Chasing Our Dreams, We’ve Only Just Begun

March 28th, 2025
American RV Resort, just outside Albuquerque NM.
We did some shopping, got the trailer setup, tv working and it’s seventy seven degrees with a great breeze. If things were any better I would have to be two people to enjoy it all.
Around 5pm a small dust storm came through the area. Time to close the windows.

March 29th, 2025
Buddy woke us up early, so I took him out for a walk.
Breakfast at the RV park, biscuits and gravy (spicy and good), waffles and muffins. They also had a homemade, Louisiana recipe (employee made), tomato gravy for the biscuits (which was good) or a brown gravy.
High winds today with gusts up to fifty mph.

March 30th, 2025
We woke up to fourty degree temperature outside and fifty degrees inside. Time to switch LP tanks so the heater will fire up and get ready for another breakfast at the RV parks break area.
We didn’t have the winds or dust storm yesterday that were possible but we did see a dust storm south of us.

We went to an old mission west of us today and took route 66 there and back capturing a picture of one of the original route 66 bridges.

A structure that will stand forever with little care

Route 66 has a very interesting history. I have attached a link to start with.
https://highways.dot.gov/highway-history/general-highway-history/back-time/route-66-mother-road

San Jose’ de la Laguna Mission church of Laguna NM.

Built in 1699 just after the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, which was a successful native uprising against a colonizing power in North America. Freeing these people from religious persecution, cultural suppression, economic hardships and brutal treatment.
Built in the early Pueblo style with some Spanish influence it is unlike other missions of the same period.

Still a practicing church with a community of its own we were lucky to have a local resident, Alfred, escort us around and tell us the history of the area, the mission and church and the interior decorations. Original Leguna art and early Spanish paintings dress the walls and altar along with hand carved woodwork.
Afterwards he played a song for us he wrote for his mother on his Native American flute. Carol bought some native earrings from him that he made and some postcards from the church for a donation.

Leaving the area there was a woman with three kids selling Taquitos and salsa on the side of the road. Five Taquitos with salsa for seven dollars. It was a really good lunch.

March 31st, 2025
Old Town Albuquerque, over three hundred years old showing the history and culture of the area with its Pueblo-Spanish style Adobe buildings and narrow streets. Later joined by Victorian style buildings after the railroad arrived.
The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (AT&SF), which became the first railroad to enter New Mexico in eighteen hundred and seventy eight came south from Colorado. Despite its name, there was never a main line that directly served Santa Fe, NM, instead, a branch line from Lamy NM reached the city on February ninth, eighteen hundred and eighty and the main line reached Albuquerque on April tenth, eighteen hundred and eighty.
A very relaxing afternoon shopping and enjoying the area completed by a great lunch at a restaurant in Old Town. Fajitas cooked perfectly and properly served, completed the day.
We drove back to our trailer through town on Route 66. I think it was easier than using GPS and the interstate system.
We noticed some unique cloud formations south of Albuquerque that I have never seen before.
I question What caused them.

Judge for yourself, and always,
Keep and eye on the sky!

It seems like the main difference between the weather in Indiana and New Mexico is that in Indiana they talk about rain, snow/ice and tornadoes, in New Mexico they talk about wind, dust storms and possible fires at least in the spring. Texas is similar to New Mexico. Between Texas and New Mexico it is very hard to keep the trailer clean. I’m just glad that’s Carol’s job.

Talking about Carol, I want to make sure she gets credit for a lot of the photography in my blog. She does an excellent job. Thanks

April 1st, 2025
The weather calls for thirty to fourty mph winds with gusts up to fifty mph.
We canceled the trip to Santa Fe NM and decided to go to Petroglyph National Monument. The sites are at different areas around the city so we went to the visitors center for information and maps. They told us about a site that was only a few miles away and had short trails that we could probably do before the storm came in. We drove to the site and started our hike on the sandy trail with the wind in our face. We already had fifteen mph winds out of the southwest with some sand and rain mixed in.
We saw a number petroglyphs scattered through out the mountain side. We were fortunate that the trail took us in a mountain cove blocking us from the wind. This is a very interesting area and we took a number of pictures. It would be interesting to study the area, the people and the meaning of the symbols but for now we will share what we have.

By the time we got back to the trailer the winds had picked up immensely.
The, wind was hitting the trailer from the end not the side but we were still rocking and shaking a lot. With all the businesses around us we didn’t have the dust like we could have had on the road so I went on some back roads to see what it was like.

There were times when I could hear the sand hitting the truck.
We have spent the afternoon listening to the wind roar past the trailer and push it around. Our NOAA weather radio has warned us of dangerous conditions twice today and upped the high end velocity from fifty to sixty mph out of the west.

in addition to the storm we are experiencing, it will drop below thirty two degrees tonight so I have to prepare the trailer. Water valves to insulate and keep warm and the main waterline and filters must be covered.

Life is a journey not a destination and you never know what’s around the corner! Things like this are what make the journey worth doing.

April 2nd, 2025
This is our get ready to leave day but before we do, Carol wanted to see the mountains. They were about a half hour away and I wasn’t sure where to go so I set GPS for a US Forest Service campground. Once in the mountains we turned off to the first camping area and the dirt road was so rough that we were in four wheel drive going about a half mile and hour, if that. We turned around and headed for the other camping area. The dirt road to this area was graded and well maintained. We came to the group camping area and it was closed until spring but a nice area. There had been a car following us and when we stopped at the group camp sites a woman got out of the other car and over to talk to us. She has two dogs and goes there to run them in the open area. She wanted to warn us of a cougar in the area that had approached other people but had not attacked anyone yet. She also told us where the individual camping sites were so we went up to the area. Again, the road was not graded and in terrible condition.
Time to head home and pack up.

April 3rd, 2025
The park notified us to close our black and gray water dump valves yesterday because they were having sewer problems. They didn’t notify us the problem was corrected so I couldn’t empty the tanks before we left. I dumped part of our gray water tank to flush the line before disconnecting and we left without emptying them.
We took the back roads to I25 south and had a nice relaxing ride to Las Cruces (222m). The interstate wasn’t busy and the scenery was stunning.

The city was originally named Hot Springs because of all the hot springs in the area but changed its name to Truth or Consequences as the result of a radio show contest.
I’ll wonder what they would have done if the radio shows was “Kay Kyser’s Kollege of Musical Knowledge”.

Sunny Acres RV Park is where we ended up. Seems to be a nice choice.
I have to remember to call my sister (the birthday girl) tomorrow to wish her a Happy Birthday.

April 4th, 2025

We had a short ride today, Tucson/Lazydays KOA Resort (270m). That allowed us to sleep in this morning and get a late start.
We had a great morning, we took turns walking Buddy around the park after that I got the trailer ready to leave as Carol did on the inside and we were still on the road before 10am.

My oldest sister Carol called while we were getting ready so we said we would call her when we were on the road and we did. After talking to her we called my other sister Sue to wish her a Happy Birthday and talk for a while.
While we’re talking to Carol we came upon a US Border Patrol Inspection Station so we got off the phone to talk to them. I have encountered them before. They are working to keep us safe.
Border patrol agents get very little recognition for the work they do. They are out there every day risking their lives to keep us safe. They should get the same recognition as our military, police, fire and first responders do.
Remember That!
They just waved us through (my innocent face) so we called my sister back to let her know what they were doing.

There was also a sign warning about wildfires and to please use your ashtrays.

Once we crossed into Arizona and being able to see for miles we could watch the rain clouds moving in.

The wind was blowing and we saw another dust devil.

I10 between Las Cruces and Tucson is a very nice and relaxing ride even with the possibility of rain.

The majority of the traffic was semis so we didn’t have at lot of crazy four wheelers. The one thing we didn’t see was a sign saying we crossed the Continental Divide which we did.
Must have missed it.

The Continental Divide primarily followers the crest of the Rocky Mountains dividing the eastern and western waters sheds in the United States.

April 5th, 2025
Tucson/Lazydays KOA Resort
This is one of the nicer RV resorts we have stayed at. I would say it is in the top three. It is a very large resort with a lot of activities.

Office, restaurant and about anything you want

Various fruit trees on site. Pick your own grapefruit, oranges, lemons and some cross pollinated fruit.

The following four pictures are of Hacienda El Gorske.

April 7th, 2025
Yesterday (Sunday) was another easy day. We had some stops to make and check out the area.
Today we start out with an eye exam and hopefully same day glasses at Eyeglass World. I’ll let you know how it goes.
I talked to the optometrist before the exam and told her about our traveling and my reading and how it affected my vision. She gave me a complete exam and explained what was going on and how to reduce my problems. Some of them being age related.
I have progressive lenses and they don’t grind them on site so we’ll have to wait about ten days to get my glasses. The good news is that Tombstone AZ is only about an hour away so we can still go there as planned and pick them up later.
After talking about it we decided to stay here to get my glasses because it looks like Tombstone is only a two day stop.
I’ll have time to repair everything on the trailer and we can do a lot of running around.

April 8th, 2025
We went shopping today on fourth Avenue in Tucson and the majority of the people on the street were homeless.

Shopping wasn’t that good, most of the shops were closed and all the restaurants except for the dog free coffee shop were closed.

He goes everywhere with us and he does like coffee

We wouldn’t have been welcome in the coffee shop. I would rather be with Buddy, I know how to make coffee.
The weather has been great and when we leave for Tombstone, the weather will be similar. Silver City NM is warming up too.

April 9th, 2025
Being a lot like Josh Gates, I along with my wife and Buddy were off to explore Coronado National Forest. Not far from where we are located, we found the roads and trails rough but I believe we captured the theme of the landscape.

A rough, dry and rugged character all it’s own.

Being public lands, camping is permitted without reservations. Just be prepared.

The true condition of the road is not portrayed by the pictures. Be ready for a slow rough ride.

Next to the public lands we found a state park. Kartchner Caverns, offering camping, hiking and cave tours. If you’re interested in the cave tours be sure to see their web site first.

Being a fairly new state park, the mining tools were recently used to cut tunnels into the Caverns to make them accessible for all to enjoy.

Tools used to open the caverns for public access

There are a number of trails with the longer ones going along the foothills of the Whetstone Mountains.

A side note:
Since we have had our trailer, we have found a number of people travel the country in their RV’s while working at RV resorts. They park their trailer at the resort they are working at enjoying the area until they decide to move. Not a bad way to see the country.

Big update:
We have been on the road for six months today and life is getting better. I haven’t been to the Tucson hospital.

April 11, 2025
Yesterday was work at home day but not before breakfast on the veranda.

Buddy has laid on the table with us for morning coffee since he was eight weeks old. He was sick when we got him and I sympathized not only with his illness but his being in a new environment so I put the four and a half pound puppy on the table with us. And he has insisted on it ever since.

I did some remodeling in our livingroom and after a long day it was finished.
I know, they look the same. That’s because I actually made changes to area where the heater is under the couch and raised the couch about an inch. I wanted to filter the air going in the heater instead of blowing dirt through the trailer and it wasn’t designed for that. Our trailer is poorly insulated so the heater and air conditioner run more then they should have to. The air conditioner can’t keep up on a day like today. We have windows open and fans running. What’s a little more dust.

7AM
I took Buddy out this morning and while on our walk I picked some grapefruit for breakfast. I have never had grapefruit so sweet. They are as sweet as an orange.
After breakfast Carol and I borrowed a fruit picker from the RV park office and picked fruit for about an hour.

On the way back from returning the fruit picker we met some people with an unusual pet

This is Lord Porkchop and yes he is an RVer. You can find him on Instagram.

Buddy has gone from being a tricolor Cavalier to a quad color. He is black, white and brown with dirty gray paws. I don’t think his paws will be white until we leave the southwest. I don’t think he likes all the dirt and dust either.
There is a red flag warning for fires today. The temperature is 101° and the humidity is 2%. With an 8 MPH wind out of the WNW this is perfect weather for a field or forest fire.
That being said, tomorrow we are going to the mountains and cool off.

Currently it’s 98° outside while it’s 100° inside. I think I’ll go out and cool off.

April 12th, 2025
List night the weather was perfect, it cooled down and was a great evening to be out and we woke up to the same. The temperature rapidly increased during the day to the high 90s, while we were atop Mount Lemmon around the eight thousand foot level where the temperature was in the low 70s.
I think everyone in Tuson had the same idea. From the lower elevations up people were camping and the picnic areas were full in the higher elevations.
We found the perfect area for a picnic at the Loma Linda Picnic Area but

all the tables were taken so we backed into the second to last parking place to get this fabulous view.

In addition to all the cars on the road there was a cycling event up the 20+ miles to the peak. We saw around fifty cyclist during the day and on the way down the mountain at times they were going over forty mph.

We had a great day but should have slowed our descent. We came down to ninety + degree weather.
Pictures never do the view justice!
The best way to appreciate the picture is to experience it for yourself!

A full moon casting its light over our trailer, our sanctuary, creating a beautiful and picturesque scene, evoking a sense of tranquility and romance with a touch of intrigue.

April 14, 2025
Yesterday was a normal day of cleaning and working around the trailer. The temperature was in the low 90s with a breese.
I had stopped to have lunch, which bread and butter were part of and Buddy was being real good.
Until!
This is a re-enactment of actual events.
No one was hurt making this simulation.

With butter.

Now you could call it shortening.

It was more than he could take. Notice, that he didn’t touch the bread.

After lunch I cleaned some of the butyl tape off the left front trailer trim and started to clean the dirt off the rest of the trailer.

8am
This morning I took Buddy for his morning walk. After a sit-in and extra long walk we came back and I came in our fenced area from the side gate closing the gate behind us. I went in while he stayed out. When I came back out I found that I didn’t close the back gate.

He is waiting for another walk which he got after he had breakfast.
Later, I was in the bathroom, I won’t say why. When I was flushing the toilet, I reached over and bumped the hanging macrame.

We have air plants in the macrame and two of them fell out landing in the toilet.

They didn’t go down the toilet because one of them was large enough to block the smaller one from going down.
The last twenty-four hours have been interesting.
We have repositioned the air plants for their own protection.
I cleaned the windows today and worked on the butyl tape for a while then Carol and I started planning our week since we leave Thursday and I am also scheduled to pick up my glasses Thursday. Busy week.
I was actually sweating today. The humidity was up. 87° and 9% humidity, any higher and it could rain.

April 16th, 2025
You can tell it’s time to move when the most exciting thing we do is go to Walmart, which we did. We are planning on moving Friday whether we get my glasses on Thursday or not.

My glasses are in, I plan on getting them in the morning.

April 17th, 2025
I had a busy day today. I went to pick-up my glasses, fill the truck up with gas and

“This ain’t no place to be if you planned on bein’ a star.
Talkin’ about the car wash.”

wash it. After lunch we had to pack up everything.
It was a great day, we got everything cleaned and packed, the weather was great and Carol fixed a great lunch. Baked potato with broccoli, cheese and optional bacon bits.