‘Yiiihaaa’ We’ve made it out of Texas, ‘Yiiihaa’

Well, we shouldn’t be cheering really, because we have had a great time here in the Lone Star State, but it is BIG!!

After 1000 miles in Texas, taking 9 days with 3 x 2 day and 1 x 3 day stops of exploring, we set off this morning to escape from the Lone Star State and travelled further West, along I-10 and into New Mexico.

New Mexico, the Enchanted Land, at least that’s what it says on Billboards all over the place, so we assume it must be true.

Hi Guys, what do you think to the new RV Wendy has found (picture below), all we need is a horse – Does anybody know who has a horse for sale????

Our target today, is a small RV Park, just North of Silver City called ‘Manzano’s’, which turned out to be run by a very nice couple, who had to come out in their car and guide us into their park, when the damn GPS turned us the wrong way and we got lost, only about ½ mile from their park!

Apparently, it is a regular problem with GPS systems trying to find their place.

Apart from this bit of a problem at the end, the day went quite well, the rain held off and the wind dropped and the road was very busy again, as you can see in the photos above and below – ha, ha.

Right, made it, set up the RV and opened a bottle – whoops – sorry, should have said, ‘made a cup of tea’ – honest.

We had quite a bit of driving facing us the next day in the car, so we had an early night.

Monday morning, we set off early to drive into the Gila Mountain National Preserve, it was quite a trek, but spectacular scenery, as we climbed up into the Mogollon Mountain Range and once again going over Continental Divide at 7080 feet.

 

There were warning signs all over about Wolfs and Cougars, but we didn’t see any!

Plus, there were even several warning signs around about this being Bear Country, but despite shouting “Yogi”, “Yogi”, several times, we didn’t see any of those either.

Forget what it says on the posters and remember the important number one rule when meeting a Bear – “It is important that you can run faster than any of your companions”

When we arrived at the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, we went into the Visitor Centre to get our tickets, then we had to sit through a (very interesting) 15-minute video about the history of the Cliff Dwellings, that apparently date back to about 1200 AD, when they were built and inhabited by the Mogollon Native American tribe – apparently, they can accurately carbon date the timber that was used during the construction.

Notice on the bottom of this sign, it says ‘Deposit Gum Here’, but we didn’t have any Gum, so we just ‘Spat’ anyway to keep the Warden happy!!!

It was quite a trek up into the canyon where the dwellings were and it was a blistering hot day to boot.

One poignant piece of information, we picked up at the Visitor Centre, was that the Native American Chief, Geronimo, was born near here and wanted to be buried near here when he died, but unfortunately, the authorities of the day would not let him travel back to the place of his birth.

On the trip, back out of the mountains we took a different route and passed Lake Roberts.

Which reminded us of something/someone, but we couldn’t for the life of us remember who, until we were sat with the G & T, later that evening and then we remembered it was Beau Roberts, back in our US hometown – ha, ha (private joke).

(Pssst, we could remember, but thought it would give us an excuse to have a drink)

The whole 7-hour trip was amongst some beautiful scenery and some stunning views and it wasn’t until we were sat at home (the RV), that evening, that we realised that we were at the very Southern Tip of the Rocky Mountains, a range that we will be spending a fair bit of time amongst on this trip.

That evening we went to a local Cowboy Steak House for Dinner – it was packed and many of the local guys wore their Cowboy hats whilst they were eating – the food was delicious and we even had a photo taken with ‘The Duke’

For younger readers, ‘The Duke’ is John Wayne, famous for his Cowboy roles in several films!

Tuesday morning saw us up bright and early, as we had a 300-mile trip, across New Mexico and into Arizona, little did we realise what a ‘hairy’ trip that was going to turn out to be.

The first 150 miles or so were very slow, but great, along a minor road that lead up into the mountains, with most of the journey at a maximum speed limit of 45 mph, but as you can see in the photos below, quite a lot of very hairy bend, climbs and drops, where the speed was reduced to 30 or 35 mph.

The Navigator gave a few squeaks and squeals as the Driver took a few bends a bit too fast or went a bit too close to the edge of some big drops, but nothing that a few Whisky’s and Gin & Tonics wouldn’t settle, when – whoops, should have said IF, we make it over the mountains – which we did, because we are writing this next bit of the blog!!!!!!!!!!!

Almost all the 300 miles, was at an elevation of between 5500 and 7500 feet and the poor old RV (well 3 years – is that old in RV lifetimes?), took it all in its stride, both up and down the mountains.

That’s when Disaster (tried to) struck!

As we entered Arizona, the wind increased and the rain started.

But it didn’t stay as rain for long – within a few minutes the rain had turned to SLEET – yes, that’s right, it had started to Blxxxx SNOW – Ouch, just had a Clip “Well you shouldn’t swear” “I didn’t swear, I was going to say BLIMEY” – honest!

Where were we, oh yes, the sleet/snow – we thought Arizona was supposed to be hot and sunny – not on our trip!

To make matters worse, the wind was blowing a Blxxxy Gale – ha, ha, “Missed” – just ducked and missed a clip from Her Ladyship!

The next 150 miles, were all out on exposed Plateau’s, all over 6000 feet and there was a very, very strong South Westerly Wind that rocked the RV all over the road, quite a hairy 4 hours, about as bad as the trip across Louisiana, that we told you about earlier.

Eventually, after a tiring (shoulders, back and hands gripping the steering wheel) day, we arrived at our destination – The Meteor Crater RV Park in Arizona – set up the RV and totally flacked out.

In fact, we are so shattered, we are thinking of cancelling our membership fees for the local GYM.

Why pay them, when we can just go an RV trip on a windy day? – Oh, whoops, just remembered, we don’t belong to any GYM, damn, we could have saved a fortune!

What started out as a great day (in New Mexico), turned into Blxxxy hard work (in Arizona) – “I’m not swearing” “Yes you are, stop it, or you will have a Clip” ”Okay”

Time to put the kettle on, for a well-earned cup of tea – or something WET.

More next time x