Tom & Shelly's build, a visit

[noseoil]

4th of July weekend is here now & Covid is on the run, finally! We're on the north-south runway for this part of New Mexico. We had a short visit with Tom & Shelly & their new build yesterday, when they stopped by the house to do an short meet & greet. They're heading up to Colorado for the weekend & were able to plan a stop on the way through town.

It's been raining here of late, about an inch in the last week (a lot for us up here) & there's more on the way with the good monsoon rains this year. Tom mentioned that he hadn't had a really good "water test" of their new camper, but Raton was willing to contribute a down-pour as we were heading out of town up to Sugarite State Park for their night camping stop. Sugarite is a beautiful canyon just out of town to the north & east, it was coal mines for many years, but the mines are all closed now. I'm happy to report that there were no leaks after the deluge & run into their campsite.

They did an outstanding job on the build. Attention to detail is wonderful with too many nice touches to mention, so I'll just say that they have a teardrop which will last for many years & continue to give pleasure as the miles roll by. The galley & interior is nicely done in Baltic Birch, with plenty of small holders for spices, utensils & a plethora of nice features. The cabin has Shelly's work in storage hangings, Tom's electrical ports, lights & too many things to mention.

One of the things I enjoy most about tear-dropping is the people. Tom & Shelly are an interesting couple with many complimentary talents & life experiences to match. It's fun to see the build logs on TNTTT, then meeting the people behind the build is even better. It's nice to meet new friends who share a common interest in life & travel.

[tony.latham]

One of the things I enjoy most about tear-dropping is the people.

Flashbacks to meeting you and your wife.

Tony

[Tom&Shelly]

Thanks Tim! It was a pleasure meeting you and Alice as well! Shelly says to let Alice know she really enjoyed spending time with her.

Here are a few shots of Sugarite, which we will definitely have to spend more time exploring.





Tim and Alice, in fact, took the time to lead us up to the campsite. Thank you for that! Soda Pocket Campground is up on a mountain with great views! The weather cleared up for awhile in the evening and we took a short hike after dinner up the "Vista Grande Nature Trail". Slightly vertical, but worth it.

We also took a late afternoon drive to Lake Maloya. The paved road ends when you enter Colorado, at the Lake Dorothey State Wildlife Area, so we have another road to explore someday! We have a list of things to see between Cedar Crest and Raton up I-25, so we will probably make a few day trip out of it.

We had a little more rain that evening, and the teardrop seems to be water-proof while stationary, as well as when moving.

We then went on to Gunnison Colorado to help crew for our pilot friends at the balloon rally there



That was our first time crewing in 18 months, so we were glad to be back at it, and to meet our friends up there in Gunnison. That rally usually has about 30 balloons, but this time only had 8, including our 2. It was canceled entirely last year, but we hope it will be back in swing by next.

We've been to Gunnison so often we've almost run out of things to see in that area, but one thing we'd previously missed is the Ute Museum in Montrose. A museum dedicated to the tribes that inhabited that region of Colorado, it's worth about an hour or so to casual visitors like us



Unfortunately, in Gunnison, we were stuck squeezed into an average commercial campsite



It did have a 120 vac hook-up so I tested the air conditioning while taking a nap (while Shelly made a pasta salad for a picnic that evening). It ran full blast but I found the wired remote controls to the Cimateright are no longer working, so I'll have to tear into that tomorrow. I'm guessing I pulled a plug or broke a wire sometime during the build. Now, I'll have to take everything out of our utility compartment, take out a shelf, pull apart the AC, and do whatever I can do, all in a building without power. Time is of the essence, since we have friends taking over our cabin for the Summer, and we're leaving for Upstate New York in a few days. Oh, well, AC isn't critical, but it would be really nice to have traveling through the mid-west!

Tom