More Marvelous Mishaps

More Marvelous Mishaps

     We awoke, Monday morning, in the lovely City of Rocks, ready to head off into Arizona. We had a breakfast of berries and yogurt, but, unfortunately, the berries had frozen. Josh was able to enjoy the ice-cream-like breakfast, but I, Morgan, wanted mine to thaw. So, I decided to shower, first.

     While I was away, Josh received an urgent call, and had to step out. When he returned, he heard something heavy hit the floor, thus rushed inside. Everything looked in order, so he returned to his seat. Cal, however, started acting overly affectionate; this almost always indicates that he had done something wrong.

     While petting Cal, Josh noticed something white on his nose. That was odd. Then, he saw my breakfast, almost devoid of greek yogurt. Cal had climbed atop our counter, and tasted the sweet creaminess that is Kirkland brand. Needless to say, I had cereal instead.

     So, that was an interesting way to start the day.

     From there, we went back into Deming, NM, where we ran through three automotive stores, Walmart, and the Dollar Tree, doing various errands before returning to the interstate and continuing into Arizona.

     I take responsibility for the following events; Josh spoke of his concerns, and I urged him to ignore them.

     I had found a dispersed/primitive camping location in the Rincon Mountain Wilderness, a short ten or so miles off of the interstate. The road began paved, but then went to dirt. Encouraged by our short stint on dirt roads up at Bluff Springs, and somewhat at City of Rocks, I was confident that we would make it through. Josh described the road with many words, including: horrible, painful, and washboard. We got five miles in, going no more than 10 mph, finding the road to be inconsistent in both texture and terrain, when we heard a loud crash behind us.

     We both immediately looked, and saw two dogs moving about, seemingly started but unharmed. Josh asked, “What fell?” and, noticing the lack of anything above our counters, I stated, “The shelf”. Besides those words, I believe we were silent for at least ten minutes. Josh pulled off the road, onto a shoulder which was surprisingly flat, and I climbed into the back to inspect the damage. Our shelf had done a 180 flip, pulling out the wall and landing upside down on top of all of its contents.

    As I began pulling stuff out from under the shelf, I was surprised to find that nothing had been damaged. I only had games, towels, and lightweight cereal boxes up there, but nothing was squished, dented, or even open. Praise God! I arranged all of the contents to the side of the table, noticing some slight dings to our counter and the shelf itself. Josh came into the back at some point during this time, at which point I noticed he had taken care of the dogs, letting them out and giving them water, as well as checking the RV to make sure it was okay. We filled each other in on our prospective findings, and I was finally able to laugh.

     We called my aunt and uncle, asking if we could come a day early, since we had no means of resecuring the shelf, which had pulled all six of its screws clean out of the wall. It took up the entire length of our counter, so we could not easily cook. They very generously opened their home to us, and we are here, now, figuring out how to overcome these new problems, enjoying time with family, and marveling at the adventure we are having.

Sacramento and Beyond!

     Yes, you read correctly, we stayed the night in Sacramento! To be perfectly accurate, we stayed in the Sacramento Mountains of New Mexico, in a little, out of the way camp ground called Bluff Springs.

     Let me back up and give you an overview, as I have yet to perfect the art of daily posting. (I’ll get there, eventually.)

     Thursday, we left Lake Lavon and headed for the new Mexican border… I think I forgot an important capitalization in there somewhere… it was a long, long day of driving, hopefully our last such for quite a while, and we finally finished the 48hr long audio book, which we were listening to.

     That night we stayed in the Roswell, NM Walmart parking lot. This came about because Google seems to not know when a road to a state park is just that, and when it is a gated dirt track across some farmer's land. We did not take that road, and decided not to risk further such "miscommunications" in the dark.

     I learned that the dogs will come to me, even across a goat-head-thorn filled, vacant lot. (I only learned of the thorns, after: Sorry puppies!) Also, I cooked dinner. :-D

     Friday, Morgan and I discussed how we want to travel, and decided that we want our driving time to be between 10am and 4pm, leaving plenty of time for both morning and evening activities. We left on that day’s travels just before noon. As we had some birthday cards to send, Morgan was keeping a weather eye out for a post office, and, as we passed through Ruidoso, NM, she saw one, and asked if we could stop. As we hadn’t seen it, from the highway, until abreast with it, it was passed before I could react.

     Shortly up the road, before I had found a good place to turn around, I saw a gigantic building with the words: “Tools, Furniture, and Consignment.” This, coupled with our postal needs, convinced me to turn around.

     Lesson of the Day: The sunrader takes more that the width of three lanes to do a U-turn.

     Result: New Mexican drivers are kind enough to stop and give the poor fool trying to U-turn on the highway room to do a three-point turn.

     We came back to the consignment emporium, and pulled up before the enormous, vertical log and concrete construction. Each trunk that made up part of the wall was, easily, 4-5ft across. We spent an hour and a half of our driving time walking through the surprisingly interesting, and well stocked, show room. And, after seeing a sign naming it the #1 consignment store in Ruidoso, I was left wondering, how many can there possibly be, here?

     A quick trip through the post office later, and we were off, once more. Here, fair reader, is where we come to Bluff Springs, high up in the Sacramento Mountains. How high? Roughly 8,500ft. The sunrader did not like the climb.

     We arrived outside of our ideal driving time, but only by about 1.5 hrs, so it was understandable. The last 1.5 miles of road was dirt, which was expected, and the sunrader did very well. There were only two other groups in the entire place, to which we breathed a sigh of relief, for, as everyone who has used a back woods camp ground knows: if there is only one other group, they are probably serial killers. ;)

     We had plenty of time, that evening, to take the dogs on a romp through the snow and mud, and up to the top of a nearby waterfall. They loved it. Unbeknownst to me, Morgan has been teaching Cal to fetch sticks, and she demonstrated this skill. I must say I was impressed when Cal would retrieve the same stick thrown, even when it landed among a pile of others… this merits further testing…

     After a wonderful dinner, a great night’s sleep, and a filling breakfast, we took the dogs on a 4 mile hike through the forest. The pups loved the snow, eating it and ignoring the water we tried to periodically offer them.

     We returned to a deserted camp ground, and began cleaning and packing up. In the short time we were still there, more than fifteen cars arrived, carrying families, puppies, and ATVs. This, apparently, is a popular place, on Saturdays.

     We drove out, thankfully not having to pass anyone on the single lane, dirt road, and chugged up, out of our little valley. From there, we headed off, towards The City of Rocks, a cool little NM state park.

     On that trek, I slept a little, and Morgan had her fist experience driving the somewhat remodeled RV. I have two things to say, which should cover it:  No laws were broken, and I was able to sleep through the whole thing.

     That night, which was last night, we stayed at The City of Rocks, which reminded me, somewhat, of Utah. They have great rates, campsites, and showers, though I have never used a push-button shower. (i.e. you push the button, water comes out for 15 seconds, then stops, unless you have pushed the button again. There is no temperature control, but that was not an issue.)

     This morning, we woke up to Umpqua, Kick Start, oatmeal, and it was amazing! After a brief period of waking up, we took our pups on a 5 mile hike to the top of a nearby tabletop mountain. It was hot, but fun!

     When we returned, I took a quick shower (use it while you have it, right?), and then we ate lunch, and laid down for a short, 3 hour nap. Apparently, we are pretty tired. ;)

     Now, we are here, writing about what is actively happening, and I wonder how long I can continue, before it becomes oddly self-referential.

     Tomorrow, we are off to Arizona, as we have some family to see, south of Tuscan, and a deadline. ;)

     I almost forgot! At one point, over the last couple days, Morgan and I were talking about nature, and wild life, specifically how species’ populations will grow and decline over time, and this phrase came up. Can you guess who said it? “Humans were not sufficiently hunted, so we took over.”

    Take a guess! You have a 1-4 shot. ;) I’ll give you a hint: the “we” disqualifies 2 of our number. :P

     We hope this finds you all happily progressing on your own adventures, and we pray God blesses you with fun detours along the way.

Photos! (If you want to see them bigger, zoom in, with you browser!) :-D

Family Picture:

On the Forest Hike:

Our Dogs Love Snow:

Morgan, at the Top of the Table Top Mountain:

The Pups and I, also on the Top: 

A Day of Firsts

Today has been a day of firsts, but that will come later. First, yesterday:

     Yesterday was a day of mechanics, Costco, and Family, in that order.

     We woke up in a hotel, having spent the night away from our home. Put simply, the alternator decided to die. It had been a hard working beast, but 29 was just too old to go on. Rest in peace, little buddy.

     We retrieved our transportation, reveled in the fact that the fridge was still running (we’ve had issues, in that regard) and headed off to Costco, where we bought entirely too much food, but, fear not, we will eat it, nonetheless.

     Things of note: Costco sells Umpqua Oatmeal- a fantastic thing, Quinoa pasta, and no smaller than three pounds of cream cheese; our little rv’s freezer, a small box in the fridge, can take, and freeze, a whole thing of Costco ground beef, with room to spare; and we need to check our gauges more often.

     You might ask: Why?

     The answer: We learned that our galley tank was full, when the sink ceased draining, and began to fill up. *sigh*

     After we dealt with the tank, we were off to see my Aunt, Uncle, Cousin, and their action hero puppy, for a short visit. It was the first time we have seen their house, and it was fun! (I need to get the recipe for their butterscotch medley!)

    The visit was short, as mentioned above, and, when it was complete, we took off to visit my Cousin and his wife in Dallas. There, we enjoyed delicious food, great conversation, and a fun game (Dominion).

     The dinner in Dallas marked our last family related stop in Texas (if I forgot anyone, you have all of 16hrs to let me know). ;) Thus, we headed for a little, out of the way, rv camp ground that, ostensibly, cost only $14 a night. (You would have thought that we’d learned…)

     We pull up to the gates of Lake Lavon camp ground at the reasonable hour of 10:28pm. Beyond comprehension, everyone is asleep, and the gates are locked up, tight.

     After briefly wondering if I had something long and heavy enough to circumvent the one way spike strip across the open exit. We had a brief pow-wow, and decided that I should knock on the camp manager’s rv.

     As it turns out, the gate has a time lock, so it cannot be opened outside of prescribed hours, or that is what the very kind man conveyed to me. However, he said that I could park just to the side of the entrance, and wait until morning.

     Hazzah! A place to park!

     I pulled into place, and we, promptly, fell asleep.

     My alarm awoke me at 5:50am, another perfectly reasonable hour, to witness the camp manager foiling the time lock and opening the gates early. Hmmmmm…

     He kindly gave us a map of open sites, and we drove in, finding a spot near the restrooms, where we could back up towards the lake. At this time, Morgan had the wonderful idea to take a day of rest, and depart this campground Thursday morning. Yeah! Our first, true, rest day in the RV, with no outside support. ;)

     I, then, walked the half mile back to the entrance, in sandals…not my smartest decision. It’s cold here, before the sun rises.

     So, as it turns out, the camping fee was $30 a night, but having decided to stay a whole day, I shrugged and told the manager that we would be there, until Thursday. He smiled and said, “That’ll be one night, then.” Whoot! God gave us two $15 nights. ;-) He is funny, that way.

     Now, to today:

     We went back to sleep.

     When we woke, we ate our first cereal in the RV, and watched Tangled, one of Morgan’s favorite movies.

     I took my first shower in such a shady shower, and wound up cleaner than expected.

     We took the dogs down to the lake for our first RV packed picnic, and walked as the pups froliced in the waves. Yes, that’s right; there was enough steady wind to make waves. I must say, it freaked the puppies out.

     When we got back to the RV, I caught up on a personal project I had been postponing, and charged the laptop - you got it - for the first time, in the remodeled RV. It was actually very, very fast: more than 1%/min.

     And now? Well, I am writing this, as the first post written inside the RV since the remodel as my lovely wife finishes making our…second… rv cooked dinner. ;)

     May your coming days be full of firsts, and may God’s providence exceed your expectations in surprising and share-worthy ways.             

Travel Problems, Tested Patience, and True Providence

Hello family, friends, and possible strangers. This is Morgan, writing to you all this fine evening, while Josh relaxes. Today, and, indeed, the last few days, have been what I like to call “sitcom worthy”. At several points, I stopped, and literally thought, “I could be in a sitcom”.  These moments culminated today in a five hour flurry that only just ended an hour and a half ago, so while it is still fresh in my mind, I will attempt to write it all down.

Event: Electrical issue.

     As of yesterday, our dashboard stopped working. The speedometer and odometer work, but the tank gauge, coolant gauge, and blinkers won’t work. In addition, we see a “Charge” light come on with a battery symbol. This apparently means that our battery is being discharged because the alternator is not working in some way or another. We planned on seeing a mechanic on Monday, because everything was closed on Sundays.

     So, today, while driving down the freeway up to Dallas, our little Sunrader stopped working.

     We discovered many wonderful things today:

1.  AAA is awesome. They got a tow truck out to us within half an hour, who took us the mechanic.
2. Tow truck drivers are very nice, and Josh is very personable.
3. New alternators are expensive, but God is good.
4. Mechanics are also very nice.
5. Our dogs do great riding in random people’s cars, and sitting in mechanic shop offices.
6. Temperatures in Waco are wonderful for walking in, even when we walk a mile to a Walmart to pull out cash to pay for a ride.
7. There are many fine hotels in Waco, TX, and a few even take dogs.
8. All of said pet friendly hotels, within walking distance, were doing so well that they had no vacancies.
9. The single taxi service in Waco apparently keeps their taxis so clean that they, under no circumstances, can take dogs in their car.
10. AAA is incredibly awesome, and spent over an hour on the phone with Josh to try to find someone to drive us a pet friendly hotel, La Quinta, that was eight miles away.
11. Josh is incredibly patient, and he went up to several people, explained our situation in brief, and asked for a ride for us.
12. Rocket scientists are also very nice, and trusting, and one of them offered a ride to us and our dogs.
13. Papa John’s delivers to La Quinta, and thus, after our very long day, we were able to order pizza, and relax in a room with our dogs.

So, here we are, in a very comfortable hotel room, writing down our moments, able to laugh despite the rocky path that this day has been.

Hope everyone has a wonderful week, and wishing my little sister a very Happy Birthday!

Sunrader Surgery

     Well, fair reader, this post has been a long time in coming, there is no denying. Let me give you the low down:

1.  The sunrader is up and running at, roughly, 90% complete. It is fully usable, but without a bathroom. ;)
2.  Being 90%, as my dad would say, we have 90% to go; meaning: the finishing touches could, hopefully not, take much longer than expected.
3. That said: we are in Texas! More specifically, I am sitting in a mechanics, while the big rader of suns sits with its stomach wide open. In mechanical terms? The fuel pump gasket was leaking. It was an adventure getting the right part, but that is too long and laborious, a tale, for now. :P

     Enough with the numbers... After this sojourn, we will take it to get its tires replaced. That’s right, ladies and gentlemen, the almond colored wonder is getting new feet! (That makes it sound kinda morbid, but I couldn’t think of any analogy that worked better.) Funny note, on that, the tires currently in place… yeah, they’re 1991’s. :-O I have had several mechanics/tire technicians tell me I must be lying about the year, then stand in stunned silence after reading it for themselves. Supposedly, it is quite unheard of for tires to last 23 years… who knew?

     As a side note, on the color, I’ve seen a lot of almonds in my day, and the outside is way darker than our RV… maybe, the color chooses to reference the inside? But if that is how we judge color, wouldn’t all apples be the same color? Also, people’s “skin” color would always be red… just a thought.

     Moving on!

     Morgan and I have been staying with family in the Waco area, and our puppies have been soooo good!

     Naga is becoming more socialized, every day. He hardly ever savages anyone, any more. ;) (More truthfully, he is more comfortable with more people, more quickly. He comes 96% of the time, when I call, 3.99% he is actively responding to the call of nature, and he comes as soon as he is finished. Also, he doesn't savage people, just thought I'd put that out there.)

     Calcifer is still wonderfully obedient and as cute as ever. He is officially not a puppy anymore, as his second birthday passed a few weeks back, but he has decided not to let labels hamper his play, and continues to terrorize….*cough* *cough*… play with any dog he can. :P

     I am transitioning back into “find editing work” mode, and will, hopefully, be filling my time in that regard, soon. In that vein, if any of you have any editing needs… :-D

     Morgan has added knitting(hats, scarves, hard drive cases, protective covers, etc.), roman shade creation, propane system installation, and Dutch oven, stove top baking to her long list of skills and talents.

     After we spend a few more days with family in the Waco/Dallas area, we plan on taking a slow journey back towards Sonora, CA, seeing the sites and field testing our RV along the way. When we reach that destination, we will finish off the beast, and hit the road once more, going wherever God leads us, and the road takes us.

     Until our next update, hopefully in the very near future, may God guide your path and keep you in His loving arms.