CapeBuild's Cross Country Travel Log

[Capebuild]

Thursday, Nov 3

We've been to a number of state parks on our trip, some more enjoyable than others. The park we stayed in Arizona for one night was Picacho Peak State Park and it was one of the parks I'd highly recommend for anyone traveling through AZ. I would have liked to have stayed there for another day or more to hike around. I feel like we're more or less on the faster track to return to the Cape (being away for almost 2 months now) so probably just doing one night stays in each park, unless we feel otherwise..... but Picacho Peak was great. Our travels along Interstate 10 made us feel like being part of the migrating "bison herd" of large 16 wheelers. The local roads we usually like to travel along were few and far between. Off the sides of the highway in the desert we could see what looked like 5th wheel and transit van homesteads, similar to what you'd see in the movie Nomadland. Went through a time change from AZ as we entered New Mexico, so lost an hour. We had found a state recreational area we had planned as our evening's destination in Las Cruces, New Mexico called Aguirre Spring Campground. When we arrived we found a single lane road (paved) very narrow and reminding us the very twisty turning travel ways of Napa. Up and up we went, no guard rails and very far below in the valley, the White Sands Missile Range. Signs all over the place warning not to enter the "artillery area". We complied. Continuing up and up (reaching about 5500 foot elevation) we found the campground. It's a BLM area, $7 a night (however for us seniors, $3.50 a night). Another incredible camping area. I was a little skeptical prior to our arrival what it would be like..... but it's really great. 56 total sites, really spaced out nicely so you hardly see your neighbor. Picnic tables and overhead enclosures on most sites.... grills too! Another gem of an area. Really windy last night which shook the trailer to and fro. And a little chilly this morning (made me long for the warm morning of the previous Arizona site).... but warming up now at 7:30am. Packing up now as we prepare to move on.

[Capebuild]

Friday Nov 4

I remembered as we traveled Rte 10 into New Mexico on Wednesday we passed by these signs along the roadside warning of sudden dust storms. They were positioned one after another kind of in the fashion of the Berma-Shave signs….. Warning: Sudden Dust Storms Possible……. Pull Off to Side of Roadway……. Stay Buckled….. Turn Off Engine…… Do Not Step On Brakes (not sure why that warning). Well, during yesterday’s travels the winds were really blowing hard. We could see an immense dust cloud in the distance from where we had traveled the day before…. So all became clear about the occurrence of sudden dust storms. We saw one 16 wheeler with a huge tumbleweed clinging to its front bumper as it whipped past us. We took Rte 70 onto Rte 54, a much less traveled single lane roadway… much different from the Interstate 10 traveled on Wednesday. While on 70 we went through a Border Patrol Checkpoint in Alamogordo with lots of armed security personnel. We had to stop while a very hyper and very frisky German Shepard sniffed around our car. We were asked if we were U.S. citizens and then directed to be on our way. We passed through a number of old towns that evidently still had some residents but seemed most of the businesses were closed, boarded up and abandoned. The towns of Duran and Vaughn stick in my mind. Rte 54 went right through Vaughn where it seemed at one time many businesses lined the road, all abandoned. Kind of eerie. However one old town we went through seemed like it was going through much of a rejuvenation. This was the town of Carrizzo. There were lots of great old buildings, some in disrepair but others that were being worked on and given new life. Small eclectic businesses were evident (gift shops, galleries, coffee and treats, artist studios). I imagine in the summer months maybe they catered to tourists and people passing through. There also seemed to be a number of public works and infrastructure projects taking place which added to the sense of renewal. Really cool small town. I read that the town saw the detonation of the first atomic bomb test (and also mentioned there is no longer any radiation level in the town)

As we traveled further off in the distance we could see cargo trains carrying containerized freight. These trains seemed like they were miles long. Later in the afternoon we wound up in the area of Santa Rosa, off Rte 54, at the Santa Rosa Lake Campground where we found a site for the evening’s stay. Still very windy.

Got up this morning to a very cold 35 degrees up here at 5,500 foot elevation. And still very windy. We’re on the move to Oklahoma.

[tony.latham]

Got up this morning to a very cold 35 degrees up here at ...

Got room for that Propex?



Tony

[Tom&Shelly]

Got up this morning to a very cold 35 degrees up here at ...

Got room for that Propex?



Tony

Or just say "Carrizozo" ten times real fast while doing jumping jacks. It'll warm you right up!

Tom

[Capebuild]

It actually stays fairly warm “inside” the cabin with 2 blankets and 2 warm bodies.
It’s the temps and wind outside when you emerge from the nest.

[Capebuild]

Saturday, Nov 5

Yesterday we traveled through the upper rectangle of Texas along Rte 40. Very flat, somewhat barren land, that seemed to spread out forever and beyond. We encountered some heavy drizzle. A bit of a change since we hadn’t gotten rain of any sort since Wisconsin. Making our way through the plains we then entered Oklahoma where the land soon changed to more of soft rolling hills and where there were now trees that reminded us of the Fall month’s foliage we’re accustomed to in the northeast. We spent last night in Foss State Park, in Foss Oklahoma. Besides ourselves there were 2 other trailers in the campground, although we never saw anyone else. Pretty quiet. It was cold, drizzling, windy and not all that pleasant outside. We climbed into the trailer around 6pm with only avocado and cheese sandwiches for dinner. Great internet connection though, which we took advantage of with Netflix and PBS. We woke early to frost on the windows with a cold 30 degree temperature outside. That put the fire in us to accelerate our return travel agenda. As we exited the campground a flock of wild turkeys, all fluffed up, crossed our car’s path. They also seemed not happy with the morning’s weather.

We decided to drive more than our usual 4,5 or 6 hours a day, trying to get to some warmer temps. Thinking if we drove up to the St. Louis Missouri area we could look for a campground where the temps looked to be more in the 50’s. If we didn’t find a campground we’d then look for a motel for the evening. After a long day of driving (around 9 hours and 500+ miles) via Rte 44 out of the Oklahoma City area, we landed at Meramec State Park about 70 miles south of St.Louis, Missouri. A really great campground with many campers here (tenters also) enjoying a nice fall evening. We cooked a great meal of rib eye steak on the grill, pesto pasta and salad..… and some Hazy Little Thing beer. Such a difference from the previous night.

One really unfortunate and pretty scary occurrence while driving today (fortunately didn’t affect us)….. we were traveling behind a large 16 wheeler with another large 16 wheeler FedEx truck following us, all of us in the slow lane of 44, a 2 lane highway; traveling about 60 mph. I had started to pull out to pass the truck in front of us and as I did we heard this popping sound. He blew a tire and his cargo trailer started to violently sway uncontrollably. I could see out the corner of my eye what was happening and just floored my gas pedal to get past him and out of his potential path. I could then see his rig veer off the road with the trailer portion flipping over like a huge animal being dragged through the dirt of the road’s sideway down into the embankment creating a huge dust cloud. I just kept accelerating as I wasn’t sure if his rig was going to fly after me into my lane or not. The truck’s driver was lucky enough (or skilled enough) to keep his cab upright. I could also see the FedEx driver swerving around the situation and avoiding any contact. It was one of those things where all goes into slow motion and is very surreal. After getting our wits about us we called 911 and they said they had just received another call about it. We hoped the driver was okay and drove on.

[western traveler]

Great update! Really enjoying following along with your trip! Great job avoiding being involved with that rig’s accident!
Many folks don’t realize how often they blow tires. I read something years ago from a long haul trucker lamenting how drivers linger alongside big rigs placing themselves in harms way as those tire come apart. The Interstates are sure littered with the debris. His advise was follow or get on by…
I often just fall in line as you were.
Ralph

[Capebuild]

Great update! Really enjoying following along with your trip!
Many folks don’t realize how often they blow tires. I read something years ago from a long haul trucker lamenting how drivers linger alongside big rigs placing themselves in harms way as those tire come apart.

Ralph

Thanks Ralph….and, yes….many, many tire remnants along the roadways. I never really noticed it all before, but lots of dead tires ….and lots of dead carcasses (mostly deer). Missouri and Oklahoma, kind of like a graveyard for unfortunate wildlife making bad crossing decisions. Taking more care the past few days when passing the big rigs.

Well, making good progress heading back. Landed at Shawnee state park late yesterday afternoon. Really large and beautiful park (I think between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg, if I remember correctly). Terrific full moon last night(or near full) and not all that cold. Heated bathroom facilities, too, if you can believe it! Going to try and make it back to the cape today. Not a whole lot of other campers here but we picked a spot right across from the facilities with no one else in sight. Last night I was riding my bike around and came upon another camper with a vardo style trailer. I stopped and talked with the campers. He had just finished building it and this was their first trip out. He did a great job! Took him a year to build it and it was beautiful.

John

ps: VOTE

[Ottsville]

I have really enjoyed your trip report John. Thanks for making the effort to post it.

[Capebuild]

Wednesday, Nov 9

This brings a close to our epic adventure. Last evening, around 6:30, we pulled into our yard and arrived home. 9,450 total travel miles over 4 days short of 2 months on a trip that took us to California and back to Massachusetts.

The trailer was great. The Ikea futon mattress was really comfortable (made me realize we need a new mattress here at home). A few things with the trailer will need attention. Somewhere in Indiana I realized the brake controller was no longer recognizing the trailer’s brakes. Not sure what that’s all about (maybe a broken wire, but I doubt that)…. Will do some checking. Cracked a reflector on the fender….some flying rock probably. The trailer is in need of a bath, that’s for sure. Otherwise, all held up nicely. Having those 2/100 watt solar panels on the roof kept us charged. I thought they would have pulled in more watts. In the western sunlight, even on a good sunny day, I think the max I ever saw was 120 watts at a time. None the less, I think we only hooked up to shore power 3 or 4 times during the entire trip. I had realized last night was the first time we had an extended period of driving in the dark and those LED side marker lights really illuminated us nicely on the highway.

Thanks to all who followed along. It was great to be able to document our travels here on TNTTT and it was very gratifying to hear from fellow members during our travels.

It’s always great to get away and then….. great to return home. Kind of surreal after being away for 2 months, but nice to wake up here on the Cape.

regards....John

[Tom&Shelly]

Great reportage John! Thank you for including us in your travels!

Glad you had a safe and fun trip. Here's to many more.

(We're starting our return to New Mexico today.)

Tom

[nsfr1206]

I enjoyed reading about your trip! Wish you could have came through beautiful Bama and stopped in but maybe a southeast trip will happen later.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[rjgimp]

Well that was slightly anticlimactic! You reached 9 pages and were barely headed back, I thought for sure this thread was going to hit 20!

Eight weeks to go west and then you make it home within 8 days. Nuthin to see here , citizens. Go back to your normal, humdrum lives.

[Capebuild]

(We're starting our return to New Mexico today.)

Enjoy your travels returning to NM, Tom!
With the recent time change and nighttime's darkness arriving earlier, we found it a bit chilly when it came time to cook those dinner meals. Stay warm!!
Safe travels!!

John

[Onajourney]

What a great trip! Thanks for taking us along the ride John. Is it me or did that go by really quick? Chris