Such a sweet dependable girl.
Let’s trade
Matilda is for sale
or trade.
I love her dearly but I want to downsize to a class B. It will be much easier on my old bones to have a smaller rig to maintain.
We had joy, we had fun. And this is the AD at https://www.rvt.com/rvdetail.php?id=9005998
FOR SALE: Ready for Boondocking. $20,000 USD – Negotiable
Class A – Gas / Las Cruces, NM
All Appliances work. Sleeps 4.The couch opens to bed. Rear bed platform has a power lift with Table (2) Storage.4000W Onan 190 hrs regularly maintained. Fantastic Fan, WiFi Ranger Sky Pro Lite, Backup Camera,
28 inch AC/12V TV with DVD Player, Dish Wally, and King Dome receiver. BlueOx towing system with new BrakeBuddy.New Tires 12/2018, Tuneup 12/2018, Furnace overhauled 12/2018, TurboKool 12v Swamp Cooler installed in Bedroom 1/2019, 400watt Solar w/ 2 Interstate Deep Cycle 903-S Batteries Magnum Energy MS Series Pure Sine Wave Inverter/Charger Blue Sky Energy SB300i Charge Controller installed 2/2019, Steer Safe installed 2/2019, New 13,500AC in Living room 4/2019.
If interested contact me through RVT ad please.
Settling In
I have decided to stop for a while and enjoy New Mexico.
In the next post, I will be selling my Motorhome or hopefully finding someone with a Class B that wants to trade. I feel the need to go smaller if I am going to continue doing this by myself.
I hope the Holidays are joyful for all.
Comfort Food RV Style
Last week one of my favorite bloggers, Kevin Lee Jacobs of “a garden for house” posted a new twist on one of my favorite comfort foods.
First the way I was taught by Jeanie my adopted mom.
1 small Onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 can of green peas, undrained.
1 lb elbow macaroni
Parmesan cheese
Place the onion, garlic in a small saucepan with a little olive oil, start sauteing over medium heat add the can of peas and liquid cover and reduce heat to low and let simmer while you boil the macaroni to al dente.
Drain and add the pea mixture and sprinkle with parmesian to taste.
My RV way.
1/2 onion slice thin.
chopped garlic to taste.
olive oil
1/2 cup fresh or frozen green peas.
1 cup medium pasta shells.
Parmesan cheese.
sea salt and fresh ground pepper.
Saute the onion in olive oil in a small saucepan till soft, add the garlic and peas and cover and turn to low.
Boil the pasta till al dente, my rv way uses less water, 3 cups in a 3-4 quart saucepan. You can salt the pasta water, I don’t to cut down on my salt intake, it’s my addiction instead of sweets.
The peas and the pasta should take the same amount of time.
Drain the pasta and save some of the water to sauce up the dish. Mix it all together add salt and pepper to taste and top with cheese.
The picture below is with another pasta, I prefer shells because they trap the peas, but your favorite will work just as well in the recipe.
Now head over Kevin’s site and try his great recipe and while you are there sign up for his newsletter and videos he is a great cook and teacher.
One last word on cooking in an RV. With a little prep work you can cook anything in an rv kitchen that you can cook at home.
Leasburg Dam and Percha Dam State Parks
Leasburg Dam State Park just north of Las Cruces NM sits above the Rio Grande with great views of the Organ Mts. and surrounding hills.
The trails are easy and plentiful through the whole park.
A word of advice e/w spaces 25-29 is right next to a railroad track that is busy. As in 4:00 AM busy. It doesn’t show on the map of the park.
Percha Dam State Park
Another nice park on the Rio Grande River with easy access.
Right after taking this photo a huge Bass jumped, I sat with camera ready till it got dark but he must have been camera shy, never jumped again.
Both parks have a lot of Humming birds.
The Rio Grande River Trail goes from north of Elephant Butte to Las Cruces and beyond. I took the picture of the nest along the trail north of the dam, I would probably not have seen it if I hadn’t been noshing on Mulberries, took me back to my childhood. The trail was blocked by debris just north of the area.
I spent 10 days at Percha Dam and except for the weekend, the park is quiet with a really nice bird alarm clock in the morning.
Columbus, New Mexico & Palomas, Old Mexico
Pancho Villa State Park has a great museum on the history of the area and 63 camping sites. 30 and 50 amp, E/W and water only and tent sites are available.
If you plan on spending time in New Mexico the state park pass is a bargain, out of state visitors pay $225 for a year and only $4 for e/w, $8 for full hook ups and $0 for boon-docking sites. You can stay up to 14 days. I have stayed at 2 parks so far this year and my pass is half paid for.
The pioneer museum in the old depot admission is by donation and worth it.
Make sure you stop by the Patio Cafe for breakfast or lunch homemade food at its best.
This is what I found exploring.
I was anxious about going into Mexico by
Fear Less vs Fearless The Journey of a Lifetime by Malia Miles Lane. Available on Amazon.
Palomas Mexico is 3 miles south of Columbus and the only 24hr border crossing in New Mexico. If you don’t want to drive
I got a free eye exam and got new glasses ( no line Varilux) for under$150.
I walked around town and had lunch at the Pink Store and 2 hours later picked up my glasses.
I had a wonderful day in Mexico and plan on returning to Columbus.
Rockin and Rollin at Oliver Lee Memorial State Park
I stayed during the “Bomb Cyclone”, don’t you just love all the new words for bad weather.
I bought an Annual Camping Pass $225 for out of state which allows me to stay for free if I don’t want hook ups or $4 for w/e and $8 for full h/u where available. So this 10 day stay was free.
Oliver Lee Memorial State Park is 12 miles south of Alamogordo NM and is a beautiful place on the edge of Dog Canyon. Plenty of hiking and history.
The story of Oliver Lee depends on who is telling it. He was a rancher and maybe a bit of an outlaw. He did have a really cool ranch house, which you can tour. The restored home is full of period pieces from the area and the self-guided tour of the grounds will show you ranch life in the desert.
All of the campsites are on the hillside and mostly level with picnic tables and fire rings. Every site has a great view.
Out of the 10 days, most were windy and overcast. The day of the bomb produced a full 24hrs of wind and a little hail.
It is almost always windy in the valley so keep that in mind when parking on a hillside, orient your rig facing north or south, out of 10 days I only had 1 day of winds from the west that really rocked me.
This was also my first time using my solar more than just a day or two, everything worked perfectly and considering the amount of time it was overcast I had no problems.
Safe Travels
Quartzsite part 2
So I did all my complaining in part 1.
Quartzsite is as unique as I had heard, something for everyone and a place every RV’er should experience.
Rocks, Rocks and more Rocks.
And a very large fishing pole.
HI Jolly
The old Jail sits in the back yard of Solar Bill’s
The fun starts in October and goes through March.
Rock Shops and swap meets abound.
If you like crowds go in January for the big RV Show.
Quartzsite part 1
I finally made it to Quartzsite and it was just as I had imagined it would be, it is a Rockhounds paradise.
I got there in the middle of January before the big RV show. So I headed straight to Discount Solar to get an appointment. It was busy but I didn’t expect the rude exasperation I was given because I didn’t know exactly what I wanted. I wanted solar for my RV and I wanted an expert (because I was told they were experts) to guide my purchase and a company that would work with me and the cats. I made an appointment for a month out, cats in the unit ok.
I arrived back for my appointment and went in a day early to verify and remind them about the cats, no problem I was told by the man behind the counter. The next day the installer pitched a baby fit and refused to work on the unit.
So down the
Lesson learned, listen to your
Edgar and Eleonora
The Crows of White Sands National Monument are a joy to interact with on the dunes.
Of course, it is impossible to look at them and not think of Edgar Allen Poe and quote the Raven “Nevermore” but these birds love to mess with the maintenance volunteers.
They sit on top of the picnic tables and wait for people to put there trash in the bins.
Soon as no one is around they double team the trash cans, one holds the swinging flap open and the other picks out the trash.
And when they are done they just leave it, you can’t teach crows to pack it in and pack it out.
Seriously though these guys are part of the White Sands experience and should be treasured.