It was cool this morning with a breeze. The wind came up this afternoon when a cold front came through and the wind really cut.
We had the carpet cleaned this morning and it really looks nice. This is the only guy that cleans RV carpets that any one knows of. He is based in Deming but travels the country and works where ever he is. There always seems to be someone that calls needing their carpet cleaned.
The photo is of Elephant Butte Lake and marina. The water level appears to be down 10 to 15 feet from normal pool. Evelyn was here many years ago and the RV park was terraced up from the water. Today that is all residential and business property and the RV parks are up high and away from the water. Seems as this town has grown like most towns over the past 40 years or so.
We decided to take a drive and went down to Truth or Consequences, more commonly known as "TorC". We found gas at $2.15 which is considerably less than here at $2.39. We decided to go west on highway 52 out across the mountains to a little town of Winston and then north toward Dusty and then to Socorro. The drive to Winston was beautiful over mountains and through a large basin and up the other side. The road was a good blacktop but lots of short turns and a few switchbacks. There was very little indication of any ranches, only a mailbox or two along the road with a dirt road leading off into the hills. The road soon turned to gravel but it was smooth and not very washboard. We saw a ranch house up around the bend that looked to be way back off the road. We crossed another cattle gate and there was a sign "slow down as you pass the house" and sure enough the house was right on the gravel road. There was some out buildings, some horses and a few cows in a corral. As we passed the house and across another cattle gate I noticed that the rear of the van was very unstable. I stopped and asked Evelyn to get out and see which rear tire was flat. Sure enough it was the right rear. There we were out in the middle of nowhere with a flat. I started backing up the road toward the ranch house. It was probably a quarter mile or more away. I took it slowly and we finally got back to the drive and pulled in beside an old pick up. Out the door came a young man and a girl and he came to the window and I said "We have a problem". He said, I noticed and we will have that changed in a jiffy. He opened the door of the truck and pulled out a big hydraulic jack and a tire tool and proceeded to change the tire. Evelyn and the girl got the spare out and we were back on our way in about 20 minutes. He said that they have a flat every few days and even had one yesterday and they always carry 2 spares with them. They suggested we return the way we came and not go further as the road got even worse before you got to Socorro. We went back the way we had come and really enjoyed the trip as the mountains looked much different from the other direction and the sun was getting low in the west and the shadows really enhanced the terrain. We were discussing the situation on the way back and found it interesting that we had a flat close to the only ranch that we had seen for many miles and it was right on the road we were traveling. Isn't God good to see that things work out, even due to the fact that I knew I needed new rear tires but had just neglected to get them. It was his message to me that I need to get that done and I will as soon as we get to Deming tomorrow. Our friend the carpet cleaner even has a friend in Deming that has a tire shop that does really good work. So we are thanking God for his blessings and taking care of those that do not always do as they know they should.
It is off to Deming tomorrow to the Dream Catcher SKP park for a week or so.