Our RV Technician came out today to replace the Chassis Batteries (upper image above) in the motorhome. He also serviced the House Batteries (lower image). Everything is working like a champ again. Click on the image to enlarge.
Vacation
Happy New Year – 2024
Wishing you a very happy and prosperous New Year in 2024! We don’t have a lot of news to report for the past year and, at our ages, that’s a good thing, I expect. In the coming year, we are going to resume some travel in the big RV, probably starting soon. The main trip this year will be to travel to Waco, TX, for the total eclipse of the sun.
Have a happy and prosperous 2024!
Last Day Camping
We’re still in South Tucson today, relaxing and dining. We had a delicious Chicken Pepper Casserole for late lunch today.
Since it is warm outside here (95°), we spent most of our day inside the RV. There was a power failure for about an hour but, luckily, we were able to run the 6KW generator to keep the A/C and other appliances going.
We will be heading for home tomorrow morning with a rest stop and visit at Casa Grande on the way. Our route takes us through Coolidge, AZ where the ruins are located. Then, its about two more hours to home.
We have thoroughly enjoyed our outing, particularly watching the eclipse on Saturday 10/14. We’re already thinking about another outing before the big trip to Waco, TX to watch another eclipse next April.
White Sands
We took a short drive up Dunes Road at White Sands Nat’l Monument yesterday on our way to our present camping spot in Deming, NM. After a few miles, the pavement ended and we were driving on the white sand. In the photo below, you can see dunes and footprints on some of the softer gypsum sand.
Having seen this impressive natural sandpile, we asked “How did this get here?” The answer is it’s the sediment left behind by an ancient sea.
From NPS:
Geology of White Sands
The story of the world’s largest gypsum dunefield began 280 million years ago when the Permian Sea covered this area and gypsum settled on the sea floor. The formation of the dunefield continues today in an endless cycle of erosion and renewal.
We didn’t have time to get out and play in the sand this time. Maybe when we come through here next spring we will take the time to do so.
Alien Stuff – Roswell, NM
We’re in Roswell, NM, home of the reported 1947 Alien spacecraft crash. The following account from History puts the issue in perspective:
In the summer of 1947, a rancher discovered unidentifiable debris in his sheep pasture outside Roswell, New Mexico. Although officials from the local Air Force base asserted that it was a crashed weather balloon, many people believed it was the remains of an extraterrestrial flying saucer; a series of secret “dummy drops” in New Mexico during the 1950s heightened their suspicions. Nearly 50 years after the story of the mysterious debris broke, the U.S. military issued a report linking the incident to a top-secret atomic espionage project called Project Mogul. Still, many people continue to embrace the UFO theory, and hundreds [thousands, I’m thinking – ED] of curiosity seekers visit Roswell and the crash site every year.
We are skeptical about aliens even considering the recent UFO controversy. Perhaps the sightings are of something more Biblical in nature, but who knows for sure but the Almighty.
After today’s dinner in Roswell, we went to the local gift shop and bought a couple of souvenirs:
We’ll be on the road again tomorrow heading somewhere southwest of here.
Albuquerque Solar Eclipse
We were blessed with clear skies and good weather as we witnessed today’s annular solar eclipse from Albuquerque, NM.
Image information: Camera: Canon EOS Rebel SL1, Lens: Canon EF 100-400 set at 400 mm focal length. Solar Filter: Thousand Oaks Optical 77mm. Click on the image to enlarge.
