RV'ing: May 2009

5-31-09 Sunday (Peeling Insulation)

We actually got up early and OUT of the RV in time for breakfast! The Golden Corral $6.99 breakfast buffet called our name and we answered. Jim says the next time it calls, we’re hanging up on it. That’s fine by me, it was his idea to go in the first place.

After 3-22 platefuls of slop, we went to the Hubbard Museum of the American West. The exhibits were interesting enough but I think we actually had fun here. Most of the museum was hands off, but some were very hands on.

Above: Oddly, he didn’t fall.

Above: Lots of stage coaches and wagons.

Above: Jim and Garret prepare to enter the mine shaft made of rubber rocks.

Above: Garret says “Yeehaw”

Above: Nap time for Jim!

Above: Garret is a professional. Don’t try this at home.

Above: Fine, try it and then help Garret out.

Above: Jim wants grub.

Above: Although it looks as though Jim is posing, he’s really airing out his armpit.

Above: Garret doesn’t need his chicks cooked; in the raw is fine.

Above: Garret makes dinner; Jim is attacking. Ungrateful I guess.

Above: Dot or feather?

Above: Garret tries pulling the wagon but again, Jim is ungrateful.

Above: Just because. It’s a child size casket. Creepy.

Next tourist trap, I mean spot was The Smokey Bear Historical Park and Museum. People, please try to contain yourselves. I’m gonna talk about it. Be patient. Well, not really. Read the website if you really must know. Learning about it once was enough for me.

Above: Keep going for the sophomoric photos.

Above: Smokey picks Jim’s nose.

Above: Smokey helps Garret out with a wedgy.

Above: Smokey’s grave site.

On the way home, we drove through the town of Lincoln. I’m surprised there’s a Wikipedia entry on Lincoln, but I must say, it is a very short entry.

Above: Deer. Most interesting is we’ve spent the day up in heavily wooded areas. It’s been a nice change from the desert.

Now the rest of me has started peeling. I’m as itchy as a crab infested whore working a fiberglass warehouse. Ugh!

Tomorrow we’re moving to Carlsbad, NM.

5-30-09 Saturday (The Plant Ate Pistachios)

Lunch at Chili’s was the start of the day. It wasn’t the greatest start. Our plan was to order off the $7.00 lunch menu, and utilize a $5 off coupon. Cheap, thrifty, whatever, don’t be jealous. Anyway, we arrived, no hostess. A server walked by and broke eye contact as soon as it was made. No “someone will be with you in a moment” line, no nothing. The hostess arrived with the personality of a gnat. She seated us, our server was to be Chuck. 2 servers stood by and chit chatted while we sat and sat waiting for Chuck. Maybe a fellow server should have offered help? As Jim said, this is Chili’s not Chuck’s. The chatty one’s leave. The gnat walks by, we informed her of Chuck’s missingness. She’s “stunned”. She walks off to “find” him. Chuck comes by, we order. Jim’s crispy chicken tenders aren’t crispy. He sends them back. Manager dude comes by. Jim lets him have it in a very nice way. Manager dude is apologetic. Jim’s meal is comp’d.

Next stop was the New Mexico Museum of Space History. We walked around the outdoor exhibits of the John P. Stapp Air & Space Park until it started to rain. We continued the outdoor exhibits after the indoor exhibits. The museum was 4 stories and we were fortunate to catch a 15 minute presentation at the start of it. The presentation, given by Charles Farrant, who was 81 years old, was informative. He had been into space and gave many factoids about what life was like while in space. The food, gravity, clothing, and such. The most interesting facts were that the spine decompresses and you gain 3-4 inches in height. Also water is displaced into the upper body giving you “chicken leg syndrome”. He was an interesting man to talk to.

Above: View of Alamogordo from the museum.

Above: A really, really big rocket… aimed at Chili’s.

Above: Jim wants to launch it. He’s a little disappointed that there was no button.

Above: Jim inside the Mercury Capsule.

Above: Jim and I inside the capsule. I’m sure if it were moving, we’d look like this. Really.

Above: Charles Farrant heats up a tile to show how hot one side is and the other is cool to the touch.

Above: A view of the outdoor exhibit from the comfort of indoors.

Above: Astronaut food evolution.

Above: Jim wants to know what that button does.

Above: Bad news: Jim crashes the space shuttle twice. Good news: No one you knew was on board.

Above: Garret argues with Molly Mannequin.

Above: Garret is floating. He did this intentionally while Molly was talking back. A rude gesture indeed.

Above: Garret is floating… still.

Above: Send us money. This missile is aimed at your house.

On the way home, we stopped by a giant pistachio that’s across from the RV park. It reminded me of Audrey from Little Shop of Horrors.

And while we were here at the awesomely large pistachio nut, we ate samples. Pistachio nut brittle, oh my. Oh yum. They also had pecan creations as well. As I gazed at their large McGinn’s sign and wondered if I should snap a photo of it, I stepped in the one and only mud puddle in all of New Mexico. Pissed, party of one.

5-29-09 Friday (Missile Tests)

This morning we say goodbye to "Gaslight Square” RV park. It was an OK, no frills sort of place. It was mostly a mobile home park but with an RV section in a separate area which is strange. The price was right at $20 a night and I’d stay here again.

We changed our itinerary and will be going to Alamogordo, NM. Alamogordo which translates to “fat cottonwood” is centrally located to a bunch of attractions we stumbled upon through different brochures.

One tire is almost completely flat on the RV. Jim recalls hitting the valve stem while washing the wheels and hearing an rushing noise. He readjusted it. Obviously, that shouldn’t happen. Now we’re hanging out waiting for this tiny 12V compressor to inflate the tire to the proper 80 pounds of pressure. Zzzzzzzzzz.

Hours and hours later – or so it seemed, the tire was filled and off we went. The cause of the leak was a cheap valve stem cap.

It was about a 2 hour drive to Alamogordo. We’re staying at the Boothill Campground. It’s a cute place and the owners are very friendly and accommodating. We ate an early dinner and then went to the White Sands National Monument. What a beautiful place. It looked like snow. It reminded me of the Coral Pink Sand Dunes we went to. I was glad the park wasn’t closed due to missile testing. No, really. Aside from signs on the property, the website says: Due to missile testing on the adjacent White Sands Missile Range, it is occasionally necessary, for visitor safety, to close the Dunes Drive for periods of up to three hours.

After the dunes, we went to Walmart for some groceries.