New Mexico stays and into Texas

 We stayed at Humming Desert Alpaca Farm through Harvest Hosts, in between Albuquerque and Santa Fe.  They have a herd of 30 Alpacas along with 3 Livestock Guardian Dogs.  We had n in depth tour with the owner learning about Alpaca fleece microns; how their breeding and what food they eat can determine how soft or thick it is.  For reference, most human hair is 60 microns (per the owner) and the Alpacas we saw were between 15-30, so fine that you can't feel the fleece between your fingers.  We learned that Alpaca fleece is hollow, which makes it warmer than wool; it's water resistant and fire resistant due to not having any oils.  Anyone need new Alpaca socks (instead of the common wool)?  The owner shows these great animals and they recently took 1st place for their fleece! Their Alpaca herd is in the top 10 in the country.  They are starting to make plans for their retirement and will be selling their business...if anyone is interested!?!

Curious, but cautious of new people

Our souvenirs: a couch throw(handmade) and Alpaca hiking socks

For the next couple of nights we stayed in Santa Fe at an RV park while exploring the city.  We decided to put the dogs in play care for the day while walking through the historic plaza, beautiful churches, surrounding galleries and stores.  The dogs were exhausted and we felt like we had a date day!  We found out that there is a "margarita crawl" with 40+ establishments to visit and taste, oh boy!  We did not sign up, but did visit 4 of the places for margaritas which were tasty, especially the frozen margarita/sangria one I had with dinner.  We also tried the New Mexican green chile smothered enchiladas, and sopapillas with honey.  Yum!  I think the flower of Santa Fe has got to be the dried red chile, they were at every store, on all the light posts and in every size.

Amazing art all over!

Into Texas we went, to Lubbock to be exact.  Jason had a nice trip down memory lane of places he remembers from his early childhood growing up there.  Mamma & Papa's house, the park pond he used to fish in and ride his bike to, Bacon Heights church, Buffalo Spring lake outside of town he used to fish and off-roading trails his Uncle drove him on, and his fathers grave stone.  Lubbock has cotton fields all around, endless variety of foods and looks to be a pretty industrial city.  We didn't really see anything else interesting, but loved the warmer weather!

Cotton pickin

And now, into other parts of Texas.....Roscoe, Abilene, Brady....

MOAB

Adios, Lander WY!  It snowed the night before leaving, of course.  

We're on our way!

Red Canyon leaving Lander.

Our first destination was Moab, UT.  Moab is an outdoor enthusiast playground, which makes me think that the entire USA is our backyard now!  We barely scratched the surface of everything to do in Moab.  The weather was a little bit of an issue for our adventures (windy and sleet 😞), but we still got out there!

Our travel day involved staying 1 night at the KOA in Vernal, UT home of Dinosaurland!  We did not visit.  It was a great campground.  The next 3 nights were at Moab glamping and RV resort.  Apparently we got in just in time as their busy season starts April 1st-Thanksgiving.  The glamping part is your choice of canvas tent camping, teepee stays, travel trailer stays or 1 room cabins.  

Ok, on to MOAB!  1st day we spent hiking with the dogs to one of the few trails they're allowed on to Corona Arch.  There is a cable to help pull you up the slick rock, which was fun for us wearing hiking shoes, not so much for Duke.  It took Duke 10 minutes to figure out how to get up the rock.  Meanwhile, groups of people were making it up with the help of Otis running up and down the rock showing them the way.  A beautiful and astounding view of the mountains.  

We then decided to take a dirt road to Canyonlands Nat'l Park, it was great to get off the beaten path, even with one of the areas called "pucker pass".  It made for a check-your-seatbelt moment!  This took us to Schafer Road with 4 miles of switchbacks and 4x4 recommended, Jason was in heaven!  Also that day we drove through Arches Nat'l Park, yep there were more arches!😜 

Photos do not do this justice...we were SO high up!

Not THE balanced rock, but just another we found

The next day it was very cold and rain/snowing meaning we could relax in the morning.  The sun finally came out in the afternoon and took us exploring to Hell's Revenge 4x4 trail and fins n flaps trail.  A very iconic place that will be filled with 10000 jeeps come April!  Jason took our truck on some of the trails...no scraping (yay!).  We were really missing our old Jeep and side by side though.  Our last day in Moab we spent hiking up a 4x4 trail to the rim that overlooks Moab, trying to get the doggies tired so we could explore the town shops.  The trail wore us out too!  

  And, today we are on the road headed south.  We stopped by 4 corners and got the requisite photo.  Headed to Algodones, NM to an Alpaca farm for the night.

For those that wonder or have questions, we would love to answer them!  Next photos are of our RV open getting ready to close it up for travel (excuse the mess, but those slides have to come in and things on the floor need to get put up).

And, just a couple more of some funny things we heard/saw during our travels:

Give yourself a reason to laugh today!

 

Part II, JR oTr

Well, we are at it again!  Going on the road that is (along with a couple other things we've done again).  But, let me catch you up on what happened with us since the last blog posting, 11 years ago.

2014-2021: We ultimately made our way to Reno, NV (the boys choice!), where we stayed in an RV park in Truckee CA, about 35 min from Reno.  In Truckee, we said goodbye to the RV life and settled the boys in school for their remaining years.  Jason and I worked at the local hospital.  In 2020 Andre enlisted in the Navy.  In 2021, after graduating, Alex enrolled in UofA in Tucson, AZ and Jason and I decided we wanted warmer weather!

Andre and Alex in San Fran 2014

 

Alex, not too thrilled with 1st day of school 2014

Andre is a better sport...off to High School!

Barcelona bound, 2016

Xmas tree hunting, 2016

Duke, and our amazing dog groomer, Jason!

Andre's Graduation, 2018

NAVY boy!

2020!

Alex's graduation, 2021!

2021-2023 yeah, that's all that we lasted in Arizona.  While we had an amazing house, loved the warmer (hot!) weather, and great golf, we also still looked forward to road adventures.   We bought another 5th wheel and hit the open road again in Feb 2023.  Our first stop was Sacramento CA working a nursing contract for 13 weeks, as Jason became the man-maid!  He really got into Hello Fresh!  We were able to meet up with the whole family in San Diego during the summer while Andre was just returning from a 6 month deployment.  After that get together, Jason and I had a 6-week RV trip planned.  From Sacramento, to Arkansas and Tennessee, then back to Lander Wyoming where I started another nursing contract.  In Sept.  Alex enlisted in the Army, to go in January 2024.

In AZ 2021!

Ready to board our Rhine River Cruise, 2022!

Sedona

Arizona Christmas....80*!

Tennessee Whiskey tasting with Andre!

2023-2025: Lander, WY is a great town, so much so that Jason said why don't we stay here for a bit, and that we did along with buying a house!  Alex moved in with us for a little bit before he went into the Army.  Jason worked as an RT at the hospital, and I took on a new role as Director of the Women's Health Unit.  Alex married his high school girlfriend in Sept, and they are stationed in Oahu.  Emma is pursuing her doctorate in Occupational Therapy.  Andre is stationed in San Diego and living the bachelor life with all the toys to enjoy.  In February, we decided that we have an opportunity to go explore the country the way we have always talked about.  And today, I'm writing this sitting in the RV park in Lander after putting all of our belongings, once again, into storage; and, once-again, selling a house (#6 owning, #22 move).  Tomorrow, we start our adventure of the country with our 2 four-legged kids in tow, Duke (8)and Otis (1.5).  We don't have anything set up, an idea of where we would like to head, and an open-mind to see what comes.  Stay tuned for updates!

Duke and the Tetons

Alex graduating Basic in Oklahoma!

Otis, our crazy Portuguese Water Dog...yes, he's CRAZY!

Alex and Emma 💘

Oh, these boys....💗

Where the buffalo roam....

*As I find pictures to post, there are a 1000 more things that we have done, happened to us or memories we've made.  If you're on FB or IG, you've kept up with just about all of it!  We would love to hear from all of you so we can catch up with your lives as well.  Thx💓 for reading our blogs!