We've had a lovely couple of days.

Several afternoons ago, we spotted a bronze 26.5 mid bath Lazy Daze driving the loop here in Rockhound State Park

As usual, I went out to see if it was anyone we knew, since I feel like we already sort of know all the folks who drive Lazy Daze.

It turned out to be Jack and Jeannette Walker, a couple who had corresponded with us via email. They recently purchased their rig and are making the trek from Southern California back to their home in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

This is their first motor home and they are eager to learn the ropes. While they've travelled the world, living in many countries over the years, they are adapting well to the more relaxed style common among so many of us who travel in RVs.

We've had several interesting conversations about the changes that often result from traveling in a motorhome.

This mind set sort of creeps up on you when you begin to realize that instead of running from place to place to try to cram everything into your time you begin to really understand that you are free to do as you like. Are you having a good time? Then it's fine to stay an extra day or two or even more. Are you tired and feel the need to just sit around and veg for a day or two?

Fine, you can do it. And as these realizations pile up, you begin to understand that your time is truly your own. What a liberating thing this is, and after the time we've spent on the road, it's still a concept that delights me.

While this may sound obvious, to actually live it and know it on a visceral level is a wonderful thing. . .

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Okay, Okay, enough of this drivel, I want to switch gears now and talk about the fabulous restaurant we found this evening.

Last year I had read about a place called the Adobe Deli. To tell you the truth, I don't really remember what was said about it, but I marked it in the GPS and sort of forgot about it.

When we all decided to go out for dinner, we asked around the campground, and a great guy named Art (the volunteer who is so helpful) mentioned the Adobe Deli, so off we went.

This place is truly out in the middle of nowhere. If you didn't know where it was, you would never find it, and even knowing where it was, we had a bit of a time.

You drive twelve miles out of Deming (not a huge metropolis to start out with) on Old Las Cruces Highway. Then, out in the dark of the New Mexico desert, you turn on an almost unmarked road, then drive one mile until you see a pretty dilapidated looking building (it was dark, so maybe it looks better during the day?). Anyway, we thought it was something else (it certainly didn't look like a restaurant), but since it was the only building for miles, we decided to go in and ask where the Adobe Deli was.

As you can guess, we had arrived!

Entering into a dark and rugged building, we were greeted with a large statue of a cowboy with about a dozen saddles around the base. We then proceeded into the bar/dining room, where we were informed that it was Friday night and without reservations, we were out of luck. So here we were, out in the cold dark desert with nothing else in sight, what a dilemma! Then a couple saw our predicament and took pity on us, offering to eat at the bar so we could have their table. What a kind and wonderful couple they were (we bought them drinks).

So on to dinner. We all agreed this was the best rib-eye steak any of us had ever tasted. Accompanied by a nice salad and a giant baked potato, this was a darned near perfect meal (although Jeannette's steak was a bit heavier on the fat than the others) the taste and texture was truly sublime

So if you're ever out her in Deming, I can completely recommend the Adobe Deli. Just make sure you have good directions or you may miss it all together

Life is good.

An Uneventful Day?

Not a lot happened today, but that's not to say it wasn't a lovely day.

I fear that if I continue writing like this, all I'll post is image after image of this glorious park (Rockhound State Park in New Mexico). But what can say? I'm smitten with this landscape.

Again, we had a bit of rain last night and I spent the entire morning looking at the changing sky. I feel hynotized, in the best possible way.

So if this becomes redundant, excuse me but this is truly what is going on with me right now. I mean, when I woke up and looked outside, this is what I saw . . .



Within ten minutes, it had changed to this . . .




and within another ten minutes, it had morphed to this (remember that you can click on any image to see a full size image).





I feel like every morning when I get up, I look outside and I'm under some kind of a wondrous spell.

After I enjoyed the morning show, we were treated to a visit from some new friends, Jocyelyne and Viateur from Quebec. We all had a great time playing with Google Earth on the computer. We were actually able to see the maze they had planted on their property some years ago, what fun! I love all the people we meet on the road, and now we have someone to visit in Canada!

After they left (they were leaving New Mexico today, heading into Arizona), we decided it was time to do the laundry.

I have to say that this is my most unpleasant task on the road. Finding a clean, available cheap laundromat is not always easy.

But really, if this is my biggest problem, why should I complain?

Especially when this is what I came home to.

Thoughts on Rising Early

For most of my life, I've been an early riser, not always by choice. For too many years, I had to go to work at 5:00am, but that was another life . . .

Now that such choices are once again mine, I find I enjoy the early mornings quite a lot.

One of the reasons we picked a Lazy Daze was the many large thermal pane windows. And what a perfect decision that was! I often get up right before sunrise and open up the blinds on the three wrap around windows in the bedroom to enjoy the sunrise. Other mornings I come into the living room, open everything up and enjoy a completely different view. It's one of my favorite times of the day.

Having lived in the mountains under the towering redwoods for thirty plus years, I find I can't quite get enough of the open desert panoramas. I love seeing the sky and the continually changing clouds. For many years, I couldn't imagine living anywhere but in the beautiful Santa Cruz mountains, but now I know it's time to broaden my horizons, literally and figuratively.

Since our location usually changes every three to four weeks, I have an ever changing landscape to enjoy. Below is a photo I took this morning of the mountain we currently see outside our window. Even though we were here last year, we totally missed the large outcropping that sits just to the right of center. The only thing we can figure is that it really only shows up well at sunrise. The rest of the day, it pretty much blends in with the surrounding mountain. Like so many of us, it needs the sun to truly shine.

The photo at the top of today's entry is the same mountain in a much wider shot (and remember that you can always click on a photo for a much larger version).



We had a bit of rain last night and with the introduction of water the desert takes on a whole new personality. These mountains are off to our back, and for just a few moments this morning, these clouds hovered kind of like the Mothership in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. I liked it so much I took a picture.



Many people have asked how we like being on vacation all the time. What we've found is that the mindset of the life we're living is so different from vacation, in many ways it's difficult to explain. We are rarely pressed for a time (a hallmark of many of our past vacations) and we find the freedom to choose every day exhilarating. It's an amazing experience and one we try to embrace fully.

Life is good

Children of Men

One of the things I miss the most being on the road is going to the movies.

Film is something both Terry and I have always enjoyed. When we were first together (some 35+ years ago) we had a favorite movie theater that would play second run movies without repeats all day long for just $1.00 entry. To make it even better, you could leave and come back on the same ticket! We knew we were well suited back in those days when we would spend at least one day a month in that theater.

At home, we were fortunate to have a plethora of great movie theaters within a short 20 mile radius. Not only were there lots of venues, we were lucky enough to have our pick of eight art movie screens. We went to the movies at least once a week every week and often went three or four times within a seven day span.

Needless to say, since we've been on the road, that life is pretty much over. Most of the places we stay don't have movie theaters, and while we can still see films on DVD, we find we really miss the chance to see movies on a large screen in a big dark room.

This makes it a real event when we find a town with a theater, and even more so when we find a movie we actually want to see.

This recently happened when we were in Alamogordo. We had seen the theater the week before and none of the four screens was showing anything we wanted to see. We had spent a lovely afternoon at the New Mexico Museum of Space History and were driving by the cineplex and I told Terry "Just once, I wish there was a movie I REALLY wanted to see" and there it was!

I had read about a film called Children of Men and knew right away that it was a film I really wanted to experience in a theater.

So of course, we paid our money and went right in.

This film was jwonderful. In addition to a fine cast (Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Michael Caine and a host of actors with which I'm unfamiliar), the entire film was an amazing experience.

Based on a story by P.D. James, it's set in 2027 and the state of our planet has deteriorated to the point where we have stopped procreating. Clive Owen (an actor who is always fascinating to watch) is charged with the task of trying to help the last pregnant woman in England escape to freedom.

But this is just the bare bones of this film. What I found was a deeply thoughtful movie that, even a week later, still comes into my thoughts every day. The direction, the acting, the inventive camera work, but mostly, the ideas and the way they are presented refuse to leave me alone. For my money, this makes for an exceptional movie experience and I recommend highly.

So now you know about our wonderful (and lately, all too rare) evening at the movies.

And while I really miss going to the movies as often as we used to, I have to say I wouldn't change our new life for anything.

After all, take a look at a few pictures I took today, right outside our rig (remember you can click on any image for a larger version).

This bird woke me up this morning . . .



And this was taken as the sun was setting.



Life is good.

OK, I'm Going to Try This . . .

While I already have a webpage dedicated to our travels, I seem to be really bad at updating, so I'm going to try this in conjunction with the webpage to see if I can't stay a bit more current.

We are Kate and Terry, and we travel in a 2005 thirty foot twin bed model Lazy Daze.

We have spent a LOT of time in New Mexico. We find we love the geography, the people and the weather.




The picture above was taken at Oliver Lee State Park, outside of Alamogordo (click on the image for a larger version). It had snowed the night before and when I woke up, the sun was shining and the clouds were moving in over the mountains. It was so amazing, I jumped in my clothes and went outside to take pictures. And it's a good thing I did, because in about fifteen minutes the sun was gone!

Here's another one, taken later in the day right outside our window.



While I have always thought I hated snow (and the desert for that matter) I find that as I grow older, I am quite willing to re-examine old beliefs, thus opening whole new vistas.

Life is good.

Currently we are in Rockhound State Park, about 10 miles outside of Deming and about 30 miles north of the Mexican border. It's a lovely park, great view of from the camp and lovely weather, so we will probably stay a while. Here's a photo of our campsite.



As time goes on, I'll post more pictures.