Day 77, Saturday, October 20, 2018 - City of Rocks State Park, Deming, NM, Day 4

Site E5

Saturday, October 20, 2018 - City of Rocks State Park, Deming, NM, Day 4, 0 Miles, 5,526.3 Miles for the Trip

Well, the class C in one of the first come sites started packing up, and since the volunteer that checked me into the host site for the weekend told me I could move to the first available first come site, I packed up the trailer & headed to site E5. When I got there the ranger let me know that someone else had already paid for the site. Seems a different volunteer let someone else have the site. Oh well, I am no better or worse off than I was before the attempted move, although I did have to break down & set up for nothing. I can't really blame anyone since it was different people, and they don't really do reservations on the first come sites. I can still move to a dry site on Monday, although my favorites are still filled.

A warm, but windy day. 70°F at 12:30, but a bit too windy to sit outside. The clouds are heavier than yesterday; little sunshine. So far I spent the day reading. Current book - J. A. Jance's Remains of Innocence. I swear I've read it, but it isn't in my "read books" database. I did lose a bunch of records a few years back - that might be the reason. Almost like a new book with just vague hints of what is coming.

I got email & a text message from Verizon letting me know I have used 90% of this month's allotment of data on my Jetpack (15GB before it slows down to 600KB for the rest of the month). Not a real problem other than inconvenience since I still have unlimited on the phone & iPad. Both can be hotspots, and while the phone has the same speed reduction after 15GB, at least according to the Verizon website, the iPad does not have any data limit reduction. I'm using the phone now, and it is well under 1GB. Seems a bit silly on Verizon's part since I'll be using the same amount of data, just on different devices. AT&T's restrictions make more sense - after 22GB, they slow you down only on congested towers. While I've never been slowed down on AT&T, even after using 40GB, I can't use them here - no AT&T service other than very spotty phone service. I got a voice mail that I couldn't understand, and can't originate phone calls. Of course none of this makes much sense since both networks call their data service "Unlimited", and all their services are limited.

Well the site problem has been solved. The person who paid for site E5 never showed up. The office called & they didn't call back, so the site went to the next person in line - ME! I'm now parked in site E5 until Monday, the 29th. Same view out the back window, and a bit closer to the bathrooms & showers. You probably can't tell the difference, but I included a new site photo anyway.

Since it is still fairly warm out (although windy), I decided to attempt grilling a Beyond burger along with some Bush Bourbon & Brown Sugar Beans, and a cling peaches cup.

Until Tomorrow -

Day 76, Friday, October 19, 2018 - City of Rocks State Park, Deming, NM, Day 3

Sunset Outside My Back Window

Friday, October 19, 2018 - City of Rocks State Park, Deming, NM, Day 3, 0 Miles, 5,526.3 Miles for the Trip

Today was a big move; from site E7 to E4, which involved backing across a gravel road. I did learn at least one lesson. I left my water hose connected & tucked the free end into the trailer bumper. While backing, it caught on the campground water spigot, and caused one side of the trailer connection to jump a thread, i.e. it cross threaded the water connection. Took about 10 minutes with a pair of pliers to straighten things out. The moral? Don't take shortcuts! I should be here in one of the host sites for three days unless the new hosts show up earlier than they planned, in which case I'll have to move. In any case, I will have to move Monday.

Other than that the move was simple. I now have a nice view out the back of the trailer. I took a few photos during the afternoon, and later at sunset. I'm not sure it will be a good night for star photos because the moon is already up & pretty bright. The afternoon was beautiful. Around 72°F and mixed sun & clouds. A little too much wind, but I did get to sit outside for a couple of hours.  More photos at today's LakeshoreImages page.

Dinner was a chicken Parmesan frozen dinner (well, it wasn't frozen when I ate it!).

Until Tomorrow -

Day 75, Thursday, October 18, 2018 -City of Rocks State Park, Deming, NM, Day 2

Thursday, October 18, 2018 -City of Rocks State Park, Deming, NM, Day 2, 0 Miles, 5,526.3 Miles for the Trip

Another dreary day. Rain off & on, and a high of 51°F. While there is heavy cloud cover, on the edge of the sky to the south, there is a bit of blue.

I didn't do much during the day other than read both my current book (David Baldacci's The Camel Club) and some on line forums & blogs. I took a break when the rain did as well, and went for a walk around the campground. Lots of sites are blocked with cones - not sure why, but one of them is one I've stayed in before. My favorite two dry sites both have campers, so unless they leave, on Sunday I'm not sure where I'll go.

Dinner was a salad.

Until Tomorrow -

Day 74, Wednesday, October 17, 2018 -City of Rocks State Park, Deming, NM

The view From My Site

Wednesday, October 17, 2018 -City of Rocks State Park, Deming, NM, 109.6 Miles, 5,526.3 Miles for the Trip

A cold morning, but warmer than yesterday. I packed up the trailer & headed out. A relatively short drive to Deming, where I filled up on gas, stopped at a laundromat and did two loads of clothes, then stopped at a garage and ordered running boards for the truck. While I usually don't have a problem getting into the truck, both Don & Anne do. We even carried a step stool for Anne to get into the back seat. So, now that I'm stopped for a couple of days in the same location, I decided to add them. Too late for Anne on this trip, but there will be others in the future.

I then drove the 26 miles to City of Rocks State Park, my favorite New Mexico park. I usually dry camp, but a powered site was available for two days, and it is cloudy enough that I wouldn't be able to put back my usual usage with the solar panels, so I'm in site E7, an electric & water site for $18.00 per night (normally $14.00 per night, but I reserved on line, and had to pay an $8.00 reservation fee.)

I checked, and little or no AT&T service (at least data, and my phone shows no service) but Verizon works fine, and a check of data speed shows 63.2MB download, and 7.7MB upload; not too shabby!

I headed for the showers - unheated, and it is only 53°F outside (and inside). It took 3-4 cycles of the push button for the shower to get warm (it never got hot) but it was nice not to have to worry about filling the gray tank in the trailer. Overall, a rather cloudy & windy day, with little change predicted for the future.

By the time I got back to the trailer, it was time to start dinner. Barber Chicken Cordon Bleu, a Knorr's Chicken & Broccoli side, with snap peas.

Until Tomorrow -

Day 73, Tuesday, October 16, 2018 - Elephant Butte Lake State Park, NM, Day 2

Tuesday, October 16, 2018 - Elephant Butte Lake State Park, NM, Day 2, 0 Miles, 5,416.7 Miles for the Trip

Not much happening today. Rain off & on overnight and all day long. It did get up to 50°F, but is cooling off this afternoon. Other than sitting around the trailer reading both my Kindle & some forums, about all I did is make a chicken stew for dinner. Not bad, although I forgot to buy an onion yesterday, so had to use onion flakes - not as good, but it worked.

Until Tomorrow -