Calm winds, smooth sailing, good friends, good day

Sometimes I worry too much. For the past few days I have been dreading the climb into Albuquerque with the trailer. We are under the gross weight rating for the Tahoe, but knowing that we would be going to 7,000 feet had me a little worried.

With the final leg of our journey into Albuquerque a little under 200 miles I wanted to make an early departure from Tucumcari so that we could take advantage of the cooler temperatures and diminished morning winds. Our campground was a cheapie, but that was mostly because it did not have shower facilities.

We do not use the shower in the trailer because it is a pain to clean and it puts a lot of moisture into the air which is not good for the long term prospects for the trailer. Mostly we stay in parks with shower facilities, but not last night. So we got up early, took a quickie sponge bath and headed out.

The air was calm and the steady climb from 4,064 feet to 7,000 feet was much easier than I imagined. The Tahoe never struggled and even up some pretty good grades we hung in at 50 mph or better. It is now obvious that wind is a bigger problem for the truck and trailer than any hill.

Let me just say this: “I love my Chevy Tahoe.” On top of that, even with the major grades, we averaged better than 10 mpg for this leg of the trip. Yesterday, with the wind in our face, we barely averaged 7 mpg.

Enough about the mechanics of the trip, the sights and sounds of New Mexico are awesome. The mountains, the mesas, the desert, the cactus and the wide open spaces are everything I remember about the Southwest from my youth. At one point we crossed the Rio Grande. I could almost see John Wayne in my mind’s eye wading across it on his horse.

One of the towns we passed was named Cuervo, like the Tequila. We figured who ever settled it just picked the name off their supply of booze. Actually Cuervo has an interesting history and is a real 'live' ghost town.

There were road signs advertising a business at Cline’s Corner. Not just one or two signs, but dozens of them.

It brought to mind for Joan and I car trips we made and the road side signs that tried to draw you into stopping. As a boy I remember “Mystery Spots” and “Rattlesnack Ranches” that beckoned you to stop or miss the biggest attraction of your life.

Joan recalled trips she made with her children to the East Coast and there would be a constant succession of signs advertising “South of the Border”  for more than 150 miles. The resort, which included a gas station, motel, small amusement park, shopping and fireworks advertised for many, many miles warning you not to miss your opportunity to see this one-of-a-kind place.
The place had a mascot named “Pedro” which was probably a stereotypical  - and politically incorrect – caricature of a Mexican bandito. Typical sign: “Pedro’s Weather Forecast: Chili today, hot tamale.” Each sign had a mileage countdown to the attraction. Another sign said: “Keep yelling kids! They’ll stop.” (Meaning the parents, of course). (You can read more of the signs here.)

Even after you passed these places there would be signs crying out: “You’ve gone too far,” “Turn Back Now you’ve missed “Mystery Spot” – “Rattlesnake Ranch” – “South of the Border.”  Most of the places were rip offs, but as a child the signs put an eagerness and anticipation in you that was hard to avoid.

We didn’t stop at Cline’s Corner, but kept on going to a gas stop in Moriarity our final stop until we arrived at Stagecoach RV Park, which is already on our top 3 list of all the places we have stayed. Pool, exercise room, wide spaces and an incredible view are just part of the reason.

The more we travel the easier it gets to do the set up work with the trailer and we were leveled up, hooked up and ready for a shower by 1 p.m. We caught a score of the Detroit Lions game and couldn’t believe they were up on the Kansas City Chiefs by double digits.

After lunch and getting cleaned up we headed to the local grocery store, which is within walking distance to pick up a Sunday paper, a bunch of flowers for our dinner hosts and a bottle of wine for Joan.

We headed over to home of Terry and his wife Susan for dinner. I knew Terry from my days of police reporting for the Flint Journal. Terry was a traffic officer, later a sergeant and even later a lieutenant. We have kept in touch and we had always planned to stop and see him when we traveled west.

Barbeque ribs and shrimp and great company and catching up made this a day very worth remembering. Susan pulled out a framed picture of a Flint Journal front page that included a photo of Terry and a story with my byline.

They have a beautiful home in a nice suburb of Albuquerque. Tomorrow we will get a local tour of the area from Terry and Susan and then have dinner in downtown Albuquerque.


Mileage out: 76437
Time out: 8 a.m.

Mileage in: 76633
Time in: 11:55 a.m.