A new adventure

Headed out to Carlsbad on Saturday.  Made a stop in Roswell to learn about all the alien conspiracy theories.  Nice little museum but glad I only paid $5 to get in! Just north of Carsbad, the town, I ran across a Living Desert Zoo and Botanical park. Made a other stop and enjoyed seeing all the birds and animals.  There was even a live raptor show, so I stuck around for that. Very nice little park. I found camping in the little town at the foot of the hills that lead to Carlsbad Caverns.  It was cold the first night, below freezing, but doubled up on my sleeping bags, put on my new warm pants I got for Xmas and was plenty cozy. Got up early and even made some coffee to go with my breakfast.  I was up to the visited center early and got my tickets for the day.  No luck getting into the lantern tour, but did get on a tour that was ranger lead and took you through rooms more beautiful than I could have ever imagined.   Over all the caverns are ha...

What a terrible drive! Six plus hours of freezing rain and an unplanned overnight in Okalahoma. The timing was good for getting out of Iowa between storms, but it put me smack dab in the middle of a huge ice storm covering Oklahoma. Finally made it to Amarillo, and stopped for lunch to let my car de-ice and grab lunch. Found a great place that even had a serenading cowboy and enjoyed a nice pecan porter. The weather kept warming up the farther I got from home. Had a nice dinner with Steve last night and am enjoying hanging out with him and his dogs. Went out to his jobsite today. Talk about the middle of no where. Flat prairie land with a few, mostly abandoned buildings dotting the horizon.  Work is calling him back early, so trying to maximize and enjoy the short time I will have company on this leg of the trip.  I  will likely spend most of the next two weeks alone.  Tomorrow we will part ways for a couple of months. My plans are leading me farther south. Wi...

Work has been in a lull, and I am getting stir crazy. Haven't worked in almost three weeks, and potentially not getting work for another 3 to 4 weeks has given me a great wake up call.  And it is screaming "Why are you wasting time! Get back out there!" So made a call to my friend Steve who is working down in New Mexico and arranged to drive down and meet him and spend a few days hanging out with him & his dogs. Will be a good way to start this next mini adventure. Packing up has been a lot easier this time.   I already know what is needed most and what can be left behind.  That giant compression bag full of yarn? Not going along this time. I was so convinced I would be knitting in my campsites during the evenings, and in reality I only knitted twice in all the months I was out there. Out with the yarn! Only a few hick ups so far.  1. I CAN'T FIND MY SLEEPING BAG!!! How does such a critical item just up and disappear? I have found all three o...