Snow and White Sands National Monument

For nighttime we pulled off the road onto a flat open area in the tiny town of Mayhill, NM. We went to sleep in a warm world but woke up to snow! The road was unplowed and it was snowing heavily. The trees were loaded with snow.

Roger was considering if it was safe to continue on, but coming up behind was a snow plow that God provided just in time. We pulled over to let it pass, and then followed it until the snow let up. We hadn’t realized that we were in the high desert – we slept at 6500’ and then climbed to 8700’!

The weather warmed up at the lower elevations and we enjoyed a late breakfast in a roadside turn-out which was also a beautiful viewpoint.

 

We continued on to White Sands, NM. It’s pretty amazing to see all that white, very fine sand – and that is exactly what it is! It was warm and we walked the boardwalk to find small flowers blooming. The first one is the Soaptree Yucca - evidently Indians could make 100 products out of it!

 

 You'd think it was snow like we had in the morning, but it's just sand.

 We're spending the night in a KOA in Lordsburg, NM. A beautiful Sunset!                                                                                           

 

Hereford, TX, McDonald's and Carlsbad Caverns

Tuesday we drove through OK and into TX. Hereford, TX, was well named - thousands of cattle waiting to become hamburgers. We did have to stop and put extra wire ties on the awning to keep its cover from flipping up, as the wind was determined to undo us!! The wind-swept prairies are well named.

In NM we were joyously surprised that we could sit inside McDonalds and have our ice cream with internet and power!! Such luxuries!! We’re in Roswell, headed for Carlsbad Caverns. It’s high 80s outside – warmed up quickly!

We liked that we could do a self-guided tour of the caverns. It’s the first cave we’ve been in that that was allowed. The size is immense – it’s the largest discovered in N. America so far. The inside was interesting in that it appeared to be popcorn sprayed all over!! The walk-way/path was well laid and easy to follow. We also met a Christian couple from CA that we enjoyed traversing the cave with. The path was 1.3 miles long; pleasant temperature; moderate slopes. Highly recommended!! Photos don't do it justice.

 

Gangs and R.V. Issues

In Meade, KS, we stopped at the Dalton Gang Museum.

There’s the tunnel access to their sister’s house which we toured, as well as newsprint reports and other memorabilia. We actually wanted to go to the Air Museum in Liberal, KS, but found out it was closed on Mondays. So the Dalton Gang Hideout Museum was a second best! The curator was very informed about the gang and the whole civil war issue with KS joining the Union as a free State (unrelated to the gang story…). He filled our brains with information.

This has been the most uneventful trip ever with an R.V. (so far!!), mechanically speaking. But today a check engine light came on. Roger went to an O’Reilly’s and an associate came out and read the code. Roger then purchased the item and installed it in their parking lot while I made a batch of chili. We’re in OK. For $100 all appears to be well, and we’ll stay in the Walmart parking lot for the night – we aren’t alone. Quite a few truckers are already here. The moon is full and big and the wind – now much more gentle – is refreshing. It was close to 90^o!

WIND, Trains, WIND, Trump, WIND, Triumphant Quartet

The Kansas wind set a new record. At one point I was turning into a 45^o right angel curve, but my steering wheel was at a 45^o left turn just to stay in my lane! When we met certain trucks coming toward us, the wind would hit with the force of a material item. It didn’t seem to matter what direction we were driving, the wind came from the side. Kansas has the flattest land we’ve seen anywhere. They do have smooth roads – a real bonus!

We are always amazed and interested in the long trains, carrying all sorts of treasures – oil, coal, goodies from China in large container boxes, grain, and lots of other items. Today we watched a 5 engine train – 4 in the front and 1 in the middle of a very long train! I TX we saw trains almost continuously – going both directions and all equally LONG.

Since leaving WA State, we haven’t seen any Biden/Harris signs. However, in every State we’ve seen Trump flags, yard signs, bill board signs, etc. Even where they had to be moved to mow, they were put back in the yard. We weren’t looking for this, but it was too evident to miss. Interesting…

While traveling, we became aware that the Triumphant Quartet would be singing in mid-Kansas at a time we could arrange to be there. So we purchased tickets online and went to the concert at Tabor College – a small, Christian, Mennonite college. (Roger talked to one of the guys beforehand and told him what I wanted to hear – they included it in their program!)