Rocking And Rolling All Day Long… (GA81)

Mary is no longer available for RV traveling, but we remain good friends.
Because we have 4,000+ postings, I’ve invited her to continue posting entries on this blog.

I’m currently in my 22nd year of full-time RVing and my lifestyle is changing, For more info click Here

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The motorhome is parked at Thousand Trails Lake Minden RV Resort in Nicolaus, California. I’m scheduled to leave here May 26th.

 

 

Since my RVing life is changing (see above), I’m starting to re-visit previously visited places. So rather than constantly re-blogging past entries, I’ve decided to do something different.

 

 

In 2011-2013, Mary and I did a 682 day, 12,679 miles in the motorhome and 8,000 miles in the Bronco, circumnavigation of the United States, which I called The Great Adventure. I called it so because other than my oldest granddaughter’s high school graduation in June in Connecticut, I didn’t know where we would be going or when we would be there!

 

 

So, unless I do something really different and unusual warranting a new blog entry, I’ll be posting entries from that trip.

 

 

 

This entry was posted April 15, 2012…

 

 

 

I’m still parked at the Moose Lodge in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico where yesterday’s weather forecast was for sunny and very windy. It did not disappoint!

 

 

The wind actually came up Friday afternoon…got up to a steady 25-35 miles per hour during the night. As daylight came on the velocity increased to a steady 45-55 miles per hour with MANY frequent gusts in excess of 70 miles per hour. Since the motorhome was parked facing west and the wind was out of the south…it became rock and roll time as the wind was hitting the motorhome broadside.

 

 

The soil here is hard-packed sandy and with the wind whipping across the parking lot…it sounded like the motorhome was being sand-blasted as it rocked and rolled!

 

 

I tried to capture a photo of sand whipping across the parking lot…but because of the smallness of sand particles and the velocity they were moving…this is the best photo I came up with…

 

 

 

 

 

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 1:00 PM the wind had shifted to the southwest and I was now being hit at a 45 degree angle on the left front and side of the motorhome. and it was really rocking and rolling. If I wasn’t an ex-sailor…I probably would have suffered from dry-land sea sickness!

 

 

Enough of this! I had to do something! The gusts were so strong I thought it might blow the motorhome on its side!

 

 

 

 

 

Ah-ha…I knew what to do. I decided to back up the motorhome to the side of the Moose Lodge where I would be in the lee of the building and kind-sorta away from the wind…

 

 

The Moose lodge had held a blood drive that morning and the bloodmobile had the better position of being nearer the building…but it at least help reduce my rocking and rolling.

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s a closer view of the flag ripping in the wind. It was at a 90 degree straight out position all day long…

 

 

As the afternoon wore on the wind came around to the west and now it was hitting the motorhome directly in the front. In doing so the rocking and rolling became less active. The wind continued into the night until it finally subsided. This morning the wind is gone and I’ll move the motorhome back to its pre-wind parking spot. I’ll be moving on tomorrow morning.

 

 

The locals told me that strong winds are a normal occurrence in the Spring in New Mexico. They told me that last year it was really bad…blowing for weeks at a time. I’m sure glad I wasn’t here then! I’ve been in New Mexico for about six weeks now and this is the third time I’ve been exposed to really strong winds. Enough already!

 

 

Also later this morning I’ll break out the vacuum and do some cleaning…there’s dust everywhere inside of the motorhome! Enough already!

 

 

There’s a saying…”some days are diamonds and some days are dust”. Yesterday was a really dusty one for me!

 

TWO FOR THE PRICE OF ONE! MARY WROTE A MANY GREAT BLOGS…SO WHENEVER SHE PUBLISHED A BLOG POSTING THE SAME DAY THAT I DID…YOU WILL BE ABLE TO READ HER BLOG BY CLICKING THE BELOW LINK! DO IT NOW…!!!

https://otrwjam.wordpress.com/2012/04/15/across-the-river/

 

 

 

I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE PHOTOS.

 Yesterday was sunny and 77 degrees. Forecast for today is sunny and 84 degrees.

Enjoying nice weather is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

The red dot on the below map shows my approximate location in the State of California. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures with low humidity most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

My current travel rig is a 2006 Fleetwood 26′ Class A Motorhome and a towed 1986 Ford Bronco II, Eddie Bauer Model. This photo was taken in the desert at Slab City near Niland, California…

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you would like to see my YouTube videos, click this link… http://www.youtube.com/user/JimJ1579/videos

There are more than 700 photo albums in my Picasa Web Albums File. To gain access, you simply have to click this link… https://get.google.com/albumarchive/110455945462646142273?source=pwa

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

For more information about my books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

All original works copyrighted – Jim Jaillet -2017

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