Christmas 2010 - Bastrop, Texas

This year we decided to leave the trailer and truck in Tucson and drive the Jeep to Bastrop for the holidays. The drive was fairly uneventful, except for a stretch with headwinds that cut our fuel mileage significantly.

We stayed with Tonya, Eric and the kids. We did most of our shopping online and had the packages sent to Tonya and Eric's house, so we didn't have to fight the shopping crowds.

Chris, Megan and the kids came over to Tonya and Eric's house for Christmas Eve. All the kids have grown since we last saw them, especially the twins. There were many presents, and I believe everyone was happy.


Toward the end of our stay, the twins were sick and Jaxon had to spend a night in the hospital for respiratory problems. We stayed an additional day so that Y could see the doctor. She was diagnosed with a sinus infection and I had congestion and coughing.

On our trip back to Tucson, we were met with high winds, dust, cold temperatures and some snow/ice. We arrived in Tucson around 3:30pm and John and Terri graciously had dinner waiting for us. The weather forecast for Tucson is cold nights (below freezing) for the next couple of days, then a warming trend. It's good to be back and hopefully, Y and I can beat this sinus and coughing problems?

Local Site-Seeing - Tucson, Arizona

Today, John Schindler (a fellow RVer that we met in Eagle Nest) picked us up for a tour of some of the local historical spots. John has a home here in Tucson and travels during the hot summer months.

We first went to the Mission San Xavier del Bac. The mission was founded in 1692 by the Jesuit priest, Fr. Euseblo Kino and the present was built under the direction of the Franciscans in 1783. The church is still used today as the parish of the Tohono O' oldham tribe.

We stopped at a local 'dive' called Tiny's for some great burgers. Next we visited Saguaro West National Park and drove over Gates Pass.


John told us that he first visited Tucson in 1952 when he attended Air Force Flight Training at the Marana Air Field. Later in the evening, we had dinner with one of his former flight training classmates at a restaurant they frequented in 1952. We had a great time, and look forward to additional site-seeing after the holidays.

Happy Birthday, Y - Tucson, Arizona

Today, is Y's birthday. She turned ?? years old. We enjoyed an early dinner with John & Terri, followed by a nice evening of cards.

Settled in for the Winter - Tucson, Arizona

We arrived in Tucson this past Monday, after a short drive from Casa Grande. We were met by our friends, John & Terri Prather (fellow Excel owners and previous travel buddies). We got set up and later met over at their rig where Terri had prepared dinner. We played several games of Pegs & Jokers, while getting caught up on the latest family news.

Visiting Friends - Casa Grande, Arizona

We are ending our visit with friends, Lee and Connie, and heading for Tucson tomorrow. We have enjoyed our visit, which included: a visit to the St. Anthony's Greek Orthodox Monastery in Florence, a gigantic flea market in Apache Junction, numerous games of Pegs & Jokers and Shanghai, good food and great conversation.

Warmer Weather - Albuquerque, New Mexico

We are ending our week in Albuquerque and leaving for Deming in the morning. We met up with Bruce and Bridgette for dinner the evening before their flight to Florida. The local Jeep dealer replaced the steering control arm, that was making a clucking noise when hitting sharp bumps. We made two trips to Camping World, for items we thought we could not live without. We visited the Albuquerque Bio-Park (aquarium and botanical garden) and generally "hung out"...enjoying the warmer weather.

Headin' South - Eagle Nest, New Mexico

Our stay in Eagle Nest is coming to a close. The weather is definitely getting colder. This morning was 18 degrees. Bruce and Bridgette are closing the park for a few weeks and flying to Florida for a cruise with their family. We are planning to leave tomorrow and head down to Albuquerque for a week. We have an appointment to have a couple of items checked on the Jeep.

View of Touch-Me-Not Mountain this morning.

From Albuquerque, we will head west and meet up with Lee and Connie (the other camphosts from Eagle Nest) in Casa Grande, Arizona. We will spend a week in their park, then plan to arrive in Tucson on November 15th.

Making a Movie - Eagle Nest, New Mexico

For the last couple of days, a movie company has used the RV Park as their base of operations as they shot parts of a movie in the area. Half of the lower level was taken up with office trailers, restrooms, dressing rooms, prop trucks, a kitchen trailer and a lunchroom trailer. Most of the crew parked up on the upper level where our rig is parked. Several vans were used to shuttle cast/crew back and forth between the RV Park and the shooting locations. It is surprising on how much equipment and crew are needed to make a movie. I was told by one of the crew that this was one of the smallest crews he had worked on, many were much larger.


The final scene shot in the area involved the main character in a car chase (truck). Below is a picture of the camera boom truck that films the moving vehicle. The red truck in the background is driven by the actor.


By 7:00pm, the entire crew had left and the park was quiet. During the exodus, one of the trucks had managed to run over and break one of the water spigots. More plumbing duties!

Oh, the main actor...Sean Penn.

Weekend Visit - Los Alamos, New Mexico

This weekend we drove to Los Alamos to visit Rick's sister, Joanne and her husband, Jay. We had a nice easy weekend, playing games and visiting. Their house in on one of the canyons with a great view. On the way home, we enjoyed the color change in the Taos Canyon...fall is here! Sorry, no pictures. It was too late in the evening.

View from the Joanne & Jay's deck.

Empty Nest Part II - Eagle Nest, New Mexico

Today, the last of the camphosts will be leaving. We have thoroughly enjoyed working with Lee & Connie, these last few weeks. We plan to visit them in their winter haven, Casa Grande Arizona, on our way to Tucson.

The aspen trees are beginning to turn yellow. A sure sign that winter is approaching. There is still a number of items that need to be done, before winter, at the RV Park. We still plan to stay a few more weeks, unless the weather turns too cold.

Empty (Eagle) Nest - Eagle Nest, New Mexico

This morning, five workcamper couples left the park to continue their travels. It's pretty quiet, only eleven rigs in the park. Y and I have decided to help out at the park for the remainder of our stay. Bruce and Bridgette (park owners) have a long list of things they would like to get done before the winter. We will stay in Eagle Nest until it gets too cold, then begin our travel towards Tucson for the winter.

Goose Lake - Red River, New Mexico

Today we took the 7-mile, 4wd road up to Goose Lake with friends from the RV Park, Charley, Chanda, Gary and Sandy. The road wasn't too bad and took about 1.25 hours to reach Goose Lake. We spotted some mountain goats on the ridge across the lake. We walked around a little and found a spot to have lunch. Y brought some leftover nuts to feed to the chipmunks. On the return trip, Y spotted a doe and fawn.

Goose Lake (elevation 11,500')

Mountain Goats on the far ridge.

The local "moochers"

Local flora

Alpacas - Mora, New Mexico

Our weekly excursion was to the Victory Ranch of Mora, to learn about and feed the alpacas. Alpacas are related to camels and llamas, and are raised for their fiber (fur). The fiber is very soft and warm, and is highly sought after for socks, gloves, coats and scarfs. The alpacas are very friendly and like to eat from your hands. They have no upper teeth, so you don't have to worry about them biting your hand. The alpacas are protected from predators by several Great Pyrenees dogs.

Rick sporting one of his favorite shirts.

Y and friend.

After leaving the Victory Ranch, we drove into town for some great Mexican food at one of our favorite restaurants in the area...Hatches. All meals are followed by a basket of freshly-made sopapillas...with honey of course!

Geocaching Frenzy - Eagle Nest, New Mexico

Today we went on a geocaching frenzy. We drove the Enchanted Circle (85-mile loop from Eagle Nest to Red River, Questa, Taos, Angel Fire back to Eagle Nest) and picked up 12 geocaches! One cache was placed by a clever person. It was designed as part of a gas meter. See pictures below.

Greenie Peak - Red River, New Mexico

Today, we took a ride up to one of our favorite spots...Greenie Peak (11,240'). The road was pretty good, although it requires 4wd and high clearance. From the top you can see Eagle Nest Lake and several of the surrounding peaks.

After Greenie Peak, we headed down toward Midnight Meadow. The road was fairly narrow and full of mud/water pits. One pit was about 2/3rds up the Jeep's wheels.

One of the meadows along the way.

We then headed over past Midnight Mine to pick up a geocache. We had to park the Jeep about a third of a mile from the location and hike the rest of the way. It was a very steep decent down to the location. That meant it would be a VERY steep incline on the way back. Once at the location of the geocache, the GPS pointed toward a steep hill...about 300' straight up! It was very difficult climbing up to the cache, but I made it. The hike back to the Jeep was similarly difficult. The 1/3 of a mile felt more like 2/3 of a mile...with the steep ascent.

View from the cache location. Notice the steep climb.

Cowboy Evening - Red River, New Mexico

This evening we, along with Jay & Joanne and others from the RV Park, drove up to Bobcat Pass for the Cowboy Evening. We enjoyed a great rib-eye steak, cowboy beans, corn-on-the-cob, potato, and biscuits...all cooked out on the grill and dutch ovens. Entertainment was provided by Dulcimer Dan and others. It turns out that Jay knew Dulcimer Dan a number of years ago, when Dan visited the music store Jay used to own in Albuquerque. Following dinner, Jerry was chosen to participate in the "stick horse" demonstration. He didn't win, but sure put on a show!

Joanne & Jay

Dulcimer Dan

Jerry with his trusty steed, Slow Poke

Golden Eagle RV Park Workcampers 2010

On another note, our water heater has developed a leak on the part of the tank that protrudes out for the pop-off valve. The water is dripping on the outside of the trailer. It is still usable, but had to order another one...OUCH!

3 Hour Tours - Eagle Nest, New Mexico

This week's tour was to the old town of Cimarron. We stopped at the recently-remodeled Saint James Hotel, known for the numerous gun battles that took place there, and the colorful celebrities who stayed there (such as Bat Masterson, Jesse James, Wild Bill Cody, Clay Allison, etc). We walked around town viewing some of the historic buildings, including the old jail. We returned to the hotel for a nice lunch in their dining room.

Enjoying lunch in the Saint James Hotel dining room / bar.

After the tour, we remained in Cimarron to find a few geocaches. One of the caches took us through the Philmont Scout Ranch and a great view of the Tooth of Time. Chris and I stood on the pinnacle of the mountain during our scout trek in 1993.


On Thursday, a group of us took a ride up to Cabresto Lake (outside of Questa). The ride consisted of about 10 miles of dusty gravel road, then 2 miles of 4x4 road. We ate lunch and enjoyed the serenity of the lake. We returned to the park just before the afternoon rainstorm.

Us with Charlene & Jerry and Chanda & Charlie

Today, Joanne and Jay are bringing their rig up to Eagle Nest for the weekend. We look forward to their visit.

Wedding Anniversary - Eagle Nest, New Mexico

Today we celebrate our
33rd Wedding Anniversary!

A lot had happened in 33 years: we pursued our careers, raised two great kids, retired, began our full-timing lifestyle, and now get to enjoy our grandkids (when we are not traveling).


We drove over to Angel Fire to search for a few geocaches (found 2 out of 3). The rain clouds began to form, so we headed home and cooked some steaks on the BBQ, before it started raining.

Catching Up - Eagle Nest, New Mexico

We have been keeping busy this past week...with more geocaching and the weekly tour excursion. This past Friday, we headed to Red River to explore the area and pick up a few geocaches. We took one of the forestry roads to the top of Old Red River Pass. We found one cache along the way and had a nice view of the valley. We took another forestry road that dead-ended at the Wheeler Peak trailhead. We found our last geocache of the day in a nearby meadow. Final count for the day...nine.

Views from Old Red River Pass.

Flora in the meadow at Wheeler Peak trailhead (Carson National Forest)

Our weekly tour was to Trinidad Colorado. There we boarded the city's free tour trolley. We drove around town learning about Trinidad's early history and viewing some of the historic homes and churches. We also stopped at the Mount San Rafael Hospital to view a ceramic historical mural created by Sister Augusta Zimmer in 1980. The mural depicts the history and buildings of Trinidad. The 28x12 foot mural was created and fired in many pieces, then attached to the wall of the hospital. At the end of the tour, we stopped for lunch at the Lucky Monkey...an historic ballroom built in the 1800s. On the drive home we found three geocaches between Raton and Cimarron.

Boarding the Trinidad Trolley.

A couple of the many historic homes in Trinidad.

The Mount San Rafael Hospital Mural (click to enlarge).

Our tour group at the Lucky Monkey.

Where It Began - Eagle Nest, New Mexico

Today is our Jeep's 2nd birthday. To celebrate, we took it back to its first 4x4 adventure, Green (Tower) Mountain. Green Mountain overlooks the town of Eagle Nest and Eagle Nest Lake, and tops out at 11,075'. The road was in fairly good shape and we made it to the top without any problem. However, a high-clearance vehicle is recommended. On the way down we parked the Jeep and took a 3/4 of a mile (roundtrip) hike to locate a geocache. The hike wasn't too bad, other than having to climb over a couple of large, downed trees.

View of the lake. A similar picture adorns the header of our blog.

View of the town of Eagle Nest.

View of Ute Park (looking east) from the top of Green Mountain.

Local inhabitants collecting nectar from the local flora.

What's with the attitude?

Valle Vidal - Eagle Nest, New Mexico

Today the weekly excursion was the Valle Vidal area of the Carson National Forest. Jerry and Charlene offered to let us, along with Larry and Mollie, ride with them on the tour. We entered the Valle Vidal just east of Cimarron. We had not been driving very long when we spotted a bear in the distance. We stopped for a picnic lunch, then hiked about 1/2 mile to the old Ring Ranch. The Ring Ranch was home to a family with seven daughters in the late 1800s. The property is now owned by the federal government and used by the Philmont Scout Ranch as a resupply depot for treks hiking the Valle Vidal.

The old Ring Ranch

View of Baldy Peak from the Ring Ranch

Our next stop was Windy Gap (elevation 9,265'), where you get a great view of the Valle Vidal.


We drove onto Shuree Ponds, where two-years ago we photographed a bear around the ponds. There were no bears this year...just a few fishermen. Larry decided to try with is fishing pole and caught a 16" rainbow trout.

Costilla Creek

On the way back to the campground we stopped at a Mexican restaurant in Questa for some good food and conversation. It was a great day and good times were had by all!