Cool Days and Cold Nights

You know it's time to head south when you deliberately park with your windshield facing the sun for maximum solar gain. 

Headed for Las Cruces, NM 

Jacks Creek Campground

 I hit another Triple D spot, Harry's Roadhouse,  on the way to the campground.

                                                                                                   

  

 I had the Turkey Meatloaf sandwich house baked ciabatta. It was very good

On the way back to Santa Fe this morning I stopped and had the Basque Style Shepherd's Hash - Lamb Sausage, onion, red and green peppers, potatoes with two eggs on top. Also very tastey.

Well worth the stop if you pass this way.

Jacks Creek CG (35.84234, -105.6538) is at 8,800 feet. Cool days and cold nights. It got down to freezing. But it is beautiful and there were only a couple of other campers. I love Forest Service campgrounds in the off season. $5 night w/ my senior pass.

The aspens have lost all their fall color. Winter is coming

While here  I completed a project, hide the litter box. There is a storage space under my closet where I could put a litter box.

The litter box fits and I still have half the storage left.

  Door installed that give me access for cleaning the litter box.











Last step, a hole for the cat. I was a little concerned about her going in there, but no problem.

   She adapting very well to RV life. This is her safe spot under the couch where I store bedding. She is camera shy. Every time I point a camera at her, she runs and hides.

I am back in Santa Fe and planning on catching up on movies. Also visit Backroad Pizza again. Very good stuff.

Got Heat

I have had an on-going problem with my Kozy World Infrared heater. It would start up OK. But when it reached the temperature where the thermostat would turn it off, the pilot light would also go out. Thus the heater would not start up again when the temperature dropped. I tried cleaning the ignition mechanism to to avail. Now I am thinking I need to buy a new heater. With the Kozy heater not running all night it's cold in the morning. So I would run the  furnace because I could start it with out getting out of bed. I noticed that the burner on the furnace was cycling on and off when it should burn continuously until the rig reached the set temperature.  Now I am thinking that there may be a propane supply problem. I pulled the regulator out and it looked OK. Then I noticed that I did not have a good flow of propane out of my Extend A Stay Adapter. This adapter allows me to hook up an external propane tank.

I removed to Extend A Stay from the propane line and my Kozy World ran all night. I am warm and cozy again and didn't cost a dime. :-)

Very Interesting Rocks

Kasha-Katuwe means white cliffs in the Cochiti tribe's Language. (35.66271, -106.406)

  

Fellow Boomers (l-r) John, Connie, me, Dave & Vicki heading out 

John, Dave and I are headed up to that point. The ladies are opting for a less strenuous hike.

The exposed roots show how deep the canyon has eroded since this pine tree started to grow.

7 million years ago at least 20 volcanos erupted repeatedly laying down all these layer ash, now call Tuff.

This consolidated rock in called Breccia. 

The shape of these Hoodoos is the result of a harder cap-stone protecting the softer rock below it. Here to cap stones are very small resulting in the tent shape.

Different size material in the layers is the result of the amount of energy in the flow at the time of deposit. Higher energy flows deposited larger rocks and lower energy flows smaller material

This is the canyon we just climbed up through

Topping out. The gold band right above my hat is the fall color along the Rio Grand river

The parking lot is the horizontal brown line at top center.
A good hike with great people.

Headed for Lake Cochiti

I went to the Albuquerque Natural History Museum. They have a very niece dino exhibit and I won't bore you with more pictures. But did see this amazing kinetic sculpure by Bruce Shapiro. A computer moves magnets under the table that in turn move the steel ball. The computer has 12 different patterns programed into it. Previous patterns are erased by moving the steel ball in a spiral.

Running errands and stocking up on supplies for the lake. I am meeting up with Boomer friends there. I had a great lunch at McAlister's Deli.  One errand was to to pick up a co-pilot at the local animal shelter. She is doing great. Hiding out a lot. She needs a name.

At the lake. What a great spot. Paved roads and pads with picnic tables. $6 a night with senior pass. 

35.640815, -106.320865

Nice Finish

Nice Finish

I did not crew Sunday and was sleeping in when I heard the roar of a burner. The winds were favorable for the balloons to land in the field where we are camped.  It doesn't get much better than this.

What a great finish to a spectacular balloon fiesta. Crewing was fun. You are part of the action and not just standing around. I also met some great people who I look forward to seeing again down the road.




Doing some maintenance work, transmission service, oil change and new house batteries, here in Albuquerque and then heading up to Cochiti Lake.

Side Bars

Each morning one balloon goes up first carrying the flag while someone sings the national anthem. Very moving.

Crewing gets me a crew pass for unlimited access to the field. If you do not crew there is an $8 admission each time you enter the field. If you go to the morning mass assention and then return for the evening glow, that is $16. Also because I crewed, I got a free ride. But if you don't want to crew and you still want to fly, you can go with a commercial outfit.

 We call these cattle cars. There are twelve people in there. They payed $350 each for a 45 minute flight.

 Have a great flight

These motorhomes are in the VIP campground right above the field. They have a terrific view of the entire field. The spaces are $225 per night. But they get electricity and water. 

More special shapes

Evening Concert

Linda Wheeler is a professional singer and Boomer. She put on a wonderful show for us after our potluck.

We even had audience participation

Life is Good