Santa Fe 4th annual world famous "beat the heat" trip

We're off again to escape the Texas heat. Even the 90's seem to zap my energy lately, so we're glad to hit the road for Santa Fe. It's hard to believe this is our fourth trip here, but it is the perfect August vacation for us. We had planned on leaving on Sunday, but got side railed a few days. Erica had her baby reveal party on Friday. It is a girl! Makayla Ryleigh Duffield is her name. We'll get to meet her sometime in January, but until then, we'll let Erica take care of her. Tyler, Ashlee and the boys came up from Houston for the party, and spent Friday night at our house. We swam and played and ate, and played some more. Those boys don't stop. We had planned on leaving for Santa Fe on Sunday, but last Thursday, we bid on, and won a 2013 Keystone Springdale travel trailer from Copart in Ft. Worth. I drove it home on Monday morning, so we were delayed two days.

Not bad from this side.

Or this side.

Ouch

We will dismantle the trailer for parts, and use some parts for our 1957 Overlander.

 Back to our trip, we made it to Shallowater, just outside of Lubbock, and decided to stop at Mark and Laura's rv park. Once again, they are out of town, but this is a nice place to stay, and about halfway to Santa Fe.

 Our drive on Wednesday was uneventful, which is a good thing. We made it to our campground about 2:30 and got the last spot available, in site 15. Within 30 minutes of us getting here, there were three other campers looking for a camp, so we got lucky.

 Site 15

We will try to move to a non reservable site tomorrow, so we can stay through Saturday, when we will get our reserved site. I hiked up Black canyon trail, and enjoyed the cool weather and the smell of pines. In the evening, we built a fire and relaxed. 

 A camper moved out of site 33 early on Thursday, so we moved to that spot. With a nonreservable site, we can stay as long as we want, up to 14 days.

 Site 33

 We relaxed most of the day, and I took Sadie on the Black Canyon trail. 

I changed the front light in the Airstream to led light strips, and we like the white light it puts out. We built a fire and invited our neighbors over. They are from Holland, and have been in America 5 years. He works as an astronomer at the "very large array" here in New Mexico.

Hi, Shelly!

 Friday was another relaxing day. There seems to be a trend here. We drove into town to fill a propane tank, and check on the world. Shelly found our Citicard had a fraud alert on it. Seems someone charged several thousand dollars at several online locations. Fortunately Citicard recognized it as fraudulent. Now our card is invalid, and we'll get a new one as soon as we get home. Back at camp, I replaced the vanity lights in the bathroom with the new led light strips. We can use the lights a little more liberally now. Our neighbors, Joe and Diane had been using their generator to charge their batteries, and apologized for the noise. I volunteered to let them use the extra solar panels I brought for Cary and Vicky. They were thankful, and asked us over to visit by their fire. The weather was just about perfect, with clear skies, light breeze, and temps in the mid fifties. 

Another shot of site 33

Saturday, August 16 is Shelly's birthday! We drove into town, and got to hear Shelly's phone dinging every few seconds, as her phone was reminding her she has a lot of messages. I think we are always here on her birthday. We went to camel rock casino, where I lost $5, and Shelly lost $2. We decided to try Buffalo Thunder casino, and see if we had better luck there. After an hour and a half, I was down about $10, and Shelly was down $8, when I got lucky and won $15. I broke even, so I decided to quit. Shelly wouldn't have lost the $8, if I didn't tell her to hit the max button. But it was entertaining. We ate at Red Lobster for lunch. Back at camp, Sadie and I hiked up the mountain again.

She is a slow poke going uphill, but stays with me going back downhill. I got to see another horny toad again this year.

He looks mad, doesn't he? I guess I would be mad too, if someone picked me up to take a picture of me. I remember playing with them as a kid, but I haven't seen one in Texas in thirty years. 

On Sunday, we moved again to our reserved spot, #18. We planned on hiking on Big Tesuque creek trail, but when we drove to the trail, it was pouring rain. We decided to go into town and wash clothes a day early, and try hiking tomorrow. We visited with several of our new neighbors, who were interested in solar, or Airstreams. Bruce, Kay, and their golden retriever, Ann were in site 16. 

These days are flying by. It's amazing we have been gone a week already, and even more amazing that I have been retired a year now! We drove to big Tesuque creek and hiked up the creek, for a mile hike. 

Shelly on the trail

Sadie and asters

One of the few clearings in the trees

Dew on a mushroom

The hike was only a mile, but it follows the creek, and is fairly steep, so it is a good workout. We picked up some firewood on the way back to camp. I need to remember to bring a saw next year. Back in camp, I replaced the bedroom lights with led lights. I used our extra solar panel for the first time, since there are so many trees around site 18.

 We drove into Santa Fe on Tuesday and went to Camel Rock casino, but left after an hour and losing $6 each. We met Cary and Vicky at Panda Express for a late lunch, and helped them set up their camp. We relaxed by their campfire.

 On Wednesday, we hiked the trail up big Tesuque creek, and drove to the ski area. 

Vicky, Cary, and Shelly

Rest stop!

A small waterfall on the creek

Testing the water

Cary and Vicky made grilled chicken over the fire for supper. We played bag toss after taping up the torn target. We sat by the campfire again and told stories. 

 We walked around the old part of Santa Fe, and saw the miraculous staircase again. There were a lot of vendors setting up early for the Indian market this weekend, but it wasn't too crowded yet. We ate a fajita on the square, and decided to go to the casino. Shelly and I lost money again. Surprise! But Cary and Vicky both won money. Shelly cooked tortilla soup for supper, and we had a repeat of last night. The weather has been great this whole trip with highs in the 70's and lows in the 50's. We have only been sprinkled on a few times, and only a few minutes at a time. 

 A rainbow with no rain

Cary in front or their site #17

It is raining lightly on Friday morning. I guess I shouldn't have jinxed it by saying how great the weather is. Maybe it will be short lived. We decided on spending the rainy day spending money in the casino again, and lost money again. It is almost like it is rigged in their favor. It quit raining by the time we got back, and we grilled hamburgers over a campfire. Our bean bag game was torn, so we invented a new game. Toss the bean bag onto a flat rock. It was fun way to spend our last night here. 

 We got out of the camp by 5:30 New Mexico time, and on the road by 5:50 after dumping our black tanks. We stopped in Santa Rosa for a breakfast at McDonalds. We drove all the way home, and made it in 13 hours driving time. It's always good to be home!