And Then There Were Four, Gorgeous Day Afoot, Black Beauty

Hidden Valley RV Mountain Resort, Tijeras, NM

On Monday, Mar. 16^th, Bill and I got up at 6:30. The last hour was one of restlessness for me, tossing and turning, stretching an ache in my left leg. Has to be the travel days even though they aren’t long ones. We had our brew together and sitting there I was rewarded with a beautiful sky and sunrise. The visible clouds weren’t threatening and soon dissipated.

Pop!

We saw Oreo and Keith outside around 8 starting to close his camper down. We went out to get goodbye hugs. By 8:35 he was pulling out. I needed to change the time zone on my camera so picture times were correct.

Cute picture of two good friends

Aah, look at that cute little Oreo
I'll miss seeing her

See ya back home, Keith!

It was a cool 27F/-3C when we got up but promising warmth in our direction of travel. Even Gallup was rising to 64F which is very nice. We took our time on I-40, the road much better in this section and even more beautiful views today.

A New Mexico picture isn't complete without a train rumbling through

I liked this view with all the terrain contrasts

 We stopped at Exit 79 for fuel in Milan. The prices are pretty good. Fueled up for $2.75/gal and we hope it remains the same or drops as we head further east. We’ve heard ridiculously low prices back home too. 

Turning into the fuel station, this stainless steel diner
caught my eye

this should be an Airstream diner

I chatted on text with Bridgette back home and my sisters. Many are concerned about what they’re hearing on the news, encouraging us to get home before Mar. 23^rd. Not our family, the news media. We’re sticking to the plan, so far playing things by ear.

Still some rocky landscapes along this part of I-40

 It was just before 12 noon when we took exit 178 to Zuzax and when I saw that name, I said ‘oh yes, that funny name’. There is a bit of a steep hill into the park but it is short and we had no issues. Once registered, we followed instructions to the top of the hill and got sites beside each other. This is a no-nonsense park and that mainly means that it isn’t fancy by any means. You are here to stay a few nights and to sight see the Albuquerque area. We will stay here two nights.

After setting up Bill and I made some lunch. I had a wrap and Bill had a sandwich which hit the spot. Imagine that, we were eating right on time! Then, Bill and I took a drive into Albuquerque to the Rich Ford dealership. We’d decided to have the truck looked at and see what was involved and how long it would take to get it fixed. We met a nice man, Travis, in the service department who said they’d try to get at it today or if not, first thing in the morning. We couldn’t ask for any more than that.

It was a possibility that we could have been shuttled the 18 miles back to the park but we didn’t think Ken would mind coming to get us. And we were right about that, good friends help you out when in need. We’ve sure experienced that this winter again and again. After Ken brought us home, we felt like a nap was in order so stretched back in our recliners for 30 minutes before Happy Hour. The sun was very warm and welcoming.

A commenter suggested this Route 66 Casino for an overnight stop
It would be great, there was a lot of room in the parking lot

Two or three ospreys flew over before Albuquerque
and we remembered the airport

Pretty overpasses

Even these aren't just plain concrete

 At 3, I made a tea and moved outside to the front of the Journey. These sites are certainly not conducive to sitting out beside your rigs but we made it work. Bill soon joined us and got our chairs out. We would use them for two days. We were sitting there about half hour when our neighbor, Jim, from Pennsylvania walked over to chat. He is a very nice man and we shared stories of the problems we ALL have with our rv’s. His 2015 Montana was no different.

This is for my buddy, Pat
Remember us trying to capture these vases on camera?
I only got one today!

While he was visiting, Bill got a text that the resolve for the turbo issue was an easy one and that it was covered under warranty! Well, things are looking up! We were expecting the worst and this wasn’t the case, TG again. Travis said he would text again when it was ready. We carried on visiting, laughing and telling stories from home and around here regarding the virus, the store shortages, crossing border issues and at 4:50 the second text came in.

Our turn off

\

arilynne called during our HH expressing concern over our health and safety. It sounded like a sincere ‘shouldn’t you be coming home?’ Bill chatted with her and put her mind at ease that we are fine and will take all the precautions from here on in. I hope she feels better after talking to him about our situation.

Our park greeter posed for me

And then had to show me her pretty side
Little snob!

Owl Cafe
something weird about this 

Ken drove Bill back to get Black Beauty and I came in to see what concoction I could make for supper. I had an idea now that we had plugins. We had some Italian meatballs in the freezer to be eaten so instead of following an oven meatball casserole recipe, I made one up out of my head that I would attempt in Madame IP.

Rich Ford sure treated us well
They got a good review later
that is the second awesome Ford experience we've had in the s/w

We’ll see, you may get a different report at the end of this meal prep than you’ve ever seen before. First, I added a cup of water to the IP. I added oil to my inner pot, then meatballs, then marinara sauce, then chopped celery, peppers, onions, more sauce, broken up spaghetti noodles and mozzarella cheese on top. Was Bill ready for this meal? We’ll find out! He returned around 6 from town. Thanks, Ken, for the lift, again!

And then there were Four - three, you know what I mean!

See? Four of us - oh, forget it!

I thought this would be a quick supper but the first 10 minutes + NR wasn’t enough. The second 7 minutes + MR wasn’t enough so finally, the 3^rd and last try worked. It was for 15 minutes with MR. The spaghetti was cooked and so were the veggies. Bill and I both enjoyed it but it was 7 o’clock before we were eating.

Before cooking

After 1st attempt at cooking but noodles and veggies weren't soft

Looks like a simple spaghetti and meatball dish
but it was delicious all the same!

 It was more like spaghetti and meatballs with a few veggies thrown in. LOL If I had done it in the big pot, it would have cooked faster but I was concerned about having enough liquid. Anyway, it was yummy and there is a bit leftover for me! We had Cherry creamy Jell-o for dessert.

We did the dishes and I walked outside to get a picture of where we are. It’s too dark for any others so that will wait for my morning walk. You can bet I’ll be having one! It is a nice trail here, maybe you’ll remember it from our visit last year. This was a much better day as far as our travel and upsets. There were none! We missed Keith at Happy Hour but we did hear that he had a very long driving day (which he wanted) and has settled in Clinton, OK. We have had a good time with him and Oreo this winter.

We're settled here for a couple of nights
and Black Beauty is smiling again
Good night everyone!

Thank you for stopping by!

New Travel Day, Frost on the Grass, Resort Rest

Southern Trails RV Resort, Unadilla, Georgia

On Monday, November 4^th after waking first at 4 am, I dropped off within minutes and slept until 6. Bill was just getting up so I began my stretching, hoping to keep the cramps out of my legs today. We had only the blue flame heater on all night and it wasn’t too bad in the Suite. Bill turned the furnace on for a bit to warm the floors more than anything.

Bob and Jo-Anne's new overnight location

We jiggled to get in here once patrons left for the night

We had our tea and coffee and Bill warmed up the rhubarb muffins Jo-Anne gave us on Saturday. That hit the spot. I made up 2 more bun sandwiches for lunch and that used up the last of the egg salad. It worked out perfectly from using 6 eggs. We like generous egg filling. The parking lot sure looked different in a near empty status with only some landscaper vehicles taking up spaces. We couldn’t believe they were cutting the frosty grass.

He pushed it under the fence too far and got caught
Bill eventually slipped down the hill and helped him

Bill suggested we pack up and move back to where Bob was parked so we wouldn’t get blocked in with breakfast patrons so I closed slides and that’s what we did. The traffic on I-75S of which we had a god view was very slow and jammed around 7 – 7:30 so we bided our time inside Big Red until 8:15. Google Maps was being stupid with directions out of there but both our gps units were on the ball and got us onto I-75S quick and easy.

We were biding our time (it is only 8:06)
Now, I've changed the time - must've forgot
Every picture time will be an hour late

The sky was blue with wispy clouds sprinkled across it and the sun was warm. When we woke, it was 32F but after being on the road for 10 min. we were warmed up to 43F/6C. Perfect! We were under blue skies for quite a while when all of a sudden, in our view was thick fog. Then we realized we were crossing the Tennessee River. When I took a picture of the river, you see what we saw. And then as quick as it appeared, the fog dissipated.

All of a sudden, the sun was gone - lost in the fog

The beautiful Tennessee River
What do you mean you can't see it?

Try now

This is a great drive; we have no complaints about the interstate roads and it isn’t overly busy. It is getting us where we need to go and as quickly as possible. When I felt the urge, I suggested to Bill that I’d start searching for a Rest Area. The first one on my gps turned out to be just a truck weigh station so we carried on into Georgia and found the Information Centre. It was good and we stretched our legs, took care of business and Jo-Anne and I signed the guest book and got some free Georgia peanuts for each of us. They were good too!

Nice view - no justice in the pictures though

Called Crossing Church or something like that

Georgia Entry

We felt that we were making good time and would be at our destination campground in good time. We took the bypass around Chatanooga in Tennessee and then I-275E around Atlanta. That was pretty wild but much better than downtown would have been. It was noon hour and as much as you don’t want to be travelling through big cities during rush hours, it happens and you deal with it. We had no issues, just followed the road and kept an eye on our friends in Big Red.

Jo-Anne and Higgy at the Information Centre

Free stuff

We were down to less than ½ tank of fuel around noon so once out of the major hub bub, Bill and I decided to pull off. Bob’s tank was just above ¼ so we didn’t want to add any stress to the otherwise great day. Unfortunately, we did just that by pulling into a BP station. We got in okay but they had no diesel. Across the street at the RaceTrak, they had bags over their diesel pumps too. Hmm. This was not good.

I love the tall straight trees along here

Catching the bypass around Atlanta

We got back on the interstate and drove another 21 miles to Exit 201. There were multiple choices of travel centres here so chose TA and both got topped up. From there, we drove around back to the truck parking and ate our late lunch. It was 1:30. We were hungry, almost gnawing on the arms kind of hungry. 😊 Back on I-75S we had an hour and a bit to go to our destination. It will be nice to sit tight for 3 days.

Bill and I chuckled at the yellow signs on his truck

Smooth sailing on the 5-lane Interstate

The American flag flies proudly

Warm, warm, warm
Happy kids we are!

De-layered
If Clemmy were with us, he'd have them all bunched up in a ball

So, let's pretend 💓
Now, where are my kleenex?

For the remainder of our drive, we were on bypass I-475 and off again around Macon and before we knew it, we were pulling off on Exit 121. Unadilla, Georgia gives us our membership park, Southern Trails RV Resort. Not realizing that this was a park that is open to the public for $20/night, we had reserved under Coast to Coast so we could bring our friends in for $15/night. We were invited to find our own sites with 30-amp service and were all set up by 4:30.

Southern Trails RV Resort entrance

The weather had warmed up considerably since we left this morning and I had de-layered 3 times. It was 70F/21C with no sun, warmer outside than in the Suite so we opened up our outside door to let warm air in. Bill drained and flushed our tanks and since we’d run out of water last night he added to our tank to test the fresh water gauge. It was working today, so removing the rusty filter seemed to be the ticket.

A few views of the quiet park

I climbed up the ladder slide to get a picture of the pool

Mini Golf

50 amp area for an extra couple of bucks

We easily got the satellite dish set up, not full reception but enough for now. NCIS was on. Time to relax. I had a bit of a headache, I figure from the late lunch, so took a couple of Advil and went for a walk around the park. It isn’t very big but very suitable for our needs. 

Lots of squirrels - that's where all the pecans have gone!

Back at the Suite, I made myself a tea and sat in my recliner to write my blog while Bill set up the Weber and finished with the tanks. A little while later, I wondered what he was doing, darkness was falling. I found him next door sitting enjoying a rum and Coke so finished my tea and poured myself a vodka and Sprite and walked back.

while relaxing inside with my tea, this is the best I could do
for a sunset shot

First Happy Hour with our friends

Handing the camera to Bill, I was present as well

It was a warm night, around 55F, but once it cooled
a bit, Bob brought Jo her afghan and Higgins wanted it

Higgins is excited whenever he sees us and now takes turns sitting with Bill and I for a bit even when Jo-Anne is sitting down. He is a Momma’s boy, like Clemson was. I missed the pretty sunset but did get a picture of us all enjoying our first Happy Hour. This was a great travel day and yet we are glad to be off the road for 3 nights.

And here we are all set up with one empty site between us
that had problems with connections
It was a Good night!

Thank you for visiting to see where we ended up! I love hearing from you if you care to leave a comment.