Thursday, May 31, 2012

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico 55 degrees and partly cloudy to 102 degrees and sunny.

Mens coffee and water committee meeting today. After them I went into Carlsbad and purchased another air conditioner for Buster, a portable one that the exhaust is ducted out the drivers side window. When I returned and had lunch an electrical contractor was here for the laundry shed, should get a dollar number in a couple of days. The electric is almost the first thing to install in the building. Happy hour at four o’clock we are down to about twenty five in attendance, getting pretty thin.


Wednesday, May 30, 2012

The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico 62 degrees and mostly sunny to 102 degrees and sunny.

We had a memorial day cookout this afternoon with about thirty in attendance mostly burgers some dogs. Happy hour after eating. After five tonight the wind started coming up again not bad but tomorrow it will be.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Memorial Day 2012

Monday, May 28, 2012
The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico 55 degrees and partly sunny to 98 degrees and sunny.

Thank you to all our veterans and men and women serving in the armed forces today for the freedom the United States enjoys today, this Memorial Day.

I took an easy rest day today. Some pictures from the birthday anniversary party and the new Laundry shed. After dinner I played cards, hand and foot.


Monday, May 28, 2012

Birthday and Anniversary Party

Sunday, May 27, 2012

The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico 61 degrees and partly sunny cooler after the shower last night to 95 degrees and mostly sunny.

Indy 500 and Coke 600 races today. It feals better to get caught up on the blog, I had more pressing things to do I thought and let some things go, even taking pictures was put off or not even thought of taking them.


Cake, Cookies and Strawberries
At seven o’clock tonight we attended the birthday and anniversary party at the Ranch House. This being our anniversary month we were up to give our wedding story. Four birthday people and three anniversary couples.

Ice Cream


Birthdays

While up for our anniversary

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Friday, May 25, 2012 The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico 68 degrees and partly sunny to 101 degrees and mostly sunny. Wind is up for today and yesterday, wild fires over on the western state line are growing and the wind is bring some smoke here. I am working out side under the awning doing some projects staying out of the sun. Still need to do raking in the gravel I put down.
New Laundry room

Saturday, May 26, 2012
The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico 68 degrees and partly sunny to 96 degrees and mostly sunny to a short thunder shower that dumped just enough water to make everything wet.
At the far end will be three sets of stacked dryers
More work outside during the afternoon with a good breeze blowing, the awning and Buster are providing the shade from direct sun. Happy Hour is thin these days and we have not had any domino’s players Doris had s knee operation the day after we returned from Austin, TX and is for the physical rehab in a nursing home, husband Don is spending his whole day there. I am playing cards (hand and foot) on Monday and Thursday nights.

Under the windows on the left will be folding tables

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Saturday, May 26, 2012
Catching up in time

Monday, May 21, 2012

The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico 63 degrees and partly sunny to 90 degrees and mostly sunny. Without a breeze the temperature would have been higher today.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012
The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico 63 degrees and partly cloudy to 98 degrees and mostly sunny.

Mens coffee and water committee meeting toady. Before coffee I moved Buster over to the right as I was preparing to put gravel down where Buster parks. Work wise it was just like moving down the road. Then the real work after coffee and the meeting I got the Ranch tractor to move gravel from storage area. I only added gravel to where Buster is parked then move buster again. I will do more gravel in a couple of days.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Tuesday, May 22, 2012
The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico 64 degrees and partly cloudy to 101 degrees and mostly sunny. This is a rest day with the work and temperature I am a little worn out today.

Thursday, May 24, 2012
The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico 75 degrees and partly cloudy to 101 degrees and mostly sunny. The wind is back, over on the western state line there are two wild fires burning and there is some smoke in our area.

MEWS - (Men Eating Without Supervision) three of us car-pooled to The Paddock restaurant about five miles east of Artesia, NM.

I put down more gravel in the area where Silver Sally parks but it needs raking out. The sun was too hot for that today. Still need more raking out but other projects inside or in the shade of Busterare better in the afternoon.

Friday, May 25, 2012

Dalco Building

Friday, May 25, 2012

The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico

the new laundry shed arrived today

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Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Annular solar eclipse

Sunday, May 20, 2012

The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico 59 degrees and partly cloudy to 85 degrees and mostly sunny. Woke up to 24 mph wind today


Just chores today and NASCAR race. Now this evening after dinner annular solar eclipse right in front of Buster.






Tuesday, May 22, 2012

White Sands National Monument

Friday, May 18, 2012
The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico 59 degrees and partly sunny to 99 degrees and sunny.

Cut grass along the entrance road today as the grassy weeds were encroaching on the road. It was too hot to do the water stand pipes today we will try to get it done on Monday. No domino’s these days as one couple is in Wisconsin and Doris is recovering from knee surgery, maybe home on Monday. I went and played cards, hand and foot last night.

Saturday, May 19, 2012
The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico 55 degrees and partly sunny to 90 degrees and mostly sunny.
Happy anniversary to us, forty-seven years.

George
Bonnie

We went touring today to White Sands National Monument just west of Alamogordo, NM driving thru Cloudcroft, NM at 8,650 feet elevation from Lakewood a trip of one hundred forty miles in Silver Sally. From Artesia at 3,325 feet a long slow climb over eighty miles to Cloudcroft and down to 4,530 feet in Alamogordo, NM in sixteen miles.
White Sands

White Sands National Monument
"Rising from the heart of the Tularosa Basin is one of the world's great natural wonders - the glistening white sands of New Mexico. Here at White Sands National Monument dunes have engulfed 275 square miles of desert, creating the world's largest gypsum dunefield. White Sands National Monument preserves this dunefield, along with the plants and animals that have adapted to this constantly changing environment."

On the return trip rising up to Cloudcroft there is a pull out we stopped at getting the picture of the railroad trestle. The railroad was built about 1900 to remove logs used in mining and building the west. This railroad had numerous trestles and grades of five percent to arrive at it’s summit in Cloudcroft. this trestle has been restored.

When we pulled in there were no other cars here


Monday, May 21, 2012

The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico 54 degrees and partly sunny to 84 degrees and mostly sunny.

It was nice coming home to The Ranch yesterday. Getting Buster set up for normal then realizing he will have to move in a while to put down some new gravel. The gravel needs to be a little thicker to prevent dirt splashing onto Buster when there is a rain shower. The gravel has been too thin for a long time, and it is the getting it done part that has been pushed down the road as a lower priority.

Thursday, May 17, 2012
The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico 59 degrees and partly sunny to 90 degrees and mostly sunny.
MEWS - (Men Eating Without Supervision) six of us car-pooled to The Paddock restaurant about five miles east of Artesia, NM. After breakfast I dug three holes on lots needing the water stand pipe replaced, one by myself and a helper for the other two. We will help replacing the stand pipes on these lots tomorrow.

Thunder shower this afternoon maybe a tenth of an inch of rain and the pecan grove is shooting the hail cannons trying to prevent hail damage to the trees. This morning the grower was crop dusting the trees.
The Ranch Activies room

Happy hour I well be the ding a ling (leader of the formal part). Happy hour here is 4 to 5 o’clock and the second half hour is the formal part. Birthdays anniversaries notes from the office and announcements of what is going on and calendar (games and activities).


Sunday, May 20, 2012

The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico

Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Big Spring, Texas - Texas RV Park of Big Spring, 59 degrees mostly sunny. A little more than half the drive is in Texas today entering New Mexico thru the town of Eunice about ninety miles to The Ranch.
Buster parked at Texas RV Park of Big Spring

Travel will be mostly west (some north) today after a stop in Big Spring to top off Busters fuel tank. Diesel is $3.889 at Murphy (Walmart)
Texas 176 going west

The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico 79 degrees and partly sunny. One hundred ninety-four miles travel for Buster today. Mostly on Texas 176 that becomes New Mexico 176, all skinny two lane roads. In Texas the speed limit is seventy-five miles per hour thru oil fields and cattle ranch areas. State road 176 ends at US 62 taking that thirty miles to the "relief route" or by-pass of Carlsbad, NM as known in the area. The very first time I came upon this in 2008 I elected to go thru Carlsbad because "relief route" did not register with me as a by-pass route.
The Ranch entrance at county road 31

Entrance to the property

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Big Spring, Texas - Texas RV Park of Big Spring,

Monday, May 14, 2012
Brady, Texas - Heart Of Texas RV Park, 59 degrees and partly sunny. Buster gets a drink today diesel is $3.959. Did not get a good fill last time as the pump shutoff at $150.00 and the tank was close to full I did not bother to top it off. Today I just put fifty gallons in and will top off tomorrow in Big Spring. That way when Buster gets to the Ranch there will be more in the tank while parked, a good thing. We had no internet connection here as I turned off the air card and the phone had no data connection, proberly not a Verizon wireless area. There were only two bars on the phone.
Texas US 87 north
US 87 north going to Big Spring, TX
Big Spring, Texas - Texas RV Park of Big Spring, 69 degrees and rain. Well what do you know we are going to get wet in Big Spring, TX., a rain shower as we pull into the camp site to setup Buster. In these pictures you can see the rain to the left and I thought we might miss this cloud but it was moving in our direction. One hundred sixty-four miles for Buster north northwest travel today, divided four lane light traffic my kind of driving. The terrain is changing towards the desert, more cactus plants are seen per mile traveled north northwest today. This park has wifi a bit slow but better than nothing.

Friday, May 18, 2012

Brady, Texas - Heart Of Texas RV Park

Saturday, May 12, 2012
Austin, TX - Austin Lone Star Carefree RV Park 65 degrees and partly sunny to 81 degrees and mostly sunny. Carole Jackie and Avery fly out to Oakland, CA this afternoon at four. We hung for a while and they got tied up with the real estate broker submitting applications. One place they were hopping for was pulled off the market. No final place yet for the July move.

Sunday, May 13, 2012
Austin, TX - Austin Lone Star Carefree RV Park 62 degrees and partly sunny and dry.
Buster is on the road today headed to New Mexico. The drive today is thru the Texas Hill country on State Road 71 to Brady, TX.
Buster traveling up Texas 71

Buster is on the road today headed to New Mexico. The drive today is thru the Texas Hill country on State Road 71 to Brady, TX.

Brady, Texas - Heart Of Texas RV Park - 86 degrees and partly sunny. A small park in a town of five thousand. One hundred twenty nine miles Buster traveled thru the rolling hills of Texas hill country, a nice drive on mostly two lane skinny roads once we left the greater Austin city area.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Austin, TX - Austin Lone Star Carefree RV Park

Friday, May 11, 2012

Texas state capital building

Austin, TX - Austin Lone Star Carefree RV Park, 64 degrees and partly sunny to 79 degrees and mostly cloudy. We have puddles all around Buster boy did we have rain, what drought, there has been some rain everyday we have been here. We have not seen any evidence of drought here this year.
Inside looking up at the dome
Today Bonnie and I went to the Texas state capital building and toured that with a large number of school children there also. Carole Jackie and Avery looked at more houses for rent. The market here is tight and the inventory is small.

State assembly chamber

Monday, May 14, 2012

Austin, TX - Austin Lone Star Carefree RV Park

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Austin, TX - Austin Lone Star Carefree RV Park, 67 degrees and partly sunny to 70 degrees and mostly rain. The drought is broken, lakes are filling, puddles are everywhere. We are waterlogged with the rain we have been here, wow. We had started to take Avery to the Austin Zoo but that got rained out, not today. We ended up at a half empty enclosed mall, stores closed for lack of business but there is still plenty of traffic on the major routes here.

Walking around for us and riding the kids rides for Avery at least it was dry. Latter we went to dinner in town on the outside patio meeting a couple of friends who brought their dog, of Carole and Jackie on the way home to Buster there was a stop at Walmart for a few things and gas for Silver Sally. As we were coming out of walmart the rain started again for the rest of the night even knocking out live television signal reception. It has been a long time since rain interrupted our television signal here in Buster.

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Austin, TX - Austin Children's Museum

Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Austin, TX - Austin Lone Star Carefree RV Park 64 degrees and rain to 79 degrees and partly cloudy. We have had more rain the these few days then any recent time I can remember, almost half an inch in the past day.


Avery and Bonnie
Today we met Carole and Avery at the Austin Children's Museum, Carole and Jackie went to the realtor for house hunting and Bonnie and I took Avery into the children’s museum. After lunch I needed the right lens fixed in the bifocal glasses, so off to fine the Walmart glasses. They replaced the screw that holds the right lens into the frame good as new now.

Friday, May 11, 2012

Austin, TX - Texas Natural Science Center's

Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Austin, TX - Austin Lone Star Carefree RV Park 67 degrees and cloudy to 83 degrees and rain. This cleared off to a dry day to visit the Texas Memorial Museum.
Buster parked at Austin Lone Star Carefree RV Park
 Texas Natural Science Center's exhibit hall is the Texas Memorial Museum located on The University of Texas at Austin campus in Austin, Texas. Exhibits are focused on dinosaurs and fossils, Texas wildlife, gems and minerals. Avery is into dinosaur’s and enjoy’s visiting these facilities. Carole and jacking are closing in on the west side of Austin for the right school and are looking at houses there.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Austin, TX - Austin Lone Star Carefree RV Park

Monday, May 7, 2012
Austin, TX - Austin Lone Star Carefree RV Park 68 degrees and partly sunny to 90 degrees and mostly sunny. In the evening it clouded up with thunder and lightening showers. Carole and Jackie had a big day visiting and getting information on the area for schools and where they want to look for housing.
Avery
Traffic is heavy and back ups on the interstate happen all the time. They are concerned for Avery to get him into the right school so where they select housing is important.

While they were checking on schools and neighborhoods we took Avery downtown to a water park where he could run thru water fountains.

Carile and Avery
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico 68 degrees and sunny to 97 degrees and sunny.

Mens coffee and water committee meeting this morning. Then it is starting the braking camp as Buster is on the road tomorrow. We are seventy seven days here when we pull out tomorrow.

We attended happy hour and at the close the song Happy Trails was sung as we gave our travel plans with those assembled. Mexican train after dinner.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico 59 degrees and sunny. Buster is on the road today.

We departed the Ranch before 9:30 AM, good for us leaving that early as we did more yesterday in preparing to leave. Our travel today is only on US 285, Buster traveled easily (no traffic to speak of) down the one hundred sixty four miles to Fort Stockton, TX. Stopped to bet Buster a drink of diesel fuel at $4.009 per gallon.



Fort Stockton, TX 97 degrees and sunny. Wind came up late afternoon into the evening. We changed to central time coming into Texas and it has been since last August that we were in central time. 

Buster ready to depart The Ranch

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center


Sunday, May 6, 2012
Austin, TX - Austin Lone Star Carefree RV Park 68 degrees and rain to 93 degrees and sunny. The morning cleared off after nine o’clock and turned into a nice day, hot and some humidity. The rain started as thunder and lightening at one in the morning and there was seven tenths of an inch measured. More rain then Bonnie and I have had in months.

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Entrance
We visited the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center west of Austin this afternoon. Lady Bird Johnson, our former first lady, and actress Helen Hayes founded an organization in 1982 to protect and preserve North America's native plants and natural landscapes. First as the National Wildflower Research Center and later as the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, this special place exists to introduce people to the beauty and diversity of wildflowers and other native plants.

Prickly Pear Cactus in bloom

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

tin, TX - Austin Lone Star Carefree RV Park

Friday, May 4, 2012
Junction, TX 69 degrees and partly sunny. We started later today as the drive is only one hundred thirty five miles. Rolling hills or Texas hill country is the drive today with only eleven miles on the interstate ten with most of the driving on US 290 thru Fredericksburg, TX.

Austin, TX - Austin Lone Star Carefree RV Park 93 degrees and partly sunny. Just off I 35 but we do not hear but a small amount of the traffic noise. A nice clean up to date gated park. Getting set up for a weeks stay, actually nine days.

Saturday, May 5, 2012
Austin, TX - Austin Lone Star Carefree RV Park 73 degrees and partly sunny to 93 degrees.

We need to replace our telephones last change was February 2009. I have been thinking of this for a while as I have been droping calls because the battery will not support the electric draw when talking more than a few minutes. The area of New Mexico we are in is not Verizon coverage area so this is an opportunity to be in the Verizon coverage area. Today I went to a Verizon store a short way down interstate thirty-five from the campground and purchased Motorola Droid Razor’s for Bonnie and I we move to the twenty-first century telephones. Carole Jackie and Avery are flying in late today and will see them Monday as they have local friends to meet with.

Monday, May 7, 2012

Fort Stockton, TX

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Fort Stockton, TX - Parkview RV Park, 71 degrees and sunny going cloudy traveling down the road. Actually that was the good news as Buster is traveling east southeast puts the sun into the big windshields creating heat so the cloudy cut the sun back and it was a good driving day. We started before ten this morning headed east on interstate ten, two hundred miles. Up to 93 degrees all day. Fort Stockton, TX is the junction of two main roads of our trip US 285 and interstate ten.
Buster and Silver Sally parked in Junction, TX
Junction, TX - Segovia River RV Park a hot dry 93 degrees and partly cloudy there is nothing here, Buster is ten miles east of Junction and there is only 30 amp electric. That means we can run only one air conditioner. One will not keep up with the heat, no shade and just soaking up the sun. I turned on the generator and ran the generator and two air conditioners for a few hours thus cooling Buster. There was one other rig here.

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Fort Stockton, TX

Tuesday, May 1, 2012
The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico 68 degrees and sunny to 97 degrees and sunny.

Mens coffee and water committee meeting this morning. Then it is starting the braking camp as Buster is on the road tomorrow. We are seventy seven days here when we pull out tomorrow.

We attended happy hour and at the close the song Happy Trails was sung as we gave our travel plans with those assembled. Mexican train after dinner.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico 59 degrees and sunny. Buster is on the road today.


Buster ready to depart The Ranch

Fort Stockton, TX 97 degrees and sunny. Wind came up late afternoon into the evening. We changed to central time coming into Texas and it has been since last August that we were in central time. In the above picture you can notice the antenna going to the travel position 

Thursday, May 3, 2012

The Ranch Lakewood, NM

Sunday, April 29, 2012
The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico 62 degrees and sunny to 94 degrees and sunny.

Winds coming from the north this morning (Buster’s front is north) the awnings stayed out as the winds did settle down after a while. Happy hour at four o’clock and Mexican Train after dinner tonight. Tonight the train stopped while we attended the birthday and anniversary party celebrating Bonnie’s birthday and continued to the end, girls win, Bonnie and Doris.

 

Monday, April 30, 2012
The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico 55 degrees and sunny to 93 degrees and sunny. We went into Carlsbad, NM for lunch Walmart and Albertsons in preparation for our trip starting on Wednesday. Happy hour at four o’clock and Mexican Train after dinner tonight.