Blogs from New Mexico, United States, North America - page 4

Another early day, alarm at 5 out of bed by 5:30. Today did not have to be an early day since it was not a travel day, but we did want to beat whatever crowds that might be at the caverns. During this time of Covid most sites, including national parks required timed entry so reservations in advance need to be made. We had the first time slot of the day 8:30. It took about 40 minutes to get form our hotel to the park, which is why we got up early so we could shower, have breakfast and head out. Tarragon was very happy to not have to get in the car today, he got to lounge on his new travel blanket in the armchair in the room. Breakfast was your typical hotel free breakfast, ... read more

We are now in full vacation mode and fully adjusted to Mountain Time. Today we head to New Mexico, first stop Las Cruces. Not much is on the agenda for today, the main reason we are stopping here is to make the travel day shorter for Tarragon, who also has fully adjusted to the travel schedule as well. Las Cruces is approximately the half way point between Tucson and Carlsbad, which is where we are heading to for the Caves. Since this is a short travel day, it allowed us the opportunity to sleep in, all the way to 7 am, which is 30 minutes longer than when I am at home. I have done a very good job so far of fully disconnecting from work, but unfortunately, I do have to check e-mails this evening. ... read more

We have still had problems with the heater so decided to skip travels in Utah. Camping in really cold weather without good heat is not an option. Hence, we decided to stay another 2 days in Taos. I went to the campground office and asked if we could stay another 2 nights. Unfortunately, there were no sites with full hook-ups, we’d have to move to another side without a dump. We could do this easily. The woman at the front desk told us that there was a Hot Air Balloon festival that weekend, and if we looked out over the valley, we could still see some of the balloons in the air. We did look and saw a couple of balloons. She gave me the web site so that I could look up the events. She ... read more

We woke up to a beautiful morning and were already to eat again. We’d eaten both breakfast and dinner out at our favorite places, but were ready to hit it again. But then we found that we had a new problem. So, our poor RV is about 18 years old. We bought it in the “good ol’ days” of adjusting. You older adjusters know, the days where we had to bring printers, scanners, desk top computers, monitors; all things that took up lots of room. We’d replaced our smaller RV to accommodate all of this equipment plus a table and office chair. Now we woke up to the heater running but no hot air coming out and it was about 25 F. Dale messed with the propane then we lost all propane inside the RV; no ... read more

Having visited all 50 of our United States, I thought I would list some places, totally from memory I might add. Some are "holes in the wall", some are local recommendations, and most are totally by chance. Very few are Beard or Michelins. Best just means I have actually dined there. Alaska I cannot remember the name of the place, but it was a pho joint near Walmart in downtown Anchorage. I have been to Alaska three times, twice on business, and most recently to see the Aurora Borealis. Reindeer sausage is another delicacy worth trying. Arizona Los Sombreros (Scottsdale) has the best chile relleno I have ever tasted. It is so huge that it covers the entire plate! Up in Sedona, please try one of the best places I have ever visited, called Cafe Elote. ... read more