Went through Durango, Colorado and on to Kanab, Utah. The picture above was taken at the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab. I had received their literature for a long time and wanted to see their facility.
From Kanab, went through Cedar Breaks National Monument (above). The road downhill was challenging.
I had a little more than half a tank of fuel when I started on my drive from Raton to Taos on highway 64. Had no concern because I thought Taos was a large enough town to have lots of gas stations. However, I found the highway passed through a congested, trendy, part of town. I saw maybe two gas stations, but it was inconvenient to stop or I saw them to late. Kept on going on #64 and saw lots of large trucks, so thought there has to be gas stations around—but no, at least not with diesel. Just as you start to climb up Carson National Forest, thought I was in luck. A young girl was sitting and reading a book outside a small, independent station and one pump said diesel. Girl asked if she could help, but her face fell when I asked for diesel. They were out. Found out later that the station was going out of business, like many other small independent stations.
Kept on going, as I was past the point of no return to Taos. When the tank registered empty and a warning message started to blink I started to look for a place to stop. Found an area which I guess is for snow plows to use, and stopped for the night. It was cold and quiet, did not hear any birds, and snow was still on the ground in places. My Airstream has a small solar panel, so I was not completely in the dark. After I went to sleep that night, probably around 3 a.m., a loud alarm woke me up. I stumbled around looking for the source: was not the carbon monoxide or fire alarm. Finally, found it was the PressurePro tire monitor I had plugged into a 12 volt outlet out of sight. My battery was at 45% charge and caused the tire monitor’s alarm to go off.
Next day I was helped by a contractor putting in fence for the National Forest. He had a heavy duty Ford 350 or 450. He went to get gas in a town 25-30 miles west of where I was and returned and put it in my tank with a hose and generator he had in the back of his truck. So, luck was with me that time. It started to snow when I pulled out. The snow turned to rain as I descended the mountain.
Stayed in both Las Vegas and Raton, New Mexico. Loved the drive on highway 25 between the two towns. The drive from Raton towards Taos on highway 64 has to be one of my favorite drives. It is a two lane highway, with a shoulder you can pull over on. Just saw a few other cars on the road, so I could drive 35-40 mph and enjoy the drive without slowing anyone down.
I would often see just the heads of elk as they rested in the grassland.
This bison herd was larger than any I would later see in Yellowstone. The calf was the only one who showed any interest in Jake and I.
Eagle Nest Lake seen from highway 64.
Stopped in Las Cruces, New Mexico, then continued on to Texas.
Stopover in Pecos, Texas. On the road there, passed ghost towns where people had not long ago lived and worked. Was told that they had used up all their groundwater and had no source of water.
The beautiful Texas hill country. My only gripe was the two lane highway, with no shoulder to pull off onto. There were a few rest stops, but with a speed limit of 65 mph and cars lining up behind you, these were gone before I had time to pull over. Subsequently found out there was a motorcycle convention of sorts being held in Fredericksburg.
I stayed at the KOA in Fredericksburg. Adjacent to it were some exotic animals. Jake was really curious about them and they were wary of him.
Ringtailed lemur.
Think this was the head guy. He came up to check us out right away.
After spending the day with the elephants, I went on to Julian, California. At the rv park I stayed at it looked like it was snowing. There were a lot of cottonwood trees and the cotton from them was all over the place.
My spot under a large oak tree.
Looking down at the desert from Julian, where I would head next.
Next stop was Aguanga, California, 17 miles South of Temecula…or halfway between San Diego and Los Angeles. The people at the rv park love their ducks (and I do too). There are several ponds for them and some people put out small basins for the ducks to get away from the crowd.
Have since found that a lot of rv parks have ducks. They make great mascots.
A duck duel?
Blue heron visiting one of the ponds.
