Palo Duro Canyon State Park, TX, to Fort Smith, AR

My trip through Roswell took me on a route straight north through New Mexico, and Texas.  When I reached Palo Duro Canyon, I was reminded that it was January, and I was quite a bit farther north than I had been the previous night.  The weather forecast was calling for temperatures to get down to 22 degrees that night.  I remembered reading in the RV papers that the Chinook was rated for temps down to 21 degrees.  Sleeping tonight would be interesting.

As I was turning around to leave the closed and locked gate to the State Park, I passed the "over flow" campground.  There was a man and his son setting up their campsite: a small nylon tent next to their small car.  Well, if they could sleep outside like that with no heat, I surely could sleep in my RV even if the heat wasn't strong enough to keep it as warm as I was used to.

​Palo Duro Canyon State Park, TX

​Palo Duro Canyon State Park, TX

I drove back to an RV park that I had passed on the way to the State Park. When I woke up it was cold. I could see my breath. But I had dressed warm and covered up well, so the cold didn't keep me from sleeping. I headed back to Palo Duro Canyon State Park and took a nice drive through. It was beautiful and I even got to see some big horn sheep. After looking around, I headed on towards home, stayed a night near Oklahoma City, and arrived the next night in Fort Smith, AR.

Roswell, NM, to Palo Duro Canyon State Park, TX

My plan for today was to go back a few miles to see a little of Carlsbad Cavern, then on to Roswell, NM, to see the UFO Museum and Research Center.  I got up early so I'd have time to do everything and still make it to Palo Duro Canyon State Park before they closed for the night.

I packed up the RV, then sat down in the driver's seat to set up the GPS.  I thought I'd better run to the campground store to see if they had any fuses to fix the turn signals, if that was the problem. I hit the lock button on the driver's door on my way out, and just as the door was shutting I remembered with horror that the keys were still in the ignition! This is why they now make cars just a little harder to lock using the door handle controls.  About 2 days ago I did have the thought that it might be a good idea to make a copy of the RV key and stick it somewhere on the outside just in case.  Of course I didn't do it.

Well...  I headed for the store and bought fuses, and asked the folks sitting around in there if anyone was good at picking locks.  I tried calling a locksmith, but got no answer.  There was an RV repair shop next door, but the guy with the master keys was out on a call.  I then went back to the RV when I remembered that the latch was broken on the driver's side coach window.  Yep, I could slide it open from the outside.  I sized up the opening of the window, then sized up the size of my hips.  No go.  Plus the window was about 5 feet off the ground.  About that time, one of the ladies who was visiting in the store walked up and asked if I was able to get help.  When she saw the open window, she volunteered to climb in for me.  We hauled a picnic table over to stand on and I helped boost her up and watched as she shimmied her skinny little self through the small opening, climbed down over the sink, and opened the driver's door.  I was free!  After thanking her profusely, she said, "No problem, this is the third RV I've broken into this week.  There are plenty of folks that get locked out." (Note to self: get a spare key made ASAP.)

​

Tucson, AZ Trip 005.JPG

Getting into my RV took a while, so I decided to forgo seeing Carlsbad Cavern, and continue on to Roswell.  The museum was interesting.  It had copies of every news article ever written about the UFO incident, UFO art, and other exibits pertaining to space and aliens.  I bought an alien coffee mug in the gift shop and continued on my way. 

On my way out of Roswell, I spotted a Ford dealer and stopped to ask about my malfunctioning turn signals.  The guy looked at my steering wheel, and said he could fix it.  He turned my emergency flashers off, and told me it wasn't my turn signals that didn't work, but my emergency flashers.  It seems I had turned on the flashers when I pulled over to fix my mirror, and they didn't work, so I left them "on", and when the flashers are on the turn signals don't work.  He said it's a common problem on Ford trucks and vans.  So I put my bag of fuses in a drawer, and continued out of town toward the Texas panhandle.

I arrived at Palo Duro Canyon State Park...   you guessed it...   after they closed.

​

The Trip Home - Guadalupe Mountains National Park... Uh, Make That Carlsbad, New Mexico

So I continued on my way to Guadalupe Mountains National Park where I had planned to spend the night.  I drove through some beautiful country on the way, and arrived at dusk, but unfortunately just after they closed the gate.  (Note to self:  I need to remember that National Parks close and lock the gates around 5 or 6 pm.)  I was starting to see a pattern to my travel.  I did some sightseeing in the morning, then left for my next destination in time to arrive in the dark, after they were closed.

Not a problem.  Half the fun is not knowing exactly where you're going to sleep, and knowing that there are Wal-Mart parking lots all along the way just in case.  I kept driving since my next stop was going to be Carlsbad Caverns sometime the next morning, and it was only another hour to get there.

​Guadalupe Mountains National Park

It was really dark now, and I discovered that my headlights could have been a little brighter.  At some point I also noticed that my turn signals had stopped working.  Wonderful.  I hoped I didn't get into a lot of traffic until I could figure out what was wrong.

I passed Carlsbad Caverns, and continued on into Carlsbad, NM, where I found an RV park at the other side of the town.  I checked in there for the night.

​

The Trip Home - El Paso, Texas

The morning greeted me with pouring rain. (What the heck?) I braved the weather, and went in search of some real brewed coffee instead of the instant I was drinking. (I couldn't fit a coffee maker in my luggage.) I found the LoW clubhouse, but no one seemed to be out and about so I made some instant coffee there while I looked around. I wish I had more time to stay and visit here, but my schedule insisted that I press on if I was to get home in the time I had allotted myself.

The rain let up for a bit, so I checked out the RV.  I had tried the water the day before with no luck.  When I turned on the pump it made noise, and a little water and a lot of air came out of the faucets.  I still couldn't get it to work, even after studying the instructions.  Then I tried attaching a hose to the water faucet outside, but I couldn't get a good seal where it screws onto the RV and it sprayed all over the place.  Well, I needed to move on, and it was working fine to carry water in jugs from outside, so I quit trying to solve the plumbing problem.  The only other obvious problem I found was that one of the large sliding side windows was missing the little locking levers.  I hadn't tried the furnace yet, but it was warm enough that I didn't need to.

Before I left I did get the chance to meet some of the folks in the office building and found out that a group goes to Mexico every Tuesday for lunch. It was Thursday, and I missed it, but I couldn't stay here until next week, so I headed back to the RV to pack up for the next leg of the trip. My next destination was to be Guadalupe Mountains National Park at Salt Flat, Texas.

​Guadalupe Mountains

I was traveling on Interstate 10, near El Paso, TX, when I encountered a Homeland Security/Border Patrol checkpoint. The closest thing to this that I have seen was crossing into Canada, or the checkpoints when entering some states to make sure you are not transporting fruit that could carry diseases to their crops. I had no idea what I was supposed to do. I thought about telling them I had no fruit with me, but I suspected that they were looking for something else.

Now I might mention here that I did not have license plates on the RV, because I sort of forgot to find out where and how I was to acquire temporary tags for the purpose of driving through multiple states to get home where I could get it properly titled and licensed. This didn't seem so important until I was pulling up to the inspection area where I noticed multiple official law enforcement type vehicles all over the place to remind me that they may have a problem with my forgetfulness. Well, too late now.

I pulled up to the stop sign. A uniformed man approached the drivers window. I was already nervous. I attempted to lower the power window. I say "attempted" due to the fact that I had never had a reason to lower it, and fumbled for a ridiculously long time trying in vain to lower the window. Note to self: Learning how your windows work is best done prior to encountering law enforcement officials. As it happened, the window controls were opposite the way my car worked, so when I finally hit the right buttons, I kept flipping the windows up, when I thought they should go down. This went on for a ridiculously long time, while the man stood on the other side of the closed window waiting patiently.

When the window finally lowered, the man just stood there. I said, "I have no idea what I'm supposed to do." He said, "Well, you could start by stating your citizenship." Ok, so here's where you need to know that I'm a red-headed, pale-skinned, freckled, middle-aged female. A number of smart answers came to mind. I really wanted to tell him I was Irish, but I ended up sweetly smiling and proudly declaring that I was a United States Citizen.

So then the interrogation started.

Him: "Where are you going?"

Me: "I just bought this RV in Tucson, AZ, and I'm driving it home to Arkansas."

Him: "So you drove to Arizona, and now you're driving home to Arkansas?"

Me: "I just bought this RV in Tucson, AZ, and I'm driving it home to Arkansas."

Him: How did you get to Arizona?

Me: I took a one-way flight, then I bought this RV in Tucson, AZ, and I'm driving it home to Arkansas."

Him: (Oh, please don't ask me again!) "So... you flew to Arizona, and now your driving it to Arkansas."

Me: YES!!! I took a one-way flight, then I bought this RV in Tucson, AZ, and I'm driving it home to Arkansas!  I have the title and Bill of Sale in the back, let me show you.

Him:  "No, that' o.k.  So...  How come you didn't know how to use your windows?"

Me:  "I just bought it and I'm not used to the window controls."

Him:  "And you bought it in Arizona, and you're driving it to Arkansas?"

Me:  (You've got to be kidding!!!)  "Yes Sir, I have the title and Bill of Sale with me, let me show you.  Would you like to look inside?"  (Please look inside and see that I'm not hauling illegal aliens, and let me go!)

Him:  "So why did you buy an RV?"

Me:  "I want to travel.  Can I go travel now?"

Him:  "You can go.  Have a nice trip ma'am."

I drove away praying that he wouldn't come after me and ask why there were no license plates on the vehicle.  Thankfully, no one came after me.

The Trip Home - Deming, NM

Before I flew to Arizona to pick up the RV, I had mapped out a tentative route for the trip home.  I ended up following it pretty closely, except for the exact places I stopped for the night.  I found it kind of fun to find an RV park, or campsite as I went, but one place I knew I had to stop was Deming, NM.

​Loners on Wheels Headquarters

Deming is where the Low-Hi RV Ranch is located.  As I mentioned before, I had searched for folks who traveled as singles, and one of the groups that I found was Loners on Wheels.  The LoW headquarters is in Deming, and since I had joined even before getting an RV, I had to go meet them.

I got on Interstate 10 going east, eager to see how the RV handled at higher speeds.  I got up to a nice cruising speed of about 70 mph and was pleased that it drove like a luxury car.  Suddenly there was a loud WHACK, and I jumped as the large driver's side mirror unexpectedly folded in and smacked hard against the door.  The mirrors are made to fold toward the coach in case they get bumped, but I suspected that the hinge may have been a little loose.  At least it was too loose to withstand wind forces of 70 mph or greater.

I found a safe place to pull over and checked it out.  Nothing damaged, but I had no way to tighten it.  A small piece of paper, folded a few times, fit nicely in the space between the arm holding the mirror and the hinge.  It would fix the problem until I got home.

I pulled into the ranch after dark, registered at the night registration and parked in my chosen spot.  I went for a great shower in their pristine, for members only, bathroom, and went to bed.  I guess I should mention here that the reason I was looking forward to the shower was due to the fact that I couldn't get my water to work.  When I flipped the switch to turn on the water pump, all I got was a small amount of sputtering water and air out of the faucets.  I hadn't yet tried to hook up a water hose directly to the motorhome, but it was becoming apparent that something was wrong with the water pump, the plumbing, or the water pump user.  I would try to find some answers in the moring.

​