Novemba' 8, 2011

Hello All! Carrie and I are alive and well! You wouldn't think it by the lack of blog updates- no, no, if you went by those it looks like we might have died in Denver way back in May. Most of you know that we ended the expedition in Jackson, WY at the beginning of June. A recent visit to the blog made us realize that we should keep it up as an attempt to document our lives in a new and exciting place. Keep on the lookout for daily adventures had by us in this beautiful mountain town we now call "home".

Denver, or pretend Las Vegas.

So, when we originally started planning this trip, we decided to go to Las Vegas. Neither of us had been, and we both wanted a true Vegas experience.  After all the jack knifing and breaking down, we couldn't afford it. So, Albequerque and Denver was our Vegas. Denver really came through for us.
We decided to go all out and get a hotel room, get jazzy and clean and get out on the town.

This will be an abbreviated post, since all we did was drink too much. We had a goooooood time though.

I don't wanna hear no sass! You'll get my 80s Jordache pose if I do.

Great Sand Dunes

Colorado! The further North we go, the better the states get. We left Taos in the afternoon, and pulled into Alamosa in the early evening. We passed through the San Luis Valley, where they have some of the highest UFO sightings in the world. The Native Americans say the valley is the mouth of the Earth, where the Earth speaks to the rest of the universe (I may have just made that up). Anyways, BOY, was it cold. 24 degrees to be exact. Our summer dresses and shorts are definitly not doing us anything, except make us look dumb. We did our best to stay warm and get some sleep for the next big day.

So the Great Sand Dune National Park didn't exactly get us at hello. We wouldn't have even gone unless we needed to stop and break up the trip through Colorado.  When we asked the guy at the RV camp we stayed at about it, his response was "Well, it's just a lot of sand, man." We had pretty low expectations.
Turns out the Great Sand Dune National Park is pretty cool. Once you get past that it's just a lot of sand, it was really pretty. The park is in a valley, up against the snow capped mountains. So turn your head one way and you are in the mountains, turn it the other way and you are in the desert. WEIRD.

The highest of the dunes is a little over 750 ft, and most people were walking up to the top. So of course Lin and I weren't going to be out-fitnessed by a bunch of old Germans, we're going to the top darnit. We walked and walked up and down and flat. You know that feeling when you are walking out on to the beach for the first time, and you are tired but you don't care because you are so excited about the ocean? It was kind of like that but with no climax. No ocean. Just more uphill sand dune walking. We made it about 150-200 ft up and the Germans with the walkers were passing us. Not really, but I feel like the Germans as a nation are exceptionally fit. Keep in mind we've been sitting in a car for four weeks. We called it a day.

We headed back to the car, shook out our boots and continued North.



the high road to taos

To get to Taos you can either take some really lame freeway, or you can take the high road. Who would ever pick the freeway, camper or no camper? Someone lame, that's who. We rolled into town kinda late, got a cup of coffee, made some friends, and headed towards the Wal-Mart. Since Taos is a ski town we assumed it would be too expensive to stay for long. We got to the Wal-Mart and were immediately skeezed out by the three El Caminos following us around like we were the last women on Earth. Like we've said earlier, Wal-Marts aren't bad. But there are times to follow your gut and go shell out 30 bucks for a camp site. El Caminos never mean anything good.

Taos is b-e-a-utiful. We really wanted to get out and get some fitness, but the weather was nice one minute, and cold and snowy the next. So we did what we could, and saw a big ol' bridge:

Notice my killer bear sweater.

After the Rio Grande bridge, we hit up the local pueblo. At first we were a little put off by all the tourism in the reservation, but we soon were pleasantly surprised by the town and its locals. Now, it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. In fact, it was mostly snowy and slushy and cold. When we first got to the pueblo and were paying the admittance fee, several rich bitchy women were behind us complaining that they would have to walk outside in the elements, and it just wasn't worth it. Ugh! We will never be those women...hopefully.

Anyways, the pueblo was really interesting. We met some fun characters too, like this little boy:



His name is Dylan, and that's his gun.

Taos was also our first taste of the cold. We didn't realize how cold it would get at night, and are really thankful Billyray through in a heater when we bought the camper.

After the pueblo, we packed up and headed North, a new state awaits!

santa fe, summary style.

The previous night spent in the Sam's parking lot was pretty rough. I may just go ahead and say it was the worst night yet. Yup, I said it. We quickly packed up and went to McDonalds to try to perk ourselves up. It didn't work. Both of us were really crabby and beat. We decided to go ahead and go back to Hyde Memorial State Park, because Santa Fe is really pricey and New Mexico's state parks are really cheap. We got set up, and decided the only way to fix this problem was....day drinking!

See don't we look good and perked up now?

We took in a lot of Santa Fe's sights that day, and it turned out to be a really fun day.

Our campground up in the mountains was really really nice. I'm not sure why, but I didn't know New Mexico had mountains. I thought it was all desert and the second you got into Colorado boom you got the Rockies. We had a really great neighbor at the camp site too.

Her name is Ann, and she was just great. Her camper is adorable, and she just loved Polly. Both Lin and I hope to be like Ann someday.

The only bad thing about the campsite was that they didn't have any running water. There was one port o potty esque thing, but other then that you're on your own. So, we learned the hard, long way is just to find a local community center to clean things up a bit. We hadn't shower in quite a while once we hit the community center, so we may have taken a little  longer than usual. One of the ladies that was also showering definitly gave us a hard time for blow drying our hair. Seriously? Neither of us had had a blow dryer in three weeks now, and only a handful of showers. Give me a break lady. I guess that's what you get in a town of snooty ex-hippies.

And just in case you haven't applied a sticker to the back of a camper in a while, here's a brief tutorial:

Puttin' the double-A in Santa Fe

Let's see, Santa Fe... 

We pull into town sometime in the afternoon and head straight to the Wal-Mart to park Campy and maybe take a nap. (We're still recovering from the big night out in Albuquerque the night before). Plan: nap and hang for the rest of the day, something low key for sure. We find the Wal-Mart and immediately start vegging out.

We were hanging out and heard some rustlin' in the urban bushes, so naturally we peeped out of the curtains and saw this fine example of a man:



security

(note the fuzzy corners of the frame from our creepy Peepin' Tom perspectives)

Naturally this man gained the nickname "Sweet Potata" after he told us to leave our humble residency in the town W-Mart. When Carrie questioned him about the ever-inviting policy of Wal-Marts nationwide, he explained that the city had an over-riding policy over such things.



Now, what do ya' think of that? Here we are in a city that was basically unheard of by the rest of the country until about 40 years ago. It was put on the map by venturing artists, hippies, and other alternative-minded persons and to date it's the only city that hasn't allowed urban camping at their Wal-Mart.

So we bust out the Woodall's and find Hyde Memorial State Park high above the city in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and accept the thought of dishing out some cash for a peaceful night's sleep in the woods. It's dark by the time we navigate our way to the park's entrance and the office is already closed. As I'm filling out the pay-envelope in the dark to drop in the Iron Ranger, a name given to pay stations in parks, I notice quite a lot of CAUTION/WARNING/STAY AT YOUR OWN RISK kind of signs posted. Some are standard-issue state park signs while some are more specific to the area; such as the Hantavirus Warning for the surrounding wildlife and what to do when encountering a bear or mountain lion. Now, Carrie and I are all for the outdoors and sharing space with the natural residents, but it seems a little different when it's pitch black night and there is no other human in sight. Our silly fears are quickly expounded upon by our road-weary minds and skewed logic.

So, back into the false security-blanket of the city. We pull into the desserted Sam's Club parking lot (at the suggestion of Sweet Potata) and fall asleep to the sound of delivery trucks making their way through maze of  RVs and campers.

Albequerque Awesome!

So, some of this will be a repeat of the video, but we feel like Albequerque deserves both a video and word discription. First off, we need to give a BIG shout out and thank you (for the millionth time) to Aaron and the other guys at  Duke City Auto and RV for basically saving our lives. When we were in west Texas, we called around to several RV servicing places and no one would even look at Campy for two weeks. So I called Aaron at Duke City, and he was incredibly accomodating and helpful. He fit us in within a few days, and gave Campy a new spine. This trip would be over if it wasn't for them!

Anyways, besides the Campy revival, Albequerque treated us very well. We stayed at this very lush hotel, which basically ended up being a meth lab, but was really fancy by our standards. We decided to treat ourselves by going out on the town, and visting Allison's old stompin' grounds. We met some very...interesting...people that night.

This was taken at some very swanky place that we only got into because a couple Nords liked us a little too much

We can't figure out how to rotate video. If anyone knows how, let us know.

Anyways, we had a really good night out. The next day hurt a little, but we made it to one of those Route 66 diners, ate ourselves silly, and did a little shopping.

Oh, Albequerque is also where we got our license plate business all figured out. Thanks again Momma Bell!

Car, check. Morale, high.

Well, we have a car. It's not ours, and frankly we are nervous wrecks driving it. But, we have to take advantage of this opportunity, or we won't see the caverns. So we muster up all the courage we have, and take off on the hour drive into the moutains/desert to go to our first national park.

We made it there just fine, and in excellent time thanks to the super charged engine. We were giddy with excitement about the caverns, and buying our national parks pass. It's called the America the Beautiful pass, and it covers up to four people in a car. Absolutely worth the 80 bucks.

So the caves were awesome! The natural entrance was terrifyingly large, and our very informative audio guide told us all about the animals and people that have come in over the history of the cave.

it's hard to tell, but the natural entrance is huuuuuge.

I was very interested in the audio guide

 We walked all over the cave, and were really excited about the furthest point in the cave, the Bottomless Pit. They really work you up over this Bottomless Pit, and once you get there you are ready for some never ending hole in the ground. But, like most things in life, its only 146 feet deep. We still had a really good time, and had an awesome chili dog for lunch.
So after the caves it was back to Caveman Auto Repair to pick up Lib. She is as good as new! Plus, she has air conditioning, which was an added bonus.
We loaded up and headed back to the camp grounds, because we had to be in Albuquerque the next morning. No big deal, hitch her up like normal, right?
Of course not. We were getting too comfortable and Lady Luck knew it. (On a side note, we forgot to mention that by this point we realized that the license plate on Campy is MIA. hm. oh, and we have a tail light out.) So we fiddle faddle around and grow increasingly more frustrated with the hitch, and decide to go find some men to help us.
We found some strapping young men who quickly fixed the hitch and made us look really dumb. Oh well, they were really nice and wanted us to stay for dinner, but we HAD to get on the road. Wasn't the easiest choice of my life, but a responsible one.
We hit the road and drove up through Roswell. I (Carrie) was pretty much scared out of my seat the whole time, but survived. We drove through mountains and small tee-tiny towns, got stuck on the interstate with no turn arounds, and 8 hours and 270 miles later we landed in the Wal-Mart parking lot in Albequerque.

A thank you to Mr. Jordan Baron for the homemade lemoncello.



vid-time 101

Ain't nothin' bad about Carlsbad!

         Today is a big day! Our first national park, Carlsbad Caverns, and our chance to buy our National Park Pass, which seems somewhat ceremonial. We wake to a beautiful site of Yucca plants, Mexican Elders, and Afghan pines surrounding the impressive Lake Brantley. The skies are clear, we are showered, Polly is fed and loved, the car is packed- it's time to drive the hour to the park.
         Start the car... try to start the car... try to start the car... look at each other... try to start the car... cuss slightly... try to start the car... moan and groan... pop the hood... look at each other... try to start the car... call AAA.
        "We'll have a tow truck out there as soon as possible", said the operator. About an hour and half later, Short's towing pulls up, and out jumps a rather toothless but very friendly man. He tried about 4 times to jump off the battery, no luck, so he hitched Libby up and Carrie and I climbed into the cab to head the 15 or so miles back into town.
        We pull up to what looks like an old car lot, to Caveman Auto Repair, where everything appears dusty and weathered, including the mechanics. We hang around outside until someone with "Mike" on a greasy name tag approaches and asks us to step into his office, a small room with big windows and a sagging ceiling. We go over numbers and leave him the keys and head off to walk the three or four blocks to a nearby Sonic, where we're able to catch the happy hour and each get a delicious lemon-lime slush. We sit on the patio to await Mike's phone call that essentially holds much of the future trip in its rings.  We wait and wait... finally the call comes. Mike is very informative, but Carrie and I only hear "...at least $350", something about a shot compressor. We tell Mike to order the part and he says they'll have to keep the car overnight.
         So we call AAA and ask for our one free rental car. Too bad, they only go through Hertz and the closest is in Roswell, 197 miles away. So we call Enterprise, Carlsbad's only rental car company and we're put on a waiting list for the day. We walk back to Caveman's and hang out in the office until 6, Enterprise calls to say there is no car for us, but that they'd have one in a couple of days. No Libby, no rental car, no ride back to camp.
        Mike offers to take us, but says he can't pick us up the next day. As Carrie and I are deliberating over whether we think we could get a ride back into town from a fellow camper, Mike chimes in that he has a car we could borrow for the night, the only thing is the tags that are hanging from it are not only expired, but actually belong to another car all together. "I don't even know where the title is," Mike explains as he props his feet on the desk and cracks open a Natty Lite tallboy. "Drive it at your own risk", he cautions.
       "We'll take it!"

       As we drive off into the western sunset in what some might consider a stolen car, we refuel our excitement tomorrow's trip to the caverns and our lust for life.

5/8

Let's get the heck out of Texas. We drove as fast a we could (a reckless 50 mph) straight outta dodge and into New Mexico.

We pulled into Carlsbad in the early afternoon, but not early enough to make it to Carlsbad Caverns. So we found Lake Brantley State Park, got comfortable, and went cruisin' in the big city.

This school is so smart.

We got some groceries at La Tienda, and a prayer candle. It's supossed to bring luck and love. We'll see. We also got a couple of beers at some local restaurant and then headed back for the night.

5/7

Today is the day we realized the damage. Whether or not the jack-knifing had anything to do with it, we've got some serious Campy problems. One of the boards up front is soft like a bunny, and she's leanin' to one side real bad. To make it worse, she seems to be sagging over the framework, and attempting to split like an egg.
We stopped in Abilene and went to the local Lowe's. We were lucky enough to talk to Glen L. in hardware, who also works on campers. He broke it down really well what we had to do to our baby, and he set us up with all the nessecary materials.
We headed slightly west in between Odessa and Midland and got a spot at the Midessa RV and oil patch campground. This was our first campground stay and the $26 dollars was very well spent. We couldn't imagine working in the dusty 101 degree weather without access to the swimming pool and eventually one of the longest showers known to humans.

Here's the official damage:

I know these pictures are hard to grasp, but we had some serious damage. We worked alllllll dang day, and

fixed her as best we could.

5/6

Another good night in Denton at Chris and Kelly's. Today was another day of errands. The most memorable was finding a new home for Lin's bike. The vist to the bike shop yesterday was wildly disappointing, ane the guy basically told us to scrap the bike. So, we decided leaving her on the nearby campus was the best idea. We left a note and everything, so no one gets confused:

It was a touching ceremony.

 We waited for Kelly to get off work, and then we hit the road. We headed due west on highway 380. This road would be fine during the day, but at night it is creeper central. Guy at the gas station creeped us out, 15 year old boys trying to pick us up creeped us out, and constantly seeing unidentifiable animals lurking on the side of the roads creeped us out. To make it worse, we jack knifed in Haskell.

This proved to be a bigger deal than we thought. Fifteen minutes later I (Carrie) let my laptop fall four feet onto the pavement, then I reached into the back seat and realized Polly had chewed up a pastic gallon of water and it spilled all over my purse. Awesome. We quickly found a Wal-Mart in Abilene and called it a night.

5/5

It's our first day with electricity. BIG DEAL. We still somehow slept until 11. The camper stays surprisingly cool and comfortable all day, making it easy to get cozy in bed and stay there. We parked in our friends driveway over night, and were very excited to see them and their new babies. After our meet and greet, we made lunch and got the chance to clean up a bit. Now, Wal-Mart bird baths aren't the worst thing I've ever done (thanks to John and his very thoughtful gift of babywipes) but a shower can't be beat after three days in a car.

Cinco de Mayo was spent running errands and enjoying electricity and water. We tried to find a solution to our bike problem, and basically came up with nothing except to repack. Lin also decided to lay her bike to rest, the ceremony happening tomorrow. After our errands, we came home to this sweet sight:

Thanks again to Drew for making our awesome flags.

Lin and I grilled out veggie burgers and asparagus for the Lees and also received a lesson in grilling. Or basically grilling 101. Neither of us knew how to grill, but thankfully Chris is a pro and taught us well.



5/4

Mississippi sucks. Have we mentioned that yet? Terrible roads, cities destroyed, and bad business hours. Luckily we found a beacon of hope in a suburb of Jackson, the Wal-Mart. Our second night was almost normal, except that half of our bed was damp. That darn air conditioner lets in the moisture when its raining extra hard. We will have to be on the look out for a cover of some sort. To keep morale high, we suggest a racy game of cards:

 Steven Tyler is a tricky guy.

Getting clean in a sink in a Wal-Mart isn't as bad as you'd imagine. It's no shower, but effective enough. And people we meet in the bathroom (sorry Dads) are very friendly and are usually interested in us.

We had a long journey ahead of us, no more dilly dallying in the bathroom. Our goal was to make it to Denton, TX. A whopping 431 miles, it's more than we've traveled all together so far.

Since our bedding got a little damp and we weren't the cleanest we've ever been, we stopped at a Pilot Travel Center to clean things up a bit. Turns out not all Pilots have laundry facilities, and a shower costs $10 a head!! Ridiculous. No wonder truckers are gross. No wonder we are still gross. Onwardho!

We followed I-20 when we had to, but took highway 80 most of the time. The highways have definitely proved to be more scenic and interesting.

We stopped in a church parking lot and had a picnic lunch, when Lin noticed something. It was our wiring connector from Campy, she came unplugged (probably from all those crappy Mississippi roads!) and had been dragging for who knows how long. Long enough for there to be little to no plug left, though. Upon inspection of Campy, we also noticed that we lost a stabilizer at some point. NBD. We just hope no one got hurt.

So, we packed up and headed for the nearest Autozone. Thanks to Lola and Andee for getting us there!! We got all our parts and pieces and started to work. It seems like rewiring a connector should be easy, and it is, but you gotta have some technique. Neither of us have that at this time. We have a very informative video to post eventually. 
We were quickly on our way, passing the Texas state border and into the country.  We crawled into Dallas around 10 PM, and imediately got lost. After an hour or so of wrong interstates and highways, we found our way. One of the interstates, I-35, is the most confusing road I've ever encountered. It is shaped like an up side down wishbone, one leg is I-35E and the other I-35W. The East/West has nothing to do with what direction they travel, but where they lie in relation to each other. Texas should consider putting that on a sign when you cross the border.

On our way to Denton, we had to fill up the ol' gas tank. Lin went to the restroom to wash out some dishes, and I (Carrie) filled her up. I pushed the button in to let it fill all the way and shut off automatically, and when I went to take out the pump I noticed the tank had overflowed. Heres our solution:

It was a long, yet educational  day.

-lc&p

may 2, 2011 (day 1)

well, here we are... on THE ROAD. weather and circumstance provided us with a new route and day of departure. thank you, Fate. we could not have asked for a more beautiful Bon Voyage. started Day 1 out with a rainy drizzle and the beautifully cush Natchez Trace.

We had our last meal at the Loveless Cafe and the ever-popular, Polly made us some fast friends. Polly get so much attention, she is so popular.