May 16 to May 18, 2010

Sunday, May 16, 2010
We were just going to swim a little bit this morning during the adult lap swim time, and then move on to our next adventure, but we stayed for most of the day. It was a gorgeous clear day and not much wind. We stayed until early afternoon when the crowds started showing up. Up until then there were very few people. We had a good time, and maybe a little bit too much sun again. Unfortunately, keeping Joey confined to the stroller is history. While we were swimming this morning, he worked his nose through a corner of the screen and was almost out by the time Charlie jumped out of the pool and caught him! Oh well, I am sure we can repair it when we get home. He loves to ride in the stroller, especially when I pile a bunch of towels and bags into it and put him on top without closing him in. When we were leaving the pool yesterday a child said “Look at him, he looks like His Majesty!” And he did too. After the stroller's screen was broken, we pushed a lounge chair back from the pool and tied him to it. It was no problem at all. He just laid there in the sun watching us and everyone else. Good as gold. We got some good pictures at the pool today, I think. Oh yeah, I want to mention that I flew a kite for the first time in my life yesterday. A child's ladybug kite was sliding across the campground and I picked up the string. The kite immediately took off! I have never before been able to get a kite airborne. I admit I never tried that hard, but still. After noon we packed up and headed East on Rt 160, and drove about 100 miles. We are staying in Lathrop State Park, the first state park in Colorado near Walsenburg, about 50 miles from New Mexico. The campsite is way back in the park and it is very quiet and pretty here. The campsites are big and the very few campers are spread out. We have a beautiful view of the Spanish Peaks Mountain to the south. It is a classic mountain, like Mount Fuji or Kilimanjaro. My hip is so bad tonight that Charlie had to help me walk back to the camper from the facilities. I think I may be in trouble here, I just hope it is only from too much swimming for a couple of days in a row. Luckily I have my hiking stick, now I guess it is my cane.

Monday, May 17, 2010
We looked around the park a little bit this morning. Charlie wrote to David: “The park has two recreational lakes, and I think I got some great shots with reflections of the mountain, and of two different families of geese. I climbed up a solid rock cliff to the right of the lake beach and saw some people fishing from tiny rafts. They were sitting in the rafts with their legs in the water, and they were using fins on their feet to propel themselves around. The sides of the raft had pockets to hold all their gear for fishing. It looked like a fun way to fish in calm and deep water, but I wouldn't try it in Florida, I might get more gator bites than fish. Later, on the way to the RV park, we went by the Capulin Volcano National Monument. I unhitched the trailer and left it at the Visitor Center, and I drove the mini-van to the parking area near the top of the crater. We could see down into the ancient crater from there. I hiked the trail that went up and around the top of the crater. The trail is a mile around and rises another 350 feet. It was great exercise and the views were exhilarating. We drove back down the mountain to the visitor center, and I got hitched back up with no problem. The hitch is a lot more work than with the Aliner, but I did it the right way this time, and it was a lot easier. We continued on heading towards Amarillo, and Diane, we did pass the Boys Ranch which must be about 25 miles or so west of Amarillo. The gas gauge was heading down, but I was counting on getting about 12 mpg, the lowest mpg so far. We went through two towns that didn't have a gas station on the main route we were taking. Then went about 45 more miles without going through anymore towns, or seeing any gas stations. We ran out of gas about five and a half miles from the RV park, and about 2 miles from the nearest gas station. We were stuck for about an hour and a half waiting for the AAA guy. I had a hard time getting through to AAA because we were right on the edge of cell phone reception, the phone number was to the Florida office, and I got disconnected twice. I finally got the Texas number and help. I also started to get a lot better cell phone reception, and I could see on my phone that the provider would switch back and forth from T Mobile and roaming. The AAA sent a nice guy, he got us going, and we followed him to the closest gas station and filled up. I discovered my tank holds no more than 19 gallons although it is supposed to hold 20. I will now get gas every time I am near a station, and can add more than 5 gallons. As we head further east I am sure the towns and stations will be much closer together. When we were heading to Big Bend, and had to take a big detour, I am sure we would have run out of gas had we been pulling this trailer, and we would have been stuck in a much more remote area. The worst mpg I got with the Aliner was 14, this trailer is down to 10, and I wasn't running the air conditioner. Last year, with the motor home, the gas mileage went way up in New Mexico and Colorado. Now I think New Mexico has changed their gas by adding ethanol and that brings the mileage down. With this trailer, I have driven around Colorado for over 800 miles, up and down steep mountains, and I thought I knew the fuel range limitations. Obviously I didn't. We were heading down hill a lot and with little to no head wind. I hope I get at least 9 mpg now that we are in warm to hot areas and I will have to run the air conditioner. That was the first time I have ever run out of gas. I may have come closer than I thought several times before. Without pulling the trailer, I usually go about 300 miles and a fill up is about 14 gallons. I guess I was used to these greater ranges. Our two motor homes held 35 and 55 gallons, and they averaged 12 and 8 mpg. It was always a shock to fill up a low tank, especially the 55 gallon tank. Sometimes I had to go to two stations to fill up because there would be a 75 dollar limit on gas purchases. Anyway, the experience of running out of gas was very stressful for me. I was very tired already, and ready for dinner and a good nights sleep. We made it to the Oasis RV park west of Amarillo Tx about 830 pm.” Me again: We drove 280 miles today, south on I 25, then south on 64/87, then 87/385, finally got on route 1061 just past the Boys Ranch. Today we saw pronghorn antelope (not really antelope), cows, horses, mules, deer, a boxer, and three fat little min pins. Every min pin we have ever met, except for Joey, is fat. So we need to watch out for him. I also saw a guy on a motorbike rounding up some quarter horses. When we finally reached the RV Park, we had a quick dinner and went to bed. Charlie was really done in. He did not mention that we came extremely close to hitting a deer just as we were running out of gas. When we were limping down a hill, a deer stepped into the road right in front of us. It didn't know which way to go, and kind of moved back and forth ahead of us. We were already going so slow, and Charlie did not want to put on the brakes, but he finally he had to. We missed that deer's butt by inches. I guess it would not have hurt him much at the rate we were going. Another funny thing was that Charlie did not tell me he was low on gas until he had to. I was dozing and watching the clock because I knew what time we were supposed to get to the RV park. I was hot and the sun was on my side. I just kept getting hotter and hotter. Finally I woke up enough to say: “Is there any reason in particular why the A/C is not on?” Well, after that I stayed awake, still hot, but very much awake!

Tuesday, May 18, 2010
So, here we are in Amarillo, Texas. Did laundry this morning with Charlie's help. My hip is better, but I cannot walk far before it hurts. Charlie did not rest well last night, so we decided to stay at this 'Oasis' one more night. We left the camper, set the GPS for Palo Duro Canyon, and trusted it would lead us there. There have been a few times on this trip when the Garmin steered us wrong, but what the heck, we are not doing anything else today. Palo Duro Canyon is reputed to be the little Grand Canyon of New Mexico. It was nice. Charlie usually will hike the trails, and I will if I can, but neither of us were up to it today. We enjoyed it, took a few pictures, and I got my magnet. We ate at a Mexican restaurant on the way back to the campground. Charlie wanted a nap, but decided to set up the pop out so that I could sleep in it tonight. I am in it now, and it is a lot more comfortable than the foldout sofa. However, the wind is blowing hard and the canvas (vinyl) is flapping like crazy. I really don't think that will bother me, because, well, not much does bother me (except Charlie, of course). We will see. My only worry is that there are a couple of open places where the vinyl is torn. Joey could scoot right out of here. I don't think he will because he prefers his bed on the sofa, and I don't think he likes the noise the vinyl is making. Our plan is to ask a friend (you know who you are) to put some grommets in the vinyl when we get home, so that we can tie it down securely during our next trip. Charlie is napping, and I am waiting for him to wake up so I can get our latest pictures off his camera and get them posted tonight. While I am waiting, I am going to add a few more pictures from the last couple of weeks. I am looking outside at a camper across from us, it is named SEAULAYTER. I just got it. Ha!