Adventure Trip 2011 Day 2

5-30-11

So, we ended up getting to Carlsbad at around 4:30am.
I was pretty tired so we just slept in the car for a bit until morning when we would decide what to do.
The caverns were never really high up on the priority list and we wanted to get a little further down the road.
Carlsbad just doesn't have a whole lot going on. We stopped off at the camp grounds where we WERE going to stay the night. After a shower it was back on the road again.

We headed north to Roswell. We didn't see any spaceships, but we DID get a few pics of an alien.



On to White Sands.
Wow. What a cool place! It's basically a National Park desert area where the sand is made of basalt. It's very white and, even though the sun is blazing down, it's cool to the touch, and feels really good on bare feet. The military even does some sort of missile testing at another part of the desert.
The wind, oh man, the wind was blowing so hard, there was a white dust cloud over the entire area that you could see from miles away. The ranger said it was always like that this time of year so no worries. Actually, the wind has been CRAZY for this entire trip. I don't think I've ever seen it like this...







From White Sands, we proceeded northwest to Socorro. A small town that ALSO didn't have very much going on. We finally found some information on a place called "Box Canyon". That's where we would stay the night.
We had a lot of fun getting to it. You have to have a four wheel drive and rock crawl for several miles. Well, maybe you don't HAVE to do it, but that's what we did and it was a highlight! Fun!! That Lexus really handles well in four wheel drive and I suddenly don't see it as a girl's SUV anymore. Haha good times to come!
We set up camp on a rocky hilltop and discovered that the new air mattress we JUST bought was missing the end cap. Luckily, we brought our smaller backpacking air mattresses too so we set those up and had a so-so sleep.

I want to break my mountain bike out and hit some of these hills... Soon enough. Maybe when we get to the Grand Canyon.



From White Sands, we proceeded northwest to Socorro. A small town that ALSO didn't have very much going on. We finally found some information on a place called "Box Canyon". That's where we would stay the night.
We had a lot of fun getting to it. You have to have a four wheel drive and rock crawl for several miles. Well, maybe you don't HAVE to do it, but that's what we did and it was a highlight! Fun!! That Lexus really handles well in four wheel drive and I suddenly don't see it as a girl's SUV anymore. Haha good times to come!
We set up camp on a rocky hilltop and discovered that they new air mattress we had JUST bought was missing the cap. Luckily, we brought our smaller backpacking air mattresses too so we set those up and had a so-so sleep.

I want to break my mountain bike out and hit some of these hills... Soon enough.
Maybe when we get to the Grand Canyon.

KoP

Adventure Trip 2011 Day 1

5-29-11
Well, Amy and I are officially on our 2011 Adventure Trip. We left from Houston around 12:30, almost a full hour later than anticipated.
It sort of set the standard really, this first day hasn't exactly gone according to plan. That's the thing though, there really is no plan. We were going to stay the night in Fredericksburg, but then decided that it's a little hot there for camping out, AND the faster we get to New Mexico, the sooner our trip REALLY starts.
Somewhere along the way, we learned that the GPS is not completely reliable. Actually, I think the first time we got lost, it was our fault. We were talking or singing nursery rhymes or something and passed a turn. Instead of going West, we were headed due north for about 60 miles before we realized we were going the wrong direction. Never a dull moment. Once we corrected our course and got down the road a bit, Amy started talking about visiting an uncle of her's that she hadn't seen in twenty years or so. He's a really good horse trainer, and I've always heard about him, but had never met him so I was down. Also, this was the zig to our previous zag. We were NOT making a lot of headway... We called her uncle and he gave us his address which we punched into the GPS. The GPS didn't find the EXACT address, but something that looked good enough to me. They live in the country outside of San Saba. The GPS sent us about 30 miles in the opposite direction of their home before we realized we had been duped. I'm in a love/hate relationship with the GPS at this point. Anyway, we finally made it to their house where he showed us around to the horses and stables, which were beautiful by the way. He's a real "horse whisperer" sort of trainer. Very gentle. He walked us into the pen with the horses and told us about how he trains. He explained that it's a trust relationship, and that these horses didn't bite, or kick, or act crazy. It was pretty cool when four of the horses came to check us out. They sniffed and nuzzled at us, and acted like they wanted us to pet and love on them. Very cool, like a bunch of Boxers really (best dog on the planet). We stayed there for about two hours, before we said goodbye. It's already dark and we still have over 400 miles to drive. We've decided to push all the way to Carlsbad, New Mexico before stopping tonight. Tomorrow, we'll see the caverns there, then move on to Roswell, White Sands, and Sorocco. It'll be a fun day, just gotta get this big drive out of the way.

KoP

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Snakebite Fever

Last night as I lay in bed, our boxer Layla climbed up and was nuzzling me, trying to get me to let her under the covers.
This is typical of her, and I usually let her in depending on whether it's too hot or not.
I didn't let her under, so she lay down and put her head right next to mine, breathing right in my ear.
It struck me as a little weird, but it wasn't until Amy climbed into bed about an hour later that I knew something was wrong.
Amy shook me awake and in a worried voice told me to get up and turn on the light.
Layla's face was swollen badly. Her eyes were swollen almost completely shut.
We examined her muzzle and finally found the tell-tale signs of a snake bite.
This is Copperhead country. This is the THIRD time she's been snake bit!
We called the vet, and he said as long as her breathing isn't labored or cut off, she should be ok with some Benadryl.
This morning, she's still pretty swollen, but seems to be better. She's country strong. ha!

Planning for our roadtrip is still underway. We've made some pretty big changes today, but that's the beauty of it: No Firm Agenda.
Plans will probably change even more along the way. It's going to be fun!



KoP

Our Hero Does AC Repair

So we got up this morning with the AC still not working. HOWEVER, luckily, I had bought a very small window unit to cool a small part of the house last year. It's tiny, but it managed to keep that room cool, so that's where we slept.

After Amy did some research on the Internet, we figured that the problem was either the outside fan motor, or the capacitor.
I bought a capacitor for $40, and installed it. It worked... better, but the motor was still having trouble. I can get a motor for $200, and install it as well. I probably saved myself a couple of hundred bucks by doing it myself, and I feel like a hero. ::ahem::

We're off in the country for my Father in Law's birthday so I'm going to go check out the starry sky now. Cya.



KoP


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AC Woe

Our AC is broke. Yay!
It's 10:30 and 82 degrees in the house...


KoP


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone