in a row and people bring spray paint and paint names and designs on them, over and over.

At the New Mexico Welcome Station I picked up some NM travel information and a cup of coffee. We opened the slides and had lunch. Bill had his leftover Subway and I had a salad with the last of my turkey. Now we figured we still would be really early since the time changed again once we got into NM. So we called and cancelled Tucumcari and made a reservation in Santa Rosa, NM. That puts us just 120 miles to Albuquerque, but that gives us time to try and order a window. We did stop in Tucumcari at the K-Mart for packing tape, duct tape, garbage bags and a cardboard box.

The sun going down but I didn't get
the eclipse

We camped at Santa Rosa Campground and it’s OK. The pads are gravel and not the most level and they said you may not get the local channels on the cable and you have to pay extra for it, so we opted for a 30 Amp space and no cable. Our antenna worked fine so we could watch the new 2 hours Jesse Stone movie with Tom Selleck. First order of business was to work on the window. By the time we stopped for the day the exterior layer of plastic was about off. I traced the screen on the cardboard and we cut it out, actually we made 4, in case we have to repeat the process. We bagged it from each end with the garbage bags and taped it very securely. Then I taped it in the outside of the window first with package tape and then 2 rounds of duct tape and then another layer of package tape. On the inside I had to take the board off and put the screen back in better and put the board back up. I sure hope this holds til we get to CO. We decided for sure to have the window shipped to us as there are only 10 screws that hold it on and the holes are predrilled so it should be simple so we don’t have to hook up the RV once we are settled in and take it into Durango. For dinner I made venison stuffed peppers. I had 3 nice bell peppers from my garden so I used them and made a small casserole dish of stuffing for me. That will be enough for 2 meals. I had to improvise on the recipe. I had no spaghetti sauce or tomato sauce, so I cooked a can of diced tomatoes in with the meat and added herbs for seasoning and at the end stirred in some catsup and put some on top of the peppers once stuffed. Bill said they were really good, so guess I’ll have an alternate recipe when the need arises again.

After Jesse Stone we showered at the bathhouse and Bill did up all the dishes. We won’t be in a rush to leave in the morning as we have some phone calls to make so we know who is going to order our window.