2023 - 24 Trip to the Southwest, Day 28

Sunday, November 12, 2023 - Leasburg Dam State Park, Radium Springs, NM - 183.5 Miles, 2,756.1 Miles for the trip

I didn't mention the difficulty of paying for my Oasis site. The new owner works, and since I was only doing one night, he was never in the park. He eventually sent his son to the site to accept the $25.00 for the night. His son told me that Chuy's is closed because of the lack of business.

I hit the road around 9:30, which changed back an hour as I hit mountain time a little ways going west on I 10. So, I would have arrived far too early at Leasburg Dam. An easy solution - stop for gas (cheapest of the trip at $2.76 per gallon). It was only 88 octane since I'm at 4000' and will be for most of New Mexico. I still managed to get 13.9MPG for the day (12.95MPG for the trip so far). I also stopped at an Albertson's to replenish the refrigerator & freezer. I arrived at the campground a little after 1:00. 

It is interesting finding your site. When you make the reservation they give you a site number (29). The problem is the signs at the many turns within the campground only identify the loop name. I eventually determined where I belonged; even the site label didn't help since the tags & campground information was clipped over the campground number sign. Some of the turns are tight, and there is a 4" post at all the corners.

Again, I'm in site 29, a water & electric site on soft gravel. It has a covered picnic table & a charcoal grill. $14.00 per night plus an $8.00 reservation fee for a total of $36.00 for the two nights. You can't beat New Mexico's State Park prices. A fairly long walk to the bathrooms & showers, and an active railroad just behind the site. The do "toot" the horn on the way to the campground since the entry road has a crossing. One of the bushes behind the site is covered with berries:

Site 29

The Train

The Bush

Since I didn't do a walk this morning, I did one after setting up. It was warm enough that I ran the AC (set at 76°F). It only ran a couple of times - the sun is very strong, but sitting in the shade is a bit too cool, at least in a "T" shirt.

I sat outside making my usual Sunday phone calls, then read - current book is Ellis Peter's The Piper on the Mountain (Yes, I'm still on the binge). I finished listening to Daniel Suarez's Change Agent, which I highly recommend, at least the audio version. Started Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty, which I can't get into.

Dinner was a grilled chicken thigh (cooked in the dark using a 1 pound propane tank because my one gallon one finally ran out of propane) and asparagus, and more of the pint of Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia ice cream. Looks like one serving left. By the way, the outside temperature is down to 63°F as I finished dinner. When talking to Kyle, my son, it was going down to the 20's tonight back in Oswego.

Until Tomorrow -