Valley of Fires NRA New Mexico

We are in the center of the state near the small town of Carrizozo. The campground is located on the edge of a 127 sq. mile lava flow. It is 44 miles long, 5 miles wide  and averages 45 feet deep. When we got here the weather was looking scary. We poked around a bit but then ducked in the MP to avoid getting wet. Turns out we just got sprinkled on. The weather has settled down so we'll eat an early dinner and do the trail. We'll move again tomorrow and probably stay a night in the Guadalupe Mountains NP parking lot/campground.

Pagosa Springs day 2

Our big adventure today was a visit and tour of Chimney Rock National Monument. It's an Anasazi Indian ruin. It is considered an outlier of The Chaco Canyon ruins. What that means is that it was sort of a suburb. The style of the architecture is the same and the artifacts discovered in and around the ruins were similar to Chaco. The ruins are built in an unusual and difficult place. There is a celestial event that only occurs every 18.6 years that is called "The Northern Major Lunar Standstill". (Seriously, it's a thing) If you were to be standing in the middle of the ruins kiva, you could observe that event between those two chimney rocks when it occurs. The sky was very important to those folks. After that, we had lunch at a local dive and then played 18 holes of disk golf. Tomorrow we move but we don't know where.

Pagosa Springs Colorado

We decided to get some elevation and some cooler temperatures. The town is at 7100 feet and it is really nice. Mid seventies. The MP is parked outside of town with no cell service so we are sitting in the car in town. The San Juan river flows through town and about a dozen hot springs empty into it. There are 3 resorts that cater to hot spring enthusiasts. We were a little gun shy when we started the drive out of Moab this morning. We were expecting something to explode or shatter or break or fly off or something. Nothing happened. My duct tape is still holding the wheel well together. Please, no applause yet. We might stay here 2 nights just to enjoy the cool. This pic was taken by Jenny at sunrise this morning. She was pretty brave because she went outside in her pajamas to take it.

Moab day 4

Had a superfantastic bike ride this morning. We went somewhere I've never been. The group consisted of 4 clients and we were all experienced, so the guide took us on some trails he wanted to ride and that he thought we could handle. We did a short diversion to look at some dinosaur tracks.I rented and rode the bike that I will be getting at the end of the season. I said yesterday that I had bought a bike. That was not technically true. What I did was put some money down toward the purchase of one of their rentals that will be shipped to me at the end of the season. We are headed south tomorrow. We are not going to hurry but Moab has always been our last planned stop. We are headed home with a short layover in San Antonio.

Moab day 3

Are we having fun yet? Today has been dedicated to getting new MP tires. There are 2 tire stores in town, only 1 of them had 6 tires in the size we needed. That store was slammed with business. A good portion of our effort today was dedicated to wasting time while waiting for our turn. We drove around. I bought a new bike and booked a bike tour for tomorrow. Jenny bought me a birthday present. We visited the state run liquor store. There was chai tea and a smoothie. A 30 mile drive for lunch at a resort on the Colorado river and a wine tasting. It's 2:20 and we are back in the waiting "lounge" of the tire store. The tires are installed but they promised to look at the wheel well damage. They forgot and that is being looked at now. Epilogue: The fix I made with zip ties has now been reinforced with wire. The hole in the wall of the MP has been filled with copious amounts of foam and bubble wrap and sealed with yards of gorilla duct tape. Driving in the rain will be the the ultimate test of my Rube Goldberg fix. If it fails, water will spray off the tires and into the livingroom. We are here 1 more day. 

Moab day 2

Jenny drove me 10 miles out of town to a trailhead that I've used before. Part of the trail was over slickrock and the route is  marked with a brown line. I was really pumped when I started because slickrock is exactly what a full suspension bike is good at. The only problem was it was hot as hell, the elevation is 4000 feet and I'm 66. After 2 hours I was pretty much wasted. I finally got off the trail and began my 10 mile ride back to the MP. I have been pretty apathetic all afternoon. Tomorrow we will start trying to get the old lady ready for the 2000 mile drive to Beaufort.

Moab UT

Well, we made it but the trip was not without incident. While cruising down I 70, minding our own business, the inboard rear tire on the right side blew out. A better description would be "exploded". It let go with such force that it blew a hole in the wall of the MP.  (see pic below) We were pretty much, no where, when it happened. We called the motorhome version of AAA and after about an hour a guy arrived and put on the spare. There are a bunch of things bent and broken in the wheel well. Using zip ties I was able to hold the broken parts away from the tires so we could drive. The tires are worn but far from worn out. I'm going to buy 4 new tires for the rear axle before we continue our trip. Zip ties aren't going to cut it either. The last pic is symbolic of the MPs status when we return to Beaufort.