Santa Fe and on to Alburquerque

Friday, 28 October

A good secure internet here so we took advantage to catch up on some banking and financials. And of course getting this far on the blog!

Early afternoon we took the Jeep into the center of town, the old town area and spent a few hours walking around with the dogs. A very pet friendly town, even a crowded gift shop with attached small museum said that Gillian could bring the dogs in rather than wait outside while Art poked around.

She did later take Prana into the museum for a few minutes without incident.

The museum was small but interesting, inside was the entrance to the oldest house in the US, dating from about 1646. That's 300 years older than Art!

Next door was a very old church dating from about the same time. Inside was this very very old church bell which had been brought from Spain. Cast in 1336 (you may be able to read the date cast into it). It was made from metals donated by the towns people (sorry forgot to note which town!) during the Spanish effort to chase the Moors out of Spain. The table lists the metal content. Sorry it is out of focus but it was taken with my old flip phone camera in very poor light.

The street we were on (and the site of the church) is part of the original Santa Fe Overland Trail which ran from Franklin Missouri to Santa Fé which of course still belonged to Mexico. The trail was established 1821 and took two and a half months to travel.






That evening, back in the RV Park Prana decided she needed some cuddle time














Saturday, 29 October

Just a short run today so we took our time getting ready and were on the road at 11:35. Unfortunately, when we unhooked the Jeep yesterday we noticed oil on the rear of the motorhome, towbar, cables and the front of the Jeep . Not a lot, just enough to give Art dirty hands.

While checking things out before hooking up Art discovered that the hitch ball was loose. Not even finger tight! While Gillian held the ball with a pair of large waterpump pliers Art tightened the ball with the large wrench we carry for just that purpose.

Note to self: Check that more frequently!

We gave everything a good wash (Thanks Dawn Dishwashing Liquid) and we will see what we find after an hour or two of driving. Art is suspecting that the fuel leak diagnosed by Chris, our tech back home, is still there and the broken fuel line was something else.

Out of the park we made a left onto the highway as advised by a local and were soon moving southwest on the I-25 to Alburquerque. Uneventful drive, weather quite acceptable.

Into the city, which we are somewhat familiar with, we proceeded straight through to the I-40 then eastbound for several miles to our exit. Which the GPS told us to bypass and take the next.

Suspecting that the street that we would need to turn left from may have had a barrier added since last year we followed the GPS then saw a KOA sign indicating that we were on the correct route. It was a bit round about, with one not very well marked right turn and zig-zaged through a few blocks to find the RV Park entrance straight ahead. Later driving the Jeep we discovered that we could have taken the original exit, I suppose that the way we went would be easier for longer rigs entering the park.

We arrived at the Albuquerque Central KOA at 1:00PM. Disconnecting the Jeep we found slight traces of oil. We will observe as we proceed to San Antonio, a run of several days. Our thought now to go via Oklahoma, a state that we have not yet visited, and thus earn another sticker for the Visited States Map on the side of the rig.

We will spend at least three expensive nights here (read KOA!) We have some good friends to spend some time with here and there are a few things we want to do to the rig, such as fix the recently failed roof fan in the galley. Hopefully just a microswitch. Then this afternoon Gillian was unable to open one of the bay doors to get the seating and tables out. It would appear that the lock mechanism has failed. Art was able to access and remove the latches via the bays at each end and thus open the door but this is not a long term solution! Monday he will see if he can order a new lock to be picked up in San Antonio. Later while fiddling with the mechanism, it seemed to be working. Think we'll look for a new one anyway.

Sunday 30th October Art messed with the fan for a while  with no joy and decided that the only way to properly diagnose what is wrong in to remove the unit entirely. Since this would entail working up on the roof which now is probably not the best idea since he is no longer stable on his feet and even climbing the ladder is difficult he decided to purchase a new one and have it installed by an RV tech. (He would probably climb onto the roof  to fix or install a ham radio antenna though!)

We did get together with Ken and Kathy at their home Sunday evening for an extended happy hour with some lovely appies and of course a nice visit with their dog Sandy Paws. We had stopped off at a car wash on the way to get the worst of the oil off the Jeep and tow-bar so it was at least presentable.

Monday we spent running around:

To AT&T where Art received a free new 3G free flip phone to replace his aging 2G phone that after the end of the year would no longer work on the AT&T system. Unfortunately it is not unlocked so he will not be able to use it on other networks. The rep said that Customer Service could unlock it for us, we will call them from San Antonio and see how we make out with that.

 To Camping World 10 or 15 miles to the west where we bought a new Fantastic Fan to replace the MaxxAir fan that has failed.  Several near by RV supply stores had fans but not with the exact options we needed; bi directional, tri speed and with a built in thermostat. We also located a new latch for the compartment door but it would require a piece being cut off with a hacksaw to make it fit. Since the old one is now working we'll keep our fingers crossed!

Then to meet Ken and Kathy for lunch in the Old Town where again we passed a very pleasant hour or two with good friends and good food.

In a the window of a book shop on the square Art spotted another Anne Hillerman novel, "Rock With Wings" (The Navajo name for Ship Rock.) This is her second in the series, her first, "Spider Woman's Daughter", he had purchased at the same store a couple of years ago! She is the daughter of Tony Hillerman whose detective novels set in the Four Corners area is full of Navajo culture references and features the Navajo Tribal Police. We were both very sad when Tony passed away some years ago. We had been avid fans since discovering his novels in the Twin Rocks Trading Post in Bluff, Utah years ago. We were pleased to see his daughter continue his style, characters and location. Always a good read; interesting insight into Navajo tradition and way of life mixed with a touch of suspense, though not what I would call "nail biters".

(To see where Ship Rock and the area of the Navajo Nation are located see the blue pointer in the second photo in the post "Cortez to Santa Fé". Ship Rock is at the top of the pointer, the town of Shiprock a bit to the north and east.)

Here are the first two paragraphs from "Rock With Wings":

     Officer Bernadette Manuelito had been sitting in her unit by the side of the road for an hour, watching the last of the twilight fade and the pinpoints of stars appear in the blue-grey sky. In that time she had seen two vehicles, both with the classic yellow and red New Mexico plates with the Zia symbol in the center. The grey Subaru advanced at close to the speed limit with no sign of driver impairment. The old green Buick cruised along more leisurely, with the windows rolled down and country music flowing into the night air. She knew the car and the driver and knew he was headed for home after a long shift at the Four Corners Power Plant. If he'd had beer or two, his driving didn't show it. 
     After that burst of activity, things slowed down.

Back at the RV Park we made the decision that we would leave in the morning if we could get ready to go by 11:00. There was still a lot to do, (replace the latch, replace a clearance lamp lens that had broken, set the dog crates up again etc etc) and it takes quite a while with the dogs needing a good walk before setting off.  Even leaving from a Rest Area where the Jeep is already connected, the slides are already in and there are no water and electric connections to put away, from the time the first of us wakes up in the morning (not counting the dogs!)  it takes us about an hour and a half to be ready to leave.