Madrid, New Mexico--8/12/11

Alexandra has an art gallery on Canyon Road in Santa Fe and she is working hard today preparing for an opening for several of her artists. I decided to stay out of the way and took a meandering trip down a scenic road to a town called Madrid. These unusual rock formations could be seen all along the way.

Madrid turned out to be one of those little towns that are barely on any map, gets no publicity, and is populated mainly by artists, musicians, aging hippies and stray dogs. Once it was a mining town but now the only mining seems to be for turquoise to make jewelry.

Santa Fe, New Mexico--Aug. 12th

Here I am at Alexandra Steven's house enjoying her company, air conditioning and a large comfortable bed.  Sigh Me is enjoying her new cubby-hole in the cupboard.  I still have some problems with the 12V system in the RV and someone is here today working on it.  I will pick up my sister, Mary, on the 15th so it has to be working by then.
I have been told by various friends and family that I need to be posting more often so they can stop worrying about me.  If you are one of the worriers then just call me on the cell phone--or email me.
The Verizon WiFi that I am using has been very very spotty and usually only allows me a few minutes on the Internet before it throws me off.  It may be because New Mexico is sparsely populated and Verizon provides only the minimum in service.  Whatever the reason I am sorry.  I also have a rule that I will not post my whereabouts until I drive away from a place--as a protection.  A single woman traveling alone thinks of things like that.

Datil to Albuquerque

Upon leaving Datil and crossing a wide expanse of desert and farm land I began to see these enormous dishes--one behind the other. They were huge--at least 5 stories high! And I counted at least 20 of them--all pointing in the same direction!  It was several days later when I met a young lady named Nancy that told me the dishes were part of the SETI project-- searching for extra-terrestrial life.  I think the govt. funding may have dried up on this project but she thought it was private money that was funding it now.  Click HERE for some more info.

Beyond the interesting dishes the only other excitement on my way to Albuquerque was the wind.  It relentlessly buffeted the Roadtrek and by the time I stopped for the night the muscles in my arms were sore and spent.  I may need to start lifting weights to get into condition for this.

Feline Posting--'What's in a Name?'

It is time for me to be heard. I am Mom's traveling companion, sounding board, spiritual advisor and I keep her feet warm when it's a cold night. My name was Simie but too many people called me Simmie (rhymes with Jimmie) so I am changing the spelling to Sigh Me--looks Oriental doesn't it? Maybe now people will not mix up the pronunciation.

Before this trip started Mom took me to the vet for a chip implant should I wander off somewhere. That is not too likely since I am scared of my own shadow but it made Mom feel better. I love to play tricks on Mom and when we reached Mom's friend's house in Santa Fe I promptly disappeared into a cupboard (I know how to open cupboard doors) where I curled up on a soft red tablecloth behind some xmas dishes. Well, Mom and her friend looked for a long time and could not find me--it is always funny to see Mom lying on the floor looking up under a sofa and meowing like a lovesick cat. Of course I did not answer her. She finally brought out the roast chicken and I came out--but I wish she'd stop squeezing me so much.

Datil, New Mexico

Yesterday was an uneventful drive up into the mountains of Arizona close to the New Mexico border. At 7000' near Datil I found a national park with a campground and decided to spend a night 'roughing it'.  That meant No electricity--but I have a 12 V system; and no water--but my water tank is full.  I was so smug in my comfy little nest and fell quickly asleep listening to the wind rustling the pine trees overhead.

Two alarms and a flashing blue light woke me with a start at 2AM.  What in the world......?  I knew the CO2 alarm made no sense because all the windows were open.  I was hardly going to die from carbon monoxide fumes. Why were the alarms going off?  I tried the lights--nothing!  And boy was it dark!

I finally found the flashlight and quickly turned off the 12V system to stop the noise.  When I read the gauge I discovered the batteries were dead!  That meant a warming refrigerator and spoiling food. And no light until morning when I could drive enough to charge the batteries.

Lesson learned--This simple life has some complications to it.

Clifton, Az

Yesterday was a lot of driving--then backtracking--only to get as far as Clifton.  After looking long and hard at the map while having lunch in Safford I decided to skip Globe etc and stay closer to the AZ-NM border.  But when I started up the mountain at Morenci I began to worry. The climb through the Copper quarry was steep--though very spectacular--and Halcyon II was grinding away as we climbed.  Then the hairpin curves slowed to 10 MPH and the grade got steeper.

Five more miles and I passed a sign saying "90 miles to the next services".  OMG!  I looked at the gas tank--3/4 full.  That should be enough gas.  But five more miles of grinding and slowing to a snail's crawl and I decided to turn around.  So call me chicken.

Outside of Clifton I found a RV park nestled in a canyon under some tall pine trees along side a lovely--very full--creek.  It is green, cool and inviting here--with lots of permanent residents who appeared to work at the copper mine.

Driving into the park I passed 3 big horn sheep--a ram and 2 ewes--climbing on the canyon walls.  There was no place to park so I couldn't get their pictures--so disappointing.

Once again the park ranger was solicitous and made me park near the showers.  I even pleaded that I would prefer to be nearer the creek but he insisted.  And of course he was right.  Friday was probably payday at the mine and there was some rowdy drinking and carousing to all hours down by the creek.  I was way too tired and really appreciated the good sleep I had.

Kartchner Caverns

This odyssey has officially begun.

My friend Patsy joined me as we drove east for her first (and my 5th) tour of Kartchner Caverns. As expected--she loved it as much as I do.  No pictures are allowed inside so if anyone reading this has never seen the cavern then I strongly urge you to do so.  Pictures would hardly do it justice, anyway.

Patsy drove back to Tucson and I stayed in the campground.  My first night alone--and it was awesome!  There were only a few other campers scattered around the park but I did not feel any fear.  The park ranger came over to check and make sure I was comfortable--he insisted on putting me near the showers so I wouldn't have to walk far in the dark.  I discovered that the air conditioner works like a charm.

At approx midnight lightening and thunder woke me and I turned off the air conditioner and opened the window over my bunk.  The rain came in sheets--loud and long.  It reverberates inside the RV--like rain on a tin roof. Then it got cold.  I had to unpack a few cabinets but found the WWL blanket and snuggled up in it with the cat for a great sleep.

What a great beginning!