Getting Well in Las Cruces -- Back to normal

Still waiting for the "correct" part for the awning to come in here and I didn't get to the well at Dripping Springs to the east but, things are getting better as the days go on.  Yesterday I repaired that faulty front door latch on the RV which had locked me out while checking in at Hilltop RV park in Fort Stockton this past Saturday (had me climbing through the driver's side window to get back in).

After making the emergency stop here in Las Cruces on Sunday afternoon, that night was the first time either of the twins made it back to the bedroom during the night -- Tiger made his first visit since January and the flea episode in Port Aransas, Texas.  He came back around 1:30 in the morning and made a couple other visits in the early morning.

During the day on Monday, Molly made her first visit to me as I took a nap during the afternoon in the bedroom -- and again today just a short while ago.  I also found the correct replacement belts for my vacuum cleaner at the nearby Walmart today and did a good vacuuming of the RV -- rearranged the floor mats and removed the plastic covering I had used previously to lure the twins back to the floor.  Getting closer to being normal again with the dry air and less insects -- just the annoying dust is one thing left to deal with and the higher static level on the fur of the twins (because of the drier air here).

Winds are not as strong as they were in recent days and am hoping that continues with the morning temps being closer to 40 as well.  Next stop should be in Mesa, Arizona and will stay for a week before heading up to Flagstaff -- to stay at Black Bart's RV Park (and restaurant).  Steak and beer.  Yumm!

Billy the Kid Country -- Yippeekiyay!

Well, this must be the southern reaches of where he travelled while hiding from the corrupt law enforcement officers (sheriffs, marshals and such) and a fairly long ride from the town of Lincoln.  Las Cruces has some pretty hills around and to the north and east (toward El Paso and White Sands Missile Range) but, the Rio Grande river has no water at this time.

Since I'm stuck here in Las Cruces awaiting some parts for my awning over the right side slider, I decided to head over to the river walk by the Rio Grande to see what I might see and the picture to the right was taken while standing in the middle of the river bed.

Some of the orchards and fields along the river bed and road showed signs of somehow getting water and obviously there is water here at the campground where I'm staying so it must be coming from the aquifer below (I'm guessing).  Tomorrow I may head for some springs to the east and see what I can find there.  Meanwhile, I can always enjoy the canned fluid from the Coors brewery with a twist of lime and think about fishing the Rio Grande river in Colorado this summer -- in about 7 weeks.

Finally out of Texas -- Barely

After spending three months in Port Aransas with too many north winds blowing and messing up the fishing, it felt nice to get into San Antonio for a week to visit my cousin Shirley and enjoy the warm weather there too.  Nice to have the chance to see her daughter Tina and Marty's house one evening and enjoy the last of my Red Snappers from their grille (way more efficient than my little travelling grille so the bacon wraps were a little overdone -- by me).

Left San Antonio Saturday morning and headed out I-10 for Fort Stockton, Texas thinking to stop there one night and then on to Deming, New Mexico for a second stop before getting on to Phoenix.  It took about 4-1/2 hours to get into Fort Stockton and just before I exited per my TomTom direction for an RV park in town, I passed the Fort Stockton RV Park on the easent end of town -- had its own Mesquite BBQ Restaurant on the site.  It had to be the best of the four parks in the town.

The two in town (A and M Camper and Mobile Home Park and Comanche Land RV Park) didn't have good pull-thru spaces for my big rig and rather than back tracking to the east end of town, I headed to the west end of town in search of Hilltop RV Park -- hoping it would have a space available.  After ending up on the frontage road on the opposite side of I-10, I finally doubled back on the frontage road on the correct side and settled in to a nice pull-thru where I could leave my Jeep attached to the RV -- and watch the sunset into the cloudy, dusty skies of Texas.

When I pulled in at Hilltop, I shut the front door of the RV to keep Tiger from escaping while I got checked in at the office but, when I came out to get back into the RV, the door handle wouldn't open the door (still doesn't).  So, I had to get the young guy to bring me a ladder and I climbed in through the driver's side window -- luckily I left it unlatched and slid it open.  I squirted WD40 into the mechanism later and oiled it but, there seems to be a disconnect between the outside handle and the latch which I need to work on.

When I woke up this morning in Fort Stockton, it was 29 degrees outside and that told me to get back on the road and find a warmer place to work on that latch.  I headed out by 9:30 and four hours later my toes finally felt warm when I passed through El Paso -- finally getting out of Texas.  After making the turn to the west from El Paso on I-10, I felt relieved and much warmer as I crossed into New Mexico and had my sights on Deming for the evening.  However, sixty miles short of Deming, as I tried to pass a truck, a noise erupted from the right side of the RV and one of the topper awnings (over the sliders) broke away and dropped down the side of the Winnebago.

Luckily, I slowed down and pulled over at the nearby exit and gave a cursory glance at the problem awning.  Fortunately, there was an RV park nearby per some helpful folks at a car dealership near the exit.  So, I slowly limped into the Siesta RV Park here in Las Cruces, New Mexico -- just a short distance away from an RV Dealership and service center with parts.

Not quite as windy here and the skies don't appear to be as heavily laden with all the dust like in Texas.  Now, if it's just a little warmer here tonight and tomorrow morning and the RV Repair guy (Richard) shows up too.  Sure glad this didn't happen out in the middle of the Texas desert.