<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s stick with some more of these journal\nentries, dear reader, and Roll, Baby, roll! We covered some time in the\nlast post, did we not? But now, we must cover some distance. Hold on, if you\nwill, and not loosely!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGetting ready\nto FINALLY head south toward New Mexico. One last night at Crow Valley\nCampground (which was last night) in the Pawnee National Grasslands, out on the\nhustling, bustling oil country prairie of northern Colorado was great.\nBonfire\/campfire\/cookfire made from gathered wood…but now I gotta go. I am\nready to roll. Bring it!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
–Journal entry: Wednesday; November, 14rd, 2018; 11:26 am. Anxious in this camper, which I like to call Cochise.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is so SWEET! I\u2019m at St. Vrain State\nPark, Eagle Loop campsite #52, and I have COMPLETE UTILITY HOOKUPS! WTF is up\nwith that? The \u201ccity water service\u201d shyte is the Bomb.com, as some youngsters\nused to say. I\u2019m parked on a concrete pad just off I-25 and Hwy 119 \u2013 known as\nthe Del Camino exit on the interface with Longmont \u2013 where CJ [my son] lives.\nHow about that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s such a 180-degree flip from how I\u2019ve\nbeen living lately \u2013 which at times was total seclusion \u2013 to seeing the\ncandy-colored neon lights of the gas station, truck stop, McDonalds village,\nand hearing the interstate HUM, with the big, red sunset and growing night sky\nand WARM ,WARM, WARM! I think this will work just fine; I do. Oh yes, I think\nthis will work just fine!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n –Journal entry: Same day, hey!; 8:31 pm. Relaxing in Cochise.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWow, I had the electric heater going all\nnight so I wouldn\u2019t have to use propane, and when I woke it was 80 degrees in\nhere. Amazing! The water hook-up is a treat \u2013 enough pressure to actually flush\nthe toilet. And having a septic connection means I can actually clean this\nplace and empty the tanks. Quite the unknown luxury, I must say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, I\u2019m off to see CJ, and tie up some loose\nends. Then we\u2019ll go have some breakfast \u2013 at a restaurant, with other people\nmilling about. Silly, the things that\ngive one pleasure when stepping out of solitude. Silly indeed, and nice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n –Journal entry: Thursday; November,15th, 2018; 10:33 am. Contented and warm in my camper, Cochise<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAlright, this is it. Last day at St, Vrain\nState Park, and last day in Colorado. I\u2019m about ready to hook-up and head to\nRaton, NM, and Sugarite State Park, on the other side of the pass. It\u2019s 32\ndegrees and overcast here in Longmont, so I\u2019m waiting for it to warm up a bit \u2013\nand then I\u2019m gone. Shooting for Last Chance, CO, where I\u2019ll head south on Hwy\n71 to La Junta, and on to Raton. I put new lights on the trailer so I\u2019m ready\nfor the trip. NO MORE APPREHENSION!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n –Journal entry: Saturday; November, 17th, 2018; 9:10 am. Feeling ready as ever in this home on wheels, Cochise.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFOCK THAT! You should have been more\napprehensive. It turned to freezing rain for a bit, so I didn\u2019t leave until 11\nam and then I noticed my new lights didn\u2019t work. Long story short…I didn\u2019t\nget out of Longmont until 2:30 and made it to Strasburg after the roads turned\nto ice. DON\u2019T EVER DO THAT AGAIN!!!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n –Journal entry: Later that day; 5:54 pm. Witless in Cochise.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell, the sun has melted the ice off the\nroads, and I\u2019ve finished breakfast at Rookies in Strasburg \u2013 where I camped\nlast night in the parking lot. Ready to hit the asphalt and see if I can\u2019t\nactually get out of Colorado and into the Land of Enchantment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n –Journal entry: Sunday; November, 18th, 2018; 11:58 am. In the same little camper, Cochise.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYeah, that was a nice thought. These prairie highways (CO 71) are rough-surfaced and perched atop a berm of road base with no shoulder. No one lives out there, it seems, and you might see another vehicle every 10-15 minutes. There are no places to pull off if you would need to. Very unnerving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But I made it to Rocky Ford around 4:30 and\ndecided to stay here because the highway I get on now goes west, and the sun\nsets early these days. It was the smart move. I\u2019ll see how far I get tomorrow\nwith an earlier start. Deming is over 8 hours away (at my speed). I\u2019ll have to\nshoot for somewhere between there and Las Vegas, driving on I-25 most of the\nday. Right now, I\u2019m still about an hour north of the border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is an interesting town. Trains pass\nthrough loudly. It\u2019s got great architecture, much of which has seen better\ndays. Lots of NM license plates.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n –Journal entry: Same day; 5:36 pm. Back in the camper, Cochise.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAbout to get back on the road from my street-side sleep spot in Rocky Ford, home of the best dadgum cantaloupe you\u2019ll ever eat. Sunny and warm outside, short drive to Raton, NM, and then down to Las Vegas where I\u2019ll hopefully be able to store the camper at the campground. Deming is too much of a long shot at this point. I should be there early this afternoon. Then tomorrow it\u2019s off to SoCal and Thanksgiving with family. Whew! I\u2019m getting ragged.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n –Journal entry: Monday; November, 19th, 2018; 9:05 am. Still in this camper, that I call Cochise.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSo far, so good! I made it here to Storrie Lake State Park in Las Vegas, NM, but got in later than I thought I would. I guess I\u2019m not set up for going very fast. My top speed was 60mph on the interstate. Anything more and the whole rig would start to pitch like a ship in a tempest. No bueno!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI stayed in the right lane and let the\ntraffic blow by at 70 [mph] plus, but when I had to hop into the left lane and\nallow cars to enter from a ramp, I realized that I couldn\u2019t see safely far\nenough behind me with these cheap, plastic side view mirror extensions. I\u2019d hit\nmy blinker [turn signal] and just ease into the fast lane, listening for the\nblast of a truck horn and praying like a dirty sinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There were times I\u2019d pull off at a rest stop, wobble out of BroBo on what felt like sea legs and dry heave behind Cochise. Scariest driving I\u2019ve ever done. No way I\u2019d ever try to go through Santa Fe and Albuquerque with this set-up. That could be the end of it all. No gracias!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I still need to secure storage for this\ntrailer. There are a couple options…<\/p>\n\n\n\n Watched a great Monday Night Football game on the tablet, because I have AC electricity and a 4G cell signal. Ate some chicken that needed to be eaten before I leave for Thanksgiving at Amanda\u2019s [my daughter] in Encinitas. Tomorrow. Damn<\/em>…\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n –Journal\nentry: Later that night; 11:15 pm. In the camper at Storrie Lake Campground,\nLas Vegas, NM. Finally in the Land of Enchantment!!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe first night\nin NM State Parks is a success! I like this place, even though it\u2019s in winter\nmode (no water) and the [septic] dump station is closed (and has been for 3-4\nyears, I hear). But I did find storage for the trailer just 2.2 miles away at\nthe Vegas RV Park, since I can\u2019t leave it here longer than 24 hours. It\u2019s more\nthan I would have paid in Deming, but I\u2019m not in Deming. I\u2019ll be glad just not\nhaving to pull that damn trailer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then, it\u2019s off to SoCal… This has been quite the adventure, and it tends to make me nervous \u2013 which is putting it mildly. But I\u2019m facing my fears and trying to punch them down. That\u2019s how you gotta roll, Boy!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n –Journal\nentry: Tuesday; November, 20th, 2018; 8:48 am. I believe you know where we are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And here, dear reader, is where my journal takes a 6-day jump. The journey to visit my daughter and her fianc\u00e9e in Encinitas (actually, it\u2019s the beachside, uber-funky, surfer neighborhood of Leucadia) twenty-some miles north of San Diego is told in retrospect at the end of the return trip. My son, CJ, will meet us there, in that Pacific paradise, and we\u2019ll celebrate Thanksgiving as a family, with me being the eldest generational member, since my folks passed away several years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m glad you have stayed with me this far,\nand I hope you hold steady to the course. I need to take a break and once again\neat. Sometimes I get going with this story, drinking coffee and tea until my\nthoughts start to falter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pulling words from this journal is easier than finding them in my mind, but I\u2019ll continue to do so with your consent. I want us all to be there, in the moment, as these rubber tires roll through this rubber tramp existence I\u2019ve chosen to adopt, hoping it lights a spark in your imagination as it did mine several years ago, when the vagabond lifestyle became more appealing to me, more alluring \u2013 an elixir to what was fast becoming a sedentary life \u2013 in the post Great Recession depression for those of us Baby Boomers who went into it smelling like a rose, only to come out wiping dog doo off our shoes. But no tears here, my friends. No lagrimas, acqui, mi amigos!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n So, I\u2019m off to prepare a healthy meal and better enable myself to take the next step of this seemingly unending tale. I hope you return, to further accompany me on this trek. It\u2019s much more enjoyable if I\u2019m not going it alone, with my faithful dog Rambeaux, piloting BroBo and lugging Cochise \u2013 into that vast unknown… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Let\u2019s stick with some more of these journal entries, dear reader, and Roll, Baby, roll! We covered some time in the last post, did we not? But now, we must cover some distance. Hold on, if you will, and not loosely! \u201cGetting ready to FINALLY head south toward New Mexico. One last night […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":1590,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[240],"tags":[154,86,85,155,143],"class_list":["post-1589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rocky-mountain-rubber-tramp","tag-new-mexico-state-parks","tag-rocky-mountains","tag-rubber-tramp","tag-st-vrain-state-park","tag-storrie-lake-state-park"],"yoast_head":"\n