A Little More Test Driving the Sammy

 Monday, September 17

Well, the FAA has announced no more curtailment of flights due to the government shutdown being over.  So the is to drive to El Paso airport tomorrow to pick up Martha and bring her back to Elephant Butte.

Took the Sammy for a bit more of driving within the Elephant Butte SP, found sandy trails which required the use of 4WD in both Low and Hi mode on the transfer case.  No issues getting going again but would have dug myself in on a car without 4WD!

Tiring of sandy four-wheeling, I got back on pavement and headed for the Elephant Butte Dam Overlook to see if this time I could "see the elephant".

Here's the last time I was at the overlook:  link back in February of 2021.

The revisit was inspired by this paintwork on a water tank a few miles away that I saw yesterday.

I think I can see the reclining elephant based on the AI generated description below.  How about you?  To me, the elephant's face is in shadow.

Here's what Google Gemini said:

The name comes from early settlers who thought the shape of the rock, particularly when viewed from a certain angle, resembled an elephant lying on its side.

Look at the large, rounded mass of the rock. This can be seen as the elephant's body.

The high point on the left side (your left in the photo) could be viewed as the head or hump of the reclining elephant.

The slope leading down to the water on the right side might be interpreted as its hindquarters.

 

Moochdocking at Elephant Butte - Mariko, the Sammy, Returns!

I am presently moochdocking at Mike and Laura W.'s home in the city of Elephant Butte, New Mexico.  Mike W.is the Suzuki Samurai Guru I met quite by chance as I was transiting through the city shortly after I had bought the Sammy.

Link to that meeting: I meet a Samurai Guru, this was back in February of 2021.

Those of you who read this blog regularly know that I had a rather frustrating love/hate relationship with the Sammy.  Long story short, I ended up gifting the Samurai to Mike W. After I had failed to get it to pass new emission standards in my home county in Colorado.

The Samurai became Mike's, September of 2022.  Fast forward the three+ years to now and the Samurai will soon be signed over to me.  Mike W. offered her up when I asked about buying his other Samurai.   Some debate later, I agreed to his generous offer to simply return it to me, all fixed up.  (More on that later, basically a lot of errors on my part).

I took the Sammy for a test drive and she ran great! Multiple stops and starts no issues, runs strong, and Mike taught me the correct technique of gear shifting through the power bands correctly, I had apparently been babying ( probably lugging) the engine.  No engine coolant issues anymore once Mike put a 195° radiator thermostat in place of the 180° thermostat sold to me by a NAPA shop.

Mike had even added a new soft top replacing the beat up one I left behind.

The test drive took me to capture Fall Colors at the Elephant Butte SP.

This Bull kept following me around for a while

I was able to test out the 4WD too, having found trails and sections with loose deep sand.  The Sammy powered out just fine once I locked the front hubs and engaged 4WD .

Martha will be flying in to El Paso on Tuesday this week and I'll bring her back to Elephant Butte for a short visit.  She'll then drive the Honda CRV while I tow the Sammy north back to Colorado for the Winter.

Does the Sammy still struggle on steep inclines on the highway?  Yep!  I have to gear down to 4th to barely hold 45 mph if the hill is steep/long enough.  Like the Ural, these aren't interstate highway machines.

Is she 1500+ lbs lighter than the CRV? Yep!  Way easier to tow behind the VRRV.

Way higher ground clearance will prevent future issues similar to what ended up denting the CRV's underside cover back in Quartzite recently.

In short, for when I am camping without Martha, a more suitable vehicle for me to do exploring on alongside my TW200. For the trips were Martha is with me, we will tell the CRV as it is more comfortable.

Fall Colors at Caballo Lake SP

A view of the campsite from the higher bank of the creek site alongside which I am camping:

There's some fall colors right here at the campsite, which was surprising in terms of how late in the season it is: 

I took a drive the 14 miles or so to the Caballo Lake State Park, to see what there was to see.

The lake, formed by the Caballo Dam/Reservoir was empty of boat traffic and the three campgrounds I saw within the park system were perhaps only 10% occupied.  

Not much to say about the water scenes:

An unexpected bonus however, were the splashes of Fall Colors in the trees near the waterside.  Apparently, the trees are either Quaking Aspen or Cottonwoods acco6yo Google Lens.

Of course, no regular Aspen at this altitude but what was there was eye catching, I guess in contrast with the deserts surroundings?  I certainly didn't expect fall coloration this late in the season.

I returned to camp and spent the afternoon riding slowly about the area on Yagi, just scooting about.

Saturday, November 15

A quiet day for me, lots of trail riding with Yagi my TW200 but much in terms of pictures during the majority of the day.

The Golden Hour arrived and I was out again with Yagi:

Sunset was mostly obscured at my campsite but the alpenglow wasn't too bad:

I displace to Elephant Butte tomorrow, stay tuned for an announcement.

Now Boondocking near Caballo, NM

A nice sunrise greeted me this morning:

 I left the Picacho Peak area after breakfast and was soon on the outskirts of Tucson, Arizona doing a banking chore.  That completed, I kept driving on interstate 10 towards the New Mexico border, which I reached at 11:37 a.m. 

I chose to stay at a BLM spot that I had found and liked during my last trip through this area.  I found a better spot, I hope, than the spot I use last time.  It is further away from the main gate and out of side of the NM 152 highway.

I think I got the area all to myself for now, no other camping rigs within line of sight for sure.  I'll explore further out tomorrow.

Altitude: 4967 feet, a gain of over 3000 ft from my previous site near Picacho Peak!  I expect I'll wake to cooler temperatures!  The afternoon temperatures when I showed up here were warm but the cloudy skies get the sun from feeling too hot.