Santa Rosa Lake State Park, New Mexico – Day 7

Mary remains at home in California tending to medical issues.

The motorhome is currently parked at Santa Rosa Lake State Park, about 125 miles east of Albuquerque. I will depart later this morning.

This past Monday I took the Bronco about 10 miles south of Santa Rosa to the village of Puerto de Luna…which in Spanish means Moon Door. You can read about Puerto de Luna by clicking this link…
http://nenewmexico.com/towns-counties/guadalupe/puerto-de-luna.php

While there I saw the old church and the remnants of the old county courthouse. Here are some of the photos that I took…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

The old county courthouse was behind a fence so I could get no closer…

Enjoying interesting historic places is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…
http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2012
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

Santa Rosa Lake State Park, New Mexico – Day 6

Mary remains at home in California tending to medical issues.

The motorhome is currently parked at Santa Rosa Lake State Park, about 125 miles east of Albuquerque. I expect to leave here tomorrow.

Monday I took the Bronco into Santa Rosa to do laundry. I took some photos along the way…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

Here’s what the view from the top of the dam looks like…

Santa Rosa is on Historic Route 66. In 1937 it was re-aligned…meaning the route was changed. Santa Rosa remains as the original Route 66. This sign verifies that fact…

Here’s a photo of a very famous railroad bridge as seen looking north on the Pecos River from the Route 66 roadway bridge. If you saw the movie The Grapes of Wrath…Tom Joad (Henry Fonda) looks at this bridge as the train crosses over inspiring him to head West.

I took the opportunity to re-watch The Grapes of Wrath last night. Immediately after the train scene, there are scenes in a gas station and a diner which according to the Internet were also shot in Santa Rosa, but not identified as such, Whereas the train scene actually shows the sign for the Pecos River as it crosses the Route 66 roadway bridge…

The Pecos River looking south from the Route 66 roadway bridge…

Other views from around town…

You can read all about Santa Rosa by clicking this Wikipedia informational link…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Rosa,_New_Mexico

Enjoying interesting historic places is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…
http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2012
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

Santa Rosa Lake State Park – Day 4

Mary remains at home in California tending to medical issues.

The motorhome is currently parked at Santa Rosa Lake State Park, about 125 miles east of Albuquerque.

==========================================

2011-2013 – 6th Circumnavigation Of The USA…Update #4

This Blog posting…which I will post from time-to-time…will be used to present my/our travels on this almost two-year circumnavigation of the United States…my 6th…Mary’s 2nd. During these circumnavigations, I try to travel on roads I’ve not seen before…I’m about 90% successful in that regard.

The only things I know about our potential destinations during this upcoming adventure is that I/we plan to spend a good portion of 2012 exploring the State of New Mexico. In 2013 we’re planning to attend my oldest grand-daughter’s high school graduation in June in southeastern Connecticut. Other than that…we’ll just have to find out one-day-at-a-time where our fates will send us.

The trip began from Murphys, California on November 29, 2011 with 35,956.5 miles on the motorhome odometer. In addition to showing the route taken, I intend to also document where I/we parked during this journey. My guess is that within the about next 700+ days we will park in about 250+ different places.

Here’s the map so far which you may click on to see in a larger view…

#        Date          Location

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

001 – 11/29/11 – Bakersfield, CA – Loyal Order Of Moose – Lodge #2178

002 – 11/30/11 – Riverside, CA – Fraternal Order Of Eagles – Airee #997

003 – 12/01/11 – Thousand Palms, CA – Thousand Trails RV Resort

004 – 12/17/11 – Slab City, CA

005 – 12/18/11 – Winterhaven, CA – Paradise Casino

006 – 12/20/11 – Yuma, Arizona – About 12 miles north on BLM land

007 – 01/03/12 – Winterhaven, CA – Paradise Casino

008 – 01/09/12 – Slab City, CA

009 – 01/16/12 – El Centro, CA – Loyal Order Of Moose – Lodge #1033

010 – 01/17/12 – Winterhaven, CA – About 8 miles west on BLM land.

011 – 01/18/12 – Winterhaven, CA – Pilot Knob RV Park

012 – 01/22/12 – Winterhaven, CA – Quechen Indian Casino

013 – 01/23/12 – Yuma, AZ – American Legion Post #19

014 – 01/24/12 – Wellton, AZ – VFW Post #6790

015 – 01/25/12 – Painted Rocks Historic Park, AZ

016 – 01/27/12 – Ajo, AZ – VFW Post #3570

017 – 01/28/12 – Organ pipe Cactus National Monument, AZ

018 – 02/02/12 – Apache Junction, AZ – Loyal Order Of Moose #2039

019 – 02/03/12 – Apache Junction, AZ – Golden Sun RV Resort

020 – 02/13/12 – Tucson, AZ – About 20 miles north at Mary’s friend’s home.

020 – 02/17/12 – Tucson, AZ – Loyal Order Of Moose #1964

021 – 02/24/12 – Nogales, AZ – VFW Post #2066

022 – 02/27/12 – Lake Patagonia, AZ – Arizona State Park

023 – 02/29/12 – Sierra Vista, AZ – VFW Post #9972

024 – 03/03/12 – Douglas, AZ – Belle Starr’s Silverado Ranch

025 – 03/06/12 – Columbus, NM – Pancho Villa State Park

026 – 03/11/12 – Deming, New Mexico – Rockhound State Park

027 – 03/21/12 – Faywood, NM – City of Rocks State Park

027 – 03/22/12 – Silver City, NM – Loyal Order Of Moose #1718

028 – 04/03/12 – Caballo, NM – Lake Caballo State Park

029 – 04/05/12 – Truth or Consequences, NM – Loyal Order Of Moose #2050

030 – 04/16/12 – Elephant Butte, NM – Elephant Butte State Park

031 – 04/17/12 – Elephant Butte, NM South Monticello Campground

032 – 04/18/12 – San Antonio, NM Owl Bar and Cafe parking lot

033 – 04/19/12 – Socorro, New Mexico Fraternal Order Of Eagles Airee #4017

034 – 04/21/12 – Belen, NM – Loyal Order Of Moose #1680

035 – 04/22/12 – Albuquerque, NM – Loyal Order Of Moose #2241

036 – 04/23/12 – Albuquerque, NM – VFW Post #401

037 – 05/12/12 – Casa Blanca, NM – Dancing Eagle Casino RV Park

o38 – 05/14/12 – Grants, NM – VFW Post #3221

039 – 05/16/12 – Prewitt, NM – Bluewater State Park

040 – 05/20/12 – Gallup, NM – Red Rock Park Campground

041 – 05/22/12 – Window Rock, AZ – Navajo Nation Museum

042 – 05/24/12 – Chinle, AZ – Canyon de Chelly Cottonwood Campground

043 – 06/05/12 – Cortez, CO – American Legion Post #75

044 – 06/08/12 – Mesa Verde National Park, CO

045 – 06/11/12 – Durango, CO – American Legion Post #28

046 – 06/14/12 – Navajo Dam, NM – Navajo Lake State Park Cottonwood Campground

047 – 06/18/12 – Farmington, NM -Dwontown Parking Lot

048 – 06/19/12 – Los Ojos, NM – Heron Lake State Park Woodland Creek Campground

049 – 07/17/12 – Los Ojos, NM – Heron Lake State Park Island View Campground

050 – 08/17/12 – Los Ojos, NM – El Vado State Park

051 – 08/23/12 – Los Ojos, NM – Heron Lake State Park Island View Campground

052 – 09/14/12 – Taos, NM =  Fraternal Order Of Eagles Airee #3489

052 – 09.25/12 – Los Alamos, NM – VFW Post #8872

053 – 10/03/12 – Espanola, NM – Fraternal Order Of Eagles Airee #3695

054 – 10/08/12 – Santa Fe, NM – Fraternal Order Of Eagles Airee #2811

055 – 10/13/12 – Albuquerque – NM- Sandia Casino

056 – 10/16/12 – Albuquerque, – NM – Wal-Mart parking lot

057 – 10/17/12 – Albuquerque, NM – Pisano Street across from Advantage Automotive

058 – 10/18/12 – Santa Rosa, NM – Santa Rose Lake State Park

In other news…

When I depart Santa Rosa Lake State Park in New Mexico, I will turn in a southeasterly direction in the general direction of deep south Texas where I plan to avoid the cold Winter weather as much as possible.

Enjoying beautiful places is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…
http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2012
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

Santa Rosa Lake State Park, New Mexico – Day 3

Mary remains at home in California tending to medical issues.

The motorhome is currently parked at Santa Rosa Lake State Park, about 125 miles east of Albuquerque.

Yesterday morning started with a crystal clear pre-sunrise…as seen through the somewhat dirty windshield of the motorhome…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

The auto-focus feature of my camera changed the colors when I angled own to catch the reflection on the roof of the Bronco…

Also yesterday, I started working on my route which I’ll take to south Texas to hide from the cold weather in the coming weeks. I’m an ex-engineer and just cannot help myself…plan and do. I do this because I would hate to drive nearby a place I would have enjoyed only to have missed it because I failed to do a little homework. My destination lies approximately 775 miles southeast of my current location as shown by this Google Earth image…

Researching potential routes involves the use of maps, books and the Internet…

The results of identifying the one of several potential routes which might be taken is then transferred to the map…

It’s a somewhat time-consuming process…but all I have is time. The results shown in the above photo took about two hours of research. I’ll decode it for you…

I’ll be crossing into Texas just east of Clovis, New Mexico. The circled numbers indicate the page number of the Texas Visitors Guidebook on which detailed information about that location can be found. The circled C indicates some form of camping is available there. The circled A means an American Legion and the circled E means an Eagles Club. Other code letters in the future will be V for a VFW Post, M for a Moose Club, etc… Pretty simple yet it works, And all this time you thought I just stumbled upon all the nice places and things I get to visit. Well, now you know my secret.

In addition to that, the other element I need to pay close attention too is the elevation of potential places I plan to visit.

Going too fast too soon means excessive elevation drop means hotter temperatures. Santa Rosa Lake elevation is 4,800 feet and yesterday’s temperature was 86 degrees…getting kind of warm again! My planned stop in Lubbock, Texas which is only 200 miles ahead was 92 yesterday. That’s why a traveler needs to pay attention to elevation.

So I need to slow my forward pace a bit. I was planning to leave here on Monday but will most likely now leave on Wednesday. As I tell folks…It’s a lousy job, but someones got to do it! 

Enjoying beautiful lakes is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…
http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2012
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

Santa Rosa Lake State Park, New Mexico – Day 1

Mary remains at home in California tending to medical issues.

Yesterday I drove the motorhome on Historic Route 66 about 125 miles from Albuquerque to Santa Rosa Lake State Park, New Mexico. I expect to be here through the weekend.

If you are a regular follower of my Blog, you may recall that I’m in the process of a two-year circumnavigation of the United States…my sixth. Whenever possible I try to drive on roads I’ve not driven before. I also like to drive historic roadways whenever they are on my way. Yesterday I drove in an easterly direction from Albuquerque. The only downside when driving east with an early morning departure is you are looking directly into the sun…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

The traffic on Route 66 was light because Interstate Highway 40 closely parallels it to the North…left in the next photo. I could see it, but it doesn’t show well because of the brilliant sun. If you look just left of Route 66 at the horizon you can see it…

I arrived safely at Santa Rosa Lake State Park after 3 hours and 15 minutes of driving…

I always like to show the view from the dinette window wherever I park overnight. Here it’s not terribly inspiring…just the top of a bush and an RV across the road…

Standing in the doorway of the motorhome I have a peek-a-boo view of the lake about one-half mile away…

It doesn’t matter because after being in the noise of Albuquerque for the last few days, I’m here for the peace and quiet that all New Mexico State Parks seem to offer.

I expect to be entering West Texas in about 10 days and spend the colder weeks of this coming Winter season deep in South Texas hiding out from the cold weather. I’ll use some of my time here to do research, using maps, books and the Internet, to identity likely prospective routes and things/places not too be missed along the way. As I tell folks…It’s a lousy job, but someones got to do it! 

Enjoying historic highways is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…
http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2012
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

Albuquerque, New Mexico – Day 5

Mary remains at home in California tending to medical issues.

I’m still in Albuquerque. Yesterday morning I departed the Wal-Mart parking lot where I had spent the previous night. After some more grocery shopping at Wal-Mart, I drove the motorhome the about three miles to Advantage Automotive, the Workhorse Chassis dealer, to have the ABS light reprogrammed. In addition I had lost the rear running lights to a blown fuse which also got repaired. James runs the cleanest garage I’ve ever seen. You could eat off of the floor…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

James, the owner, was missing two people so I waited over three hours for my service. By time he was done, it was after 3:00 PM so I decided to delay my departure from Albuquerque until this morning.

I always like to show the view out of the dinette window where I park for a night. Here’s last night’s view on Paisano Street…

Paisano Street is a dead-end so I had a nice quiet night despite being somewhat close to Interstate Highway 40…

Later this morning I’ll depart for Santa Rosa Lake State Park about 100 miles east of Albuquerque.

Enjoying the freedom to decide when to get back on the road is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…
http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2012
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

Albuquerque, New Mexico – Day 4

Mary remains at home in California tending to medical issues.

I’m still in Albuquerque making preparations to depart the area. For the last few months I’ve been in rather remote northern New Mexico. Albuquerque is the largest city in the state and the only location where certain things are available.

Yesterday morning I departed the Sandia Casino where I had spent the previous night and headed downtown about 10 miles distant, The first stop was to get the RV washed. It had not been washed since January and really needed it. I pulled into the huge truck stop near where two major Interstate Highways (40 and 25) intersect. The facility where they wash the huge 18 wheel tractor trailers made the RV look rather small…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

One half-hour and $50 later the RV and Bronco were once again nice and clean. Next was a two-hour, $300 stop at Costco groceries and gas. I paid the lowest price for gas ($3.46.9) than in the last few months.

Then I needed to decide where to spend the night. It’s been a long time since I overnighted at a Wal-Mart, but this one has a really convenient location and a really large parking lot. I got way over in the back adjacent to a side street with little traffic. With a roving Wal Mart security car, I enjoyed a peaceful night’s sleep.

I always like to show a photo out of the dinette widow of the RV wherever I park overnight. This view is of a high school across from a little used side street…

Today it’s finish my grocery shopping at Wal-Mart, then to then local Workhorse Chassis dealer to to have the RV ABS light re-cycled. If I’m finished by 2:00 PM I depart Albuquerque, if not I’ll spend one more night here.

My next planned stop is at Santa Rosa Lake State Park about 100 miles east of Albuquerque. The consensus of opinion seems to be that there is about a six degree difference in temperature for every 1,000 feet of elevation. I need to maintain a degree of awareness about this fact. Here’s why. My last night in Santa Fe at 7,000 feet only four days ago was 29 degrees. Brrr! Albuquerque has an average elevation of 5,200 feet of elevation and it was 76 degrees here yesterday. I spent about three weeks here in Albuquerque last spring and explored it quite thoroughly so I need to move on.

When you head east from Albuquerque you start leaving the Rocky Mountain chain and begin heading for the plains. Go too fast too means excessive elevation drop means hotter temperatures. Santa Rosa Lake elevation is 4,800 feet and the weekend forecast is for the low 80′s…getting kind of warm again! That’s why a traveler needs to pay attention to elevation.

Enjoying the freedom to decide when to get back on the road is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…
http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2012
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

Albuquerque, New Mexico – Day 3

Mary remains at home in California tending to medical issues.

The motorhomes is still parked at the Sandia Casino about 10 miles north of Albuquerque. I plan to move to another section of Albuquerque this morning.

Yesterday was a routine business day, I drove the Bronco the about 10 miles into Albuquerque to get a new prescription medicine for my occasionally returning sinus infection at the VA Hospital, refurbished my reading supply at the only good used book store I’ve been able to find in New Mexico, lunch at VFW Post #401, a stop at Wells Fargo Bank, a brief stop at Wal-Mart for nasal spray and the last stop was at a UPS Store to ship Mary’s shaman stick to her.

It’s a clumsy awkward device that has been in my way since she bought it more than four months ago and she’s happy I finally found a way to get it to her in California. Here’s the Blog entry link that describes the hilarious event. Don’t miss it…
http://wp.me/pDCku-4LA

In yesterday’s poll, about 70% preferred the regular photo mode.  I took the following photos from a small rise adjacent to the casino parking lot at about 7:15 PM…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

Enjoying beautiful evenings is another joy in the RVing lifestyle!

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…
http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2012
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

Albuquerque, New Mexico – Day 2

Mary remains at home in California tending to medical issues.

The motorhomes is still parked at the Sandia Casino about 10 miles north of Albuquerque. I expecting to be here another couple of days.

Yesterday was the last day of the annual balloon fiesta. I took the following ten photos at about 7:30 AM.

I decided to try an experiment since I’ve had so many positive comments/emails about my photos shot in the watercolor mode recently. In this experiment I tried to take the photo in the regular mode and then as much as possible take a similar photo in the watercolor mode. So when you look at these ten photos the odd-numbered photos are in the regular mode and the even ones are in the watercolor mode.

I’ve always loved photos where the colors are vivid and jump out and grab you. That’s what the watercolor mode photos do to me. So today, below the photos I’m including a little poll and I would appreciate your voting on one of the three choices. I’ll let you know the results tomorrow.

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

6)

7)

8)

9)

10)

Enjoying colorful hot air balloons is another joy of a full-time RVer!

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…
http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2012
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

Albuquerque, New Mexico – Day 1

Mary remains at home in California tending to medical issues.

Yesterday I drove the motorhome the about 50 miles from Santa Fe to Albuquerque, New Mexico. The motorhome is now parked at the Sandia Casino about 10 miles north of Albuquerque. I usually do not park at casinos, but I’ve met up with some friends who are here.

I was in Albuquerque for about three weeks earlier this past spring. There are somethings that can only be found in Albuquerque in New Mexico such as a Costco, a Workhorse Chassis Dealer for the motorhome and the only good used book store in the state. I expect to be in the area for a few days.

There are better than 100 RV’s parked here because of the annual balloon fiesta. Here are some views from the parking lot…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

I always like to show the view from the dinette window. My friend Randy’s trailer is on the left and his friend Laurie’s is on the right…

Stepping outside on the passenger side you can see the casino in the background…

A 180 degree panorama of that side…

A view to the rear shows the Sandia Mountains in the background…

The balloon fiesta headquarters are a few miles south of the casino and since the fiesta ends today, they had some fireworks last night to celebrate the ending. My camera has a fireworks setting but I’m still so new to my camera I couldn’t remember how to find it, so I shot the following photos in the night setting. In addition you should really use a tripod for fireworks but I was too lazy to get it out. These photos are hand-held. This is the first time I’ve shot fireworks with my new camera…

Enjoying good friends and fireworks is another joy of a full-time RVer!

 If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…
http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2012
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust