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.

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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

2011-2013 – 6th Circumnavigation Of The USA…Update #2

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 250-500 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

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

The Great Adventure Will Soon Begin…

and you are invited to join us!

For years I’ve had many people tell me…”I envy the way you live!” I have, tounge-in-cheek, replied…”Anyone can do it. It only requires three easy steps…

1) Sell everything you own.  2) Buy an RV.  3) Hit the road.”

Regardless of these three easy steps…some folks still haven’t hit the road…yet.

Within the next few days Mary and I will begin…her 2nd and my 6th…circumnavigation of the United States. It officially began in November, 2011 and is expected to be completed in November, 2013. I’ve been standing-by in the Yuma, Arizona area awaiting Mary’s joining me after enjoying the holidays with her family. She arrived yesterday at the airport in Yuma, Arizona.

In case you are interested, here’s the route we took from November, 2009 to October, 2010…

Here’s the route I’ve taken so far starting on November, 29, 2011…

Right now all I know about this upcoming trip is…we’re planning to spend the next couple of months exploring Arizona…south of Interstate Highway 8 to the Mexico border. We will then spend a good portion of the remainder of 2012 exploring the State of New Mexico. I’ve promised my oldest grand-daughter that when she graduates from high school in June of 2013 in southeastern Connecticut…that we will be there.

What routes we will take during these explorations…right now…I haven’t a clue. We’ll just have to see which way the winds blow us!

If you would like to travel along with us…all you have to do is click this link to our mutual Blog…
http://otrwjam.wordpress.com

Once you get there, click on “Subscribe To Our Blog”. Scroll down and click on “Sign Me Up”. You will then receive an email every time we post a Blog entry.

So far as I know, we are the only RVing couple that operates in this manner…which is…

As we experience the experience…we both write separate Blog entries about what we experienced! Therefore…you get two different perspectives of the same happening!

As an ex-engineer I tend to be “just the facts” kind of guy…plus I also tend to make use of lots of photos. Mary on the other hand is an ex-journalist and tends wordy verbose…hence you’ll get the real “inside scoop”,

We hope you will join us on our travels… it going to be a blast!

Don’t forget to tell your friends so they can follow along as well!

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

Why Would I Back-Track 85 Miles???

In just one word…TRUST!

Yesterday I back-tracked 85 miles from Winterhaven (across the Colorado River from Yuma, Arizona) to Slab City at Niland California. My solar power system is not getting the job done and I’ve returned to Solar Mike to fix my problems…because I trust him.

Here’s a Google Earth view showing my back-track. Yuma is identified with a Y and Slab City with an S. You can click on the image to enlarge it and click on it once again to make it even larger…

Yes, I could have bought new solar stuff from someone I do not know in Yuma. I used to work with Solar Mike’s father before I met Mike for the first time in January, 1996. Here’s the link to the Blog entry when I had our current solar panel and inverter installed on our current motorhome in December, 2009…
http://wp.me/pDCku-6Q

He is the only person I have ever bought solar items from for my three different rigs in my 17 years as a full-time RVer. I trust him not to try to sell me expensive and un-needed solar components. I know he will do right by me for both the right equipment and prices.

When I had the one solar panel put on in 2009, I knew at that time it was marginal. But we figured we try it and see how it worked out. Solar items can be pricey and we could always add more. In the last two years we’ve been plugged into electrical shore-power a lot and have managed to get by when on solar power.

However…now to my problem. In the next two years we will see very little time plugged into shore-power as we begin an almost two-year circumnavigation around the United States. Click this link to read about that upcoming adventure… http://wp.me/pDCku-2W9

In addition to little plugged-in time…our storage batteries from which we get all of our living electrical power are approaching the end of their useful life span. I had Mike test them about a month ago and for their age were just okay. So I decided to test them. I’ve not had shore power in the last month…which mean I’ve been operating just on our coach storage batteries.

Low night-time temperatures have a negative effect on battery power and I’ve finally decided this problem needs to be rectified before heading out on our circumnavigation. So yesterday I drove back to Slab City to have Solar Mike fix our problem. I have an 8:30 AM appointment with Solar Mike for tomorrow morning. Like most RVer’s problems…it will be fixed by a little bit of time and a some $$$’s.

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

2011-2013 – 6th Circumnavigation Of The USA…

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. 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

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2011
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust