Off On A New Adventure

With the car packed to the roof we drove to Malcoms to set up the coach. We loaded up the pantry and fridge with the perishables, hung up clothes, made the bed, and we were ready to go about 1PM.

Traveling down Interstate 25 S we are in high desert country. Now it seems real and being on the road feels like home. A few miles out of Albuquerque we spotted a flock of gray cranes in a field. We're not sure what kind they are as they were pretty far off the road. The Manzano Mountains and Rio Grand Valley are on our left in a sunny haze while plateaus, buttes, and arroyos are on the right.

We drive through the Sevelleta Wildlife Refuge and into Socorro. Part of the Wildlife Refuge is a waterfowl management area. We saw hundreds of white birds flying over a wetland. In front of us there are really high snow covered peaks in the distance. They are outlined in the haze of the sun. It is beautiful today and must be almost 60 degrees.

Stopping at the Acomilla Rest Area we learned this is where the Apache used to attack the Spanish. This was a narrow passage along the Rio Grande River and is part of the famous Camino Real. From 1598 to 1882 this was a 1600 mile trade route between Mexico City, Mexico and Santa Fe, New Mexico. A supply wagon train would arrive in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and the missions area every three years from Mexico City bringing clothing, sugar, tobacco, animals and anything considered valuable trade. Today this route is known as Interstate 25.

Movin on we passed by Mulligan Gulch and through Nogal Canyon. The foothills are now rolling up to the San Mateo Mountains. The landscape constantly changes from flat valley to climbing plateaus and the scenery is magnificent even though the winter colors of brown, beige, and dried sage covers the ground.

We have arrived in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico and decide to make this our stop for the night. We fed the coach and then found the RJ RV Park and got the last site. We are up on a hill overlooking the town and it has a nice view. We went off to WalMart (yes there is one here....) and did some grocery shopping. We had dinner at the La Cocina Restaurant. The food was good and the Margaritas were terrific. They were made with a white mexican wine instead of Tequilla and they were really good!

We put the groceries away and just relaxed. It was a nice drive today and we are glad to be back on the road.

Tomorrow we will head out again. Our first key destination is Quartzite, Arizona for the FMCA Rally.

Coach Preparation

This morning we are off to Malcom's where we stored our RV. We need to arrange to get the coach summerized and washed. They will get the batteries charged up, checked the tire pressure, filled the water tanks, and moved it into a heated bay so it will stay clean until we pick it up. They have taken really good care of us and we plan on coming back at the end of this trip to store it again. We picked up the car (which was stored also) and headed back to the house.

All the perishable food and toilletries were boxed up and stored at Dorothy & Al's so we just have to pack it all in the car on Tuesday morning.

The weather at home has been really cold (single digits), but it's in the teens here also at night. Brrr....

We'll spend the next few days trip planning and checking routes up the west coast.

Get Ready! - Here we go....

We left Bradford this afternoon for Albuquerque, New Mexico where we stored the RV for the holidays. It was an uneventful flight and Dorothy and Al (Ken's sister and bother-in-law) met us at the airport. We will spend the next few days visiting while we prep the RV. Then we'll take off on Tuesday, January 12.

Dorothy & Al have been wonderful hosts letting us store stuff at their house and helping us to find our way around town. We can't thank them enough.