A Final Look At Rockhound State Park, Deming, New Mexico

I’ve been here for ten nights and the high winds and colder temperatures are finally gone and it’s time for me to roll along. I thought I’d share with you a final look of this nice state park…

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...

Approaching the park from about two miles away…

A closer view where the abundant pansy flowers cover the mountain side…

Through the magic of Google Earth a beautiful view of the Little Florida Mountains. X marks my campsite location…

Last Sunday we had sustained 45-50 mile per hour winds…with frequent gusts to 70+ miles per hour. To show the effects of that wind…compare the next two photos which are or less the same photos. This first on was taken on March 12th…with no wind…

And next on Sunday March 18th with winds gusting to 70+ miles per hour.  On the valley floor its blowing sand…up higher the resulting dust obscures the background mountains so that they are barely seen…

And how about just one more spectacular desert sunset photo…

Finally a Deming, New Mexico sunrise (about ten miles distant) as seen through the windshield of the motorhome…

The desert is such an awesome place. It’s been a very enjoyable stay at this scenic New Mexico State Park.

Today’s destination is City of Rocks 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

An Unusual Four-Day Weather Event Is Coming To An End…

I’d say roughly 90% of the time I manage to stay in delightful sunny 65-75 degree weather all year-long. Pretty nice! Not so the last four days.

Here’s the current setting…

The motorhome is parked on the slope of the Little Florida Mountains in Rockhound State Park about 15 miles southeast of Deming, New Mexico at about 4,550 feet elevation…

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 have a magnificent south-southwest unencumbered view of 20+ miles…

As part of my daily activities I monitor local weather at accuweather.com…looking for any potential negative weather systems. About one week ago I found one warning of a four-day high-wind, cold-temperatures system heading my way. Being on the road with a high-profile vehicle during high winds is not a good idea. Here’s a past Blog entry where three 18-wheelers were on their sides with one-half mile in 75 mile per hour winds…
http://wp.me/pDCku-1hV

I was ready to move along at that time, but being safe and secure in my current location, plus heading for a new location to which I’ve not been before at about 1,000 feet higher in elevation…I decided to stay put and wait until the storm passed through. In my full-time RVing lifestyle, I’ve learned to always err on the side of safety.

So here’s what happened.

Saturday started  as a beautiful sunny day with temps forecasted in the low 80′s. Winds started to come up about 10:00 AM. During the day they were 35-45 miles per hour sustained with gusts of 50+ miles per hour increasing in strength as the night came upon us. When I went to bed, the temperature was 82 degrees.

Sunday started as another sunny day.  During the day the winds increased to 40-50 miles per hour sustained with lots of 75+ mile per hour gusts raising sand and dust and obscuring my beautiful view…

In this unique sunset photo you can see the two distinct weather fronts…the warmth departing on the lower level and the cold front on the upper level. When I went to bed Sunday evening the temperature was 57 degrees a drop of 25 degrees in 24 hours…

It was a real rock and roll night with lots of disturbed sleep.

Monday morning it was still huffing and puffing. Several various weather fronts came through during the day…

including a ferocious five-minute sleet-storm…

According to accuweather.com the afternoon high temperature was only 38 degrees with a wind-chill factor of 25 degrees. It was so cold I kept my ceramic heater running all day long…something I’ve rarely ever done. As the night came on it started to get colder…fortunately the winds started decreasing.

During the evening I watched the movie Rio Bravo starring John Wayne, Dean Martin, Angie Dickinson, Ricky Nelson and Walter Brennan which was filmed entirely at the Old Tucson Film Studio which we visited in January of 2010. Here’s the link to that Blog entry…
http://wp.me/pDCku-8D

When I went to bed the interior temperature was 52 degrees…I like it cooler when I sleep. The ceramic heater was on high setting.

When I woke at midnight to pee….it was now 42 degrees…I don’t like it that cold! Since I normally sleep in my birthday suit…sorry, this is a G-rated Blog…you do not get to see that photo  … I put on my sweats and slippers, turned on the gas furnace set to its minimum temperature setting 55 degrees, opened the interior under-cabinet doors so that the water lines wouldn’t freeze and went back to bed. That’s something I’ve never done before in all years of RVing,

When I awoke it was 42 degrees inside the motorhome despite the gas furnace. Accuweather.com stated the outside temperature was 25 degrees with a wind-chill factor of 21 degrees. Modern-day RV walls are made of a pressed laminate on an aluminum frame with a little foam insulation. Wall thickness is only somewhere between 1-2 inches thick.

As I finish up this Blog entry at about 7:30 Tuesday morning…it’s still very cold. The Bronco has a very distinct coating of frost on it this morning…

The forecast for today is partly sunny, windy and 53 degrees. Tonight is supposed to be cold once again…but not quite as cold as last night.

Tomorrow’s forecast is sunny and 60 degrees. By Saturday it’s supposed to be sunny and 81 degrees. If the forecast holds true…tomorrow I’ll start rolling along once again. Brrrr!!!!

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

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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

By The Hands Of Others…

I’ve long envied people who can create beauty with their hands. A skill I do not possess. I’m the only guy I know that cannot cut a straight line with a Skil Saw. Heck, I can’t even pick my nose good. It’s a good thing I never had to use my hands in a creative manner to earn a living.

Last Wednesday, before Mary boarded the Amtrak train in Deming, New Mexico, we found that we had a little extra time to kill before it arrived. So we dropped into the local Deming Luna Mimbres Museum. It’s quite large, very clean and interesting. Since we only had about 45 minutes before they closed, we headed off in different directions. I ended up in the Western historical section.

Here are some of the things I saw…

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...

This first image was in a New Mexico Centennial quilt…

But, here’s what really caught my attention since I still draw/paint like a fifth-grader. I hope you appreciate these beautiful Southwest paintings as much as I did…

Absolutely great paintings! My 45 minutes were well spent.

In other news…

I’m entering my second day of a four-day forecast of high velocity winds. According to my Accuweather.com forecast, winds gusts will exceed 50 miles per hour. Since the motorhome is broadside to the oncoming winds, I’m really rocking and rolling. It made for a difficult night’s sleep. Kind of like trying to sleep on the bottom of a rowboat in the middle of a tumultuous ocean storm. Unlike last week’s 75 mile per hour wind gusts in Columbus, New Mexico, because of my higher location, there’s no sand or dust  reaching the motorhome. It’s all suppose to end by Tuesday and I’m expecting to hit the road once again on Wednesday.

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

A Brush With Real Life…

We arrived in Deming, New Mexico several days ago. Mary departed, shortly thereafter, for home to tend to taxes and other business. I’m at Rockhound State Park in Deming, New Mexico waiting out a forecasted very windy Saturday through Tuesday.

Shortly after arriving in Deming, New Mexico, we visited with a friend whom I’ve known about 15 years. She prefers to remain anonymous…no photos or name please. Makes me wonder if she’s hiding from the law. 

Anyways…back on October 25, 2011 I wrote a Blog entry that you must look at if you are going to understand this Blog entry. It’s about a convicted murderer who wrote a book to tell his side of a true story. His name was Wesley Walker also known as Buck Duane Walker. Here’s the link…
http://wp.me/pDCku-2AL

After reading that Blog entry my anonymous friend wrote me saying she is friends with Wesley Walker’s first wife. I knew that we would be passing through Deming, New Mexico in a few months and asked if she could arrange for us to meet her. The first wife agreed and the schedule was set.

Now one more fact before I continue that relates to this Blog entry’s title. If you are follower of my Blog…you already know that I have been an avid reader all of my life. One of my very famous quotes that I claim to have invented is…

Why is an RV and a good book muck alike? The answer is…because both of them can take you to wonderful places!

The RV takes you physically there and a good book takes you mentally there.

When you read good book it is just a story about some topic. It usually has no real-life connection to you the reader.

However when we recently met Wesley Walker’s first wife and spent a delightful three hours getting to know her…the two books identified in the earlier link took on a whole new meaning…

Pat McKay had some interesting stories to tell. It is not essential to this Blog entry that I tell you what she told us about her past relationship with Wesley Walker.

Let’s just say that our “Brush With Real Life” was most interesting and leave it at that.

That’s one more thing I just love about my full-timing RV lifestyle…you get to meet so many interesting people!

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

Step Back Into the 1950′s in Bisbee, Arizona…

We arrived in Deming, New Mexico four days ago. Mary departed three days ago for home to tend to taxes and other business. I’m at Rockhound State Park in Deming, New Mexico waiting out a forecasted very windy coming Saturday through Tuesday. Prior to arriving in Deming there was so much to see and do I didn’t get to Blog about it. Here is one now…

———————————————————–

Back when I was a teenager in the 1950′s, my family was quite poor and we lived in a trailer park in Revere, Massachusetts. Despite not being wealthy, I remember the 1950′s as probably the best decade ever to be a teenager. All that Doo-Wop music!

In Lee’s Trailer Park, where we lived, I remember there was a trailer that looked much like this one. It was the largest in the park out of about 50 trailers…

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 inside looked like this…

No, these are not photos that I took back then, but photos I took recently when visiting Bisbee Arizona. It’s called the Shady Dell Trailer Park and has a definite 1950′s theme…

At Shady Dell there are about 18-1950′s vintage trailers all restored to original condition. Here for about $100 a night you can sleep in a 1950′s vintage trailer while visiting the area.

To see the other 28 photos I took, click this link…
https://picasaweb.google.com/110455945462646142273/ShadyDellTrailerParkBisbeeArizona

Here’s a link to their website where you can see more of the Shady Dell Trailer Park…
http://www.theshadydell.com/

Stepping back into history is one of my very favorite things to do in my full-timing RV lifestyle.

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

Geronimo Surrender Monument, Apache, Arizona

We arrived in Deming, New Mexico three days ago. Mary departed two days ago for home to tend to taxes and other business. I’m at Rockhound State Park in Deming, New Mexico waiting out a forecasted very windy coming Saturday through Tuesday. Prior to arriving in Deming there was so much to see and do I didn’t get to Blog about it. Here is one now…

———————————————————–

Two days ago, while traveling along Arizona State Highway 80 towards our destination of Pancho Villa State Park at Columbus,New Mexico, we went through a tiny settlement at Apache, Arizona. This Google Earth image shows the remoteness of the location. The G is the location of the monument. The actual surrender site was at Skeleton Canyon…11 miles to the east in the mountains…accessible only today by a 4-wheel drive road…

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 a photo of the remoteness of the area…nothing but the road and the land…

Here’s a photo of the monument…

Here’s the plaque on the monument…

A couple of nights ago we watched the movie “Geronimo” starring Gene Hackman and Matt Dillon. It was relatively accurate in its historical correctness.

Once the Apaches were rounded up and being told the rules for their forced reservation life…one Apache states…”Before the white-eyes arrived the Apache owned the land and could roam wide and free…why no more?”

As an avid historian, I’ve come to know the sad truth about how the United States Government made all sorts of promises through “treaties” with the Indians…few of which were ever kept. It’s truly a sad legacy of our history.

In the movie, the young U.S. Army officer portrayed by Matt Dillon resigns his commission because of the U.S. Government’s betrayal of the Indians. The General replied…”God…how I hate an idealist!”

Visiting historical sites is of of my main pleasures of my full-time RVing lifestyle.

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

I Take Mary To The Train…

The bad news is…Mary has left me once again.

It is all part of our original agreement from when we met back in 2008. That…about three times a year…she would have to go back home for various reasons. This time it’s to tend to her taxes and other miscellaneous business.

She’s grown tired of the hassle of flying…so this time she decided to take the Amtrak train. From Deming, New Mexico to Los Angeles, CA…then the Amtrak bus to Bakersfield, CA…then back on to the train to Stockton, CA…where her youngest son will meet her with her car. The entire train experience will be just under 24 hours. Then she’ll drive from Stockton up the hill about an hour to her home.

The train was scheduled to arrive at 6:11 PM. But since Amtrak doesn’t have to compete with other trains…promptness is not a key issue. The train arrived at 7:05 PM. It’s a big train and only passes west-bound through Deming once a day…

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...

By time others got off and she got on…it was 7:11 PM by time she departed…

Into the golden Western sunset..

And then she was gone…

It was about a 30 minute drive back to Rockhound State Park where the night lights of Deming can be seen through the windshield of our motorhome…

It’s always very noticeable when Mary first departs. It’s very quiet and there’s no laughter. I’ve mentioned many times about how much laughter we share in our relationship. it’s not all bad because absence makes the heart grow fonder….etc…..

I’m hoping to get her back within about six weeks…the end of April at the latest. In the mean while I’ll continue traveling solo until she returns.

The good news is she always returns.

In other news…

Originally I had planned to move along today. However the long-range weather forecast for the area for the next week has very strong winds slated for this coming Saturday through Tuesday…not a good time to be on the road with a high-profile motorhome. So I’ve decided…since I’m very comfortable in this very scenic location…plus I have some friends nearby…to wait out the very windy conditions. If all goes as forecasted…I’ll likely start moving on once again next Wednesday. One week from today. .

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

More Photos From Rockhound State Park, Deming, New Mexico

We are still parked at Rockhound State Park, about 10 miles from downtown Deming, New Mexico.

Yesterday Mary and I went for a walk around the park. She went in search of rocks and I went in search of photographs. She found some rocks, I found some photographs.

Here are some 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...

First…the view from our dining room window…

Then the rest of the photos…

And a few just before sunset photos…

And finally some just after sunset photos…

This sure is a great photographic location. The sunset ranks among the very best I seen in my entire life.

In other news…

Mary is leaving me once again. She’ll board the 6:11 PM Amtrak Train this evening headed for home to take care of taxes and other business. I’ll continue on traveling alone. I hope to get her back within about six weeks.

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

Rockhound State Park, Deming, New Mexico

Yesterday we drove the motorhome the about 30 miles from Pancho Villa State Park at Columbus to Rockhound State Park, about 10 miles from downtown Deming, New Mexico

From their brochure…

“On the western slope of the Little Florida Mountains, Rockhound State Park is popular among hikers looking for spectacular views, and among rock enthusiasts looking for unique rocks and minerals. Visitors can find a variety of rocks and minerals, ranging from silica, quartz crystals, chalcedony, agate, jasper to thunder eggs and geodes. Visitors are welcome to take 15 pounds of rock per person from the park.”

There are a total of 34 RV sites at this park.

After arrival we took a walk to look around…

Here are a few 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 entrance sign…

The visitors center…

The RV Park as seen from the visitors center…

The view looking southwest from the driver’s side of our motorhome…

The view looking northeast from the passenger’s side our motorhome…

A passing jet plane leaves a contrail high above the park…

Another look at the mountains…

We expect to be here three days.

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