One day we ended up in the town of Patagonia. Initially we stopped for the grassy park (for Zoe). The town was so cute we walked around looking at stuff and found two bushes overgrown with lantana. Butterflies were all over these bushes. We had a lot of fun getting shots of them.
FYI to anyone that wants to send me a Christmas card.
I rented a TEMPORARY post office box. This address is good for at least through December and most probably through January.
Sally Mann/Victor Turnage
P. O. Box 1181
Sierra Vista, AZ 85636
We would love to hear from you !!!
Yesterday we scouted a couple of birding places. First was San Pedro House. It’s a huge preserve with a house converted to a gift shop as the entrance. We walked one of the trails and saw a hawk and a Tarantula, got pics of neither. Then we walked around the house exterior and watched the birds in the trees and on the feeders.
Next stop was Ramsey Canyon, a small cozy area just outside an Inn. Wild turkeys walked through the area. We saw woodpeckers and a titmouse.
Gorgeous treesBird watching areaGoldfishPainted Red StartYellow eyed JuncoBlack PhoebeWild Turkey Turkey and Deer who photobombed who? Haha
There is at least one more wildlife area within 20 miles and a few more wildlife areas further away.
We are enjoying this base, the town, and all it has to offer. The temps are perfect – highs in the 60’s and lows in the 30’s. It’s been a while since we had so much fun birding. Especially we are seeing birds we haven’t seen before.
We left Carrizozo on Monday and stayed one night in Deming NM at a family run RV park ($25/night). It’s not fancy but it is well maintained. Bonus there is a Mexican restaurant next to it. The same person owns it all.
Where they cook the foodPart of the really cute interior
The owner is Wayne. He’s 90. His friend (brother?) is Henry, he’s about 85.
It’s pronounced Wachooka.
Very very nice RV park. We chose it because it’s a military base, reasonable price ($450/month) including power and it’s a great area for wildlife. We plugged in. Why not, the power is included so we are using their power for heat instead of buying propane.
Morning walkThat’s the office behind us with a huge laundry room
We’ll likely be here for two months. There is no mail service here.
We got on the road Friday morning, the day after Thanksgiving. Our first night was in a tiny (about 15 sites) campground in Mosquera NM. There were hookups but the whole thing was on a dirt lot. Yeah lots of ambiance lol. There was an equestrian school next door and horses boarded on two sides of us. Across the street was a community of single family houses each on a half acre. Only two are occupied, the rest under construction. Two more sections were staked out so it would be at least 30 houses when done. Beyond the construction most of the rest of the town was either dilapidated or abandoned. Two blocks over was a street with at least 10 businesses, all appearing to be operational. Strange place to say the least.
Back on the road … We were looking for a rest stop and made do with a pull off. I had the key in the door of the camper when a sudden microburst grabbed the door and flung me onto the pavement. Flat on my back. Knocked the wind out of me but I didn’t lose consciousness. My elbow was scraped and I had a headache for a couple of hours. Don’t worry family I am fine! Seriously I am fine!!
Second (last) night we stayed at Carrizozo, NM, an actual real campground. It’s called Valley of Fires Recreation Area. It was formed by a lava flow 5,000 years ago.
We’ve stayed here before. There’s a fun boardwalk/trail.
It was extremely windy all night long, finally calming down about 5 am. The camper was rocking!!
Thus campground has become overrun with these lethal stickers called goathead stickers. They have so many sharp edges the only way to get them off is with tweezers or scissors. Miserable little buggers and they are hard for Zoe to deal with. If she steps on one she comes to a dead stop and waits for me to take care of it.
Malpais nature trail
Waaay in the distance you can see the trail. The landscape was very interesting.
TrailPlants growing in the lava rock Crazy texture
It was a very enjoyable walk, less than a mile round trip. The beginning was downhill for 1/4 mile, no big deal until you walk back up. 😫
We are resting today. Two more days of travel starting tomorrow.
We will celebrate the holiday with Dawn, Vic’s daughter. It turned out neither of them was excited about eating turkey so we each picked our favorite part of the meal. Dawn picked deviled eggs, Vic chose stuffing and I picked pumpkin pie. I’m also making chicken enchiladas because those 3 things do not make a meal.
We are leaving Friday Nov 28, heading to Tucson AZ. There’s a military base in Sierra Vista called Camp Alachua. It will take us 4 days of driving plus a couple of extra days for when we stop 2 nights instead of just one.
Starting Saturday the 29th here in Pueblo West the temps will be dipping well below 20 degrees at night. One night it’s supposed to be 13 below. We said Nope, time to move on.
Dawn will be fine in her camper. Her friend Calvin put up insulated skirting (covers the open area underneath the camper) which helps significantly with keeping the heat in. She’s also getting a large container of propane which will give her a steady reliable source of propane so she’s not having to refill the regular size tanks. The company will come by weekly and “top off” her supply.
We moved sites. One opened up near us we liked better, mainly the trees on this one don’t block the afternoon sun which is essential to power our solar. With the sun low on the horizon these days we need every minute of solar.
Our current site # is 34.
It’s getting cold here. It went down to 22 last night. Brrr 🥶
There is horse boarding here. One guy in a camper has a horse and in a separate enclosure a goat named Linus.
Hello dear friends and family. We are still here at Camp Hale in Colorado Springs. A couple of dermatology appointments turned into a couple more so here we still are following up as necessary.
As you all remember Vic’s daughter lives in this area. She decided she would like to live in a camper like we do so Vic scoured the internet and found the perfect one for her. It’s in a town called Thornton CO, we’ll pick it up on Thursday and take it to Pueblo West Campground. Pueblo West is about 35 minutes from here. After much searching Vic found the campground. He and I drove out there last week and thought it was so great we decided to move there ourselves so we’ll be neighbors with her. The spot we reserved for ourselves is available Nov 4.
Bonus … we can get mail and packages there!
Pueblo West Campground
Site 84
480 E. McCullough Blvd
Pueblo, Colorado 81007
We aren’t keeping this site year round but this address will be good until mid December.
We have been talking about domiciling here in Colorado. I think we can use the campground for an address. The vehicle registration fees are reasonable. We’ll see how that goes.
We are enjoying the fall colors.
Vine turned red on a pine tree
That’s all the news for now. Stay safe everyone. XO
We are staying here for a couple of weeks, visiting Vic’s daughter and getting some routine maintenance done in our camper like washing and waxing and resealing. Fun stuff 🥴. We’ve hired a friend of Dawn’s to do most of the work. He doesn’t mind getting up on a ladder and does great work. We think he would be a great RV tech.
This campground has a rustic feel to it, sounded by pine trees and meadows. The sites are huge and spaced far apart. There is a flock of wild turkeys living in the area. They roam through the campsites whenever they feel like it.
Wild Turkeys
Brown eyed Susans flourish everywhere.
Brown eyed Susan’sWildflowersCommon MulleinTiny House
It’s the only one here. I talked to the guy living in it who said it belonged to a friend of his. The owner got assigned overseas so he is renting it. Notice the sky! Also you can see a couple of cabins that are available to rent nightly for $125. Bring your own sheets and towels. (!!)
One of the campground loops.
That’s a peek into our life here at Camp Hale. Except for the helicopter pilots doing training runs over and around us it’s pretty quiet.
We got part way through the process of becoming a SD resident. (Our reason for going to SD.) We only had 5 business days in the RV park we chose because it’s where our friends Mark and Elizabeth have been staying. I had a breakout migraine on two of the days. I managed them without having to visit emergency care but still, they ruined the day for getting anything meaningful done. There’s no rhyme or reason for those darn things and I’ve been faithfully taking the medication.
I thought I had all the necessary paperwork for the DMV but we are missing one piece of documentation (Vic’s birth certificate) for the DMV so we’ll have to come back to finish up with the driver licenses and vehicle registration. We both searched everywhere we could think of but couldn’t find it.
We want to spend the winter near Tucson AZ. While there we can get established with new doctors, dentists, and whoever else.
We’ve had a wonderful time here visiting with our friends Mark and Elizabeth.
Mark and Elizabeth
One of the things we needed for SD residency was a receipt from an RV park to prove we were here. We are staying in the same park as M&E and actually got the space right next to them! Zoe and their dog Mazee are old friends. They were so excited to see one another and had so much fun playing together. These photos are duplicates, sorry.
Zoe and Mazee
Tug of war with Mazee’s rope toy
We left this morning and decided to keep going until we felt like stopping. We found a rest area for overnight and will get to Colorado Springs in another 200 miles. We’ll visit Vic’s daughter Dawn and then head to Arizona via New Mexico.
We drove through 4 states today – South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming and Colorado. We saw miles of fields of sunflowers in Nebraska. I wanted a picture so bad! but we were on a two lane road with no place to stop.
Stay safe everyone. XO
One last thing. We don’t plan to go back to Florida. We need to be a resident of a state and SD is RV friendly. They don’t require a copy of a lease or mortgage or utility bill to prove you live there. They will accept the RV park receipt and a PMB (personal mailbox). For the mailbox we will have a new address to replace the Fl address. So now you know why we are going through all this.
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