Albuquerque, NM

9/2/2010

We are now officially on the road again. Left Melissa, TX on Monday, Aug 30th. Took us two hours to get all the way around the metroplex and onto I-20 west. We got about 150 miles when all of a sudden, we heard this LOUD bang from under the hood. And we lost almost all power. My turbo gauge went to -0- so I knew it had to be something with the turbo. We got off onto a service road and called GS ERS. Within 30 minutes a guy from Freddies’ Garage (Ranger, TX) showed up. The culprit was a broken clamp on the turbo hose. He didn’t have one, but was able to get one from their shop, and, an hour and a half later, we were back on the road. (/Whew - only a minor problem!!)


We made it to Post, TX (about 40 miles south of Lubbock, TX) and spent the night. On Tuesday we drove west thru TX - here are a few of the sights:

Notice the oil well in the middle of a cotton (yes cotton) field!   Don't be surprised if your next shirt is made from TX cotton!!

and then into NM and into mountains (pictures don't do justice, but here they are anyway):

We stopped at a CG for the night just outside of Ruidoso.

I took a walk later in the day to check out the CG and guess what I found and no camera to record it??

Actually I did get the camera and go back and they were still there - a buck lying down and a doe standing on the left of the picture.  You need to double click on the picture to get a clearer view.  The doe is on the left and the buck in the lower right (scroll down to see it).

On Wednesday we drove out of the mountains and into Albuquerque. Along the way we drove thru the Valley of Fire.

Very interesting – the rocks are black. According to Google: The volcanic action responsible was relatively recent, occurring between 1,500 and 5,000 years ago, but the lava has become quite overgrown with grass and small bushes so the landscape is generally greenish in color rather than black, less of a dramatic spectacle.

We are currently at the Enchanted Trails RV Park just west of Albuquerque on I-40.  When drove into the park, we encountered this sign:

This CG has been in existence since the early 70's.  Big park, all gravel sites, few trees. Not your Midwest CG, but I guess this is the southwest for you.  The price was right though - $155 for the week!

Here are a couple of antiques in view just to the left of the "WHOA" sign:

We came to Albuquerque to visit with my cousin, Judy, and her mom, Lois.  Judy had back surgery last week so we called the hospital to see if she was still there, but she wasn't.  She had been transferred to Health South for rehab yesterday.  Called her there and told her that we were on the way.   She is in good spirits and is just getting into rehab.  They have had her standing already, but one of here legs is still numb so she won't be walking for awhile yet.
Today, Thursday, we will be going over again to visit with her. 

More later........