We’re back at Bunker Hill!
Why would I go back to Storrie Lake, you’re asking? Because I can’t enjoy my travels when I have so much unfinished business. Things need to be done, and if they aren’t, they are going to bite me.
Please don’t bite me!
Both my phone and my computer are dead. I’m paying for emergency road assistance which I can’t call when I need it. I should call the insurance company as I never received confirmation that the Casita is fully insured. My credit card bill is going to be due soon and I don’t know how much the balance is to make a payment, and I don’t pay interest anymore! I try to set up an online account, but it requires a phone call to receive a code.
Even the simple life can get complicated very quickly.
I need to call Jonathon at Casita Travel Trailers to explain what I need him to fax to Americas Mailbox so my trailer can be registered in South Dakota. I need to make a copy of a document and fax it to Americas Mailbox so the PTV can be registered there. I like to check my bank account online. I want to go to a Verizon office, sit down, and talk about my options. I don’t like paying for something that doesn’t work! These are some of the things weighing on my mind that can only be removed with phone and internet service.
Time to move to where I can get things done!
Storrie Lake is only four miles outside of the small city of Las Vegas. Las Vegas has a Verizon office, a copy and fax place near the post office, hardware stores, and is easy to navigate. It also has a Walmart. I want a radio! The one I’ve had for twelve years died a couple of weeks ago. I have phone and internet connections at Storrie Lake State Park, and I can get a lot of these pressing things done right down the road in Las Vegas.
Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.
So I left Eagle Nest. I explored Cimarron Canyon. The drive to the town of Cimarron has some jaw-dropping scenery! The Palisade cliffs, for instance. The trees are turning yellow and gold. What a road for fishing spots! Highway 64 follows alongside a rocky creek and their are numerous places to pull over. The area from Cimarron to Eagle Nest is a place I’d like to visit again! Unfortunately I couldn’t take any photos because . . . my camera phone needed to be charged. From Cimarron I drove to Interstate 25 and hustled on down to Las Vegas.
rvsue
Would you like to see some photos I’ve taken recently?[slideshow]
Sue,
You might want to look into an outside antenna + a amplifier.
It makes a difference.
Bill Kelleher
I am doing that, with the help of an online friend.
Again I will recommend the 3Gstore.com for assistance with phone/internet service…..
Your pictures are STUNNING !!!
And I sense some stress…..all things will be worked out…all will be fine……and by all means you don’t need to ‘splain to us when and where you go….we just enjoy reading your experiences….
Also…if finances allow you may want to consider a small portable generator….
Yes, I want a generator. Once I find a place where I want to stay a week or more, I’ll shop for one.
Oh, I don’t feel stressed. These are things that plague all people in the modern world and have to be taken care of, as much as I’d like to play every day!
Glad you like the pictures . . .
“Time to move to where I can get things done” What a WISE decision. You will enjoy your journeys much more when you get the “stuff” completed to your satisfaction. You’ve had some time in beautiful country to “feed your soul” so now you have the energy to tackle the mundane stuff.
While you’re in Las Vegas there are two things to be sure you have or purchase. A car charger for your phone (12v) so you can charge it while driving or from the Casita’s battery. A NOAA weather radio that’s either battery powered or wind up. A regular radio is fine but the NOAA will help you avoid nasty surprises along the way.
The pictures are great.
As always, you know how I’m feeling. I can’t enjoy myself if there are too many loose ends waiting to be dealt with.
I do have a NOAA weather radio. I can plug in my phone to an outlet and charge it. However, when I was at Eagle Nest and had to depend upon my Casita battery, it didn’t charge the phone overnight.
I have a “cigarette lighter” type charger for my Garmin. I wonder if it’ll work for my phone. That would be a first .. .a charger that serves two of my electronics.
When you’re running on battery only, the electric outlets in the Casita don’t work. You have to use the “cigarette lighter” type charger plugged into one of the 12V outlets in the Casita to charge your phone, just like you would charge it in the car. There should be a 12v outlet above the Television and another somewhere else. You’ll just have to look for recepticles the “cigarette lighter” will plug into. If the plug on the Garmin is the same as the one on your phone, it should work.
You may want to look for a small “inverter” that you can plug into the 12V (cigarette lighter) openings and plug AC chargers into – just not one that’s permanently wired in. You’ve been there before and it wasn’t pretty.
Yes, there are two places above the television that are meant for “cigarette type” chargers.
Yes, a Wilson trucker’s antenna and amplifier might be an option for you. You can get them with a twelve volt plug in, but it won’t charge your computer or phone.
We fulltimers like everyone else must take care of business from time to time. 🙂
I’m looking into the Wilson’s equipment. You’re the second person to suggest this.
You will feel more like enjoying yourself when you have all the stuff taken care of…I know how you feel. The pictures are wonderful. I love the wild flowers.
Hi, Pauline,
I got a lot done today. It’s nice to have internet again. I’m glad you like the pictures. The wildflowers in the mountains are everywhere and so many different kinds. Some of the places the crew and I walked looked like a “botanical garden.” The tiny ferns and variety of grasses, like those feathers, are so pretty, too.
I hope you had a good day. Love to you and the family!
Lovely slide show!
Thanks, Kim!
Sue,
Looks like your handling everything pretty well. Once you get settled in you’ll be cranking right along……………………….Be safe
Don and Gayle…
You be safe, too!
Not to rain on your parade, Sue, but in looking at the one picture of your PTV and Casita hooked up, it appears that the PTV is riding high in the front. Has anyone else mentioned that?
I don’t remember the PTV being high in the front at Navarro Mills. Has weight shifted to the back of the PTV? If yes, you’re safer if you shift it forward so the PTV rides level.
Hi, Laura and Reine!
I mentioned somewhere about the shift in weight to the back of the PTV. This happens when the PTV is jostled on a washboard road, climbs steep inclines, and employs surges of power when shifting gears! Stuff slides to the back.
The photo with the entry about my orientation and picking up the Casita shows how level my rig is. I have to monitor the weight shifting. Also I notice if the Casita is on level ground while hooked up to the PTV sitting on an incline, it makes the back wheel well come closer to the tire than in front.
Physics . . .not my favorite subject, but it just won’t go away!
Here is a link to more idas from Adrian on mfgrv.
http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f51/camping-sightseeing-in-southern-new-mexico-arizona-48436.html#post269946
Bill Kelleher
Thanks, Bill! Quite a wealth of information there . . . and thanks to Adrian!
What a transition you’ve made over these last few months; from a self professed loner to a welcoming friend to so many of us on line followers. You’re concerned if you can’t post to your blog and we’re concerned if we think your PTV is riding too low in the back…LOL (You did note the load in the PTV had shifted when you posted that photo) The great thing about being retired and ‘doing your own thing’ is that you can and will revisit those places you enjoy most; for whatever reason. Goodness… over 21,000 visits to your blog. You and the crew are popular. Enjoy!
Barrie
Hi, Barrie!
You really summed it up well. Don’t worry, I’m still a loner. As much as I love you guys, if you all showed up at my doorstep, I’d batten down the hatches and become catatonic!
You noticed the sitemeter! Isn’t it incredible? I think of times I’ve been in a crowded room with no one interested in talking with me, and now look at all that’s gone on with this blog. I guess I should have handed out essays at cocktail parties instead of trying to be successful with small talk! I come across better in print.
Nice comment, Barrie.
From time to time, all of us need to “take care of business”.
Thanks for all the swell pictures. Get one of your camping friends to take one of you, the crew, and Casita together.
See you next time,
Bob
Hello, Bob!
I’ve been thinking exactly the same thing. Like when I was having dinner with the ladies at Coyote Creek . . . Trouble is, I get so much into the moment that I don’t think about photos.
Come back soon.
I would suggest a cargo net.
http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result?q=cargo+net
Bill Kelleher
Hey, Bill!
I clicked on that link. Thanks for putting it here. I’m not sure a cargo net would work as it needs to come down over the sides of the load. There are no sides to my load . . . It’s wall-to-wall!
However, I’ll keep it in mind. I may be able to get rid of some things and also repack stuff more compactly. Right now I’m in transition between winter stuff and summer stuff . .. going back and forth as I move around. That means I’m messing everything up all the time!
Hi, JoJo!
I’ve lived in a lot of places over the years. Some cities are laid out so that you can find what you need almost intuitively. They don’t make you drive all over the place.
Athens, GA, for all its many qualities, used to drive me nuts. I always felt like I couldn’t drive straight to where I wanted to go . . . always driving in a semicircle and out of the way.
I like Las Vegas, NM. It has a Spanish influence, lovely historic neighborhoods, a college, the lake, a mountain backdrop, and….. drumroll…… a Walmart!
Look at these things as “I have just moved into a new home, I need to get it ready to work for me.” The pictures are great.
Thanks for your comments, Susan. I need to get a new camera. Mine has a foggy lens and using my camera phone is inconvenient (transfer photos individually to card and then from card to computer …ugh).
I’m going to look for a new camera today, if I ever get off this bed and this computer, and get myself and the crew moving around!
You need a good camera to document your fantastic travels. A good photo history will be priceless in the years to come. Buy a lot of zoom , at least 10X, and auto stabilizer. I love my Panasonic DMC-TZ3 and it is very compact. I carry it when I walk in a waist pack.
http://www.dpreview.com/ for info.
Mick
Oh, Mick . . . Too late! I just returned from buying my camera! I’ll write about it in my next post.
Yours is probably more expensive than I want to pay. (rationalizing). I wanted a camera TODAY and my first two choices weren’t in stock, so I doubt your Panasonic would be at Walmart either. (rationalizing). I’m learning that these NM towns and cities don’t get the supplies and conveniences that I’ve become accustomed to back in GA.
The Sanyo will do a great job and yes, mine was 3X. Now when we click on your photos we get a really large version. You might be careful about uploading such a large size as that is a lot of data.