2015 Trip - Chula Vista CA to Carlsbad NM

Wed.. Apr. 29….  (Chula Vista, CA)   We started out our trip on Wednesday and headed to Chula Vista Marina RV Resort with our RV Club, The Camping Squares (www.campingsquares.net).  There were just four rigs in camp on Wednesday so we all headed out to dinner at Dick's Last Resort in the Lamppost District in San Diego. This place is nuts!  The girls got special hats to wear! It was fun. Then it was back to the rigs to kick back and wait for the rest of our group to show up.

 

Thurs.. Apr. 30….  (Chula Vista, CA)   We now have 9 RVs in w/2 to go tomorrow. We spent the day just lounging, and eating and swimming and walking the dog,  - not necessarily in that order. We did hit the spa for a while and then hit the hay.

 

Fri. May 1….  (Chula Vista, CA)  We had decided to go back to a restaurant we had been to earlier in the year – La Bella Pizza Gardens – and all 22 folks in our group went.  Good turnout and really good food!  We held our Club meeting and went in the spa again before heading home to watch TV.  This is our third trip out with full HD TV.  We are now spoiled!  

 

Sat.. May 2….  (Chula Vista, CA)   Saturday was a food fest.  We held our annual Guys-Cook–Mothers-Day-Breakfast-For-The-Ladies, which I think went over well.  We had plenty of food.  We had heard that the Cinco de Mayo party by the pool on Saturday was held on Friday (the night we went for Italian) so we decided to have our own party.  We went out and got margaritas and chips and salsa and guacamole and ate again.  This was at 2:00pm.  At 4:30 we had our potluck.  Do you see what I mean about a food fest!.  We were hardly able to waddle over to the clubhouse for the dance!  But we did it and played four games of bingo before calling it a night.  After that we went home and started to button things up and get ready to head out in the morning. 

Sun. 5/3 …..  (Wellton, AZ)  We left camp about 9:00am on Sunday and drove 212 miles to our first stop, Tier Drop RV Park in Willton, AZ.  Not a special place but we did use their indoor spa after Lydia fixed dinner for all six of the travelers.

Mon. 5/4….. (Tucson, AZ)  We headed out about 8:45 this morning and drove 202 miles and hit our third stop - one night at the Cactus Country RV Resort/Adventure Bound Camping Resorts just outside of Tucson AZ. Again, no big deal in the way of anything here but it works for an overnighter! Even though it was way across town we had arranged to meet up at Cracker Barrel in town to have dinner with Mike and Karen (Sandie's sister) who live in Tucson.  It was Janie's first time at Cracker Barrel!  All of us had gift cards because we knew we’d use them on the trip.  The meal was very good and the company was better!

 

Tues. 5/5…. (Deming, NM)  This morning’s drive was 214 miles.  Again, we left around 8:45 or so.  We pulled in to Stagecoach RV Ranch.  This place was a $15-20 donation per night.  But we support these places so all of us gave them $20.  It was another no frills park and also a PA park.  PA, or Passport America is a membership group that RV parks join up and agree to charge 50% of their normal rates (w/restrictions).  There are almost 1900 parks in the US and Canada.  These parks are not 5 star resorts and usually rate 4-5 (out of 10) in amenities.  But it helps them fill up their sites and they work for us for overnights so we support them.  In this park, we didn’t even bother to unhook the tow cars. we just stayed in camp and Treasa fixed tacos for all of us (Happy Cinco de Mayo!). We headed back home and hung out outside for a bit and watched some TV before going to bed.

    

                                                 

Wed. 5/6…. (Alamogordo, NM)  Today we only had 127 miles to go so we slept in and ate breakfast and got on the road about 10:30.  The drive was uneventful but really pretty when we headed down into the White Sands Valley.  We passed the Missile Range and National Monument on the way to Edgington RV Park. We are here for two nights. This park is really maintained nicely by a friendly couple, John & Barbara.  They gave us a nice packet of things to do while here.  One of those we knew about already – the local crop here is pistachios so we chose to visit McGinn’s Pistachio Tree Ranch, just down the road.  Manager James gave us a tour around the ranch and a little history - Thomas McGinn, of Thomas English Muffins, opened up the ranch and decided to invest the time (eight years from planting to first harvest). He liked the roadside attractions he had seen in his travels (giant shoe, giant ball of string, etc.) and wanted the giant pistachio which was really big!  We learned that the trees have it backwards – the females have the nuts and the males do not!  The males work for a couple of weeks a year to pollinate the trees and then they’re done for the year!  I want to be re-incarnated as a male pistachio tree!  After that we stopped at another pistachio farm and visited the wine section and tasted Pistachio Rose’, which tasted ok but not good enough to buy so we passed. We then headed back home and pooled the leftovers from each of our fridges. After dinner we went to Caliche’s Frozen Custard, which the girls had spotted earlier. It was pretty good   

 

Thurs. 5/7….  (Alamogordo, NM)   Today we decided to visit the White Sands National Monument, about 20 minutes from camp.  After time spent watching a video in the visitor’s center, we headed off to the sand area.  This place is the largest gypsum dune field in the world, ranging over 275 square miles.  We got out a couple of times and walked around.  A few of us adventurous ones walked a bit up and down the sand dunes.  The sand here is finer than sugar, almost a talcum, but it had a crust on it so you didn’t sink in.  Weird but very interesting. After about an hour of exploring, we decided to head back to town and over to the New Mexico Museum of Space History ($5. seniors). This is a four-story building with interactive exhibits.  All who tried found out they couldn’t master how to land the shuttle simulator but it was still fun.  But later I did mange to be an astronaut for a bit, complete with the suit! Pretty cool. We were hungry after our outings so we decided to have linner (late lunch/early dinner) at a local Mexican Restaurant. The food was really good but a bit too spicy for most of us.  We went back to the rigs and let the dogs walk for a bit and then headed up the local mountain road (to about 6,500 ft) to have dessert at an apple place.  After heading home, again to walk the dogs, Bill and Treasa hit the laundry and the rest of us went over to Walmart (note – you will see this written again – Walmart is a usual stop for all of us!).  I broke my fly swatter and needed a reason to go.       

 

Fri.. 5/8…  (Carlsbad, NM)  The run today was the prettiest so far! But more on that in a minute… We left camp with one huge hiccup!  As I was powering down the satellite dish (it stows in a stored position laying down on the roof) I set it to stow and then went out and worked outside disconnecting the water and electric. Not thinking about checking to be sure the dish was down we eventually drove away, Rick leading and us following and Bill in behind.  Bill hit the horn and called on the cb to tell me the dish was still partially up!  Thank God for friends!  Turns out I pulled the power cord and thus stopped the stowing process.  I now have a reminder card on the steering wheel to double check the dish!  Anyway we headed out and up into the Lincoln National Forest and climbed about 6300 feet in 16 miles.  No issues and the 148 mile drive was very pretty.  We are now in Lake Brantley State Park, pretty close to the water.  Nice place. We rested from the day and it was Lydia’s turn to fix dinner.  Her casserole was well received.  We are here for three nights.

 

Sat. 5/9… (Carlsbad, NM)  Our plan today was to visit Carlsbad Caverns, which is about 57 miles away. First stop was Carlsbad (City) for breakfast at Happy’s which was pretty good.  Treasa still isn’t 100% and this morning really wasn’t  feeling well so at breakfast they made the decision to go find the ER and see what they could do for them.  Janie and I drove today so I gave Bill my car to use and we decided to continue on to the Cavern.  Our day was fun and a bit strenuous.  We got in with Lydia’s National Park Pass (Rick, Janie and I also bought ours – it’s $10 for lifetime pass). We decided to take the Natural Cave entrance instead of going down the elevator to the Big Room section.  It was a tiring walk for those not used to walking much especially holding back on the steep downhill incline!  When we finally got to the Big Room (about 1 ½ hours) we decided to continue on and complete the Big Room as well.  So it was a long day.  Once out and back in cell phone range, we heard from Treasa that they were doing a CT scan. They were supposed to be cooking tonight so we decided stop by Walmart to get things for dinner for the four of us. By the time we got back to town they were on their way home.  She is on another batch of meds and is feeling much better so we’ll keep an eye on her.  As I said, they skipped dinner with us so she could rest.  Janie fixed spaghetti and made bread and we brought over salad which was all good.  We talked later with Treasa – and they have decided to head to Carlsbad tomorrow (if she feels up to it then) while we are heading to Roswell for a few hours. Lydia and I then each retired to our motorhome and our respective TVs to catch up on some of our taped shows.