San Antonio and Austin Texas

 April 13 - 23, 2006

The Alamo

It was a long, flat, shrubby drive from Marfa to San Antonio. West Texas is big and mostly the same. Brown is the overarching theme with scattered hillocks poking up through the plains like icebergs in the North Sea. (just being poetic as I have never seen icebergs in the North Sea or anywhere else for that matter)

Carlsbad Caverns NM and Marfa TX

April 8 - 13

This was pretty much the scenery 
for the entire drive.

We left Gila National Forest and had a 3 hour drive to Carlsbad Caverns. We actually left New Mexico and entered Texas for a while before getting back into New Mexico. 

A big lot but plenty of room.

There was a BLM campground about 6 miles from the Park entrance so we stayed there. No frills boondocking but it is free, so there's that. It was actually better than the paid campground that we saw near the park entrance where they were packed into a parking lot like sardines. The solar array was able to keep up with the power usage and we did not even come close to draining the fresh water or filling the grey or black water. 

BLM campground sunset

Spent the first day working and then went to the bat amphitheater to watch the bats come out of the cave. No one told the bats though and they did not show. The ranger was not sure if the resident colony was back from their mexican vacation. Maybe they were turned back at the border. We did learn a lot about the bats that live there though and we saw an owl waiting on the ridge for a bat snack. He must have realized there was not going to be a meal and left before we did.

Lets Get This Party Started

Sierra Vista Arizona and Silver City New Mexico

April 3 - April 8, 2026

This year, I am travelling with My mom and her dog Pookie. I guess I should change the name of the blog but I am not going to. Sue will be meeting us at a few places along the way so that will be fun. It will be strange travelling without her but looking forward to spending time with my mom. The main goal of this trip is to not fall and break something.

Murray briefed Pookie before we left on the proper procedures and forms for all things travel. It is going to be difficult not having a full time Human Resources Professional along. And Pookie has already forgot everything Murray told her. Oh well, we will muddle through.

We left on the same date as last year, April 3. The first leg was a long one. We drove to Sierra Vista Arizona, an hour southeast of Tucson or about 500 miles. Calvin is completing his Army specialist training in intelligence. It was great to see him doing so well. I was a bit worried for a while but he is on a good path. Both kids launched (for the most part).

Nancy was alert as always on the ride out. There were serious winds for the first half of the drive but then it finally calmed down a bit. Arrived in Sierra Vista around 6:30 pretty exhausted. Had to re-learn driving the rig but it came back quickly. We found all the noises and rattling that happen and silenced as many as we could. The first leg is always a bit of a shakedown. 

The next day, I was able to go on base and pick up Calvin for the day. He just got off-base privileges so that worked out well. My mom's cousin Lillian (my second cousin) lives here and worked on base for a long time. She took us all to breakfast a nice local diner. Lillian knows all the comings and goings of everyone in the very large extended family. I was mostly lost as I do not know most of them but it was fun to hear about all the crazy relatives.

After breakfast, we went to Tombstone, you know, the OK corral thing. It was very touristy but kinda fun we saw a cheesy gunfight reenactment / show at the Oriental Saloon, Wyatt Earp's place. Mostly just walked around and took in the atmosphere. Sushi for dinner, I think Calvin had not had sushi for at least 5 months. A very nice place called Tanuki that Lillian recommended. Calvin had to be back on base at 9:30 which was good since I was a bit wore out. 

Next day, I picked up Calvin early and we went to Kartchner Caverns. It is one of the few living caves in the US. They do not allow any electronics and are very fastidious in preventing any damage to the cave so I do not have any pictures. It was very cool though. I have been in a few caves and this was one of the better ones. The glisten of the living formations juxtaposed with the dull dead formation was pretty interesting. After that, we chilled at the RV park while Nancy dropped some packages for Georgia, her friend that is a full timer and had a bunch of stuff sent to her house. Calvin and I decided to watch the 1990s  Tombstome with Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer. I cant believe i never saw this before. Calvin immediately fell asleep on the couch. It is the Nguyen in him. They can all sleep anywhere and all fall asleep in movies. he had to be back by 5:30 since it is a school night. they get up at 4:00, do PT, then school all day. Tough schedule! 

The next day was a travel day. Got out at 11:00 after working the morning. I am now half time so committed to two days a week and a few other mornings for meetings. Was only 160 miles to. Silver city and Gila National Forrest. Nancy drove Riganante for the first time. She did good for the most part but since it was my first time in the passenger seat, It looked like we were riding the right side of the lane (and a bit over at a few parts). No issues though and we made it to New Mexico by 3:30 and set up. 

It was raining pretty hard so I put up the awning. When I did, the new foot mount that I installed cracked!. I think I had one slider in the wrong position causing lateral stress. Anyway, that is what keeps the awning attached to the RV while we drive so i needed to fix it. Silver city is a very small town and i could not get a replacement, so I bought some JB weld and some metal pates and jury rigged the thing. I think it will last until we get to a bigger town with a RV parts store.

My beautiful jury rigged bracket.
The hose clamp is there in case it falls apart.
(which is quite likely)