A DRY Dry Run!

This has been such a learning experience!

It is NOT fun traveling and staying in motels and hotels - at least not for us – schlepping everything in and out all the time is ridiculous, let alone a lot of work. I tried to pack an overnight case but we always ended up bringing in another suitcase or container. If it looked the slightest bit suspect where we parked the car, we brought everything in.

And then there were the meals. Even if we found a place where we could cook, it means buying food and storing it. We tried to find places that included breakfast. Like the little girl with the curl in the middle of her forehead, when they were good, they were very, very good, but when they were bad, they were horrid! We did get a cooler that plugged into the Journey and had a couple feedings of rotisserie chicken and salad.

Thank goodness for our friends in Truth or Consequences, NM.

We were there for a few days. As well as enjoying their company, we realized we need a base-camp to travel from.

Texas is definitely out! It’s way too far; it is very crowded; and the humidity would kill me.

I forgot about the humidity. Even while we were in Truth or Consequences it felt uncomfortably humid and Texas would be even worse – not my choice of how to spend the winter (how quickly we forget).
Well, on to the next option

We have decided to try and establish a base – probably around Yuma. We did find a park and a place we thought we might like - looked at it - loved it - contacted the owner who seemed to forget she even advertised it for rent – I was totally pissed off.

Now we've decided to disregard looking right now and will restart our search again a few weeks before our leave date in the new year.
We chose Yuma because we know the area better than anywhere else in the South. We considered places in Casa Grande and Tucson but we really don't know the options that well.
 So . . . it looks like we will head down January or February and take our chances!!

All that said, our visits with Deb and Jer and the tours of Colorado National Monument and the Dinosaur Museum at Fruita were outstanding!

Deb and Jer live on a small acreage on Locoweed Drive near Lake Caballo, south of T or C, New Mexico.

They have been there since 2012. Deb is the gal who organized the Authors’ Fair at Paul’s Readers’ Oasis Book Store in Quartzsite. That is where we met. Deb and I did that tour of the Hatch and the Chili places last year. They suggested that the National Monument was a must see.

(I’ve set up a separate posting for their place on Locoweed Drive, Caballo, NM)

The Colorado National Monument

I want to be a geologist in my next life!

Driving along the 23-mile Rim Road is like travelling through millions of years of the planet earth . . . up; down; hairpin turns; steep canyon walls; gigantic, towering monoliths; and rock formations that expose the earth’s life over millions, maybe billions of years. 

 

 One interesting thing about travelling this time of year, is that we get to see the fall colours. Just another reminder that even Mother Nature is constantly changing.

 

Fruita and the Dinosaur Museum

Our first visit to Fruita, Colorado was when friends Monty and Lee were there working at a local RV Park. I remember it particularly because it was the only time we celebrated our Canadian Thanksgiving in the U.S. We actually took down turkey drumsticks to share with our American friends. We popped into Colorado to see them and then headed back into Utah-Arizona to tour the Canyons there.

This time, we spent some tome looking around and ended up at the Dinosaur Museum. They’ve done an impressive job! A few of them were even animated.

With the hot, hot temperatures, we were please the new car had such good air conditioning.

We left Fruita with a breathe taking sunrise.