<<< Thursday, 1 January 1998, New Years Day
Following a walk in the morning, it was a lazy day
recovering from last night's dancing and celebrations. As a treat, we purchased
a bread maker and the first attempt was delicious, so we could be eating a lot
more bread in 1998.
Friday, 2 January - Sunday, 4 January 1998
After a very enjoyable ten days, it was time to say goodbye
to Stirling and Vergie and head west in preparation for our flight home from
Phoenix. Our first stop was the
SKP park at
Livingston where we were
surprised to find that we had more mail waiting. Even though the park is a
campground many of the SKPs' s have purchased plots and constructed large
buildings into which the RV can be driven such that they and the RV are fully
protected from the weather.
Every time we watch the 24-hour-a-day weather channel we
hear about the effect that El Nino is having and we are starting to believe it.
In 1996 and most of 1997 we experienced hardly any rain but during the past
couple of months, we have had periods where it has rained hard for days at a
time. All the locals say it is very unusual to have so much rain in the south
and that temperatures are below normal.
Monday, 5 January 1998
Today's route initially took us through rich flat farm
country and
Beaumont
which is a major rice growing region, then on through
Housten where there was an
accident on the heavily congested through route. At such times we switch on the
CB to listen to the truck driver's banter as hold-ups cost them money since many
are paid by the mile. For the most part, the discussion is about what is the
best lane to get around the accident as quickly as possible.
We stopped for the night in
Kerrville which is famous
for angora goat wool. Locally fuel is 94 cents a US gallon (£0.75 per UK gallon)
which is probably the lowest anywhere in the states but we know it only gets
more expensive as we head further west.
Tuesday, 6 January 1998
We planned to spend a day or so visiting
San Antonio
which had been highly recommended by several friends, but after a night of
continuous thunderstorms and a forecast of more for the next two days, we
decided to give it a miss and move to
Arizona
as soon as possible where the sun was shining.
Most of the morning we travelled in the rain and gloom more
like the night which kept Valerie looking over her shoulder in case a tornado
appeared - we later learnt that three had struck nearby towns causing extensive
damage. The I10 out of
Kerrville,
which lies in a valley prone to flash floods, passes through some attractive
undulating country but the last very long stretch to
Pecos has some of the most
boring and empty roads we have seen anywhere. Americans are very used to long
Interstate travel and make the most of it with passengers frequently reading
papers, knitting, drinking coffee or often the seat is relined and bare feet are
placed on the dashboard.
Wednesday, 7 January 1998
We decided to visit the
Carlsbad Caverns in
New Mexico by car but it was not
to be, since we had only travelled about a mile or so when we noticed strange
noises started coming from the car. A quick inspection revealed that the front
wheel bearing had probably gone. It's at times like this that one gets a sharp
reminder of how big Texas is since the nearest Suzuki dealer was either 250
miles to the west or 80 miles in the opposite direction to
Phoenix. The local
Pecos garage manager was very
helpful but when he said that it may take him 3 to 4 days to get parts we
decided to tow the Suzuki the 80 miles to
Odessa hoping the bearing
would hold out.
Odessa
which got its name from the Russians constructing the railroad since it reminded
them of home, is located in the heart of a vast oil-rich area known as the
Permian Basin, a magic oval created by the Permian Sea. As we approached
Odessa along the I20, nodding
donkeys seemed to extend in all directions as far as the eye could see. The town
appears to be a major centre for the supply of oil field equipment and services,
with a huge refinery on its eastern edge.
To our amazement, it started to snow heavily for about half an hour as we approached the town which fortunately quickly melted as the temperature was 45F. Typical of service centres, upon arrival we get warm greetings from the service advisor and lots of promises about keeping us informed as to what they find which as usual did not materialise. Experience has taught us that the only way to get things progressed is to keep chasing, but it was still 5 hours before we learnt that indeed the bearing needed to be replaced and as usual they did not have the part in stock and the best they could do was two days. We resign ourselves to waiting and camped for the night at the local KOA where we had a delicious Catfish supper.
Thursday, 8 January - Friday, 9 January 1998
On Thursday odd jobs were the order of the day while we
waited for the car parts to arrive, which to our pleasant surprise were in when
we checked Friday morning. Throughout the states, we have found everybody to be
very friendly particularly out west so it was not a surprise when the service
advisor invited us to share a birthday cake for one of the staff while he
recounted his adventures at the rodeo the previous evening. By the time the car
was ready, it was late afternoon so we returned for the night to SKP park at
Pecos.
Saturday, 10 January 1998
This time we made it to the
Carlsbad Caverns which lie about 100 miles north through some
very desolate countryside, so desolate in fact that drivers tend to wave on
passing as a means of relieving the boredom. The final approach to the caverns
is uphill into the
Guadalupe Mountains ending in a magnificent view of a vast
plain. Several tour options of the caves are possible, we elected to walk down
into the cavern via the natural entrance through which during summer tens of
thousands of Mexican free-tail bats fly out at sunset in a mass exodus having
spent the day sleeping, clinging to the cave roof some 200 feet below the
surface. The route to the main caverns descends some 750 feet via a very steep
winding path which turned Valerie's legs into jelly. With the help of the
individual tape recorders which we were given at the entrance, we learned a lot
about the initial discovery and exploration of the caverns.
The caverns are remarkable not only for their huge size and
countless colourful formations but are possibly unique in the way they were
created. Unlike the vast majority of caverns which are formed by flowing water,
about five years ago scientists concluded that the Carlsbad caverns were formed
when gasses rose from the oil fields below and changed water into a weak
sulphuric acid which in turn transformed the rocks into gypsum. We also learnt
that scientists have recently discovered that around three hundred different
viruses live in the cavern, some of which eat rock which in turn are eaten by
other viruses, the latter are being actively studied as a possible cure for some
forms of cancer.
In the afternoon George joined a guided tour of the King's
Cavern which due to its vast size and unreal formations has been used as a
location for several films including Journey to the centre of the Earth. Towards
the end of the tour, the ranger turned off all the lights for about five minutes
which brings home to one how dark pitch black is. It is weird having one's eyes
fully open for that length of time and not being able to see anything no matter
which direction you look.
Sunday, 11 January - Tuesday, 13 January 1998
We had considered a visit to
Rosewell which is where
aliens, were supposed to have crashed and landed in 1947 but it's in an even
more remote location than
Carlsbad
and with the need to prepare ourselves for the trip home we decided to move on.
We arrived at the SKP Dream Catcher park early Sunday
afternoon thanks to gaining an hour when we crossed into mountain time. On
Monday in a gesture to keep fit George went for an early morning walk and was
very surprised to find Sam and Marianne Trice who were preparing to leave. It is
remarkable how in such a large country one keeps meeting up with people we know.
They were also heading for
Phoenix
so we arrange to meet them at a halfway stop at
Casa Grande. To add to the
coincidences when we arrived at
Casa Grande
we found Sam & Marianne were camped next to Keith & Priscilla Pipping who were
in the final stages of preparing for their three-month tour of Australia.
Wednesday, 14 January - Saturday, 17 January 1998
| After wishing Keith & Priscilla bon voyage who
left early, we set off for the 65-mile ride to Usery Mountain
Recreation Area which lies north of Mesa.
It turned out to be a very scenic desert campground with huge cacti,
hills on three sides and a delightful view of the town at night. We
would not have found the campground if it had not been for Marianne's
sister who lives locally, since it was not in any of the campground
directories. |
 |
 |
Every night we heard numerous coyotes which sounded
very close and we were not surprised to find footprints throughout the
campground. We spent the four days enjoying the company of Sam &
Marriane and some of their friends as well as a cookout around the
campfire and several meals at local restaurants. The car was taken in for a 30,000-mile service where the mechanic managed to break the filler plug and did not have a replacement so the old one was refitted, which leaves the problem for another day! For a couple of days, we were somewhat confused and
occasionally amused by the antics of a young couple who were camped in a
very small tent on the adjacent site. Antics included throwing all her
clothes and possessions into the road and as we were on our way out for
a meal one evening we heard her say that he would have to go to the
hospital to have some carbon? The following morning we learnt that he
had deliberately overdosed on his medication and an ambulance had been
called to rush him to the hospital. |
Sunday, 18 January - Thursday, 22 January 1998
We had previously decided that the SKP campground at
Congress would make a good
location to prepare ourselves for our next visit to England and it also offered
the additional benefit to store the motor home free of charge for up to one
month. As has now become a routine before flying home, we spent several days
cleaning and doing general repairs.
The RV insurance renewal reminder arrived (groan) with the
latest mail delivery which we had arranged to be sent to the local post office
in
Congress which is almost a ghost
town. After several phone calls, we decided to change the insurance to another
company which appears to offer similar coverage at a much lower cost. We
explored several of the very runs down shops in
Congress which were selling no
more than junk and perhaps because we are getting used to the west, we barely
glanced up when a shop owner jingled through the shop wearing six guns, a long
coat, western hat and boots with spurs.
>>>