As we drove through the centre of town (in the right lane! we spotted a small sign Window Rock indicating a left turn. Signals on Art managed to move over one lane but no one would let him into either of the TWO left turn lanes! There was no easy return, so we missed the window rock this round. Maybe another time.
A few miles later we stopped for fuel in Gallop New Mexico, almost on the I-40. We spotted the price, 4.14 so swung in and took on 54 gallons or so. Ou.r mileage this trip so far is 9.1 miles per US gallon (almost 11 Imperial measure).
We had thought to stop at a rest area at Mile 22 on the I-40 but could not see it. It may have been at a commercial truck stop but that's not what we were looking for so we carried on to a Walmart at MM 84 in the town of Grants, some 70 miles west of Albuquerque. Thanks to the new batteries, the Xantrex inverter and ShawDirect we watched a little TV during dinner and went to bed fairly early.
We don't normally shop at Walmart but we needed a few things so in the morning we popped in. Art was delighted to find Johnny Walker Scotch at $18.00! Go well with his oarmeal? :) We were back on the road for Albuquerque.
We hoped to find friends that lived here but so far there was no answer on their phones. We remembered seeing signs for an RV park on the east side of town on previous trips so went to check it out. No space at this time! Just as well, it looked rather grotty! There was, according to the Next Exit, another one 5 miles further east. Some 5 miles past the exit we had seem no sign of it so turned around and at that time spotted their sign. However we were already well into our U turn and realised that it was much farther out of town than we wanted.
Back into town we stopped at an RV shop to pick up a few things. We asked about a good restaurant and and RV park nearby and were sent to the Olive Garden. Great food and went away with enough for another meal. (Which we have just eaten tonight, a day later as I write this!)
The nearest RV Park was a KOA which we usually ignore as over priced. You can buy an annual membership which brings their price down to match the rest. To be fair they are usually very clean, full service and up scale. However it was convenient, had wireless and a good dog play area. Over $100.00 for two nights though!
As soon as we were parked, Gillian took the dogs out while Art set the motorhome up. When she returned we left the dogs in the rig and set off to take care of a few things: Photo copies of documents for the crossing into Mexico, good bread and grain free dog food. We knew from previous visits that next to Pet Vet was a bakery, and across the road, a Staples.
Back at the motorhome, we watched a bit of TV and Art tried to get on the free wireless internet without success. He finally gave up in disgust, sampled his new bottle of Red Label and went to bed.
Next morning, we were taken by reports on the Global TV News of the 7.7 earthquake in Haida Gwaii, on the coast of British Columbia. Thankfully there were no injuries and no damage. After a cup of tea, his oatmeal still in the microwave, Art and the laptop setoff for the office.
The lady there had a few suggestions, offered the use of the office computer to check e-mails, and suggested he find Jeff in the Rec Room who could probably help him.
Jeff said that for some reason Canadians computers always have trouble with their system. He cleared cache and cookies and tried a few other things and presto! We were connected. He also explained that up link was slow but down links we 10 times faster. When we finally got on we found it slower than our Shaw at home.
Now that we were online we sent an email to our friends Cathy and Ken to which they replied promptly--they were RVing in Spain and Portugal! No wonder they weren't answering or returning calls!
We spent the rest of the day doing laundry, washing the Jeep (after Bluff!) and on the internet -- doing the banking, e-mails and catching up on the blog. Oh, and Art decided to put the first aid kit to good use to repair a broken latch on the screen door:
Dinner was the remains of yesterdays lunch: Pasta! Always as good the next day.
One of the e-mails was from our dear friend Lulu from Morelia, Mexico, who said that she was arriving in San Antonio, Texas, on Sunday. Today! Her daughter is due to deliver in a few days, Lulu will be with her for a month. This will likely cause a change in direction--to San Antonio to have at least a short visit with Lulu. We met Lulu and her husband Jorge in Zihuatanejo several years ago and see them every year. We have visited them in their home in Morelia. We hope to hear soon but in any case will head that way. At worst, it will add a day to our time in the states!
After dinner Art went back to do some more things on line and while trying to upload to the blog found the internet connection gone! A short time later he could see it but could not connect--it wanted a username and password. We had logged on with a "coupon" which could only be used once but was valid for three days of free internet.
In the morning, still no internet. We packed up, drove to the office to replenish all the propane the furnace has used and hit the road. Destination probably Carlsbad for the night.
We have done this route a few times in the past so didn't bother with a lot of new photos. Not that the scenery changed much over the miles. One interesting thing we spotted was an antelope, all alone in the vast landscape. We went by too quickly for a picture unfortunately.
Somewhere along the road we picked up a small rock chip in the driver's side windshield. Having just replaced the passenger side window because of a rock chip that grew into two large cracks, we decided that we would try to get it fixed sooner rather than later.
Approaching the town of Roswell we missed the bypass and ended in city traffic through the middle. Suddenly we spotted a mechanic garage sign, and at the bottom of the sign were the words Windshield Repair! There was no room at the curb without blocking the garage entrance and the right turn lane so we turned right and parked around the corner.
Gillian walked back and soon returned with someone from the garage. He had a look, said the person who did that wasn't in at the moment but he would phone him. The news was good--we would be here in 15 minutes or so.Art stretched out on the couch to wait, he arrived in about half an hour. He said to drive around and park in front of the shop which we did, blocking the entrance and part of the right turn lane! Jessy introduced himself--he was the owner of the garage, baby sitting three young kids as his wife was sick! The kids happily watched the procedure from the windows of daddy's truck.
Jessy said that it was a difficult one, particularly on the vertical surface, he wasn't completely happy with the job but he was sure that the resin had penetrated completely and that it would hold. The $30.00 cost seemed reasonable, and an hour later we were back on the road.
We arrived at the RV Park in Carlbad, one we have stayed in before, and were set up and watching the 5:00 CHEK news by 6:04 (Mountain Time).
Next was to convert the dinette from doggie bed to table and plug the laptop in. The internet connected right away so the blog is getting caught up!
A few pictures to come--Tia is sleeping on the floor in front of the drawer that contains the download cable for the camera. We'll have to wait until she wakes up!
Obviously she did eventually wake up and the photos have been posted but we couldn't resist posting Tia's photo!
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