New Mexico to home, Feb 8-9

Monday, February 8

Tom & Sue and Chap headed out early this morning.  Mam is feeling under the weather, so stayed in bed.  There was a problem with the water main, so no water this morning!  I heated some from the Trek to wash up and then we headed out.

Tom mentioned a back road way to get to Silver City, so we opt for this rather than busy I-10.  It winds through hilly desert terrain and then into the Apache National Forest. Saw some gorgeous yellow-headed blackbirds, but didn't get a shot off.  Rabbits, quail, and other birds too.

Cottontail with quail in background

 Some pretty nice mountains and we begin to see pine and other trees.  Very twisting, rising, falling road with lots of switchbacks and many patches of snow.

 A few ranches, but little else.

When we cross into New Mexico we enter the Gila National Forest. Then turn south on 180 toward Silver City.

We arrive at Anne's and she suggests a picnic at a nearby Little Walnut Picnic area, part of the Gila National Forest.  Nice spot!

 Her dog Dixie goes with us.  While we are eating, a herd of about 10 deer meander through the park.  Dixie is getting pretty old (12) and doesn't notice.

Back to Anne's and we catch up a bit on travels, family, etc.  Greg brings in the Cribbage Board and we play several games.  Anne loses badly in the first game, but bounces back and wins the next two -to her delight.

Anne has fixed a wonderful dinner of lasagna, salad and lemon cake.  Yum!  Greg brings in a bottle of wine and we have a nice evening.

Greg retires early, while Anne and I stay up and talk.  She is one of the youngest 72-year olds I know!
An ex-Math teacher and school administrator, she has an RV similar to ours and travels either alone or with a buddy several times a year.



Tuesday, February 9

26 degrees last night!  Luckily Anne has a 30-amp port, so we can hook up and run the heater. After a wonderful breakfast of a green chili egg dish, bacon and scones (and oranges - we brought her a bag), we say goodbye, but not before Anne loads us up with enough food for the next few days!

We go south to Deming for gas and once again hit I-10.  Beth's sinus cold is full blown now, so she sleeps and rests in the back for a couple of hours while Greg moves through NM and into Texas. Cattle, pecan trees, a few towns and not much else till El Paso traffic.  Then, it's back to vast open spaces.

We run into another Roadtrek couple at a gas station in Van Horn.  Judy Nichols - she and her hubby have been living full-time in their Roadtrek for over a year and are loving it.  They are headed to Big Bend.

We reach Fort Stockton about 5:30 and stop for lasagna, salad and a good night's rest, along with about a dozen other campers.

Wednesday, February 10

Greg is awake and off early, as a beautiful sunrise lights the east.

Though last night was a balmy 41, the temp drops as we head east and stays below freezing for a couple of hours.

Stop for coffee and Anne's scones.  Then it is 743 miles of "butt-numbing, mind-boring, highway driving" till we reach our turn off near Houston.  Greg takes some photos along the way to illustrate...

There are still another 150 miles to the Louisiana border!  Glad we aren't going the whole way across Texas!  Gas has gotten cheaper - $1.39/gallon in Schulenburg and $1.40 at home.

All looks great as we reach home. 4,701 miles.  We unpack, turn the heat on in the house, re-start the newspaper and cable. Later, Greg unpacks the stones and rocks we collected across the southwest.

 Great to travel, but great to be home too! Boy, are we blessed!!