Returning to Colorado

Tuesday, March 17

I spent St Patrick's Day driving along I-25 to Albuquerque from Elephant Butte New Mexico. 

I spent Monday night lot docking at Suzuki Samurai Guru Mike W's home in Elephant Butte.  Dinner was with neighborhood friends Ed and Luana where I learn to play the game called Aggravation, quite a lot of fun actually.

I woke late on Tuesday, it was almost 8:00 a.m.! Coffee inside with Mike and Laura while we chatted for a while and then I left them at 9:30 to head north along I-25 towards Albuquerque. 

This time though, I decided not to use the same old route of staying on I-25 all the way back to Denver metro. I thought I would explore the US 285 route between Albuquerque / Taos in Northern New Mexico. 

The first BLM campground I tried was still closed for the season, damn it. They don't open till April. This was the Santa Cruz Lake Recreation Area Overlook campground.

So I continued on to the Rio Grande Gorge recreation area which had four open campgrounds but no dispersed spots that I could see although there was a small primitive camping lot that was very small. 

I checked them all out, I ended up at the first one closest to the highway, since it had open spots and the RV sites had electricity. No water at the site though since I guess it's still winter in there schedule even though the weather has been very warm. 

It was close to 5:00 before I was fully set up, long day, lots of windy roads through hilly terrain. 

After dinner I took Yagi out for a ride hoping for some kind of nice lighting. But the lighting went away pretty quickly after these pictures due to the high canyon walls of the gorge.

Wednesday, March 18

I left the Pilar campground shortly before 9:00 a.m., having waited fruitlessly for sunlight to come out enforce so I could get some pictures of the Rio Grande waters.

It was hilly driving north and I crossed into Colorado at 10:00 a.m. 

About an hour after that I was nearing the Great Sand Dunes National Park area and the sign Luis Lake Wildlife Area.  I am now staying at the campground there where there is free electricity at some of the sites and great Mountain views of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range. 

Boondocking at Hot Well Dunes

 It took about 4 hrs for us to drive from Elephant Butte to the Hot Well Dunes Recreation Area in Arizona.

We transited through Hatch, NM enroute.  

RV Man

The place was nearly empty when we arrived but would soon see other rigs show up later.  Still, we had an opportunity for a good long soak in one of the cement hot tubs to ease weary muscles from the driving of late.

Sunny and in the low 60s for a high in terms of temperature.

Camping near the hot tubs since we don't have a towed vehicle.

Altitude: 3461, we woke to 31° F so not too bad but we had the cat propane heater running since early morning keeping things warm inside the VRRV.

As Martha relaxed in the late afternoon sunshine and warm temps, I headed out on Yagi, my TW200 to check out the dunes.

The dunes are criss-crossed with tire tracks from ATVs and OHVs mostly though you see single tracks as well.

Javelina Peak

We're planning on a few days here then we'll move on further west towards Phoenix.

OTRA: The Samurai Returns Home

 We'd been watching the weather since Thursday of last week, looking for a window to depart Colorado through Raton Pass and into New Mexico.

This was two days ago, Friday, as a snow storm made its way through Southern Colorado:

Obviously, we didn't leave on Friday.

Saturday morning looked promising but it still looked icy:

Sunday, it looked good and so Martha and I departed the cesspool that is the Denver metro area at 9:00 a.m. and by noon we made it through Raton Pass, with no issues I am happy to report. The roads were for the most part dry, with the occasional wet spots where the snow on the side of the road was melting. 

6 hours total to the KOA at the south end of Las Vegas, New Mexico and an early night. 

We woke to a temperature of 23° F, but since we were at a campground, we had electricity and had run the electric heater all night to stay warm and to keep the pipes from freezing inside the RV. 

About 4 hours more of driving, we are now in Elephant Butte, New Mexico, having dropped off the Suzuki Samurai, with Mike and Laura. Mike is the Samurai Guru I met years ago, and he will be taken care of it from this point on. 

Tomorrow we head further south and west into Arizona.

Martha joins me for the drive back to Colorado

 Tuesday, September 18

A driving day today for the CRV and I.  Drove down the 2 hours or so to El Paso International Airport to pick up Martha.  El Paso, TX, is on the border right across from the Mexican city of Juarez.

Martha and I hurriedly escaped north away from this overcrowded area and soon we were heading north on I-25 headed towards Elephant Butte.  

We got back to Mike and Laura's place with no issues and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening chatting and having dinner.  I cooked up the last of my Mom's roast pork with some Bak Choy.... turned out pretty good 

Our thanks to Laura and Mike W., great friends and Suzuki Samurai Foster Home hosts!

Wednesday, November 19

We left Elephant Butte around 8:15 am and were setting up camp at the KOA in Las Vegas, NM.

What?  Me in a regular campground?  Yep, I'll be dumping tanks and prepping the VRRV for winterization in the morning as we drive the last six hours or so to our home.

Here's Umarang all set to start towing the Sammy....a simpler process when compared to towing the CRV!

A good sunlit day for driving on the I-25 Interstate.  No issues encountered be me or by Martha who drove the CRV separately of course.

We'll be home tomorrow afternoon assuming no weather delays.

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.