Amarillo By Morning

 

Now that would make a good song.

We left out early and beat the traffic through town. Up the side of Sandia mountain pass and down the other. We stopped in Tucumcari NM at the Flying J and topped off. We swung out of the fueling area and parked in the lot. Sherri put us together some lunch and then we were on the road again.

Sherri and I arrived about 12:00 noon and found the Oasis RV Park with no trouble. Sherri was a little worried about the park but once we pulled in all her worries left her. This is a nice park with plenty of room to stretch out those slides and still have concrete to walk on...for those guys who like to putter around outside.

We got set up and ate a bite of lunch. Sherri cranked up the Internet to see how it was doing. She had a good Verizon signal here so she played with that and I took a nap.

When I rousted myself out of slumber land I went outside and puttered around. Got some things straightened up from the trip and then set up the patio for our lounge time. I started getting hungry about that time and asked Sherri if she wanted to go out to eat with me. Now you have to remember we are on vacation and not full time traveling. That means we have money to eat out on. When we go full time traveling we will be eating at home.

Sherri wanted some real Tex-Mex food so we looked on the Internet to see what was here. She found an Arbueles south of town. This is where we would not eat after getting there. We were almost hit twice in the parking lot and decided that it must be an omen not to eat there.

We really were looking forward to eating Mexican food so we found an On The Border closer to the Interstate. We had a good meal and went home satisfied...well we did make a stop at the Penny's down the road. Sherri wanted me to buy a new light weight jacket. Then we went home. We took a walk around the park as the sun was going down. Stopped by the laundry to check it out. Wash is $.50 and Dry is $.50 a load! What a deal! We walked until it got too dark and then went in.

We watched a little TV and then got ready for bed. It has been a long day and we both are feeling it tonight...

Somewhere in Time

Having to leave all our friends

 

Sherri and I woke up this morning with heavy hearts. She was not too long in bed after I got up and we had coffee together...dreading having to say good-bye to the Dream Team was going to be a hard thing to do. This is not the first time that we have had to do this and it will not be the last and it will never be easy.

What is that coming out of my hat???...Yes it was cold when we left. 

We left out at 10:00 am. We had to stop at the Park office to file for a refund on our early departure. You have to fill out a form that request your money back if you leave early. This takes about 6 to 8 weeks. We will see how that comes out.

Going south to Albuquerque on Hwy 550

It was almost 12:00 noon before we pulled out of the park. It was about 4 1/2 hours before we arrived at Sandia Casino. We drove around for some time trying to find the right spot to park. Now it was time to head toward the casino and collect our $40.00 that new players get when they get a players card...YES!!! $40.00 to play on. WOW we had a ball using their money playing for most of the night. I won $60.00 using their money and enough to buy us a buffet for two. This is a nice place to stay for free and have them pay for your gambling.

Parking on the lot at Sandia Casino

After we ate we decided to go back and get some sleep. We are leaving in the morning as soon as we wake up. Waking early puts us in Amarillo  before noon. It also gets us out of town before the traffic gets too heavy.

We had no AC but then by the time we got back the temps were cool and we had no problem sleeping. I think we can do that boondocking thing with no problem...

Somewhere in Time

Going North Before Going South

 

 

It was about dark thirty when I noticed Sherri was not in bed. I went down in the living room and found her sleeping in her recliner...I must have been snoring? I went back to bed and woke up about 7:00 and she was back in bed...so I made the coffee and sat down at the computer. She woke up an hour later and I found out that she could not go to sleep last night so she sat up and watched a movie.

I told her that this is what being retired is all about. Doing what you want to do when you want to do it and not worrying about it. At the moment we are enjoying it. We will be practicing this life style for a while so when we start doing it full time we will be ready.

This morning we will be going to Pagosa Springs to explore the campgrounds there. We are on the lookout for summer homes here in Colorado. We want the monthly rents so that will be on our list of things to look for.

Tomorrow will be a travel day to Albuquerque. We will stay the night there and then head on to Amarillo. The plan is to stay a couple of days there and visit Palo Duro Canyon. I hope to do a little hiking there and exploring some of the area.

I was there as a small boy and then Sherri and I visited there back in the early 70's. We took the kids with us on that trip and while down in the canyon Jason...our oldest..go sick and we had to take him to the clinic. That put a bitter taste in our mouth for a while but we wanted to return and have an opportunity to see it in a different light.

OK so we got ready this morning...no hurry...our neighbors are not early risers so we just took our time and got everything together for the trip. We headed up Hwy 151 about 14 miles to Hwy 160. We headed east on 160 for 16 miles to Pagosa Springs.

Once on the western outskirts of town we started looking for RV parks that might accommodate our needs for a summer stay. We found several RV Parks but only two tweaked our interest. Pagosa Springs RV park on the river was one and the other was south out of town on Hwy 84. Both of these have back-in on the river and both would rate the same on our scale of good and bad...which would be in the average range. Either place would not rate a months stay in our book.

All that being said we will stick with the Sky Ute Casino RV Park in Ignacio Colorado as our place to stay when visiting this area. So there you have it.

We did find a good restaurant to eat at in Pagosa Springs called the Junction Family Restaurant. Sherri and I had the ground sirloin steak and mash potatoes. John had the chicken fried steak and Bridget the chicken strips. We all had a good time visiting eating and taking pictures of each other.

We stopped by an Indian Recreation area...found some wildlife!

After eating we headed on back to the park. We had seen all we wanted of Pagosa Springs...which by the way is a nice town. They have lots of shops there and girly things to do. The springs are located in town and if you like that sort of thing you will have plenty to do.

We arrived back at the park and rousted the other couple out to join us in cold drinks. Leslie said she was feeling better. It was good to hear she was on the mend. We ate leftovers and watched another movie...My Cousin Vinnie...and had a good laugh...we all love that movie.

This being our last night it was really hard to say good-night. We knew in the morning that we would be parting company and that is not easy for us. We would love to stay forever but then we have to go back and finish our out out tour of duty. Soon that will all be behind us and we can roam at will...

Somewhere in Time

A Trip to the Casino in Ignacio

 

I crawled out of bed this morning did my coffee thing and then plopped down...you know the routine. I was writing away when I heard my sweet heart stirring in the bedroom so I poured her coffee and greeted her as she came down stairs. I asked her how she was feeling. She told me that she felt much better this morning.

We sat down to drink our coffee and I asked her if she felt good enough to go to the casino for lunch and some slots? Yes was the answer so we finished our coffee and got dressed.

I waited until 9:30 to walk down to the neighbors to see if they were game for a trip. The Winchesters...from upper Jackson...John and Bridget were ready to go. The Rothschild's...Leslie and Mike...from Mid Salt Lake City...were not feeling up to the trip so we had to leave them behind.

We arrived at the casino about 11:00 or so and headed to Guest Services to retrieve new cards...We had forgot to bring them...DUH! Then it was on to the slots to make our fortune. Well that did not happen as you well know but then we did have some fun.

About 1:00 we all got hungry and went to the buffet to get something to eat. The buffet is $7.00 so we took advantage of that. They had all kinds of meats and the salad bar was good. Desert came after all that and even though I did not partake of it...it sure looked good. John grabbed the ticket and paid for ours...Said that we had drove and he wanted to help pay for our diesel! Thanks Bridget and John..

We decided after we ate to go into Ignacio and see if they had a grocery store. Sure nuff we found one across from the Wells Fargo. We had to park in the back lot being that they don't have a parking lot in the front. The front is right on the main street...Hwy 172...and does not have any signage to tell you that it is a grocery store. I was stocked with plenty of grub and being grocery folks as we are we checked the dates and found them to be good. The meats looked real good and fresh too. We bought some brawts to cook out tonight.

Upon return to the park we made plans to all get together this evening to cook out and then watch some movies. John cooked the brawts and Sherri made a dip. Leslie had some potato salad left and brought it. We had a real good meal and then sat down to watch movies.

We watched a double feature...The Wedding Crashers and The Cowboy Way. Two real good movies and funny for sure. We all laughed until we hurt.

It was 12:00 midnight when we said our good-byes. Thanks to our friends for sharing a good time with us. I hope that we can do this often...

Somewhere in Time    

We are planning on relaxing today

 

 

Viola...I had a fire going before I knew it

Up with the sunrise this morning. Made the coffee and headed outside to start our first camp fire. Used a starter log and some paper and before I could say "Fire in the hole"...I had a camp fire going.

Soon after I got the fire going Mike came over and we sat around the fire and had a cup of coffee. We solved many of the problems in the world and then Sherri came out and she too help solve some more. It was nice to sit there...look out at the mountains and warm ourselves by the fire.

Mike and John prepare a great breakfast

Breakfast was in order and Mike went to get his part. John showed up and he had his hot plate and pancake fixens. Mike cooked bacon and John made the pancakes. I on the other hand stoked the fire and fetched things.

Bridget brought her part over and her and Sherri did the inside stuff.

We decided when all was said and done that we would eat inside our house due to the chilly temps and the wind. Winter is on it's way to Colorado I am afraid. Last night we had some temps in the 30's. It wont be long they will be shoveling snow here. I wont be here to witness that...and that is a good thing.

So today I think I will putter around the house and see what kind of mischief I can get into. I have things that I need to do and today will be a good day to do it.

I started with getting all the bugs off the front cap of the house. I had a good collection I had gathered from Texas to Colorado. That took me some time and plenty of elbow grease. I will need to wax that too but then the sun came up and the skin on the front got too hot for that so I will have to wait for another time.

This has been a good time here in Colorado. We have gone and had fun and still had some time to visit and rest. For those that are retired and doing this...I hope you take time to rest and enjoy some peace and quite.

John and Mike dropped by to see if I wanted ride up to the store with them. I did not need anything so I just stayed home with Sherri. She was not feeling too good this morning. We just set around and watched a movie and then ate some leftovers.

All in all it was a good day of relaxation and rest here...

Somewhere in Time

 

Chimney Rock

 

I woke up this morning around 7:00. Sherri was still sleeping when I went down to make the coffee. She is getting some good rest now that we are on the road with friends. She works hard when we are working and now it is her turn to relax for a while.

Sherri got up about 45 minutes later and I poured her a cup of coffee. I sat at the computer and Sherri told me how to use the Facebook page. I don't get on there much but this morning I thought I would give it a try.

It appears that we will have some sunshine today so I plan on getting outside to clean some things up. After the rain I like to clean the house on the outside. One thing about rain it sure does mess up all your hoses and anything else left outdoors uncovered.

I started with the back bay. I removed all the storage from the compartment. Placed it on the ground outside and started vacuuming the inside to get all the grass...gravel...and debris that had accumulated there over time. I love how much better things look after you spend some time cleaning and straightening up.

From there I move on to the patio and got it swept and started gathering up all the things we needed to take with us to Chimney Rock. I put several items in the truck and and some other items in the house so we would not forget them. The plan was to leave about 3:45 so we would have time to drive...park...and get in line for the trip to the upper parking lot.

We arrived on time and found a place right by the ticket office. We all unloaded and began to take pictures and explore all the sights there. We found out that we had an hour and forty five minute wait for the gate to open. We shopped around the gift shop and found music CD's on sale. Charles Martinez is the musician that was to perform on the mountain. The name of the album is Reflections. John and Bridget bought our CD because we had been driving all week. Thanks to both of you for doing that.

Here we all are waiting for the program to begin

Soon it was time to head on up the mountain to the parking lot. We followed all the others and soon found a prime spot to park that everyone else had overlooked. We unloaded all our supplies for the trip up the mountain...on foot by the way...maybe a 1/4 of a mile.

Sherri looked up the trail and decided this was not for her. Notice the folks way up at the top.

We had made it up the trail about 1/2 way when Sherri told me that she could not go any further. She has a fear of heights and I told her that we would go back down. She wanted me to go on ahead but I told her that we came together and if she did not want to do this then I didn't either. We both headed back down the hill and found us a place that we would have good view of the moon coming up. I set up my tripod and camera and waited for the moon.

Kristen and Sherri compare notes on their fears.

It did come up right on time and we both enjoyed a great show. While waiting on the moon to come up Sherri met a young lady by the name of Kristen that also had a fear of heights. Her husband had gone on ahead without her so she sat with us. Sherri and her compared fears and had a good time while I photographed the moon. We had a real good time without the climb. If you are going to Chimney Rock for the full moon rising you should be aware that it is a hard climb.

Here are several pictures of the moon rise...What a beautiful experience

After all our friends had returned to the truck we all went back down the hill to get out CD's signed by Charles. He was real nice and we thanked him for everything. I asked him if I could take his picture and he said yes. Now I have his autograph and picture.

Charles Martinez was the flute player at the ceremony. Bridget and Mike making their way to the truck for the trip home.

We left there and went back to the park. It was early yet and we decided to go to Mike and Leslie's for a game of Ten Penny. I lost as usual but had a good time doing so. Leslie and Bridge tied for the win and they were both happy.

Time to leave and we made our way back home. We were both tired and went ahead and turned in for the night. What a great adventure we had today and we are both looking forward to the next one...

Somewhere in Time  

Off to Farmington

 

Morning came quietly as usual and I woke slowly and rolled over to pier out the window. Yes the sun was just coming up and I laid there for a while to make sure I had the strength to go and make coffee.

Once I slid on leg out of bed I knew that I could make it down to the kitchen and load up the coffee pot. Sometimes I make it before I go to bed but last night I was tired from shopping in Durango and just passed out.

Coffee was making and I sat down at the computer to post my journal. We have such a slow connection out here in the boonies that I can never tell if I will get on or not. Sometimes when I get on the connection is so slow that the journal will not load up and I have to attempt it several times before I get it posted.

Sherri joined me about the time that the coffee was ready and I poured her a cup. We talked about our trip into Farmington and what all was on the itinerary. We were going to see the Tom Bolack Museum of Fish and Wildlife. If we had time we would head over to the Farmington Museum.

Our reservation was for 2:00 pm and we left around 11:00. We arrived in Farmington 1 1/2 later and stopped at Applebee's for lunch. It took over an our for our order to arrive...we were about to bail out and go somewhere else. The food was good...so we were glad that we waited.

We had about 30 minutes to get to the museum so we arrived there in good time and only had a short wait for the tour. The tour took about an hour and we enjoyed the presentation. We were a little disappointed in the condition of the live animals keep outside the museum. The cages were small and not kept. The animals did not appear to be happy at all.

Leaving there we found that we would have time for the Farmington Museum which held information about he town of Farmington and it's history. We enjoyed the tour and left there in time for the girls to shop some more. Mike John and I stayed in the truck while they found all the bargains that were there. That being completed we trucked over to Wally World for some supplies. Believe it or not we did not spend much money which was a record for us.

Home again Home again zippity do. John and Bridget had bought a movie while there...Man on Fire...so we decided to fix some tacos and watched the movie. Everyone came to our place...brought their food cooked it here and watched a good movie. The movie was over about midnight and everyone left for home. Sherri and I fixed us a bowl of ice cream and watched the weather...then it was off to bed...off to dream land...

Somewhere in Time

Our trip into Durango

 

Sherri and I drank our coffee and watched the sun come up over the mountains

The Park here in the mountains is so quite that you could sleep till 9:00 without ever being disturbed. This morning was no different than all the others. I woke up to the fan noise...we have the AC on fan only. I looked out the window at the mountains and could see the sun starting to peek over the crest. I felt rested and decided to go ahead and get up. I went down stairs and made the coffee...checked the outside  temps...set the thermostat to turn on the heat pump and then waited for the coffee to finish brewing.

Sherri got up about the time the coffee completed and I poured her a cup. We both sit in the recliners and looked out the back window at the sunrise. The mountains were in the foreground and the lake at their foot framed a beautiful setting. We both love the mountains and will make them our home in the coming summers. Not sure where we will live in the winter but Colorado will be on the summer list for sure.

We both have decided not to plan too far ahead from now on. We are going to shy away from reservations as much as we can in route to our destination. Knowing that we will have to have a reservation for our long stays but having the freedom to get there at our own pace and find those ideal places along the way to relax.

Well this is what it is all about. Being able to go and explore the towns along the route. Finding out about the history not only of the town but the route itself. Seeing new sights along the way...color changes...elevations...deserts to mountains to rivers...WOW it doesn't get any better than that.

OK so today we all plan on going into Durango to see the shops and visit the train station. Our traveling companions have all been on the railroad trip to Silverton and we want to experience it also. Maybe that will be in our future plans.

We arrived in Durango on an empty stomach and preceded down main to find a place to eat. Finding nothing at all I was instructed to turn around and low and behold I turned around in the Serious Texas BBQ parking lot! Now that must have been a sign so we parked there and ate. We love BBQ but then I guess you know that by now.

From there we drove down town and parked so the girls could go shopping. John and Bridget were looking for a present for family. Sherri was looking for some comfortable sandals...and the rest of us...well we were just looking.

John and Bridget shopping in Durango

John and Bridget found their gift...Sherri found her shoes and we all headed over to the train station. We had an opportunity to go through the train museum there...which by the way is free...We like free.

Sherri in front of the Station                              Inside the station

John feeling right at home                              Sherri Bridget and Leslie...Engineers?

The train arrived while we were there. The first one at 6:00 and shortly the second train arrive. They both came from Silverton and both were loaded. I tried to figure out how many the train would hold and multiply that time $81.00...well they made some money for sure. My camera crapped out about that time. It said that I had no more room? I found out later that when I changed batteries the other day the card did not get seated correctly...Thanks Jason for helping me correct that problem.

Sherri waiting on the train to arrive                 Right on time

Train arrives after long journey                        The sun retreats behind the mountains

We stayed long enough to eat dinner at a local Mexican Food restaurant in town and then started our journey back to the lake. We arrive late as usual and after dropping everyone off at their houses we settled down in our recliners to have some ice cream. We watched a little bit of a movie and the went up stairs to bed.

We all enjoyed a great meal before heading home

What a great day with friends...eating...shopping...exploring...laughing and having fun here....

Somewhere in Time

Indian Comedy Show

We slept in again this morning and it sure felt good not having to get up and go anywhere. Sherri was still sleeping when I got out of bed. I went to the kitchen and fixed the coffee and started posting my journal entry. We have a real slow connection out here and it takes some time to post. We do get out emails but we have no phone service at all.

We hope that the kids are reading our journal so they will know where we are located...you know just in case they should miss us. We know that they have their own lives to live but maybe a phone call would be nice.

Tonight was the Indian Comedy show at the casino in Ignacio. We all planned to meet at our house at 6:30. We would all go in our truck which will hold 6 people comfortably. We all loaded up on time and took the drive into town. Of course at this time of the day the sun was just going down and it took all 6 of us to watch the road.

We arrived in plenty of time for the show and bought general admission  tickets. The lady at the window said they are better seats than the reserved. We had to go through the security station and be relieved of all our weapons...??? I don't know what they thought we would be bringing in to the auditorium but Mike gave up his pocket knife.

The show was three hours and was one of the best comedy shows I have ever seen. We all enjoyed it and when all was over we headed to the hamburger bar for food. It had been sometime since any of us had eaten. Bridget John Sherri and I ordered hamburgers and Mike and Leslie ordered breakfast.

Food revitalized us enough to put us in the casino to play some. We all did pretty good and left with some of their money. Then it was everyone back in the truck and we headed to the park. It was late and we had a full day... bed was looking real good about now.

We all said our good-byes and goodnights and home we all went. Before we knew it we were both sound asleep...

Somewhere in Time

This is the Life

 

This morning I peered out with one eye and it was dark. I felt wide awake but it was dark everywhere I looked. I could see the clock at the foot of the bed but it was off a couple of hours before we left Texas and now that we have gone through the time change I had no idea what time it was. I felt rested so I just swung my legs out of bed and made my way to the kitchen to start some coffee.

In the kitchen I looked at the oven clock and it had the true time on it. It showed to be 6:30. I went ahead and started the coffee but did not bother Sherri who was still sleeping soundly. She has been taking some meds to relax her because of the fall.

Sherri slept in till almost 8:00...now that is a record for her. She never sleeps late and has always had an built in alarm clock in her head. Not today, however, she was snoozing and I let her continue to do so. I sat down at the computer and started writing about the days events. That would be yesterdays events. I know you must be confused on what day I am writing about because I am too. We do not have a good signal out here and it keeps telling me I am roaming so I have to be careful until I can call the Verizon folks and find out if I am being charged for the higher fee?

That being said I cannot post on time everyday so my post may seem choppy. My phone has no signal so I have not had any calls...that may be a good thing?

OK so it was about 9:00 when John appeared on my patio. I was outside cleaning the windows and caulking some seams that appeared to be in need of it. John had helped me pull the dryer out of the closet yesterday so we could check it out and see why it was not running. We thought that it might be the exhaust hose but found out that was not the case. John took the top off of the dryer and soon had the motor and the heating element on the picnic table where surgery was about to be performed. He tightened up the fan on the motor shaft and it stopped squeaking so maybe it was dragging and causing the unit to overheat?

We put it all back together and guess what...Yes it is drying clothes and Sherri is ecstatic...she can dry the clothes at home. Thanks John...we drove 900 miles to get our dryer fixed.

 

While outside visiting we had an attack of the mosquitoes and Sherri was battling them.

Well, that being done it was time just to relax and visit. Later we all decided that we needed to make a run into Durango to where else but Wally World. We all packed into the truck and off we went. Before we could go shopping we all had to eat! You don't go grocery shopping on an empty stomach.

We stopped at Texas Serious BBQ and had us some good BBQ. We sat on the patio that looked out over the river. The waitress said she would take our picture for us...I thought that was so nice I took a picture of the waitress. We had a good time and then headed on to grocery shop.

Arriving at the Wally World parking lot I was instructed by the 5 others where to park. Now if you can picture that...I hit 5 different slots before the correct one was found. You have to have the prime spot or you can't go in the building.

As usual we were in the store for some time. You have to spend that $100. before you are allowed to leave. We did just that and then the doors were opened and we left.

The ride home was fun in total darkness and the 5 passengers instructing me on speed and where to turn. How did I ever make it without all this help?

We had so much fun...and yes this is what it is all about here...

Somewhere in Time