This Horse Is Heading For The Barn...

 

You bought a horse?  No, that's a saying.  We are 200 miles from home, and will be heading that way shortly.  The high today in Phoenix is supposed to be 109º... can't say I'm looking forward to that.

The kitties had their "best night" last night.  The ruckus was minor and didn't go on and on.  All things considered, they did good this trip.

Last night, Stella was grooming Murphy...

I just know she's gonna bite me.

 They do that for each other, but it usually turns into a bite-fest.  This was just sweet; and went on for a while.  Yes, that is a cat-spit induced cowlick in the photo above.  They can be nice to each other.

We'll finish our tank flushing this morning, then hit the road.  It's time.  We say we "won't be crazy about getting things unloaded and cleaned," but it rarely works out that way.  With the triple digit heat, we're going to have to take it easy and in shifts.

Thanks for riding along the past couple weeks. 

Another Day of "Side Excursions"...

 

We had a Sunday breakfast buffet at the Sky City Casino.  A bit of gaming.  Joan likes to say, "Between the two of us, we came out about even."  That's what you say when you lose and I win.  I'm good with it; what's mine is hers and what's hers is hers.

Because we made some extra miles yesterday, we had to do some "recalculating" - we'd like to be in an RV park tonight where we can dump and flush tanks, so those are empty.  Only 208 miles to go to get home.  Joan picked a KOA in Holbrook, AZ.  Check-in time isn't until 2:00pm and we were ready to head out after breakfast.  And, we gain an hour on this leg, on Arizona time.

We have never been to Petrified Forest National Park; it is close to Holbrook; looks like a good way to spend some time before checking in today.  We have a plan.

Some pretty scenery along the way...

Before leaving New Mexico, we saw a sign for El Malpais National Monument; yeah, we have time to check it out...

 

 This National Monument is best known for the black lava formations...

 

 From there, heading west...

 We turned of I-40 for a trip through Petrified Forest National Park...

 Painted Desert views above.  Checking out the Visitors Center and some view-points...

 A "log bridge"...

 A selfie from Joan...

 Some petrified logs...

 How did they become petrified?  Thanks for asking.  This area was a tropical rain forest millions of years ago.  When fallen logs become buried by volcanic ash, it doesn't allow oxygen to get to the tree, preventing decay.  Over thousands or millions of years, groundwater dissolves minerals like silica and deposits them into the wood, crystallizing and replacing the organic matter while perfectly preserving its cellular structure.  And, now you know.

It had been blowing like stink while we were in the National Park.  This is why...

 Yep, another thunderstorm moving right towards where we are planning to stay for the night.

Stella hopped up on the dash while we were on this final leg...

Above, from Joan's phone; below, from my camera...

 Murphy didn't hop up on the dash until we were settled in at the campground...

 I was going to say: Murphy was asking, "Where's my supper!??"  But, he is not a demanding boy - that was a yawn.

We got set up in the KOA right before the first sprinkles from the thunderstorm hit our windows.  The worst of it went north of us, but we did get the lightning and thunder.  After nearly 3,000 miles, the van is grubby - let it rain!

And speaking of the van, here's a shot from inside the National Park...

 

A Detour...

 

Not because of road construction.  Joan was looking at the Maps app and said, "Do you know there is a scenic road past Angel Fire, Eagles' Next, and Taos?  It will add about an hour and a half to our drive time today."

"Do you wanna do it?"

Spur of the moment decision.  We made that one about 60 seconds before coming up on that exit.

Last night in Colorado - another Love's RV Stop.  I mentioned the extra miles in yesterday's blog post.  It was a good stop.

Today, since we went further than planned yesterday, we did some figuring along the way.  I suggested we try Sky City, another casino in New Mexico.  Not just "another casino," Sky City was one of the first; we drove by it a couple times back in our "big coach" days, but the timing was never right for a stop.  I knew (well, expected) the casino and RV park to be dated, but I had seen a sign on the way over on our first day out that they had full hook-up RV sites for $29; quite a deal.  And, we are only looking for a place to park and an electric hook-up because it is supposed to be another hot one today.  I called an got us a reservation - one of the RV site review forums I use mentioned that this place had "a $19 RV site rate if you mentioned the billboard."  When booking it, I mentioned "the billboard"... yep, got it for $19.  The next closest place is about 3 times that price.

So, back to the detour.  The GPS was showing us getting to Sky City around 1:00 pm - yeah, we have time for a detour.  Pretty mountains and twisty roads - what's not to like?

We got off the Interstate just south of Raton Pass...

 Into New Mexico...

 Then, west on a 2 lane road, towards the mountains...

 The road got twistier after a while.  That would be more fun on the scoots, but the RoadTrek is our current conveyance, so...

 It was a pretty drive.  Some of this we did cover on scoots when we were in Taos for a week, almost 2 years ago.

Once into Taos, it was mostly 4 lane road to get to Santa Fe, then back on the Interstate.  It was a good diversion.  Turning west on I-40, another 59 miles or so to get to Sky City.

We knew to go to the Hotel Registration Desk to check in for the RV park... and that meant walking through the casino.  Joan said, "These look like new machines - I may have to play after we get settled in."

I got us checked in, then off to the nearby RV park.  Yes, this is dated, but perfectly adequate.  I plugged in our surge protector to check the voltage: all good, and electric is all we need.  We're fine on our fresh water and holding tanks.  Just as I was finishing with the electric, I looked back and saw...

 Whoa!  A fast-moving thunderstorm!  I got a quick shot of the site and headed inside...

 We got a few sprinkles on the windows, but the worst of it (thunder and lightning) moved just south and east of us.  We did feel the wind from the gust front, but nothing bad.

Murphy was keeping an eye out for us...

 Then, Stella joined him while I got their early supper ready...

 They were both good travelers today.  And, for the record, less ruckus during the night last night.  In fact, they both snuggled with me for a while - a first, since their first choice is snuggling with their Momma.  I get that - it is my first choice, too.  They seem to be settling into this traveling stuff, and... we should be home in a couple days.  I am sure they will be happy to have their home routine back.

The humans had some adjustment time, too.  Along about the third day, with rowdy cats, much less space than we are used to, and a couple big mile days, I began to wonder if our "van life" days might be numbered.  We adapted.  Joan is already talking about what she'd like to do different on our next outing.  That's a good sign.  ;-)

 

A Walk In The Park...

 

The RV park, that is.  Yesterday, I took a short walk around part of Hart Ranch, trying out my Oakley Vanguard Meta glasses as the video recorder.  The camera in the glasses does a decent job, but the guy running them could have looked around at something besides the road.  ;-)

So, another video here, that won't get posted anywhere else.  It was a test: a windy day (again), and I wanted to see how the noise reduction in the 5 microphones in the glasses would handle that.  Quite well, as it turns out.

So, a walkin' and talkin' video about Hart Ranch...

 Another learning experience with the Oakleys.

Rolling south today. 

--------

We were up early, and hit the road.  The GPS was showing us into our intended destination just before 1:00 pm.  Nahh - that's too early; all we're looking to do at this point is make some miles in the general direction of Phoenix.  We picked another potential stop a couple hours further down the road.

Another "3 state day": South Dakota, Nebraska, and Colorado.  The "Heartland Express" is a joint venture between those 3 states to make a good 4 lane road from the Black Hills to the Denver area.  South Dakota has done their part - the road is good; Nebraska, not so much - still mostly 2 lane; Colorado - they should be ashamed of themselves - State Highway 71 is mostly ugly 2 lane, no shoulders, with the road surface in terrible condition.  With us extending the driving day from around 350 miles to 540 miles, I was already tired by the time we got onto that crappy road in Colorado.  If we come back this way, I won't make that mistake again.  We could have taken I-70 into Denver, then I-25 south to where we are down (south of Pueblo), but I didn't want to deal with all the Denver traffic.  Still likely would have been better than that lumpy, cracked mess of a road that passes for a State Highway in Colorado.

I got a photo of Stella on the dash and on Joan's lap while underway...

Joan sent me this one of Stella sitting on the door arm rest...

She looks tiny there; but she is getting bigger.  Joan shot this one of Stella and Murphy at the sliding door yesterday...

 The long driving day today means fewer miles to cover the next 3 days.  We are down for the day, a/c going (back into the 90s for temperature today) and ready to relax.

 

And, We're Back...

 

If you said, "It's what every radio DJ used to say after a commercial break," you get 5 bonus points.  If you said, "What's a radio DJ?"... get off my lawn, ya damn whippersnapper.

We had a mostly relaxing morning in: leisurely showers and nothing to get done at any specific time.  When Stephanie heard we were at Hart Ranch, she texted us a message with a link to a necklace in the shape of a cat's paw.  It is made by one of the local Black Hills Gold jewelry manufacturers, and they have it "on sale."  Spoiler alert: the silver and gold jewelry made by these local manufacturers is on sale.  But, Steph asked, "If you have time and you go by this place, would you get this for me?"

Pretty sure she knew we would make the time.  There isn't any touristy stuff we want to do in the short time we are here... so, we stopped at this manufacturer and their price was even a little better than the "on-line sale price."  They had it, we bought it.

From there, Joan wanted to stop at her favorite shoe store in the Black Hills.  I dropped her off in front of the store; it is in downtown, and there is no way this van with the storage carrier on back will fit in the snug diagonal parking.  I made a few laps, then found a spot about a block and a half away that actually had parallel parking, kind of off-street.  Just as I finished backing in, Joan called, "I got what I wanted, I saw you going around the corner just as I came out of the store.  I'll meet you at the corner when you come around."

"See you in a minute or two."

From there, we did have one stop in mind: a Mexican restaurant west of town.  Lunch was calling.  It was as good as we remembered.  Two more stops before heading "back to the ranch": groceries and top off the van's fuel tank.  Joan likes Safeway here; doesn't like the one that is about two miles from our place in Phoenix.  Gas tank topped off and we came back to our site at Hart Ranch...

 I put it as close as I could to where it was positioned before we left: the blocks had us perfectly level.  The weather weasels were calling for "a high of 60º, and a strong, cold northwest wind."  It was 68º when we got back, the wind was blowing 12 to 15.  Or, less.  As you can tell from the photo above, Joan left the slider door open and rolled down the screen.  This would allow the kitties to see out, as well as smell and feel the breeze (which was coming from the other side of the van).

Murphy was nosing around the screen, so Joan thought he might be ready to go outside.  Sorta...

 If I had a few days to work on the training, I could get him good on the leash again.  Since we are leaving tomorrow morning, I carried him out a ways and let him walk back to the van.  Repeated that a couple times.  He knows the van is his "safe place," but still a bit too much wind for his comfort.  I let him back inside.

I heard him tell Stella, "You should have seen me out there - I was SO brave!  Dad and I know all about this leash stuff."

To be fair, it has been a long time since he's been on a leash, since we have that great courtyard at home.  I can see that he and Stella could use some practice.

Murph sat by the screen, while Stella watched from behind...

 "Oh, brother, you are so brave"...

 "Go ahead, little sister - I'll be right here if you need me"...

 

I wouldn't say this in front of Murphy, but Stella might be a bit more adventurous than the big boy.  I'm good if they are happy just looking out, and not trying to get out.

A bit more chill time this afternoon, then I'll get tanks dumped, fresh water topped off, and we'll be ready to hit the road in the morning.  Heading for home.