We escaped Albuquerque Friday afternoon about 2pm and headed north pulling 16,500 pounds of home behind us.
Later that evening, after a nice hike around Ojo Caliente hot springs, we came to a very interesting observation.
There was nowhere else we would rather be at that moment.
That led to a conversation about how many times since we have had the RV were we where we wanted to be with no thought or wish to be somewhere else?
The answer was about 95% of the time.
This was a beautiful thing to ponder and only possible as the tension and stress of the city of Albuquerque faded away. Physically feeling the difference allowed us to truly appreciate it a lot!
People in that town are used to having their cars stolen while they are in the store, at home, or anywhere else. I walked into a hardware store in a nice part of town to get a key for the truck made.
There I met an off duty cop who was also having a key for his new Ford F350 truck made. He parked in front of the store (two spaces away from the door!), walked in to have the key made, walked out to check the key and someone had forced in his door lock and tried to steal the truck! The only reason they could not was because he had a boot on the steering wheel! Dang!
Only in Albuquerque does a cop put a boot on his steering wheel to run into the hardware store!
Then there is the normal traffic, along with the noise and light pollution. YUK. Since we were there just to get some warranty work done on the RV, and the people at the RV place were just jerks for the most part acting like they could care less if we were there just made it all that much worse.
I wonder how many people can say that 95% of the time they are exactly where they want to be – and there is nowhere else they would rather be? I think that is a very cool thing to be able to say and Shelly and I thank God every day for this blessing!
So now we are in an RV park in South Fork Co. We are going to work here 4 days on and 3 off and get ready for winter back in Red River NM. We can feel productive, make some new friends, and explore southern Colorado while leaving our home here. It is just too heavy for the shorter trips we want to take to explore this area.
Here is where we have been in the last few weeks. As soon as I have collected and edited videos and pictures from the three devices we use – I’ll create a visual post!
Going down to 43 tonight with a high of 74 tomorrow. Perfect!
Here I sit in the warm August afternoon sun at Blue Mesa Alpaca Farm working on where to go next.
We have about a week until ordered parts get into Albuquerque for some projects in the RV, so I was playing with google maps and looking at distances etc. Then I started looking at where we have been. Google is so helpful with this!
I think we pulled out of the park in Logan headed towards Angel Fire about two weeks ago or something.
Next we head back up through Santa Fe, then over to Los Alamos and up into the Carson National Forest. We should find some cool places to hang out while we wait for parts!
This is the last day of an RV “Rally” at the Elkhart 4H Fairgrounds in Goshen, Indiana. Today is day four. We will be pulling out in the morning and driving all of 35 miles to a local winery who allows RVs to stay overnight.
The general rule for travel is 2-2-2. That means: drive no more than 200 miles, get into your camp before 2PM and stay 2 days. We are pretty good at the first two, but the staying two days is hard if you are bored! Sometimes you want to stay longer when commitments or cost dictate otherwise.
We are finding this life to be different than boating, and enjoyable. It is much, much easier in many ways with a corresponding increase in cost. We are able to cover a lot more ground, and it is easy enough to drop off the path to explore if desired at a moments notice.
One of latest revelations is online membership sites (at about $40/year) that allow us to find people who welcome RV’s to their house to stay, and another site that lets us search for wineries, farm and historical sites that also allow RVer to stay overnight for free.
With some state parks and private campgrounds charging as much as $45 per night, anyplace we can stay for free with the additional benefits of meeting great people or wine tastings are greatly appreciated!
Our routine seems to be yoga for Shelly in the morning while Goose and I run, then she readies the inside while I get the outside ready to go. Normally we are on the road by 930 or 10.
We are staying off the interstates as much as possible although it means the trip takes twice as long. The trade off for having things to see is well worth it for us. If we are in to our next stop and set us by 3 or 4, there is plenty of time for a hike or a visit to something interesting. If we like what we see we might stay another day or three. No hurry!
Tomorrow we begin to head in the general direction of Branson, MO. Looking at the wineries available to us it might take us two weeks to travel the 700 miles!
We already have started putting put feelers to find where we might hole up for the winter and ski but who knows?
It’s all good. We are having a great time, living the way we like – but we know it not for everyone!
Some interesting finds along the road:
In Alligator Point, FL, we walked along the beach where the most common item was the roadbed from previous hurricanes.
You CAN take you Mother in Law with you in a 5th wheel for a week and not hurt each other! We had fun poking into places in North and South Carolina.
The road from Weaverville NC across the Blue Ridge into Tennessee was a wonderful trip. Up and down, around the sharp corners, along the river and through the mountains. Very cool.
Cumberland Gap. This place is amazing. If you don’t know it is really a gap in the Appalachians that has been used forever to pass over the mountains. Buffalo and other animals, then Shawnee, Cherokee and many other tribes used it (The Warriors Way) before Daniel Boone came through three times from Virginia to help open up Kentucky and the Ohio Valley. Then they called it Wilderness Trail. He walked through the Gap at least three times and 115 miles north to settle Boonesboro, KY. He first came through in 1787!
Boonesboro was built on the Kentucky River – and has the nicest, natural, fresh water sand beach in the world! The replica fort is worth the visit.
Indiana is a beautiful state. Who would have thought?
The Amish have settled much of the Goshen and Elkhart Indiana area with beautifully kept farms. We pass horse and buggies on the road and shop for fresh, natural farm products sold inexpensively at their stores.
Next target is Branson, Missouri. No particular reason why other that we heard nice things about it!
If you have friends or relatives around our path we would be happy to visit them for you if they can accommodate a 32′ 5th wheel RV!
