Heron Lake State Park, New Mexico – Day 39

The motorhome is still parked at Heron Lake State Park about 20 miles south of Chama, New Mexico while I am recovering from my May 27th accident.

The poppings, with the associated pains, in my chest have finally stopped! My right ribcage area remains slightly swollen and tender to the touch. The mild, constant burning chest muscle remains. I recently started my morning walks once again. Every day a vigorous two-miles with moderate up and down hills. I believe it’s causing a slight increase in my chest muscle pain, but I also believe that it is more benefiting my general overall recovery. It feels good to be out walking again.

I continue taking Ibuprofen, icing my ribcage area 2-3 times a day and wearing an elastic bandage abound my chest. The doctors told me to expect 6-12 weeks for recovery. The accident occurred eight weeks and six days ago today. Can you tell I’m ready for the recovery to be finished and be back on the road again?

A few days back I took the Bronco and drove through the hamlet of Los Ojos, New Mexico. Here are a few photo 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…

Wandering through small hamlets is another joy of the full-time RVing lifestyle!

Oh by the way, we had another beautiful sunset last evening…

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

Heron Lake State Park, New Mexico – Day 8

The motorhome is still at the state park while I rest and recuperate from the May 27th accident…one month ago today.  I had trouble sleeping last night. Popping in my chest while lying on my back and associated mild pain. I also found myself reliving the accident in my sleep. I expect it’s because the accident occurred one month ago today. I remain taking Ibuprofen, wearing an elastic bandage and icing my chest 2-3 times a day. The doctors advised me recovery will likely take place in a 6-12 week period.

In the event you missed the story of the accident, you can read it by clicking this link…
http://wp.me/pDCku-4Eh

To get the full story of the accident you will need to read the subsequent seven Blog entries to the above link.

Yesterday I took the Bronco and drove the about 12 miles to the small village of Los Ojos (The Springs), population 125 in the 2010 census. Elevation is 7,500 feet. Los Ojos is so small it does not have a Wikipedia link about it. However, it has a very interesting history which you can read about by clicking this link…
http://www.newmexicohistory.org/filedetails.php?fileID=21396

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…

This first photo is of the Tierra Wools, Los Ojos, LLC, a weaver/spinner/grower owned company. Here is their official website link…
http://www.handweavers.com/

To see the other 47 photos that I took, click this link…
https://picasaweb.google.com/110455945462646142273/LosOjosNewMexico

Enjoying and photographing small historic communities is another joy of the 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

Heron Lake State Park, New Mexico – Day 2

Yesterday I went up to the visitors center about one mile away, where I took these photos…

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…

Then down to the boat ramp…

Other than being ten degrees to hot…83 yesterday while I prefer 73…I’m enjoying my stay here. The air is fresh and clean and it’s really quiet. A good place to rest and recuperate from the May 27th accident.

But now I get to tell you about trouble in paradise…three-fold…

First. You can’t see them…but they’re here. No-ee-ms…I guess. They stay close to the ground…you cannot feel them biting you…but they are. Before I knew what was happening…both of my legs had many bites and boy do they itch. I had a terrible nights sleep last night. Up every hour or so scratching my legs with a hair brush and then slathering them with rubbing alcohol for temporary itch relief. I even tried using my favorite itch remedy from my Central America trip…a product called Autan. But I guess it’s too old and has lost its effectiveness. As much as I hate the idea, i guess I’m going to have to wear long-legged pants to avoid further bites.

Second. When I arrived here the battery on my Ford Bronco II was dead and of course it wouldn’t start. Hmmm..wonder why that is…never did that before.  So I jump started it using the motorhome battery…four times! By time I disconnected the battery-jumping cables and got in the vehicle it would stall once again. Hmmm..what the heck is going on. That battery is really dead. Cleaned the battery terminals and put it on the battery charger. Hmmm…the battery charger is only charging at 3 amps instead of the expected 10 amps. Which leads me to number three problem…

Third. This campground apparently has a borderline low voltage problem with the electricity. In talking to my friend Bob Gambol who was already here when I arrived (Bob was my co-planner and travel companion for my 2004 Central America trip)…

Bob tells me this campground was built in the 1970′s and has aluminum wiring which is no longer legal…but apparently there’s no money to upgrade. So instead of getting 120 volts when connected to the campground electrical circuit, one can only get 110 volts.

Back now to my second problem. So the battery charger was not operating at full efficiency and would only produce 3 amps and only put a small charge into my Bronco battery. But here’s the real second problem…after further evaluation I’ve come to the conclusion that the alternator in the Bronco has failed and no longer is charging the battery when the engine is running…but…and here’s the puzzling part…the red idiot light which is supposed to come on to let you know the system is not working…does not light up…so you do not know the system is not working until you end up with a dead battery! I called my good friend and mechanic in Washington about the idiot light problem and he said…yeah…that can happen. I won’t bore you with the technical details.

Long-story…short version. So yesterday I drove the Bronco the about one mile to the visitors center and then the about two miles to the boat ramp…see the above photos. When I went to come back to my campsite…Bronco battery was dead once again. I  flagged down a passing park ranger who jump-started the Bronco…twice….only to have it stall once again. So I hitched a ride back to my campsite and called my friend Bob who knew some other folks here. I begged a tow job for the Bronco back to my campsite where I could work on the problem.

I left the battery charger on all night to get some electrical life back into the battery. After breakfast this morning I’ll check the status of things and confirm that the alternator is in fact not providing an electrical charge. If that’s the case…I just happen to have a spare alternator with me…a throwback to my Central America days of carrying what I consider to be essential spare parts if you happen to be out in the boonies when you breakdown.

Whew…not much rest yesterday. Now my newest problem. Even though I have a spare alternator…because of my May 27th accident and continuing pain…I’m not physically able (I don’t think) to pull the non-functioning alternator and install the new one. I contacted the park host last evening and he will send a mechanically inclined park ranger to see me today and hopefully I’ll be able to pay him to do the physical labor while I supervise the installation of the new unit.

Whew…then maybe I can get back to my rest and recuperation!

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