Travel Update

I’ve been on the road for a few days now, so I figured a travel update is in order.  I gave myself some extra time on this trip so I can be much more casual in my pace each day, and that’s a surprising change.

I departed Texas on Thursday and had an uneventful journey to my first walmart of the trip in Big Spring, TX.  Found a nice spot on the far side of the lot and it worked out just wonderfully.

I’m playing with different options for keeping myself warm at night.  I could run the furnace, but it’s somewhat noisy and will often wake me up when it kicks on. I’ve been using an electric heated blanked some evenings, but that does eat up a bit of battery power.  A stocking cap (winter hat) is definitely handy when keeping the interior temperatures quite low, but it certainly has a deleterious effect on hair style.  So I’m still tinkering.  Of course, that’s a whole lot better than last year’s trip, traveling in an uninsulated cargo trailer!

The next evening I spent at a walmart just outside of El Paso.  I figured I’d stock up on groceries and such before going out to my first real boondocking spot on BLM land of this trip, and I didn’t really want to try to find my way in the dark in a place that doesn’t have any electricity for miles around.  So I stopped at this walmart.  On a Friday night.  Bad idea.  At 2:30am, loud and continuous rap music woke me up.  It wouldn’t quit.  I ended up leaving and finding another spot to try to get some more rest.  Found a local hospital a couple blocks away that was OK, but didn’t really get much sleep.

Saturday morning I traveled out to what is becoming my favorite little BLM spot. It’s located near the Organ Mountains, a couple miles outside of Las Cruces, NM.  It’s incredibly quiet.  Basically no rules, no reservations, no check-ins, no issues of any kind.  I have decent-enough verizon signal, so I can work, watch Netflix, or do whatever I like on that front.

This morning I went for a walk just after breakfast.  Not much going on, and it’s nice to explore new places.  When I got back to the White Knight, I greeted some cows that were passing through.  I’ve actually seen more cows than people while I’ve been here, that’s been quite nice.

I made bacon while I was here, first time doing that in an RV.  Other than the RV smelling like bacon for the rest of the day, it went quite well.  And now I have leftover bacon in my fridge!

I’ll be staying here again tonight, then tomorrow I’ll probably move on.  Head into town, get more supplies, and venture westward.  I’d like to be in the Quartzsite area by Jan 10th, so I’ve got plenty of time to meander my way on over.